LEAF SPRING, STAGE SYSTEM, AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS

摘要

A leaf spring to be mounted between two objects, the leaf spring configured to have a high stiffness in two orthogonal directions, and a relative low stiffness in other degrees of freedom, wherein the leaf spring has a substantially panel-shaped body, the leaf spring including a first mounting location at or near the center of the panel-shaped body to mount the leaf spring to a first of the two objects, wherein the leaf spring includes one or more second mounting locations at or near the circumference of the panel-shaped body to mount the leaf spring to the second of the two objects, and elongate grooves and/or slits in the panel shaped body between the first mounting location and the second mounting location, the grooves and/or slits running in at least two non-orthogonal directions in the plane of the two orthogonal directions.