LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid an uncorrectable overlay error caused by the expansion of a substrate resulting from increased temperatures of the substrate and a substrate table in a lithographic process that has irradiates large doses. SOLUTION: A lithographic apparatus comprises a substrate table for holding a substrate. The substrate table has a substrate support plate constituted in thermal contact with a thermal conditioning plate elastically. The temperatures of the substrate and the substrate table are maintained within a predetermined range by using a material having a specified coefficient of thermal conductivity or higher for the substrate support plate and by configuring the thermal conditioning plate so as to allow a thermal conditioning fluid to pass through it. The lithographic apparatus further comprises a projection system, is constituted and arranged to project a patterned beam of radiation to a target portion of the substrate. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT