Projection lens, projection exposure apparatus and projection exposure method

A dioptric projection lens (PO) for imaging a pattern arranged in an object plane (OS) of the projection lens into an image plane (IS) of the projection lens by means of electromagnetic radiation at an operating wavelength [lambda]0 in the ultraviolet range from 300 nm to 450 nm comprises a multiplicity of lens elements which are arranged between the object plane (OS) and the image plane (IS) along an optical axis (AX) and which are embodied so that a pattern arranged in the object plane is able to be imaged into the image plane by means of the lens elements with a reducing imaging scale |[beta]| < 1 in the case of an image-side numerical aperture NA. The lens elements comprise at least one flint lens element made of a first material with a relatively low Abbe number and at least one crown lens element made of a second material with a higher Abbe number relative to the first material. For a parameter SSP with SSP = NA2/[lambda]. C2 the condition SSP < 0.1 nm-2 applies, where C2 is the square component of a th