Lithographic apparatus and a method of manufacturing a device using a lithographic apparatus

A lithographic apparatus, comprising:

• a projection system configured to project a patterned radiation beam onto a substrate;
• a fluid confinement structure configured to confine immersion fluid in a localized region between a final element of the projection system and a surface of the substrate;
• a space bounded on one side by a surface of the projection system and/or a component of the lithographic apparatus at least partially surrounding the final element of the projection system, and on the other side by a surface of the fluid confinement structure;
• a flexible seal extending between the fluid confinement structure and one of the surfaces of the projection system and/or the component of the lithographic apparatus, the flexible seal configured such that the space is further bounded by the flexible seal;
• and
• one or more openings in the surface of the projection system and/or of the component of the lithographic apparatus, configured to be connectable to either a source of humidified gas to supply humidified gas to the space or an under-pressure source to extract gas from the space.

A method of manufacturing a device using a lithographic apparatus, the method comprising:

• using a projection system to project a patterned radiation beam onto a substrate through an immersion fluid;
• using a fluid confinement structure to supply and confine the immersion fluid in a localized region between a final element of the projection system and the substrate;
• providing a space bounded on one side by a surface of the projection system and/or of a component of the lithographic apparatus at least partially surrounding the final element of the projection system, the component separated from the fluid confinement structure, and on the other side by a surface of the fluid confinement structure;
• and
• either supplying humidified gas to or extracting gas from, one or more openings in the surface of the projection system and/or of the component of the lithographic apparatus;
• and
• using one or more openings to do the other of supply humidified gas or extract gas from the space, wherein the one or more openings configured supply humidified gas to the space are closer to the immersion fluid in the localized region than the one or more openings configured to extract gas from the space.

A method of manufacturing a device using a lithographic apparatus, the method comprising:

• using a projection system to project a patterned radiation beam onto a substrate through an immersion fluid;
• using a fluid confinement structure to supply and confine the immersion fluid in a localized region between a final element of the projection system and the substrate;
• providing a space bounded on one side by a surface of the projection system and/or a component of the lithographic apparatus at least partially surrounding the final element of the projection system, and on the other side by a surface of the fluid confinement structure, wherein the space is further bounded by a flexible seal extending between the fluid confinement structure and one of the surfaces of the at least one of the projection system and/or the component of the lithographic apparatus;
• and
• (i) supplying humidified gas to one or more openings on the surface of the projection system and/or the component of the lithographic apparatus bounding the space, and/or (ii) extracting gas from one or more openings in the surface of the projection system and/or the component of the lithographic apparatus bounding the space.