Method for adapting optical properties of an immersion mixture, and immersion mixtures and components thereof

Abstract

A method adapts optical properties of an immersion mixture by providing an immersion mixture made of multiple components, wherein at least two of the components have different optical properties and the immersion mixture has optical properties resulting from the proportions of the components, determining current actual values of the optical properties of the immersion mixture, and comparing the current actual values with target values. If actual values differ from target values by an unacceptable amount, a target mixture ratio of the components is determined to achieve the target values and the proportion of the components is set according to the target mixture ratio. For the components, water can be selected with a water-soluble inorganic compound or a water-soluble organic compound, or a non-water-soluble compound can be selected with a solvent suitable for dissolving the compound. Suitable chemical compounds and an immersion mixture made of multiple components can also be utilized.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.