Liquid for immersion exposure and immersion exposure method

A method of evaluating the degree of contamination of an immersion exposure liquid during immersion exposure, the immersion exposure liquid being used for an immersion exposure device or an immersion exposure method in which a substrate is exposed through a liquid provided between a lens of a projection optical system and the substrate, the method comprising contacting the immersion exposure liquid with a photoresist film formed on the substrate in a nitrogen atmosphere, and comparing absorbances of the liquid measured for light with a wavelength of 193 nm before and after the contact to evaluate the degree of contamination of the immersion exposure liquid.

A liquid composition comprising a compound of the following formula (2-1) or (2-2) in an amount of 95 wt % or more and having a dissolved oxygen content of 2 ppm or less,

• wherein, in the formula (2-1), R1 represents an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, an alicyclic hydrocarbon group having 3 to 14 carbon atoms, a fluorine atom, or a fluorine-substituted hydrocarbon group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, a represents an integer from 0 to 10, provided that, and when two or more R1s exist, the R1s may be the same or different, and two or more R1s may be bonded to form a ring structure, and in the formula (2-2), R5 represents an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, an alicyclic hydrocarbon group having 3 to 14 carbon atoms, a fluorine atom, or a fluorine-substituted hydrocarbon group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, i represents an integer from 0 to 2, and provided that, when two or more R5s exist, the R5s may be the same or different, and two or more R5s may be bonded to form a ring structure.