Projection Exposure Apparatus with at least One Manipulator

An apparatus, comprising:

• a projection lens comprising a plurality of optical elements configured to image mask structures onto a substrate during an exposure process, the plurality of optical elements comprising a first optical element;
• a manipulator configured to change, as part of a manipulator actuation, optical effects of the first optical element by changing a state variable of the first optical element along a predetermined travel;
• a first computing device configured to generate a travel algorithm based on at least one imaging parameter, the at least one imaging parameter comprising structure information with respect to mask structures to be imaged during a subsequent exposure process and/or structure information with respect to an angular distribution of exposure radiation radiated onto the mask structures during the subsequent exposure process;
• and
• a second computing device configured to establish a travel for a manipulator actuation based on the travel algorithm,
• wherein the apparatus is a microlithography projection exposure apparatus.