Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method

A lithographic apparatus arranged to project a patterned beam of radiation from a patterning device, through a liquid, onto a substrate, the apparatus comprising:

• a projection system configured to project the patterned beam of radiation onto the substrate along an optical axis;
• and
• a liquid confinement structure configured to at least partly confine the liquid to a space between the projection system and the substrate, wherein a surface of the confinement structure has a buffer surface positioned, when in use, in close proximity to a plane substantially comprising the upper surface of the substrate and of a substrate table configured to hold the substrate, to define a passage having a flow resistance, the surface located between the projection system and the substrate table, and the surface of the confinement structure has a recess for liquid between the optical axis and a liquid extraction outlet, in the surface, the liquid extraction outlet being the nearest outlet or inlet to the recess and being the only liquid extraction outlet or the nearest liquid extraction outlet to the optical axis on the bottom of the liquid confinement structure.

A device manufacturing method, comprising:

• projecting a patterned beam of radiation, using a projection system of a lithographic projection apparatus, along an optical axis and through a liquid, in a space between the projection system and a substrate, onto the substrate;
• and
• confining the liquid to the space using a liquid confinement structure of the lithographic projection apparatus, a surface of the confinement structure having a buffer surface positioned in close proximity to a plane substantially comprising the upper surface of the substrate and of a substrate table holding the substrate, to define a passage having a flow resistance, the surface located between the projection system and the substrate table, and the surface of the confinement structure has a recess for liquid between the optical axis and a liquid extraction outlet, in the surface, the liquid extraction outlet being the nearest outlet or inlet to the recess and being the only liquid extraction outlet or the nearest liquid extraction outlet to the optical axis on the bottom of the liquid confinement structure.