Method and apparatus for controlling a lithographic apparatus

A lithographic apparatus comprising:

• an inspection apparatus configured to measure a substrate property arising from a lithographic process to obtain a substrate property measurement;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• determine a first subset of estimated model parameters of a scanning system of the lithographic apparatus based on the substrate property measurement, the first subset of estimated model parameters being related to a positioning error and a substrate deformation error in the substrate property, the positioning error arising from a positioning subsystem of the scanning system and the substrate deformation error arising from a mechanical or thermal subsystem of the scanning system;
• substantially simultaneously determine the positioning error and the substrate deformation error;
• control the positioning subsystem and the mechanical or thermal subsystem based on the first subset of estimated model parameters.

A non-transitory computer program product containing a sequence of machine-readable instructions for controlling lithographic processing by a lithographic apparatus used to perform a lithographic process on a substrate, the instructions being adapted to cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a substrate property measurement arising from the lithographic process;
• determining a first subset of estimated model parameters of a scanning system of the lithographic apparatus based on the substrate property measurement, the first subset of estimated model parameters being related to a positioning error and a substrate deformation error in the substrate property, the positioning error arising from a positioning subsystem of the scanning system and the substrate deformation error arising from a mechanical or thermal subsystem of the scanning system;
• substantially simultaneously determining the positioning error and the substrate deformation error;
• and
• controlling the positioning subsystem and the mechanical or thermal subsystem based on the first subset of estimated model parameters.