An actuator comprises a coil, a first cooling plate and a second cooling plate. The cooling plates are configured to cool the coil. The first and second cooling plates are arranged at opposite sides of the coil to be in thermal contact with the coil. The coil comprises a first coil part and a second coil part, the first coil part facing the first cooling plate and the second coil part facing the second cooling plate, the first and second coil parts being separated by a spacing there between. The first cooling plate, the first coil part, the spacing, the second coil part and the second cooling plate form a stacked structure whereby the coil parts are arranged between the cooling plates and the spacing is arranged between the coil parts. The actuator further comprises a filling element arranged in the spacing. The filling element to push the first coil part towards the first cooling plate and to push the second coil part towards the second cooling plate.

The invention relates to a bearing device arranged to support in a vertical direction a first part of an apparatus with respect to a second part of the apparatus, comprising a magnetic gravity compensator. The magnetic gravity compensator comprises: a first permanent magnet assembly mounted to one of the first part and the second part and comprising at least a first column of permanent magnets, the first column extending in the vertical direction, wherein the permanent magnets have a polarization direction in a first horizontal direction or in a second horizontal direction opposite to the first horizontal direction, wherein vertically adjacent permanent magnets have opposite polarization directions, a second permanent magnet assembly mounted to the other of the first part and the second part and comprising at least one other column of permanent magnets, the at least one other column extending in the vertical direction, wherein vertically adjacent permanent magnets of the at least one other column have opposite polarization directions in the first horizontal direction or the second horizontal direction, wherein the first permanent magnet assembly at least partially encloses the second permanent magnet assembly.

Described herein is a magnetically levitated linear transportation stage which utilizes a permanent magnet bias flux to generate a passive magnetic/suspension force/torque in a first set of directions orthogonal to a direction of transportation stage travel, a motor flux which forms a traveling wave along a direction of transportation stage travel and a suspension control force orthogonal to the direction of transportation stage travel. Such a magnetically levitated linear transportation stage is suitable for use in in-vacuum transportation tasks such as in conjunction with photo lithography systems (e.g. extreme ultra violet (EUV) machines).

The present disclosure generally relates to a method and apparatus for loading, processing, and unloading substrates. A processing system comprises a load/unload system coupled to a photolithography system. The load/unload system comprises a first set of tracks having a first height and a first width, and a second set of tracks having a second height and a second width different than the first height and first width. An unprocessed substrate is transferred from a lift pin loader to a chuck along the first set of tracks on a first tray while a processed substrate is transferred from the chuck to the lift pin loader along the second set of tracks on a second tray. While a first tray remains with a substrate on the chuck during processing, the load/unload system is configured to unload a processed substrate and load an unprocessed substrate on a second tray.

A positioning device configured to position an object, the positioning device including: an object table configured to hold the object; an electromagnetic motor configured to displace the object table, the electromagnetic motor including: a coil assembly mounted to the object table, a superconductor assembly configured to co-operate with the coil assembly to generate a driving force on the object table, and a cryogenic enclosure configured to enclose the superconductor assembly and maintain the superconductor assembly in a superconductive state; a support for supporting the electromagnetic motor; and an electromagnetic support configured to suspend the cryogenic enclosure relative to the support, thereby maintaining a gap between the cryogenic enclosure and the support.

The invention relates to a lithographic apparatus comprising: an actuation system for positioning an object; a control unit (CU) for controlling the actuation system; and a cooling system for cooling the actuation system, wherein the actuation system comprises a coil assembly (CA) including one or more coils (CO) as force generating members, wherein the cooling system comprises cooling element (CE) interacting with the coil assembly for cooling the coil assembly, and wherein the control unit is configured to control a temperature of the one or more coils to keep a magnitude of cyclic stress below a predetermined value.

A positioning system for positioning an object. The positioning system includes a stage, a balance mass and an actuator system. The stage is for holding the object. The actuator system is arranged to drive the stage in a first direction while driving the balance mass in a second direction opposite to the first direction. The stage is moveable in the first direction in a movement range. When the stage is moving in the first direction and is at an end of the movement range, the positioning system is arranged to collide the stage frontally into the balance mass.

A displacement device (1), including: a stator magnet array (10) including a plurality of first magnets (11) and a plurality of second magnets (12), the first magnets (11) and the second magnets (12) being arranged periodically in a first plane (X-Y plane); and a rotor (20) including at least a first X-coil array (A11) of a plurality of first X-coils (L11) and a first Y-coil array (A12) of a plurality of first Y-coils (L12). A body portion of the first X-coil array (A11) is disposed in a first conductor layer that is substantially parallel to the first plane (X-Y plane), and a body portion of the first Y-coil array (A12) is disposed in a second conductor layer that is substantially parallel to the first plane (X-Y plane), the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer are disposed at a distance from each other in a direction perpendicular to the first plane (X-Y plane). The first X-coils (L11) includes a pair of first XX conductors (C111) extending in a first direction and a pair of first XY conductors (C112) extending in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. The first direction and the second direction are both substantially parallel to the first plane (X-Y plane). At least one of the pair of the first XX conductors (C111) of the first X-coil (L11) is disposed in the second conductor layer, and the pair of the first XY conductors (C112) are both disposed in the first conductor layer.

An electromagnetic actuator is described the actuator comprising: a magnet assembly comprising: an array of permanent magnets arranged in a first direction and configured to generate, outside the magnet assembly, a spatially varying magnetic field distribution in the first direction; a ferromagnetic member onto which the array of permanent magnets is mounted; a coil assembly, at least partly arranged in the spatially varying magnetic field distribution, configured to co-operate with the magnet assembly to generate an electromagnetic force;
wherein a thickness of the array of permanent magnets in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction varies along the first direction and wherein a thickness of the ferromagnetic member in the second direction varies along the first direction such that a combined thickness of the array of permanent magnets and the ferromagnetic member in the second direction is substantially constant along the first direction.

A positioning system to position a structure comprises an actuator and a control unit to control the actuator in response to a position setpoint received by the control unit. The actuator comprises a magnet assembly comprises a magnet configured to provide a magnetic flux, and a coil assembly, wherein the coil assembly and the magnet assembly are movable relative to each other, the coil assembly comprising a coil, an actuation of the coil by a drive current providing for a force between the magnet assembly and the coil assembly. The magnet assembly comprises a further electric conductor, the further electric conductor comprising a non-ferromagnetic electrically conductive material, wherein the further electric conductor is magnetically coupled to the coil of the coil assembly and forms a short circuit path for an inductive electrical current induced in the further electric conductor as a result of an actuator current in the coil.