An object, such as a sensor for an immersion lithographic apparatus, has an outer layer which comes in contact with immersion liquid and wherein the outer layer has a composition including a rare earth element. There is also provided an immersion lithographic apparatus having such an object and a method for manufacturing such an object.

A coated article may comprise a substrate and an optical coating. The substrate may have a major surface comprising a first portion and a second portion. A first direction that is normal to the first portion of the major surface may not be equal to a second direction that is normal to the second portion of the major surface. The optical coating may be disposed on at least the first portion and the second portion of the major surface. The coated article may exhibit at the first portion of the substrate and at the second portion of the substrate hardness of about 8 GPa or greater at an indentation depth of about 50 nm or greater as measured on the anti-reflective surface by a Berkovich Indenter Hardness Test.

A coated article is described herein that may comprise a substrate and an optical coating. The substrate may have a major surface comprising a first portion and a second portion. A first direction that is normal to the first portion of the major surface may not be equal to a second direction that is normal to the second portion of the major surface. The optical coating may be disposed on at least the first portion and the second portion of the major surface. The coated article may exhibit at the first portion of the substrate and at the second portion of the substrate hardness of about 8 GPa or greater at an indentation depth of about 50 nm or greater as measured on the anti-reflective surface by a Berkovich Indenter Hardness Test.

A method of depositing a material on a substrate is provided. The method includes generating a plasma remote from one or more sputter targets suitable for plasma sputtering, wherein at least one distinct region of the one or more targets includes an alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, alkali metal containing compound, alkaline earth metal containing compound or a combination thereof; generating sputtered material from the target or targets using the plasma; and depositing the sputtered material on the substrate, the working distance between the target and the substrate being within +/−50% of the theoretical mean free path of the system.

An article comprises a body having a protective coating. The protective coating is a thin film that comprises a metal oxy-fluoride. The metal oxy-fluoride has an empirical formula of M.sub.xO.sub.yF.sub.z, where M is a metal, y has a value of 0.1 to 1.9 times a value of x and z has a value of 0.1 to 3.9 times the value of x. The protective coating has a thickness of 1 to 30 microns and a porosity of less than 0.1%.

A coated article is described herein that may comprise a substrate and an optical coating. The substrate may have a major surface comprising a first portion and a second portion. A first direction that is normal to the first portion of the major surface may not be equal to a second direction that is normal to the second portion of the major surface. The optical coating may be disposed on at least the first portion and the second portion of the major surface. The coated article may exhibit at the first portion of the substrate and at the second portion of the substrate hardness of about 8 GPa or greater at an indentation depth of about 50 nm or greater as measured on the anti-reflective surface by a Berkovich Indenter Hardness Test.

A method of preparing a hydrated calcium silicate (C—S—H) nano-film. The method includes: 1) synthesizing a hydrated calcium silicate powder having a calcium to silicon ratio (Ca/Si) of 0.5-3.0; 2) calcining the C—S—H powder obtained in 1) for 2-3 hours under a temperature of 150-250° C., cooling to approximately 25° C., and pressing the C—S—H powder under a pressure of 100-200 megapascal, to yield a target material; 3) fixing a substrate on a sample table of a magnetron sputtering apparatus, placing the target material obtained in 2) in a target position of the magnetron sputtering apparatus, pre-sputtering the target material for 5-10 minutes, rotating the substrate at a constant speed, sputtering the target material for 30-300 minutes, to yield a nano-film; and 4) soaking the nano-film obtained in 3) into in a saturated aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide at approximately 25° C. for 1-3 days.

A method of manufacturing a transparent conductive film comprising preparing a substrate; and forming a thin film comprising—a compound of Chemical Formula 1 on the substrate:
Ba.sub.pLa.sub.qSn.sub.mO.sub.n  Formula 1
wherein p, q, m and n are atomic content ratios, p, m and n each are independently more than 0 and less than or equal to 6, and q is 0 or 1, wherein the forming of the thin film is performed by an RF sputtering process at a temperature of 250° C. or lower.

An oxide superconducting wire includes a superconducting laminate including an oxide superconducting layer disposed, either directly or indirectly, on a substrate, and a stabilization layer which is a Cu plating layer covering an outer periphery of the superconducting laminate. An average crystal grain size of the Cu plating layer is 3.30 μm or more and equal to or less than a thickness of the Cu plating layer.

According to various aspects and embodiments, a system and method for providing an optical element is disclosed. In one example, the optical element includes a substrate formed from a Nanocomposite Optical Ceramic (NCOC) material that includes a first oxide nanograin material dispersed in a second oxide nanograin material, and a compressive layer of the NCOC material formed on a surface of the substrate.