Method for providing a wear-resistant material on a body, and composite body

1. A method for providing a wear-resistant material on a body, the method comprising:

providing a body made of glass, ceramic or glass-ceramic;

providing a wear-resistant material having a hardness of more than 20 GPa; and

brazing or laser welding the wear-resistant material to the body.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is for manufacturing a support structure comprising a plurality of burls defining a support plane for supporting an object, and

wherein, after the brazing or laser welding, the surface of the wear-resistant material facing away from the body defines the distal end surfaces of the burls.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing, between the wear-resistant material and the body, a braze forming material suitable for brazing the wear-resistant material to the body; and comprising brazing the wear-resistant material to the body by heating the braze forming material.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the providing a braze forming material comprises:

coating at least part of the body to which the wear-resistant material is to be provided with the braze forming material and/or coating the surface of the wear-resistant material that is to be connected to the body with the braze forming material, and

pressing the body and the wear-resistant material together such that the braze forming material is located between the body and the wear-resistant material.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein a thickness of the braze forming material coated on the body and/or wear-resistant material is less than a thickness of the wear-resistant material.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising laser welding the wear-resistant material to the body and doing so by:

bringing the wear-resistant material into physical contact with the body, and

exposing an interface between the wear-resistant material and the body using a ps- or fs-pulsed laser.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the wear-resistant material is transparent and the body is opaque, and wherein the interface between the wear-resistant material and the body is exposed through the wear-resistant material.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a main body having a main body surface and a plurality of unfinished burls projecting from the main body surface, each unfinished burl having a distal end surface, and

wherein the wear-resistant material is provided on the distal end surface of each of the plurality of unfinished burls so as to form a support structure comprising a plurality of burls, the distal end surfaces of the plurality of burls defining a support plane for supporting a surface of an object.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a main body having a main body surface, and wherein, after brazing or laser welding, the wear-resistant material forms a plurality of burls projecting from the main body surface, the plurality of burls defining a support plane for supporting a surface of an object.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing the wear-resistant material comprises providing the wear-resistant material on a carrier film.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the providing the wear-resistant material comprises:

growing a layer of material having a hardness of more than 20 GPa on a growth substrate; and

transferring portions of the layer of material from the growth substrate to the carrier film, thereby forming the wear-resistant material on the carrier film.

12. A composite body obtainable by the method of claim 1 .

13. A composite body comprising:

a body made of glass, ceramic or glass-ceramic,

a wear-resistant material having a hardness of more than 20 GPa, and

an intermediate brazing layer or an interdiffusion layer connecting the body and the wear-resistant material.

14. The composite body of claim 13 , wherein the composite body is a support structure comprising a plurality of burls defining a support plane for supporting an object, and

wherein a surface of the wear-resistant material facing away from the body defines the distal end surfaces of the burls.

15. A lithographic apparatus comprising the composite body of claim 13 .

16. The composite body of claim 13 , wherein the body is an unfinished substrate holder comprising a main body having a main body surface and a plurality of unfinished burls projecting from the main body surface, each unfinished burl having a distal end surface, and wherein the wear-resistant material is provided on the distal end surface of each of the plurality of unfinished burls, thus defining a support plane for supporting a substrate.

17. The composite body of claim 13 , wherein the body is a substrate holder blank comprising a main body having a main body surface, and wherein the wear-resistant material forms a plurality of burls projecting from the main body surface, the plurality of burls defining a support plane for supporting a substrate.

18. The composite body of claim 13 , wherein the body is a support structure for a patterning device clamp for use in a lithographic apparatus, the wear-resistant material defining a support plane for supporting a patterning device.

19. The composite body of claim 13 , comprising the intermediate brazing layer, wherein the intermediate brazing layer comprises a braze forming material that is diffused into the body and into the wear-resistant material.

20. The composite body of claim 13 , comprising the interdiffusion layer, wherein the interdiffusion layer comprises a gradient in composition from the glass, ceramic or glass-ceramic of the body to the wear-resistant material.