To provide systems and methods for providing the use of a two- or three-plate Alvarez lens located in a focal plane of a projection lens of a lithographic apparatus.

The Alvarez lens can be used to modify the shape of the focal plane to match a previously determined surface topography, while at the same time the Alvarez lens can be designed to include a built-in correction for astigmatism and other residual Zernike errors that would otherwise be introduced.