a method for reducing contamination in immersion lithography includes retaining a semiconductor wafer on a support surface of a wafer chuck , the wafer chuck having a gap therein , the gap located adjacent an outer edge of the wafer , and the gap containing a volume of immersion lithography fluid therein ; and providing a fluid circulation path within the wafer chuck so as to facilitate the radial outward movement of the immersion lithography fluid in the gap , thereby maintaining a meniscus of the immersion lithography fluid at a selected height with respect to a top surface of the semiconductor wafer .