New and useful concepts are provided for the objective portion of a liquid or solid immersion microscope are provided, that uses 193 nm light for illumination and imaging of a sample, and includes a liquid or solid immersion lens configuration. The illumination and imaging can be provided, e.g. with (a) a liquid immersion lens with a final objective lens element that comprises a lutetium aluminum garnet (LuAg) lens element, a barium lithium fluoride (BaLiF) lens element, or a fused silica lens element, and a liquid immersion layer that has an index of refraction that is equal to or greater than the index of refraction of water at a wavelength of approximately 193 nm, or (b) a solid immersion lens with a final objective lens element that has an index of refraction greater than or equal to the index of refraction of fused silica at a wavelength of approximately 193 nm.
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