Apparatuses and methods for suppressing thermally induced motion of a
workpiece. An apparatus includes a workpiece heating system configured to
thermally induce motion of a workpiece, and further includes a damping
member spaced apart from the workpiece and configured to apply a damping
force to dampen the motion of the workpiece. The damping member may be
spaced apart from a rest position of the workpiece by a distance
sufficiently small that gas pressure between the damping member and the
workpiece opposes the motion of the workpiece. The distance is preferably
adjustable.