DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
Applicants’ submission, filed on 03/02/2026, in response to claims 1-2, 5, and 11 rejection from the non-final office action (11/28/2025), by amending claims 1 and 10 is entered and will be addressed below.
Election/Restrictions
Claim 10 remains withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Interpretations
The newly amended limitation “determine whether a first cumulative value, which is calculated by multiplying a film thickness of the film formed on the substrate by a number of substrates processed after a most recent act of cleaning the processing container, exceeds a first reference value”, Applicants’ Specification includes “a plurality of wafers W are sequentially transferred to the film forming apparatus 1 where the plurality of wafers W are processed, and polyurea films having the same film thickness are assumed to be formed on respective wafers W” ([0038]), therefore, the film thickness on wafers is a predetermined/preset target value, not necessarily measured value.
Applicants’ disclosure does not include a detector to detect the film thickness and signal line feeding the measured thickness to the controller. Applicants’ Specification describes “The process flow proceeds as described above, and the processes of steps T2 and T3 are repeatedly performed to process the plurality of wafers W. Then, the repetition is stopped at, for example, an arbitrary timing preset by the user” ([0050]). Therefore, the determination of the first cumulative value of a film thickness includes a preset value of the number of wafers being processed.
The examiner considered that the controller is sending signals to various valves. The controller does not have detector to determine the gas supplied is a cleaning gas, a film-forming gas, or a fluorine-containing gas.
The previously amended limitation “wherein the first film-forming gas and the second film-forming gas include a same material” of claim 11, (include is emphasized, does not exclude other different materials), Applicants’ Specification includes The amine gas is, for example, a gas containing 1,3-bis(aminomethyl)cyclohexane (H6XDA) which is a diamine. The above-mentioned isocyanate gas is, for example, a gas containing diisocyanate 1,3-bis(isocyanatomethyl)cyclohexane (H6XDI). The amine gas and the isocyanate gas are first film-forming gases for performing the pre-coating and second film-forming gases for performing the film formation on the wafer W ([0035]), “a gas supply cycle in which the amine gas, the N2 gas, the isocyanate gas, and the N2 gas are sequentially ejected from the shower head 43 is repeated” ([0040], wafer in chamber), a gas supply cycle in which the amine gas, the N2 gas, the isocyanate gas, and the N2 gas are sequentially ejected from the shower head 43 is repeated ([0062], no wafer in chamber), therefore, the “a same material” does not exclude other gas such as N2 gas or other gas constituents, and may be feed at the same time or at different time (repeated). As long as one constituent of from the feed time cycle is the same, it is considered read into the “a same material”. In this context, this portion of the claim is considered as broad, but not indefinite.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
The “a gas supply mechanism“ of claim 1, this is considered as “The gas supply mechanism 52 is configured to be capable of supplying each of an amine gas, an isocyanate gas, a nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) gas which is a gas for the fluorination process, an active oxygen gas which is a cleaning gas, and a nitrogen (N2) gas which is a purge gas, to the shower head 43” ([0034]). Note also the gas identity is an intended use of the apparatus. Therefore, a gas supply system with five gases supply is capable of supply these gases is considered read into the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pape (US 20170338140, hereafter ‘140), in view of Xu et al. (US 20190382883, hereafter ‘883), Langley et al. (US 5221414, hereafter ‘414), Rottstegge et al. (US 20030073043, hereafter ‘043), Ziegler (US 20030234371, hereafter ‘371), Kaisi (US 20020134753, previously cited, hereafter ‘753), and YAMAGUCHI et al. (US 20120325651, hereafter ‘651).
‘140 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 1: Example processes that may be performed on a substrate include, but are not limited to, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD) ([0003], 2nd sentence), Referring now to FIG. 1, an example substrate processing system 100 is shown ([0025], the claimed “a film forming apparatus comprising”):
The substrate processing system 100 includes a processing chamber 102 that encloses other components of the substrate processing chamber 100 ([0025], 3rd sentence), A valve 150 and pump 152 may be used to evacuate reactants from the processing chamber 102 ([0032], the claimed “a processing container having an interior that is kept in a vacuum atmosphere”);
The substrate processing chamber 100 includes an upper electrode 104 and a substrate support 106, such as an electrostatic chuck (ESC). During operation, a substrate 108 is arranged on the substrate support 106 ([0025], 4th-5th sentence, the claimed “a stage provided within the processing container and configured to place a substrate thereon”);
A gas delivery system 130 includes one or more gas sources 132-1, 132-2, . . . , and 132-N (collectively gas sources 132), where N is an integer greater than zero. The gas sources supply one or more precursors and mixtures thereof. The gas sources may also supply purge gas. Vaporized precursor may also be used. The gas sources 132 are connected by valves 134-1, 134-2, . . . , and 134-N (collectively valves 134) and mass flow controllers 136-1, 136-2, . . . , and 136-N (collectively mass flow controllers 136) to a manifold 140. An output of the manifold 140 is fed to the processing chamber 102. For example only, the output of the manifold 140 is fed to the showerhead 109 ([0029], the claimed “a gas supply mechanism configured to be capable of supplying a gas into the processing container”, with a large number N, it is capable of supply the gases mentioned in Applicants’ Specification [0034]);
A system controller 160 may be used to control components of the substrate processing system 100 ([0032], the 2nd sentence, the claimed “and a controller configured to”, as such, the controller would have included controlling of various valves 134-1 to 134-N):
Example processes that may be performed on a substrate include, but are not limited to, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), … or cleaning processes ([0003], 2nd sentence), the controller may be defined as electronics having various integrated circuits, logic, memory, and/or software that receive instructions, issue instructions, control operation, enable cleaning operations, enable endpoint measurements, and the like ([0044], includes the claimed “(a) control the gas supply mechanism to supply a cleaning gas into the processing container; (b) control the gas supply mechanism to supply a first film-forming gas into the processing container”).
‘140 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 1: (1A) ((b) a controller configured: … control the gas supply mechanism to supply a first film-forming gas into the processing container) such that a pre-coated film is formed on a member within the processing container in a state in which the substrate is not placed on the stage;
(1B) (c) subsequently, control the gas supply mechanism to supply a fluorine-containing gas into the processing container to fluorinate a surface layer of the pre-coated film so as to modify the surface layer into a hydrophobic layer;
(1C) (d) subsequently, control the gas supply mechanism to supply a second film-forming gas into the processing container to form a film on the substrate in a state in which the substrate is placed on the stage;
(1D) (e) subsequently, determine whether a first cumulative value, which is calculated by multiplying a film thickness of the film formed on the substrate by a number of substrates processed after a most recent act of cleaning the processing container, exceeds a first reference value;
(f) in response to the determination that the first cumulative value of the film thickness exceeds the first reference value, control the gas supply mechanism to supply the cleaning gas into the processing container again;
(1E) (g) in response to the determination that the first cumulative value of the film thickness does not exceed the first reference value, determine whether a second cumulative value, which is calculated by multiplying a film thickness of the film formed on the substrate by a number of substrates processed after a most recent act of supplying the fluorine-containing gas into the processing container to fluorinate the surface layer of the pre-coated film so as to modify the surface layer into the hydrophobic layer, exceeds a second reference value;
(h) in response to the determination that the second cumulative value of the film thickness exceeds the second reference value, control the gas supply mechanism to supply the fluorine-containing gas to fluorinate the surface of the pre-coated film, which was formed in (b), again so as to modify the surface layer into a hydrophobic layer; and
(i) in response to the determination that the second cumulative value of the film thickness does not exceed the second reference value, control the gas supply mechanism to supply the second film-forming gas to form a film on another substrate.
‘140 further teaches that The outer layer 228 comprises a removable, replaceable O-ring or seal. In some examples, the outer layer 228 is configured to be easily removed and replaced in-situ after first removing the edge ring 216 to provide access to the outer layer 224. In other examples, replacing the outer layer 228 may be facilitated by removing the substrate support 200 from the processing chamber. The outer layer 228 comprises a material that is highly plasma resistant, such as Teflon, but is also elastic and resistant to compression set. The material of the outer layer 228 may be selected to have erosion resistance to a variety of plasma chemistries, and/or may be selected to have erosion resistance to a specific plasma chemistry. Other example materials include, but are not limited to, pure silicones, pure fluoroelastomers (e.g., fluorinated cross-linked alkalines), fluorinated low-modulus or flexible epoxies, other flexible epoxies, fluorinated silicones, etc. (Fig. 2A, [0036]).
‘883 is analogous art in the field of SUBSTRATE SUPPORTS (title), a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method used to deposit thin films of a material on a substrate ([0003]), including plasma ([0046]), cover glass may be coated with one or more coating layers to provide desired characteristics. Such coating layers include anti-reflection coating layers, easy-to-clean coating layers, and scratch resistant coating layers ([0004], 2nd sentence), the coating layer may be an anti-reflective coating layer. Exemplary materials suitable for use in the anti-reflective coating layer include: … polymers, fluoropolymers, plasma-polymerized polymers, siloxane polymers, silsesquioxanes, polyimides, fluorinated polyimides, polyetherimide, polyethersulfone, polyphenylsulfone, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, acrylic polymers, urethane polymers, polymethylmethacrylate, and other materials cited above as suitable for use in a scratch resistant layer ([0127], a list of polymer form on the substrate, including urethane polymer or polyimides is “a film formed on the substrate”, overlapping Applicants’ list of polymers disclosed in [0073]) Substrate supports that minimize, or completely eliminate, the use of adhesives, like double sided Kapton® tape, eliminate or reduce undesirable chemical reactions between adhesive outgasses and a coating material being deposited ([0071], i.e. the protective coating also prevents coating material being deposited). ’883 teaches that aluminum substrate supports are susceptible to deterioration during chemical stripping of a coating material (e.g., cleaning with a strong acid or base) and a protective coating of Teflon may be applied to the aluminum to help protect the aluminum from deterioration ([0066], i.e. Teflon on the aluminum substrate support without the presence of substrate on support), An aluminum substrate support coated with a protective layer of Teflon typically lasts through about 20 cleanings with a strong acid or base before it becomes unusable due to damage from the cleanings. And, a Teflon-coated aluminum substrate support must be cleaned after 1 to 2 sputter deposition processes to avoid fracturing and flaking of coated material(s) ([0067]), it has been observed that a Teflon coated substrate support can only be coated with a maximum eight microns of a coating material before the material begins to fracture and flake ([0068], 2nd last sentence), to avoid fracturing and flaking of a coating material, at least the target-facing surfaces of a substrate support are periodically cleaned to remove deposited coating material ([0065], periodically cleaning is a determination based on preset value, same as Applicants’ timing [0050]). ‘883 also teaches a controller 1210 (Fig. 12, ([0131], 2nd last sentence). ‘883 is silent on how the Teflon are formed.
‘414 is analogous art in the field of Process And System For Stabilizing Layer Deposition And Etch Rates While Simultaneously Maintaining Cleanliness In A Wafer Processing Reaction Chamber (title) a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) chamber (Fig. 2, col. 4, lines 16-17). ’414 teaches that Extraneous and undesirable particulate matter is suppressed in a reaction chamber for treating semiconductor materials by depositing a thin layer of polymeric or equivalent insulating material over the entire interior surfaces of the reaction chamber prior to any treatment therein of semiconductor wafers or the like (abstract, i.e. pre-coated in a state the substrate is not placed on the stage), Referring now in sequence to FIGS. 1 and 2, the process flow methodology shown in FIG. 1 represents a preferred sequence of process steps and a novel process combination upon which one or more claims herein are based. Initially, in step 10, an insulating film forming gas such as flouroform, CHF3 or silicon tetrachloride, SiCl4 or hexaflouroethane, C2F6, or carbon tetrachloride, CCl4, is selected as the carbon-containing or silicon-containing or hydrogen-containing or chlorine containing gas which is to be introduced and reacted in either an etching or film deposition chamber to deposit on all of the interior surfaces of the chamber a particulate tack-down insulating film as indicated at step 12. This tack-down film will typically be either a polymeric film or a silicon-containing film such as silicon-dioxide (col. 3, lines 22-36), for the purpose of maintaining stability in deposition rates (col. 1, lines 67-68).
In short, ‘414 teaches not only intentionally coating polymer to protect entire interior surfaces of the reaction chamber, it is an in-situ pre-coating inside the processing container, and prior to wafer treatment, same as R2 in Applicants’ Fig. 6.
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have used the controller 160 of ‘140 to form a protective layer of Teflon or various scratching resistant polymer films as taught by ‘883, on the substrate support 106 of ‘140, by depositing a thin layer of polymeric insulating material over the entire interior surfaces of the reaction chamber prior to any treatment therein of semiconductor wafers (the limitations of 1A), as taught by ‘414, for the purpose of protecting the substrate support, as taught by ‘883 ([0066]-[0068]) and for the purpose of maintaining stability in deposition rates, as taught by ‘414 (col. 1, lines 67-68). As a result of precoating, the deposition process on the substrate in ‘140 would have been “subsequently … to form a film on the substrate in a state in which the substrate is placed on the stage” of the limitation of 1C. Furthermore, to have applied periodic cleaning the coating on the substrate support (‘883, [0065]. the limitation of 1D), for the purpose of avoiding fracturing and flaking, as taught by ‘883 ([0065]).
In case Applicants argue that coating scratching resistant film on chamber members is not obvious, US 5528451 cited in conclusion is one specific example of forming polyimide on chuck.
It is a common knowledge that the degree of fluorination of polymer increasing hydrophobic property.
‘043 is analogous art or solving similar problem in the field of amplification Of Resist Structures Of Fluorinated Resist Polymers By Structural Growth Of The Structures By Targeted Chemical Bonding Of Fluorinated Oligomers (title). ’043 teaches that The high degree of fluorination of the film-forming polymer contained in the photoresist makes the resist increasingly hydrophobic ([0021]). ‘043 also teaches amines ([0044]) and isocyanate ([0036]).
‘371 is analogous art in the field of application of thin film chemistry or the application of thin films to a substrate ([0001]), Reactive Ion Assisted Deposition (R.I.A.D.) Multilayer ion deposited materials, ion assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) ([0005]). ’371 teaches that In the application of polymers are the thin film membranes that can be modified with reactive ion bombardment. A hydrophilic membrane could be converted with Fluorine ion bombardment to a membrane with a hydrophobic outer layer on the impact side and a hydrophilic layer on the backside. The membrane could be supported on a cryogenically cooled surface to further reduce the heat from the exothermic Fluorine reaction. Other embodiments is the higher particle energy that can be used to drive the Fluorine into the interior or completely through the membrane. This could give various degrees of Fluorination of the film including Perfluorination of the polymer ([0049]), for the purpose of controlled thin-films ([0043]). In short, ‘371 is an in-situ fluorination to convert polymer to hydrophobic.
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have applied the in-situ fluorine ion bombardment of ‘371 to the polymeric film form on the interior surface of the chamber imported from ‘414 and ‘883 to the chamber components of ‘140 (the limitation of 1B), for the purpose of controlled thin-films in degrees of hydrophobic, as taught by ‘371 ([0043] and [0049]) and by ‘043 ([0021]).
Note increasing hydrophobic property is the same as Applicants’ motivation ([0025]).
‘414 further teaches regulate the frequency of tack-down film deposition (abstract) but is silent on the regulation based on total thickness of deposition.
‘753 is analogous art in the field of Vacuum Processing Method And Vacuum Processing Apparatus (title), A vacuum processing apparatus produces fluorine radicals by activating a fluorinating gas containing at least fluorine atoms and fluorinates the surface of a component formed of an organic material (32) exposed to an atmosphere of a processing chamber (2) before carrying an object (S) into the processing chamber (2) (abstract), the components of the vacuum processing apparatus, such as the electrostatic chuck, are short-lived and are sources of particles that reduces the yield of products ([0009]), including polyimide ([0007]), Fluorinated surface layer of the organic component serves as protective film to prevent the etching of the component formed of the organic material with an oxygen radical ([0021]), ESC chuck covered to fluororesin sheet 31 (Fig. 2, [0049]). ’753 teaches that the object processing step processes the plurality of objects successively, and the fluorinating step is performed after the object processing step, and the object processing step and the fluorinating step are repeated alternately ([0020]), for the purpose of preventing the etching of parts formed of organic materials and exposed to an atmosphere in a processing chamber even when an object is processed with oxygen radicals ([0010]). ‘753 does not teach the period or frequency of re-fluorination.
‘651 is analogous art in the field of preventing a deposited film from adhering to an exhaust chamber so as to suppress the generation of particles (abstract). ’651 teaches that FIG. 12 is a table for explaining exemplary conditioning start conditions (conditioning need determination conditions). The determination conditions to start conditioning include the total number of processed substrates, the total number of processed lots, the total thickness of a deposited film, ([0104], note the total thickness refers to the substrates), A method of determining the need for conditioning based on the total thickness of a film deposited by the deposition apparatus (1203) is advantageous in that conditioning can be performed at an appropriate timing when the probability that a film will peel off the shield increases in proportion to its thickness ([0107]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have applied repeated processing and fluorination step, as taught by ‘753, for the purpose of preventing the etching of parts formed of organic materials and exposed to an atmosphere in a processing chamber even when an object is processed with oxygen radicals, as taught by ‘753 ([0010]). Furthermore, to have adopted the total number of processed substrates or the total thickness of deposited film on the substrates, as taught by ‘651 (the former is same as Applicants’ repetition preset by user, [0059], the latter also reads into the limitation of 1E), for the purpose of conditioning at an appropriate timing, as taught by ‘651 ([0107]).
The combination of ‘140, ‘883, ‘414, ‘043, ‘371, ‘753, and ‘651 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 2: the controller may be defined as electronics having various integrated circuits, logic, memory, and/or software that receive instructions, issue instructions, control operation, enable cleaning operations (‘140, [0044], the claimed “wherein the controller is further configured to output a control signal to control the gas supply mechanism to supply a cleaning gas into the processing container”),
substrate support are periodically cleaned to remove deposited coating material (‘883, [0065]), An aluminum substrate support coated with a protective layer of Teflon typically lasts through about 20 cleanings with a strong acid or base before it becomes unusable due to damage from the cleanings. And, a Teflon-coated aluminum substrate support must be cleaned after 1 to 2 sputter deposition processes to avoid fracturing and flaking of coated material(s) (‘883, [0067], repeated cleaning and recoating is the claimed “wherein the supply of the second film-forming gas into the processing container and the supply of the fluorine-containing gas into the processing container are repeatedly performed after the cleaning gas is supplied and before the cleaning gas is supplied again”, note ‘414 also teaches periodic recoat).
Claim 5: aluminum substrate supports are susceptible to deterioration during chemical stripping of a coating material (e.g., cleaning with a strong acid or base) and a protective coating of Teflon may be applied to the aluminum to help protect the aluminum from deterioration (‘883, [0066], the claimed “wherein the member on which the pre-coating is performed within the processing container includes at least the stage”, note ‘414 also teaches entire interior surface of the chamber).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘140, in view of ‘883, ‘414, ‘043, ‘371, ‘753, and ‘651 as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of Gangakhedkar (US 20190169444, hereafter ‘444).
The combination ‘140, ‘883, ‘414, ‘043, ‘371, ‘753, and ‘651 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 11: wherein the first film-forming gas and the second film-forming gas include a same material, and
wherein the film formed on the substrate and the pre-coated film are made of a same material.
‘444 is analogous art in the field of ANTI-WETTING COATING (title), In the semiconductor industry, highly corrosive chemicals are used in a variety of processes. These chemicals tend to adsorb onto surfaces that are exposed to them (also known as “wetting”). Additionally, surfaces with complex geometries and/or surfaces of articles that have a high aspect ratio may have residuals of these highly corrosive chemicals. Wetting as well as the accumulation of corrosive residues may increase harm to the article by generating particles which could then contribute to defects in the article ([0003]), Exemplary non limiting articles may be selected from the group consisting of an electrostatic chuck, a nozzle, a gas distribution plate, a shower head, an electrostatic chuck component, a chamber wall, a liner, a liner kit, a gas line, a chamber lid, a nozzle, a single ring, a processing kit ring, a base, a shield, a plasma screen, a flow equalizer, a cooling base, a chamber viewport, a bellow ([0022]). ’444 teaches that Anti-wetting coatings contemplated herein may comprise an optional ceramic material and a second material selected from the group consisting of pure amorphous silicon, hydrogenated silicon, silicon hydride, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluoroalkoxy alkanes (PFA), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), low density polyethylene (PELD), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), polyamide, polyimide, polyimide-amide, polyurea, polyurethane, polythiurea, polyester, polyimine, and combinations thereof ([0018], 2nd sentence, note fluorinated ethylene propylene is one of the polyolefin). ‘444 also teaches that After an X number of wafers processed in said chamber (where X could be 10,000 for example), a process drift and metal contamination may start to occur. The wafer processing may stop and the chamber component may be stripped of any residual anti-wetting coating (or perhaps only stripped of any residual top capping anti-wetting layer) and then re-coated with a new anti-wetting coating (or perhaps only with a top capping anti-wetting layer) ([0043], 3rd -4th sentence). Note also ‘444’s chamber component is also the substrate in the vacuum chamber, see Figs. 4-6.
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have replaced the Teflon/PTFE on substrate support of ‘883 with FEP or polyamide, as taught by ’444, and then combined with ‘140, for the purpose of forming anti-wetting coating on the chamber articles and/or for its suitability with predictable results. The selection of something based on its known suitability for its intended use has been held to support a prima facie case of obviousness. MPEP 2144.07. Furthermore, to have used the combined apparatus to deposit various polymers on glass substrate as taught by ‘883, for the purpose of forming various semiconductor products or glass products as taught by ‘883 ([0030], [0133]). Note overlapping polymer between ‘444 and ‘883.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are not convincing in light of the new ground of rejection above.
Applicants’ amendment, see bottom of page 6, overcomes the objection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20170294343 is cited for increasing temperature reduces polymer deposition rate ([0041]).
US 4861628 is cited for polyurea and polyureapolyurethane membrane (abstract).
US 20070093075 is cited for timing for performing cleaning by a threshold concerning a cumulative film thickness formed on a target substrate (abstract).
US 6776851 is cited for “The method initiates with depositing a fluorine containing polymer layer over an inner surface of a semiconductor process chamber where the semiconductor chamber is empty” (abstract) the polymer coating has an average chemical formula of CFx, where x is a real number between 1 and 4 (col. 4, lines 45-47, Teflon is at x=4). US 5528451 is cited for erosion resistant film polyimide on chuck (claim 6). US 20060063682 is cited in-situ fluorination of polyimide (abstract).
US 20190035605 is cited for “the surface of the upper electrode is covered in advance with a film as a pre-coat which is the same film as the one to be formed on the substrate” ([0046]).
Newly submitted IDS JP 2013520028 is noted for forming protective SAM layer on chamber surfaces.
US 3678889 states “the PTFE and PFEP films will cause evaporated atoms to be retained for a shorter time than when heated to below the softening point, and reduce the sticking coefficient of evaporated atoms” (col. 5, lines 34-38, i.e. reducing unwanted deposition from the evaporated atoms). US 20210032750 is cited for hydrophobic PTFE prevent water precursor adsorption ([0044]-[0045]).
US 20010017184 is cited for photoresist resin reacts with fluorine gas to form Teflon ([0013]).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEATH T CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1870. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00 pm.
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/KEATH T CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716