DETAILED ACTION
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 .
The status of the 04/10/2026 claims, is as follows: Claims 15, 17-18, and 20 have been withdrawn; Claims 2, 7-14, 16, and 19 have been canceled; Claims 1, 3-6, 15, 17-18, and 20-27 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, and 21-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steinhauser (US 20150055940) in view of Johnsgard (US 6342691)
Regarding Claim 1, Steinhauser discloses a method of calibrating a heater (method 1000 of calibrating a heater assembly 802, para. 0086; fig. 23A), the method comprising:
powering the heater (heater assembly 802) to a first temperature setpoint (predetermined temperature, step 1016; fig. 23A) (para. 0089), wherein the heater comprises a resistive heating element (heating element 812) (“temperature-dependent resistance characteristics of the heating elements 812”, para. 0086);
turning-off power to the heater when the heater is at the first temperature setpoint (predetermined temperature) to passively cool the heater (step 1020; fig. 23A);
concurrently obtaining a plurality of resistance measurements of the resistive heating element (heating element 812) and a plurality of reference temperature measurements of a reference area at the heater (temperature of heater assembly 802) (step 1022; fig. 23A) (para. 0087-0088 and 0090) (it is noted that the lookup table comprising the relationship between the resistance characteristics of heating assembly and temperature and in step 1022 the lookup table is updated based on new temperature data) as the heater (heater assembly 802) passively cools from the first temperature setpoint to a second temperature setpoint (step 1022; fig. 23A) (para. 0090) (it is noted that the lookup table comprises the relationship between the resistance characteristics and temperature, therefore when obtaining the lookup table in step 1022 to update the lookup table with the new temperature data, the resistance data and temperature data are obtained concurrently. It is also noted according to para. 0049-0050 of the original specification of the instant application, “reference member” refers to a reference area about the heater (i.e. a reference temperature). The reference area is the surface of the heater. The reference area can be also the TC wafer disposed on the heater to measure temperature along the surface of the heater. In this case, Steinhauser discloses the temperature of each heating zone is measured); and
generating a resistance-temperature calibration table (lookup table) that correlates the plurality of resistance measurements (resistance) with the plurality of reference temperature measurements (range of expected temperature) (step 1010-1012) (para. 0087).
Steinhauser does not disclose:
the method comprising powering the heater in an isothermal environment,
wherein the heater is thermally isolated when the method of calibrating the heater is performed.
However, Johnsgard discloses the heater (base heaters 120A; fig. 1) is thermally isolated (col. 14, lines 11-19) by insulating walls 130A-H (col. 16, lines 52-64).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Steinhauser to comprise powering the heater in the isothermal environment, in such a way that the heater is thermally isolated within the insulating walls as taught by Johnsgard, in order to reduce heat loss thereby increase the energy efficiency and achieve temperature uniformity (col. 9, 4 lines 61-67, 40-44 respectively and also col. 16, lines 52-56).
The modification would result in the method, in which the heater is heated in the isothermal environment (it is noted the environment is isothermal because it is the environment in which temperature is uniform in the chamber because the chamber would be insulated by insulating walls 130A-H) and the heater is thermally isolated when the method of calibrating the heater is performed (it is noted the heater assembly of Steinhauser would be insulated by the insulating walls 130A-H to prevent heat loss and yield temperature uniformity).
Regarding Claim 21, Johnsgard discloses the isothermal environment (chamber 128) is an isothermal chamber (col. 4, 10, 16 lines 40-44, 27-50, 52-60 respectively. It is noted the chamber is insulated by insulating walls 130A-H to yield temperature uniformity inside).
Regarding Claim 22, Johnsgard discloses the isothermal chamber (chamber 128) includes an insulating material (insulating walls 130A-H) that encases the heater (heaters 120) to thermally isolate the heater (col. 16, lines 52-56).
Regarding Claim 23, the modification discloses the insulating material (insulating walls 130A-H of Johnsgard) is configured to reduce heat loss between the resistive heating element (heating element 812 of Steinhauser) and an exterior surface of the heater (heater assembly 802) (col. 4, 16 lines 40-44, 52-55 respectively of Johnsgard. It is noted that the temperature within the insulating chamber would be uniform because the chamber is insulated by insulating walls 130A-H of Johnsgard).
Regarding Claim 24, the modification discloses in the isothermal environment (insulating chamber of Johnsgard), a surface temperature of the heater (surface temperature of the heater assembly 802 of Steinhauser) is equal to a temperature of the resistive heating element (heating element 812 of Steinhauser) (col. 4, 16 lines 40-44, 52-55 respectively of Johnsgard. It is noted the temperature within the chamber enclosed by the insulating walls of 130A-H is uniform, therefore temperature of the heater assembly of Steinhauser is equal to the temperature of heating element Steinhauser).
Regarding Claim 25, the modification discloses in the isothermal environment (insulating chamber of Johnsgard), a surface temperature of the heater (surface temperature of heater assembly 802 of Steinhauser) is indicative of a temperature of the resistive heating element (temperature of heating element 812 Steinhauser) (col. 4, 16 lines 40-44, 52-55 respectively of Johnsgard. It is noted the temperature within the chamber enclosed by the insulating walls of 130A-H is uniform, therefore temperature of the heater assembly of Steinhauser is equal to the temperature of heating element Steinhauser).
Regarding Claim 26, Steinhauser discloses further comprising continuously measuring the plurality of resistance measurements of the resistive heating element (resistance of heating element) and the plurality of reference temperature measurements of the reference area (temperature of heater assembly) (para. 0087).
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the modification of Steinhauser (US 20150055940) and Johnsgard (US 6342691) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Merchant (US 20180269089)
Regarding Claim 3, the modification discloses substantially all of the claimed features as set forth above, except the reference area is an exterior surface of the heater.
However, Merchant discloses a method of calibrating a heater (para. 0028-0031), wherein the reference area is an exterior surface of the heater (surface of support 150a) (“non-contact temperature sensors 120a, 120b are configured to obtain temperature measurements of the respective area over each of the substrate supports 150a, 150b”, para. 0024).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Steinhauser in view of Johnsgard, wherein the reference area is the exterior surface of the heater as taught by Merchant, in order to capture temperature data of the exterior surface of the heater such that the temperature data can be used to calibrate the heater.
Regarding Claim 4, the modification discloses the method, wherein the plurality of reference temperature measurements of the exterior surface of the heater (surface temperature of substrate support 150a of Merchant) are obtained with an infrared camera (infrared camera 814) (para. 0071 of Steinhauser).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the modification of Steinhauser (US 20150055940) and Johnsgard (US 6342691) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Uozumi (US 20220228924)
Regarding Claim 5, the modification discloses substantially all of the claimed features as set forth above, except the plurality of reference temperature measurements are obtained with a thermocouple is the thermocouple wafer disposed on the heater.
However, Uozumi discloses a thermocouple (heating plate 61a) is the thermocouple wafer (heating plate 61a comprises a thermocouple sensor 61c) disposed on the heater (heater 61b) (para. 0078-0079; fig. 5B) (it is noted according to para. 0049-0050 of the original specification of the instant application, “reference member” refers to a reference area about the heater (i.e. a reference temperature). The reference area can be also the TC wafer disposed on the heater to measure temperature along the surface of the heater).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Steinhauser in view of Johnsgard to obtain the plurality of reference temperature measurements using the thermocouple wafer disposed on the heater as taught by Uozumi, in order to utilize the thermocouple wafer to measure the temperature along the surface of the heater such that measurements of the temperature and resistance of the heater are used to obtain correlation between the resistance and temperature to calibrate the heater.
Claims 6 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the modification of Steinhauser (US 20150055940) and Johnsgard (US 6342691) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Endo (US 20210051769)
Regarding Claim 6, the modification discloses substantially all of the claimed features as set forth above, wherein obtaining a resistance measurement from among the plurality of resistance measurements (resistance characteristics) comprises measuring the resistances of the heating element concurrently with obtaining the plurality of reference temperatures (temperature) (para. 0087 and 0090 of Steinhauser) (it is noted that the lookup table as shown in step 1022 comprises relationship between resistance and temperature. Therefore, the resistance and temperature are concurrently obtained).
The modification does not disclose measuring at least one of an electric current and a voltage, and determining the resistance measurement based on the measured at least one electric current and the voltage.
However, Endo discloses the method, wherein to obtain a resistance measurement from among the plurality of resistance measurements (resistance values of heater 23-1; fig. 6), the method further comprises measuring at least one of an electric current and a voltage (current value), and determining the resistance measurement (resistance values) based on the measured at least one electric current and the voltage (current) (para. 0032).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Steinhauser in view of Johnsgard to measure the current and determine the resistance measurement based on the measured current as taught by Endo because it is known in the art to measure the current to determine the resistance corresponding to the measured current through the heater.
Regarding Claim 27, the modification discloses substantially all of the claimed features as set forth above, except further comprising periodically measuring the plurality of resistance measurements of the resistive heating element and the plurality of reference temperature measurements of the reference area.
However, Endo discloses the plurality of resistance measurements (resistance values) and the plurality of temperature measurements (change in temperature of one first heater) are obtained periodically (measurement period 121-1 to 121-m) (para. 0048 and 0050).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Steinhauser in view of Johnsgard to obtain the plurality of resistance measurements and the plurality of temperature measurements periodically with respect to time as taught by Endo. Doing so would allow the controller to execute the offset adjustment again from the beginning as a feed-back loop when the variation in resistance values measured by the resistance sensor is larger than a predetermined value, such that the accuracy of the calibration table is ensured (para. 0051-0052 of Endo).
Response to Argument
Applicant's arguments filed on 04/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are respectfully not persuasive because:
Applicant’s Arguments: with respect to claim 1 on p. 7-8 of the Remarks “Office Action concedes that Steinhauser does not teach "the method
comprising powering the heater in an isothermal environment ... wherein the heater is
thermally isolated when the method of calibrating the heater is performed" but it relies on
Johnsgard to cure the deficiency of Steinhauser regarding Claim 1. Specifically, the Office
Action states that Johnsgard teaches thermally isolating the heater by insulating walls
and, therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify the
method of Steinhauser with the teachings of Johnsgard "to reduce heat loss [and] thereby
increase the energy efficiency and achieve temperature uniformity."
Applicant respectfully disagrees for at least the following independent reasons.
First, Johnsgard, which teaches using pyrometers to measure a temperature of a block
that is heated by a heater, does not relate to heater calibration. Instead, Johnsgard
describes calibrating the pyrometer by comparing its non-contact radiation measurement
to an adjacent thermocouple measurement under known thermal conditions (colunm 4,
lines 20-21 ). Stated differently, the calibration disclosed in Johnsgard corrects the measurement output of the sensing device (i.e., the pyrometer) and does not calibrate
the operation of the heater. Therefore, Johnsgard does not teach "wherein the heater is
thermally isolated when the method of calibrating the heater is performed," as recited by Claim 1.
Examiner’s Responses:
With respect to claim 1, the applicant’s arguments are respectfully not persuasive because the combination of Steinhauser and Johnsgard would teach "wherein the heater is thermally isolated when the method of calibrating the heater is performed," as recited by Claim 1.
Steinhauser discloses the method of calibrating the heater in a chamber, which includes recording resistance characteristics over a range of temperatures at each heating zone, and turning off power to the heater assembly and recording the temperature decay rate of each heating zone to identify discrepancies between the actual thermal response of the assembly and the expected modeling (para. 0086 and 0090; fig. 23A). Johnsgard discloses a method for thermal processing of semiconductor substrate (title), wherein the heater 120A is heated in insulating walls 130A-H (col. 16, lines 52-64). Both Steinhauser and Johnsgard are pertinent art because they are related to thermal processing of semiconductor substrate. The calibration of the heater of Steinhauser involves heating the heater to pre-determined temperatures and record the resistance characteristics of the heater. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to enclose the heater of Steinhauser within the insulating walls of Johnsgard when the method of calibrating the heater is performed in order to heat the heater to uniform pre-determined temperature with no heat loss because the heater is thermally insulated (col. 9, 4, lines 61-67, 40-44 respectively of Johnsgard). The modification of Steinhauser and Johnsgard would result in the method, wherein the heater is thermally isolated when the method of calibrating the heater is performed.
Applicant’s Arguments: with respect to claim 1 on p. 8-9 of the Remarks
“Here, Steinhauser relates to a method of calibrating a heater assembly in a heater
system, which includes recording resistance characteristics over a range of temperatures
at each heating zone, and turning off power to the heater assembly and recording the
temperature decay rate of each heating zone to identify discrepancies between the actual
thermal response of the assembly and the expected modelling (paragraphs [0086] and
[0090] and FIG. 23A). Johnsgard teaches enclosing a heated block and a wafer within an
insulated heating charnber to reduce heat loss and enhance uniformity, where the wafer
is heated by the heated block (column 16, lines 52-64, FIG.1 ).
Adding Johnsgard's thermal isolation to Steinhauser's heater assembly would
significantly slow the passive cooling process, making the temperature decay rate
measurements impractical or unreliable. That is, the differences in heat loss
characteristics between the heater assembly and the expected modelling at different
heating zones of Johnsgard, which Steinhauser's method is designed to detect, would be
minimized or eliminated. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that thermally isolating the heater assembly during a calibration method that depends on measuring
cooling characteristics and temperature decay rate differences would defeat the purpose
of the calibration. Therefore, modifying Steinhauser's calibration method based on the
thermnal isolation techniques disclosed in Johnsgard would render Steinhauser's
calibration method unsatisfactory for its intended purpose (Le., detecting discrepancies in
thermal response through temperature decay rate measurements). As such, there is no
motivation to combine the cited references to arrive at Claim 1”
Examiner’s Responses:
With respect to claim 1, the applicant’s arguments are respectfully not persuasive because adding Johnsgard’s thermal isolation to Steinhauser’s heater assembly would not affect the calibration method of Steinhauser, nor render the calibration method of Stainhauser unsatisfactory for its intended purpose because the calibration of the heater is performed by measuring the resistance characteristics in response to a range of temperatures (fig. 23A). Adding Johnsgard’s thermal isolation would encourage thermal uniformity of the heater assembly as the heater is heated to uniform pre-determined temperatures and the resistance characteristics are then measured corresponding to the range of temperatures (step 1010). Thereafter, the look up table is generated relating the resistance characteristics and temperatures (step 1012). Adding Johnsgard’s thermal isolation during the heater calibration would eliminate the variation in the environment and improve accuracy of the temperature and resistance measurements (para. 0084-0085 of Steinhauser). After the heater is turned off at step 1020, the temperature of the heater assembly would decrease and thereafter the temperature decay rate of the heater assembly can be observed and compared expected temperatures from modeling. At step 1020, taking temperature measurements of each zone after the heater is turned off does not take a long time nor deems impractical as implied by the Applicant.
At step 1020, as temperature of the heater assembly decreases, the temperature measurements of each zone can be taken and compared to the expected temperatures from model. Thereafter, the lookup table can be updated with new temperature data.
The modification would allow the heater calibration of Steinhauser to be performed as intended and provide energy efficiency and accuracy of the measurements because the heater assembly would be heated to uniform predetermined temperatures quickly within the thermal isolation of Johnsgard so that the resistance characteristics can be measured in response to the range of temperatures. The heater calibration of Steinhauser can be performed efficiently because there is no heat loss.
For the above reasons, the rejections to all of the claims are respectfully sustained by the Examiner.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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 BONITA KHLOK whose telephone number is (571)270-7313. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 9:00am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, IBRAHIME ABRAHAM can be reached on (571)270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BONITA KHLOK/ Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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