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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/12/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicants’ submission, filed on 11/12/2025, in response to claims 1-6, 9, 12-15, and 17-18 rejection from the final office action (08/13/2025), by amending claims 1, 3, 9-10, 15-16, and 18 and adding new claims 19-21 is entered and will be addressed below.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7-8, 10-11, and 16 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention Group II and Species B-D, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Interpretations
The newly added limitation “a coating film formed on the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel by a spray coating process” of claim 19 is a product by process claim.
The “a high frequency power” of claim 1, Applicants’ Specification discloses “the high frequency power whose frequency is from 800 kHz to 50 MHz” [0030], therefore, claim 1 will be examined around this frequency range.
The “the heater comprises a susceptor heater (217b) provided in a susceptor” of claim 2 and the “wherein the heater comprises a lamp heater (280)” of claim 3 are different heater in Applicants’ Specification. However, claims 2 and 3 are not bounded by the Specification, and one single embedded lamp heater can read into both claims 2 and 3.
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, 4-6, 12-15, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TERASAKI et al. (US 20140106573, from IDS, hereafter ‘573), in view of SAKAKIBARA et al. (JP 2000182799, hereafter ‘799) and ISOBE et al. (US 20170029627, hereafter ‘627).
‘573 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 1: Substrate Processing Apparatus And Method Of Manufacturing Semiconductor Device (title, includes the claimed “A substrate processing apparatus comprising”):
The substrate processing apparatus 100 includes a process furnace 202 configured to plasma-process wafers 200. In the process furnace 202, a process container 203 that constitutes a process chamber 201 is installed (Fig. 1, [0021], includes the claimed “a process vessel defining a process chamber”);
At the gas introduction port 234, a downstream side of an oxygen-containing gas supply pipe 232a configured to supply oxygen (O2) gas as an oxygen-containing gas, a downstream side of a hydrogen-containing gas supply pipe 232b configured to supply hydrogen (H2) gas as a hydrogen-containing gas, and an inert gas supply pipe 232c configured to supply argon (Ar) gas as an inert gas are connected to join together ([0032], includes the claimed “a process gas supplier configured to supply a process gas into the process vessel”);
The process chamber 201 includes a plasma generation space 201a around which a coil 212 is installed ([0023]), The high-frequency power source 273 is configured to supply high-frequency power to the resonance coil 212 ([0043], includes the claimed “a plasma generation space where a plasma is generated and an electromagnetic field generation electrode is provided, wherein the electromagnetic field generation electrode extending along an outer peripheral surface of the process vessel while being spaced apart from the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel and configured to generate an electromagnetic field in the process vessel by being supplied with a high frequency power” and as shown in Fig. 1);
In the susceptor 217, a heater 217b serving as a heating mechanism is integrally embedded ([0026], includes the claimed “a heater configured to radiate an infrared light to heat a substrate accommodated in the process chamber”, note heater includes infrared light region),
The process chamber 201 includes a plasma generation space 201a around which a coil 212 is installed, and a substrate processing space 201b in which the wafers 200 are processed in communication with the plasma generation space 201a … The substrate processing space 201b is a space where a substrate is processed with plasma, and is located below the lower part of the resonance coil 212 ([0023], includes the claimed “a substrate processing space communicating with the plasma generation space and in which the substrate is processed by using the plasma“).
‘573 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 1: a reflector constituted by a first non-metallic material capable of reflecting the infrared light radiated from the heater and an infrared light indirectly radiated from the substrate and transmitting the electromagnetic field generated by the electromagnetic field generation electrode, and provided around the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel between the process vessel and the electromagnetic field generation electrode so as to surround the plasma generation space and the substrate processing space.
Claim 6: wherein the reflector comprises a reflective film capable of reflecting the infrared light and provided in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel.
Claim 12: wherein the reflector is provided so as to surround an entirety of the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel.
‘799 is an analogous art in the field of INDUCTIVE COUPLING PLASMA DEVICE AND TREATING FURNACE USING THIS (title). ‘799 teaches that In FIG. 1, the high-frequency induction coil 2 is connected to a high-frequency inverter power supply (not shown) … the conventional apparatus is a metal thin film 11 provided on the inner surface of the discharge tube 1 (middle of page 5), At least one of the inner surface and the outer surface of the discharge tube is coated with a thin film that reflects infrared light (bottom of page 3, outer surface emphasized), to prevent the radiation energy from escaping to the outside of the discharge tube (page 3, 5th complete paragraph). Note a person of ordinary skill would have known that to prevent the radiation energy from escaping to the outside of the discharge tube is most effective to cover the entire outer surface as IR light is diffusing in all directions.
‘627 is an analogous art or solving similar problem in the field of BLACK FINE PARTICULATE NEAR-INFRARED REFLECTIVE MATERIAL, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME, AND USAGE FOR SAME (title), The near-infrared reflective material of the present invention can further include a Group 13 element in the periodic table such as a boron element, an aluminum element ([0035]). ‘627 teaches that the near-infrared reflective material can be used by being applied on, fixed on, or kneaded into a base material and the like. Therefore, the near-infrared reflectivity can be imparted to a coating film ([0023]), to coat the surface of the particles of the near-infrared reflective material with alumina ([0063], therefore, the aluminum is coated with alumina before applied on a base material), for the purpose of improving tinting strength ([0003]).
Before the effective filing dates of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have added a thin film that reflects infrared light, as taught by ‘799, to the entire outer surface of the process chamber 201 of ‘573, for the purpose of prevent the radiation energy from escaping to the outside of the discharge tube, as taught by ‘799 (page 3, 5th complete paragraph). Furthermore, to have added alumina to the aluminum before applying as the reflector of ‘799, and then combined with ‘573, for the purpose of improving tinting strength, as taught by ‘627 ([0003]).
The combination of ‘573, ‘799, and ‘627 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 4: An object of the present invention is to provide an inductively coupled plasma apparatus in which plasma energy is efficiently transmitted to an object to be processed (‘799, page 3, before [0012], has to allowing passage of the electromagnetic wave, includes the claimed “wherein the process vessel is made of a material capable of transmitting an electromagnetic wave”, also quartz of ‘573 has to allow transmitting of electromagnetic wave energy from coil 212).
Claim 5: it is preferable that a first coating layer of the high-density silica exists on the surface of the particles of the near-infrared reflective material, and a second coating layer of the porous silica or of the aluminum oxide, the aluminum hydrated oxide, or the aluminum hydroxide (which are often referred to as alumina hereinafter) (‘627, [0053], 5th last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the material of the process vessel capable of transmitting the electromagnetic wave comprises a second non-metallic material”).
Claim 19: In order to apply the coating material onto the base material, an application method, a spraying method and a method of using a trowel are possible (‘627, [0072], 2nd last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the reflector comprises:
a coating film formed on the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel by a spray coating process”, note this is a product by process claim).
Claim 20: the reflectivity at a wavelength of 1200 nm, as an indicator of near-infrared reflective power, is 40% or above (‘627, abstract, includes the claimed “wherein the reflector is made of a material capable of reflecting the infrared light whose wavelength is within a range from 0.8 µm to 100 µm”).
‘573 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 2: In the susceptor 217, a heater 217b serving as a heating mechanism is integrally embedded ([0026], includes the claimed “wherein the heater comprises a susceptor heater provided in a susceptor configured to support the substrate in the process chamber”).
Claim 13: Thus, a high-frequency electric field is formed in the plasma generation space 201a. In the high-frequency electric field, induced plasma having a donut shape is excited at a location having a height corresponding to the electrical central point on the resonance coil 212 in the plasma generation space ([0077], includes the claimed “wherein the electromagnetic field generation electrode is configured to plasma-excite the process gas in the process vessel by the electromagnetic field generated in the process vessel”).
Claim 14: Specifically, the resonance coil 212 is formed having an effective cross-sectional area of 50 mm2 to 300 mm2 and a diameter of 200 mm to 500 mm and is wound around an outer peripheral portion of the plasma generation space 201a ([0052], includes the claimed “wherein the electromagnetic field generation electrode comprises an electrode of a coil shape wound along the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel”).
‘573 also teaches some limitations of:
Claim 15: The substrate processing apparatus 100 includes a process furnace 202 configured to plasma-process wafers 200. In the process furnace 202, a process container 203 that constitutes a process chamber 201 is installed (Fig. 1, [0021], includes the claimed “a process vessel defining a process chamber”);
At the gas introduction port 234, a downstream side of an oxygen-containing gas supply pipe 232a configured to supply oxygen (O2) gas as an oxygen-containing gas, a downstream side of a hydrogen-containing gas supply pipe 232b configured to supply hydrogen (H2) gas as a hydrogen-containing gas, and an inert gas supply pipe 232c configured to supply argon (Ar) gas as an inert gas are connected to join together ([0032], includes the claimed “a process gas supplier configured to supply a process gas into the process vessel”);
The process chamber 201 includes a plasma generation space 201a around which a coil 212 is installed ([0023]), The high-frequency power source 273 is configured to supply high-frequency power to the resonance coil 212 ([0043], includes the claimed “a plasma generation space where a plasma is generated and an electromagnetic field generation electrode is provided, wherein the electromagnetic field generation electrode extends along an outer peripheral surface of the process vessel while being spaced apart from the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel and configured to generate an electromagnetic field in the process vessel by being supplied with a high frequency power” and as shown in Fig. 1);
In the susceptor 217, a heater 217b serving as a heating mechanism is integrally embedded ([0026], includes the claimed “a heater configured to radiate an infrared light to heat a substrate accommodated in the process chamber”, note heater includes infrared light region),
The process chamber 201 includes a plasma generation space 201a around which a coil 212 is installed, and a substrate processing space 201b in which the wafers 200 are processed in communication with the plasma generation space 201a … The substrate processing space 201b is a space where a substrate is processed with plasma, and is located below the lower part of the resonance coil 212 ([0023], includes the claimed “a substrate processing space communicating with the plasma generation space and in which the substrate is processed by using the plasma“).
‘573 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 15: A reflector used in a substrate processing apparatus comprising:
wherein the reflector is constituted by a first non-metallic material capable of reflecting the infrared light radiated from the heater and an infrared light indirectly radiated from the substrate and transmitting the electromagnetic field generated by the electromagnetic field generation electrode, and provided around the outer peripheral surface of the process vessel between the process vessel and the electromagnetic field generation electrode so as to surround the plasma generation space and the substrate processing space
‘799 and ‘627 are analogous arts as discussed above.
Before the effective filing dates of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have added a thin film that reflects infrared light, as taught by ‘799, at the outer surface of the process chamber 201 of ‘573, for the purpose of prevent the radiation energy from escaping to the outside of the discharge tube, as taught by ‘799 (page 3, 5th complete paragraph), Furthermore, to have added alumina to the aluminum before applying as the reflector of ‘799, and then combined with ‘573, for the purpose of improving tinting strength, as taught by ‘627 ([0003]).
Claims 3, 17, and 21, and alternatively claims 1-2, 4, 6, 12-15, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘573, in view of ‘799 and Johnsgard et al. (US 6002109, hereafter ‘109).
‘573 teaches some limitations of claim 1 and does not teach the other limitations of claim 1 and claims 6 and 12 as discussed above.
‘799 is an analogous art as discussed above.
‘109 is an analogous art in the field of System And Method For Thermal Processing Of A Semiconductor Substrate (title), Most RTP systems use high intensity lamps (usually tungsten-halogen lamps or arc lamps) to selectively heat a wafer within a cold wall clear quartz furnace (col. 1, lines 39-42), Increasingly complex systems have been developed for measuring emissivity and for compensating for reflected radiation (col. 2, lines 41-43). ‘109 teaches that A vacuum region is preferably provided between the heated block and the insulating material as well as between the insulating material and the chamber wall (abstract), the insulating walls may be formed from a transmissive material such as clear quartz coated with a reflective material such as alumina (col. 11, lines 59-61).
Before the effective filing dates of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have added a thin film that reflects infrared light, as taught by ‘799, at the entire outer surface of the process chamber 201 of ‘573, for the purpose of prevent the radiation energy from escaping to the outside of the discharge tube, as taught by ‘799 (page 3, 5th complete paragraph), Furthermore, to have adopted alumina coating as insulator, as taught by ‘109, to the quartz container/chamber 210 of ‘573, for the purpose of insulating the chamber, as taught by ‘109 (col. 11, lines 59-61).
The combination of ‘573, ‘799, and ‘109 further teaches the limitations of:
Claims 3 and 21 : Most RTP systems use high intensity lamps (usually tungsten-halogen lamps or arc lamps) to selectively heat a wafer within a cold wall clear quartz furnace (‘109, col. 1, lines 39-42, includes the claimed “wherein the heater comprises a lamp heater provided above the process chamber” of claim 3, as shown in Fig. 2, and “wherein the lamp heater is provided at a position corresponding to that of a susceptor configured to support the substrate in the process chamber, and configured to heat the substrate from above” of claim 21).
Claim 4: An object of the present invention is to provide an inductively coupled plasma apparatus in which plasma energy is efficiently transmitted to an object to be processed (‘799, page 3, before [0012], has to allowing passage of the electromagnetic wave, includes the claimed “wherein the process vessel is made of a material capable of transmitting an electromagnetic wave”, also quartz of ‘573 has to allow transmitting of energy from coil 212, and clear quartz of ‘109 also transmitting electromagnetic wave).
‘573 further teaches the limitations of claims 2, 13, and 14, as discussed above.
Claim 15 is similarly rejected over ‘573, ‘799, and ‘109.
The imported alumina coating on clear quartz chamber as taught by ‘109 to ‘573 also reads into the limitations of:
Claim 17: wherein the first non-metallic material is less capable of transmitting the infrared light than a material of the process vessel.
In case Applicants argue that the heater 217b of ‘573 does not necessarily emit infrared, ‘109’s lamp heater clearly includes infrared. Furthermore, ‘109 teaches that insulating walls 530a-d are preferably highly reflective and substantially nontransmissive to thermal radiation (particularly in the visible and infrared regions) (col. 11, lines 26-29).
Claims 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘573, ‘799, and ‘627 (or ‘109), as being applied to claims 1 and 6 rejection above, further in view of BANNA et al. (US 20150068682, hereafter ‘682).
The combination of ‘573, ‘799, and ‘627 (or ‘109) does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 9: wherein the reflective film is made of yttrium oxide.
Claim 18: wherein the reflector is made of yttrium oxide.
‘682 is an analogous art in the field of POWER DEPOSITION CONTROL IN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA (ICP) REACTORS (title). ‘682 teaches that the dielectric window 104 may be fabricated from ceramic, quartz, or the like. In some embodiments, the dielectric window 104 may be fabricated from aluminum oxide (Al2O3) or Yttria, or could be coated with Yttria (Fig. 1, [0022], 2nd last sentence, i.e. yttria coated on quartz).
Before the effective filing dates of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have added an yttria coating, as taught by ‘682, to the quartz upper container 210 of ‘573, for its suitability for ICP dielectric window, 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. As such, the alumina coatings imported from ‘799, ‘627 (or ‘109) would have included yttria.
Alternatively, claims 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘573, ‘799, and ‘627 (or ‘109), as being applied to claims 1 and 6 rejection above, further in view of PENG et al. (US 20170322076, hereafter ‘076).
In case Applicants argue that yttria of ‘682 is not an IR reflector.
‘076 is an analogous art in the field of a reflecting type infrared filter ([0004]). ‘076 teaches that As shown in FIG. 2A, a reflecting type infrared filter 2 includes a transparent medium 20 such as glass, acrylic (PMMA) and quartz, and a first coating film 22 and a second coating film 24 formed on opposite sides of the transparent medium 20, respectively ([0004]). ‘076 teaches a multi-layered film structure (Fig.1A, [0024]), that the material forming each layers of the film is at least one selected from the group consisting of TiO2, SiO2, Y2O3, MgF2, Al2O3 ([0035]), the optical properties such as spectral transmittance can be adjusted by different designs of refractive indexes, layers and thicknesses ([0033]).
Before the effective filing dates of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have adopted a multi-layered film structure including alumina and yttria, as taught by ‘076, as the IR reflector of imported coating of ‘799 and ‘627 (or ‘109) to ‘573, for the purpose of flexibility of tuning the reflectivity, as taught by ‘076 ([0033]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/12/2025 have been fully considered but they are not convincing in light of the new grounds of rejections above.
In regarding to 35 USC 103 rejection over Terasaki ‘573, Sakakibara ‘799, and Isobe ‘627, Applicants argue that the combination lacks the claimed non-metallic reflector between the vessel and the coil that surrounds both spaces, see item II of page 12.
This argument is found not persuasive.
The examiner maintains that a PHOSTIA would have known that to prevent the radiation energy from escaping to the outside of the discharge tube is most effective to cover the entire outer surface as IR light is diffusing in all directions.
Applicants further argue that Johnsgard ‘109 is not ICP tool, see item III on page 14.
This argument is found not persuasive.
The examiner maintains that a PHOSTIA would have known that the IR reflection of ‘109 would function the same reflection property in an ICP environment. The presence of radio wave does not affect IR reflectivity.
The rejection is hindsight, and each cited references uses metal films to trap heat, see item V on page 15.
This argument is found not persuasive.
In response to applicant's argument that the examiner's conclusion of obviousness is based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning. But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971).
The examiner disagrees with each reference uses metal film to trap heat.
The references do not disclose non-metallic reflector in the annulus between the vessel and the coil, see item VI on page 16.
This argument is found not persuasive.
The examiner maintain the combination of ‘573 and ‘799 clearly need to have reflector in the annulus between the vessel and the coil. Replacing metal film with oxide is obvious by the teaching of ‘627 or ‘109. The new references ‘076 teaches multi-layered oxide IR reflector. The new reference ‘682 teaches that yttria between quartz chamber and coil is a known construction. See also 20070223000 in the conclusion.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20070223000 is cited for alumina, yttria as cladding material, by adjusting thickness to achieve total internal reflection in infrared ([0073]).
US 20050268567 is cited for white alumina on the window of a plasma chamber ([0046]).
US 20160163591 is cited for ICP ([0043]) and “a transmission plate 76 that is made of dielectric such as alumina and transmissive to high frequency (Fig. 2, [0050]).
US 20100006539 is cited for shielding plate 610 between antenna/coil 510 and top plate/chamber wall 130 (Fig. 5) which is reflective coating ([0081]). US 5720846 is cited for aluminum or silver reflective film 30 between coil 40 and chamber 10 (Fig. 1).
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 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.
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/KEATH T CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716