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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/07/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicants’ submission, filed on 11/07/2025, in response to claims 1-4, 7-9 17-19, and 21-28 rejection from the final office action (05/08/2025), by amending claims 1-2, 4, and 17-20, adding new claims 29-30, and cancelling claim 21 is entered and will be addressed below.
Election/Restrictions
Claim 20 remains withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 “wherein the outlet hole is directed vertically upward with respect to the plurality of introduction holes”, it appears requiring outlet hole in a vertical upward direction no matter where the introduction holes are oriented.
The newly amended “wherein a cross-sectional area of an opening of the outlet hole is equal to that of the opening provided at the boundary between the second fluid supplier and the vaporization chamber” of claim 2, as the outlet hole at the tip of the second fluid supplier (i.e. an opening) is the same location as the boundary between the second fluid supplier and the vaporization chamber, this claim is intrinsic by definition.
On page 10-12 of previous argument 04/21/2025, Applicants argue this interpretation should be based on [0078], [0079] and [0113] and section A and section B are vertically opposite. The examiner considers there is an agreement of the “vertical opposite”. It seems Applicants also not insist any specific sub-component as being “vertical opposite”. It appears Applicants are insisting that the first fluid supplier and the second fluid supplier have to be a region marked by the dotted lines A and B in Fig. 5, while the examiner considers the “a first fluid supplier … provided with a nozzle … a nozzle holder … a first carrier gas” and “a second fluid supplier … provided with an outlet hole … and a plurality of introduction holes”. Again, it is the whole of the first fluid supplier and the second fluid supplier are vertically opposite to each other, not the subcomponents (nozzle, nozzle holder, outlet hole, introduction holes) of these two suppliers being vertically opposite.
The previously added limitation “the outlet hole whose diameter is smaller than that of the nozzle holder provided at a boundary between the vaporization chamber and the first fluid supplier“, this is considered supported in Applicants’ Fig. 5 as illustrated below:
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[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (Diameter of
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 1-4, 7-9, 17-19, and 22-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The “"a plurality of introduction holes … along directions passing each other" of claims 1 and 19, it is not clear for several reasons. First, it is not clear “directions” means. Fig. 10A shows each introduction hole 106 is a straight line and has one direction, or the directions means the spiral flow as 360 directions. Second, passing each other seems to refer to the plurality of introduction holes. Or is it the introduction holes (106) passing “an outlet hole (111)”, which seems redundant because it already include “a plurality of introduction holes disposed at different locations of the second fluid supplier around the outlet hole”. Thirdly, with two introduction holes as shown in Fig. 10A and each having one direction, the two directions of these two introduction holes does not passing each other. Is the claim requiring more than two introduction holes?
This portion of claims 1 and 19 will be examined inclusive all of the above interpretations.
Dependent claims 2-4, 7-9 17-18, 22-30 are also rejected under USC 112(b) at least due to dependency to rejected claim 1.
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 1-4, 17-19, 22, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MORIKAWA et al. (US 20180135176, from IDS, hereafter ‘176), in view of Krotov et al. (US 6758591, previously applied ref, hereafter ‘591).
‘176 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 1: A vaporization system (abstract, corresponds to the claimed “A vaporizing system comprising”):
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the vaporizer 56 as a vaporization system includes at least a vaporization tube 66 constituting a vaporization chamber 65 and a delivery part 69, a first fluid supply part for supplying a mixed fluid obtained by mixing a first carrier gas (inert gas) 88 and a liquid precursor 63 to the vaporization chamber 65, and a second fluid supply part for supplying a second carrier gas (inert gas) 105 to the vaporization chamber 65 toward the mixed fluid. The second fluid supply part is installed on one end side of the vaporization chamber 65, and the first fluid supply part is installed on the other end side of the second fluid supply part ([0098]), The first fluid supply part A is arranged in an upper portion of the vaporization chamber 65, and the second fluid supply part B is arranged in a lower portion of the vaporization chamber ([0100], the first fluid supply part A supply a mixed first carrier gas 88 and liquid precursor 63 corresponds to the claimed “a vaporization chamber provided with a first end and a second end which is disposed at a location facing the first end; a first fluid supplier connected to the vaporization chamber at the second end”),
A two-fluid spray type spray nozzle 96 for atomizing the liquid precursor 63 is installed in the nozzle holder 95 as a spray nozzle for spraying (atomizing) the liquid precursor 63 in the vaporization chamber 65 (Fig. 6, [0106], exactly the same as Fig. 6 of instant application), The carrier gas supply hole 99 communicates with the gas supply pipe 85 (see FIG. 3) so that the first carrier gas 88 is supplied from the gas supply pipe 85 to the carrier gas chamber 98 through the carrier gas supply hole 99 ([0109], includes the claimed “provided with a nozzle through which a liquid source is supplied and a nozzle holder through which a first carrier gas is supplied“),
as the liquid precursor 63 is torn off by the high-speed first carrier gas 88, the liquid precursor 63 is split and atomized to generate a mist in which the atomized liquid precursor 63 and the first carrier gas 88 are mixed. The mist is sprayed into the vaporization chamber 65 as a high-speed, high-pressure gas-liquid two-layer flow 103 ([0115], last two sentences, includes the claimed “and configured to supply to the first end a mixed fluid containing the first carrier gas and the liquid source mixed with each other”, the second fluid supply part B with the second carrier gas 105 corresponds to the claimed “a second fluid supplier connected to the vaporization chamber at the first end”).
‘176 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 1: (a second fluid supplier connected to the vaporization chamber at the first end) and provided with an outlet hole configured not to obstruct a flow of a second carrier gas and a plurality of introduction holes disposed at different locations of the second fluid supplier around the outlet hole along directions passing each other, and configured to supply the vaporization chamber with a spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas via the outlet hole whose diameter is smaller than that of the nozzle holder provided at a boundary between the vaporization chamber and the first fluid supplier,
wherein the outlet hole is directed vertically upward with respect to the plurality of introduction holes, and
wherein the spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas moves from the outlet hole to an opening provided at a boundary between the second fluid supplier and the vaporization chamber in a vertically upward direction with respect to a direction in which the second carrier gas is introduced into the plurality of introduction holes.
‘591 is analogous art in the field of Mixing Of Materials In An Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Equipment (title), a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process (col. 1, line 24), In chemical vapor deposition (CVD) … have applications in optics (i.e., anti-reflective coatings), electronics (col. 1, lines 12-23) the vapor is generally passed into a reaction chamber (col. 2, lines 41-41) a mixing device includes a nozzle that is disposed tangent to a wall of a chamber. Gas flowing from the nozzle rotates in the chamber forming a vortex. Another gas may be flown near a middle portion of the chamber, thereby uniformly mixing the two gases. In another embodiment, an evaporation and mixing device includes a nozzle configured to impart rotation to a gas flowing into a chamber (abstract), the vortex promotes uniform mixing of materials in chamber (col. 4, lines 58-59). ’591 teaches that FIG. 6A shows a schematic diagram of a mechanism 600 for introducing materials in an integrated circuit manufacturing equipment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Mechanism 600 includes a mixing device 630 having a chamber 633. A nozzle 627 is disposed such that it is tangent to the inner surface of chamber 633. Optionally, a nozzle 601 disposed tangent to the inner surface of chamber 633 may also be employed. A nozzle 602 may be disposed such that it is co-axial with chamber 633. FIG. 6B shows a cross-sectional view of mixing device 630 taken at section B--B of FIG. 6A. As shown in FIG. 6B, gas from nozzle 627 circulates around chamber 633 creating a high speed rotating vortex represented by arrows 235. Similarly, gas from nozzle 601 may also be used to create the vortex. To facilitate the formation of the vortex, nozzle 627 (and nozzle 601, if available) is advantageously configured such that it flows gas at a relatively high rate compared to nozzle 602 (col. 6, line 55 to col. 7, line 5, note Fig. 6B particularly shows the carrier gas vortex from nozzles 627 and 601 flows into the mixing chamber 633 and goes out at bottom without obstruction).
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 carrier gas plate member 109 of ‘176 with the carrier gas nozzles 627 and 601 forming vortex flow in Figs. 6A-6B of ‘591, for the purpose of promoting uniform mixing of materials in chamber, as taught by ‘591 (col. 4, lines 58-59). See illustration below as an example, note the vertex/spiral flow rises along the side wall.
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Outlet hole
directed upward)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Boundary
between
2nd fluid
supply and
vaporization
chamber)]
‘176 also teaches some limitations of:
Claim 19: A processing furnace 1 of a substrate processing apparatus (Figs. 1-3, [0030], corresponds to the claimed “A substrate processing apparatus at least comprising”):
wafers 6 as substrates are stacked in the boat 5 in a horizontal posture and in multiple stages and a process chamber 7 for accommodating and processing the wafers 6 is defined in the inner tube 3 ([0032], corresponds to the claimed “a process chamber in which a substrate is processed);
Nozzles 34, 35, 36, and 37 for supplying a gas into the process chamber 7 are installed in the preliminary chamber 33 such that they extend in a stacking direction of the wafers 6 from a lower portion to an upper portion of the preliminary chamber 33 so as to extend along the inner wall of the preliminary chamber 33 (namely the inner wall of the process chamber 7) ([0047]), A vaporizer 56 which is a vaporization system (vaporization part) and which vaporizes a liquid precursor to generate a vaporized gas as a precursor gas is installed in the gas supply pipe 45 … A precursor gas supply system (vaporized gas supply system) is mainly configured by the nozzle 36, the gas supply pipe 45, the vaporizer 56, the valve 57, and the gas filter 58 (Fig. 3, [0060], corresponds to the claimed “a vaporizer configured to generate a vaporized gas by vaporizing a liquid source; and a source gas supplier configured to supply the vaporized gas as a source gas into the process chamber”),
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the vaporizer 56 as a vaporization system includes at least a vaporization tube 66 constituting a vaporization chamber 65 and a delivery part 69, a first fluid supply part for supplying a mixed fluid obtained by mixing a first carrier gas (inert gas) 88 and a liquid precursor 63 to the vaporization chamber 65, and a second fluid supply part for supplying a second carrier gas (inert gas) 105 to the vaporization chamber 65 toward the mixed fluid. The second fluid supply part is installed on one end side of the vaporization chamber 65, and the first fluid supply part is installed on the other end side of the second fluid supply part ([0098]), The first fluid supply part A is arranged in an upper portion of the vaporization chamber 65, and the second fluid supply part B is arranged in a lower portion of the vaporization chamber ([0100], the first fluid supply part A supply a mixed first carrier gas 88 and liquid precursor 63 corresponds to the claimed “wherein the vaporizer comprises: a vaporization chamber provided with a first end and a second end which is disposed at a location facing the first end; a first fluid supplier connected to the vaporization chamber at the second end”),
A two-fluid spray type spray nozzle 96 for atomizing the liquid precursor 63 is installed in the nozzle holder 95 as a spray nozzle for spraying (atomizing) the liquid precursor 63 in the vaporization chamber 65 (Fig. 6, [0106], exactly the same as Fig. 6 of instant application), The carrier gas supply hole 99 communicates with the gas supply pipe 85 (see FIG. 3) so that the first carrier gas 88 is supplied from the gas supply pipe 85 to the carrier gas chamber 98 through the carrier gas supply hole 99 ([0109], includes the claimed “provided with a nozzle through which a liquid source is supplied and a nozzle holder through which a first carrier gas is supplied“),
as the liquid precursor 63 is torn off by the high-speed first carrier gas 88, the liquid precursor 63 is split and atomized to generate a mist in which the atomized liquid precursor 63 and the first carrier gas 88 are mixed. The mist is sprayed into the vaporization chamber 65 as a high-speed, high-pressure gas-liquid two-layer flow 103 ([0115], last two sentences, includes the claimed “and configured to supply to the first end a mixed fluid containing the first carrier gas and the liquid source mixed with each other”, the second fluid supply part B with the second carrier gas 105 corresponds to the claimed “and a second fluid supplier connected to the vaporization chamber at the first end”).
‘176 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 19: (a second fluid supplier connected to the vaporization chamber at the first end), provided with an outlet hole configured not to obstruct a flow of a second carrier gas and a plurality of introduction holes disposed at different locations of the second fluid supplier around the outlet hole along directions passing each other, and configured to supply, to the vaporization chamber, a spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas via the outlet hole whose diameter is smaller than that of the nozzle holder provided at a boundary between the vaporization chamber and the first fluid supplier,
wherein the outlet hole is directed vertically upward with respect to the plurality of introduction holes, and
wherein the spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas moves from the outlet hole to an opening provided at a boundary between the second fluid supplier and the vaporization chamber in a vertically upward direction with respect to a direction in which the second carrier gas is introduced into the plurality of introduction holes.
‘591 is an analogous art as discussed above.
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 carrier gas plate member 109 of ‘176 with the carrier gas nozzles 627 and 601 forming vortex flow in Figs. 6A-6B of ‘591, for the purpose of promoting uniform mixing of materials in chamber, as taught by ‘591 (col. 4, lines 58-59).
‘176 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 17: An atomizer injection port 101 (hereinafter, simply referred to as an injection port) as a first injection port which is in parallel with a leading end of the spray nozzle 96 and allows the carrier gas chamber 98 and the vaporization chamber 65 to communicate with each other is formed on a lower surface of the carrier gas chamber 98. The injection port 101 is formed around the spray nozzle 96 ([0110], corresponds to the claimed “wherein the nozzle holder comprises an ejection port through which the first carrier gas is supplied, wherein the ejection port is provided around a front end of a spray nozzle”),
the inert gas injected from the injection port 101 is configured to contribute to misting of the liquid precursor 63 without decreasing its speed (while maintaining a high speed) ([0156], last sentence, including the claim “wherein the mixed fluid is sprayed from the nozzle holder to the vaporization chamber”).
Claim 18: the inner diameter of the injection port 101 is extremely smaller than the inner diameter of the carrier gas supply hole 99 ([0111], includes the claimed “wherein an inner diameter of the ejection port is smaller than an inner diameter of the carrier gas supply hole”).
Claim 22: Fig. 4 also shows “wherein the mixed fluid is sprayed to a center of the spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas introduced to the vaporization chamber via a second carrier gas supplier”.
Claim 28: as illustrated in FIG. 4, the number of the discharge holes 70 installed on the sidewall of the vaporization chamber 65 in this embodiment is two. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this embodiment, but three or more may be formed, and a plurality of discharge holes may be formed equally (e.g., at an equal interval) in the circumferential direction on the sidewall of the vaporization chamber 65 ([0104], includes the claimed “wherein a plurality of discharge holes are provided at equal intervals along a direction of the spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas”).
The combination of ‘176 and ‘591 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 2: illustration above shows the claimed “wherein a cross-sectional area of an opening of the outlet hole is equal to that of the opening provided at the boundary between the second fluid supplier and the vaporization chamber”.
Claim 3: the second fluid supply part B is arranged in a lower portion of the vaporization chamber (‘176, [0100], corresponds to the claimed “wherein the first end is provided at a lower portion of the vaporization chamber”),
By replacing the carrier gas plate member 109 of ‘176 with the carrier gas nozzles 627 and 601 in Figs. 6A-6B of ‘591, the vortex would have flown upward (the claimed “and the second carrier gas supplied by the second fluid supplier is configured to flow upward while being rotated in the vaporization chamber”).
Claim 4: illustration above shows the claimed “wherein a flow path communicating between the outlet hole and the vaporization chamber extends straightly upward in the vertical direction with respect to the direction in which the second carrier gas is introduced into the plurality of introduction holes”.
Claims 7-9 and 23-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘176 and ‘591, as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of ITSUKI et al. (US 20220064786, hereafter ‘786).
‘176 further teaches that a gas-liquid mixture injected at high speed from an upper portion of a vaporizer may reach an inner wall thereof and remain in the vaporizer to generate residue. Thus, to improve the vaporization efficiency in the vaporizer, a carrier gas is supplied by an inert gas to the gas-liquid mixture to promote the vaporization and to suppress the residue remaining within the vaporizer ([0005], last two sentences), When there is stagnation of the mist within the vaporization tube 66, residue adheres to the wall surface of the vaporization tube 66, and when the adhesion amount increases, the flow of the gas to the discharge holes 70 may be disturbed to generate turbulent flow ([0103], therefore, the residue is at the upper end of the vaporizer, or the second fluid supplier).
The combination of ‘176 and ‘591 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 7: wherein a surface treatment is performed on a surface of an inner wall of the vaporization chamber so as to suppress an adhesion of the liquid source.
Claim 8: wherein the surface treatment comprises a polishing treatment.
Claim 9: wherein the surface treatment comprises a coating treatment.
‘786 is analogous art in the field of SOLID VAPORIZATION/SUPPLY SYSTEM OF METAL HALIDE FOR THIN FILM DEPOSITION (title), to a semiconductor processing instrument ([0004], last sentence), the vaporizable source material container 100 may be performed in any of liquid, solid and vapor phases ([0039], 3rd sentence). ’786 teaches that A fluorocarbon polymer coating 10 is applied to the container main body 2, the lid body 4 and the joint members 8. To each of them, electrolytic polishing may be applied on their surfaces, instead of the fluorocarbon polymer coating 10. Besides, the fluorocarbon polymer coating 10 may be further applied to the surface of each of the bodies and members having been treated by electrolytic polishing. As a result, the vaporizable source material container 100 has excellent corrosion resistance (Fig. 2, [0044], 2nd sentence), The fluorocarbon polymer coating 10 is preferably applied to every part of the inner and outer surfaces of the container main body 2, the inner and outer surfaces of the lid body 4, surfaces of the fastening members 6 and surfaces of the joint members 8 ([0052]), The vaporizable source material container 100 configured as described above can very effectively reduce particle contamination in the solid vaporization/supply system 500 shown in FIG. 1 ([0078]).
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 adopted Teflon coating and/or electrolytic polishing, as taught by ‘786, particularly near the upper surface of the vaporization tube 66 (‘176, [0103]), for the purpose of reducing particle contamination, as taught by ‘786 ([0078]).
‘176 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 23: the heated second carrier gas 105 is supplied not only vertically but also horizontally on the surface of the plate member ([0125]), wherein one or more discharge holes are formed on a sidewall of the vaporization chamber, and are configured to discharge a gas, which is vaporized from the mixed fluid with the second carrier gas, from the vaporization chamber (claim 6 of ‘176, includes the claimed “wherein a discharge hole configured to discharge, from the vaporization chamber, a fluid containing the mixed fluid which is vaporized at least by the second carrier gas is provided on a side wall of the vaporization chamber”).
the mist atomized at the leading end of the nozzle 96 adheres to the periphery of the cylindrical opening 123 of the cover 122 and the tapered surface of the cover 122 and the leading end of the nozzle 96, which may be just a small amount of adhesion to the vicinity of the injection port 101 and the cylindrical portion of the nozzle ([0158], Fig. 16 of ‘176 is exactly the same as Fig. 9 of instant application, includes the claimed “wherein the side wall of the vaporization chamber is configured such that the fluid containing the mixed fluid spreads in a tapered shape from the second fluid supplier to the discharge hole”).
The combination of ‘176, ‘591, and ‘786 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 24: tapered portions 73 are installed on the inner wall of the vaporization chamber 65 at an upper side and a lower side of the vaporization chamber 65 so as to suppress stagnation or turbulent flow of the supplied gas (‘176, [0101]), The illustration above shows the claimed “wherein the spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas is configured such that diameters of turns of the spiral-shaped flow become greater as the spiral-shaped flow flows along the side wall of the vaporization chamber of the tapered shape”).
Claim 25: even if the mist adheres and deposits, since the second carrier gas 105 can be supplied to the surfaces of the shower plates before closing the second injection hole 111 in the region where the second injection hole 111 of the shower plate exists, it is possible to efficiently vaporize even the mist adhered to the region where the second injection hole 111 does not exist. It is also possible to suppress generation of residue around the shower plates. The bottom surface portion may also be included in the plate member 109 (‘176, [0129], last two sentences, the vortex flow of ‘591 is capable of vaporizing the adhered mist, includes the claimed “wherein the spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas is mixed with the mixed fluid adhered to the side wall of the vaporization chamber of the tapered shape”).
Claim 26: illustration above shows the claimed “wherein the spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas rises upward by swirling along the side wall in a direction crossing a direction extending from the first end to the discharge hole and flow along the side wall”).
Claim 27: even if the mist adheres and deposits, since the second carrier gas 105 can be supplied to the surfaces of the shower plates before closing the second injection hole 111 in the region where the second injection hole 111 of the shower plate exists, it is possible to efficiently vaporize even the mist adhered to the region where the second injection hole 111 does not exist. It is also possible to suppress generation of residue around the shower plates. The bottom surface portion may also be included in the plate member 109 (‘176, [0129], last two sentences, along with the Teflon coating and/or electrolytic polishing imported by ‘786, the combination would have had the claimed “wherein a side surface of the vaporization chamber is configured such that the mixed fluid adhered to a side wall of the vaporization chamber flows toward the second fluid supplier by the surface treatment”).
Claims 29-30, and alternatively claims 2 and 4, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘176 and ‘591, as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of Tsuda (US 20110098841, same as Applicants’ submitted IDS CN 101842880, hereafter ‘841).
The combination of ‘176 and ‘591 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 29: wherein the opening provided at the boundary between the second fluid supplier and the vaporization chamber is located higher than the outlet hole and the plurality of introduction holes.
Claim 30: wherein the opening provided at the boundary between the second fluid supplier and the vaporization chamber is located higher than a structure in the second fluid supplier where the spiral-shaped flow of the second carrier gas is generated.
‘841 is analogous art in the field of GAS SUPPLY DEVICE, PROCESSING APPARATUS, PROCESSING METHOD (title), forming a vortex flow ([0021]), including a vaporizer ([0064]). ’841 teaches that a gas introduction port 64 opened in an upper section of the device body 31 is formed at an upper end 35a of the gas introduction route 35. (Fig. 2, [0067], see also Fig. 4), Gas introduction ports 61a, 61b, 62a, 62b, 63a, and 63b for supplying the gases to the gas-conducting space 32 via the gas introduction route 35 are provided in a sidewall of the gas introduction route 35 ([0060, 2nd sentence), the gas introduction route 35 in the device body 31 … from the diametrally reduced end 32a to an upper end of each partitioning member 41 to 46 ([0062], the reduced end 32a corresponding to the claimed “the boundary between the second fluid supplier and the vaporization chamber”), for the purpose supply gas flow rapidly ([0011]).
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 mixing device 630 of ‘591 with upper part of the device body 31 of ‘841, and then combined with ‘176, for the purpose supply gas flow rapidly, as taught by ‘841 ([0011]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/07/2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in light of the new grounds of rejection above.
In regarding to 35 USC 112(a) and 112(b) rejection of claims 2 and 4, Applicants’ amendment overcomes the previous rejection. However, the examiner notices another 112(b) issue.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20200199748 vortex of carrier gas (Fig. 6).
US 20180057931 teaches a swirling flow may increase the residence time and mixing of precursor gas ([0017]).
JP H10189909, which teaches that “uniformly polished at the angstrom level by electrolytic polishing” (before [0015]). US 20220381335 is cited for high-precision finishing in the unit of µm ([0026]). US 8603247 is cited for vortex flow upward (Fig. 9, inlet 420, outlet 425, see Fig. 8 for vortex).
Applicants submitted IDS, US 20100062614, also teaches vortex flow without obstruction (Figs. 3A-3B).
US 20140182515 is cited for similar to ‘176 except vaporizer with cylindrical inner space (Fig. 4). US 5953634 is cited for “The inner surface of the vaporizer was coated with a Teflon layer, thus making the inner surface inactive to the decomposition of the CVD source” (Fig. 10, col. 35, lines 42-45).
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Parviz Hassanzadeh can be reached on 571-272-1435. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEATH T CHEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716