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 .
Response to Argument
Applicant's arguments received 05/27/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Claims 1-6, 12-15 and 17-19 are rejected as new reference Sadeghi et al. (US 20220254666 A1) has been found to teach, in combination with the prior art cited in the previous Office action, the claimed invention. Detailed response is given in sections 3-6 as set forth below in this Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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 of this title, 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.
4. Claims 1-2, 5, and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Terashita et al. (US 9690202 B2) in view of Sadeghi et al. (US 20220254666 A1, PG Pub of WO 2021022291 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Terashita discloses an information acquisition system (col. 15, lines 47-67) for acquiring information about a substrate processing apparatus (Fig. 1) which includes a spin chuck (12) configured to hold and rotate a substrate (W), a nozzle (3) configured to supply a processing liquid to a surface of the substrate which is rotating (col. 4, lines 50-58), and a cup (2 in Figs. 1 and 2) surrounding the substrate held by the spin chuck (col. 4, line 59-67; col. 5, lines 1-2).
Terashita does not mention explicitly: the information acquisition system comprising: an inspection wafer held in place of the substrate by the spin chuck and including an imaging part configured to image the cup and acquire image data; and an acquisition part configured to acquire information about a height of the cup based on the image data.
Sadeghi discloses an information acquisition system for acquiring information about a substrate processing apparatus (para. 0074-0075) comprising: an inspection wafer (e.g., 200 in Fig. 2 or 400 in Fig. 4; para. 0095, 0105: “an autocalibration wafer with a set of proximity sensors that may be used to determine edge ring height”) held in place of a product wafer (para. 0075-0076; see also para. 0022: “a) select a first wafer support of the one or more wafer supports of a first wafer station of the one or more wafer stations, b) cause the wafer-handling robot to position the autocalibration wafer above the first wafer station, and c) cause each first imaging sensor to obtain a corresponding first image of a fiducial of the first wafer support while the autocalibration wafer is positioned above the first wafer support”; para. 0023: “… to determine location information for a center point of the first wafer support based on the first images”) by a spin chuck (para. 0073: “an annular portion of a pedestal or ESC that may extend beyond the outer circumference of a semiconductor wafer. Wafer supports may, … vertical movement and/or rotational movement”; see also discussion of ESC chuck in para. 0095, 0184), wherein the inspection wafer including an imaging part (222 in Fig. 2) configured to image a cup (i.e., edge ring 262 in Fig. 2 or 462 in Fig. 4) surrounding the inspection wafer held by the spin chuck (para. 0007: “the substrate may be nominally circular and may have the same diameter as an edge ring that the semiconductor processing tool is configured to use”) and acquire image data (para. 0080: “If the semiconductor processing tool typically uses an edge ring during wafer processing operations, then the imaging sensors may be radially offset from the center of the autocalibration wafer such that the imaging sensor field of view is wide enough to capture a portion of the edge ring (when placed on the wafer support) as well”; para. 0081); and an acquisition part configured to acquire information about a height of the cup based on the image data (para. 0082; 0096: “any slight variance in height in either the edge ring or the calibration wafer may be magnified and cause the gap size to fluctuate in an unpredictable manner”; para. 0102: “The proximity sensor or sensors 234 may be used to evaluate the height of various structures at a wafer station. For example, it may be desirable to evaluate the height of an edge ring or a portion of the edge ring above the wafer support, e.g., above an ESC of the wafer support, about its circumference”; para. 0105, 0107-0108).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Sadeghi’s teaching of the information acquisition technique into the Terashita system and apply it to image the cup height of Terashita such that the operational conditions of the cup can be monitored and controlled accurately (Terashita, col. 4, lines 59-67; Sadeghi, para. 0046: “e) evaluate the one or more height measurements to determine if a height associated with the edge ring exceeds a predetermined threshold, and f) provide a notification when the height associated with the edge ring exceeds the predetermined threshold”). It is deemed that such a modification is merely an intended use of the Sadeghi inspection wafer (autocalibration wafer), and the skilled person in that art would conceive and apply said modification without needing inventive skill but depending on practical considerations and according to the dictates of the circumstances.
Regarding claim 2, Terashita discloses: wherein the cup (2) includes a side wall and an annular protrusion body (23) formed to protrude from the side wall toward a center of the cup (Fig. 1). Terashita does not but Sadeghi teaches: wherein an imaging part (e.g., 222 in Fig. 2) is further configured to image an inner peripheral end of an annular protrusion body that is extended from a side wall of the cup (Fig. 4), and wherein information about a height of the annular protrusion body is acquired as the information about the height of the cup (para. 0096, 102, 0105). As such, the combination of Terashita and Sadeghi renders the claimed invention obvious.
Regarding claim 5, Terashita does not but Sadeghi discloses: wherein the imaging part (222 in Fig. 2) is provided on the inspection wafer (autocalibration wafer) such that the inner peripheral end of the annular protrusion body (edge ring 262 in Fig. 2 or 462 in Fig. 4) at a position set to be imaged by the imaging part is positioned at a height center portion of the image acquired by the imaging part (para. 0007: “the substrate may be nominally circular and may have the same diameter as an edge ring that the semiconductor processing tool is configured to use”; para. 0080: “If the semiconductor processing tool typically uses an edge ring during wafer processing operations, then the imaging sensors may be radially offset from the center of the autocalibration wafer such that the imaging sensor field of view is wide enough to capture a portion of the edge ring (when placed on the wafer support) as well”; see also para. 0081). As such, the combination of Terashita/Sadeghi discussed for claim 2 above renders obvious the invention recited in claim 5.
Regarding claims 12 and 13, Terashita discloses an arithmetic device, and a method for practicing the device, for acquiring information (col. 15, lines 47-67) about a substrate processing apparatus (Fig. 1) which includes a spin chuck (12) configured to hold and rotate a substrate (W), a nozzle (3) configured to supply a processing liquid to a surface of the substrate which is rotating (col. 4, lines 50-58), and a cup (2 in Figs. 1 and 2) surrounding the substrate held by the spin chuck (col. 4, line 59-67; col. 5, lines 1-2).
Terashita does not mention explicitly: a storage part configured to store image data acquired by an imaging part included in an inspection wafer held in place of the substrate by the spin chuck in order to image the cup; and an acquisition part configured to acquire information about a height of the cup based on the image data.
Sadeghi discloses a device for acquiring information about a substrate processing apparatus (para. 0074-0075) comprising: an inspection wafer (e.g., 200 in Fig. 2 or 400 in Fig. 4; para. 0095, 0105: “an autocalibration wafer with a set of proximity sensors that may be used to determine edge ring height”) held in place of a product wafer (para. 0022, 0023, 0075-0076) by a spin chuck (see discussion of ESC chuck in para. 0073, 0095, 0184), wherein the inspection wafer including an imaging part (222 in Fig. 2) configured to image a cup (i.e., edge ring 262 in Fig. 2 or 462 in Fig. 4) surrounding the inspection wafer held by the spin chuck (para. 0007: “the substrate may be nominally circular and may have the same diameter as an edge ring that the semiconductor processing tool is configured to use”) and acquire image data (para. 0080-0081); a storage part configured to store the acquired image data and an acquisition part configured to acquire information about a height of the cup based on the image data (para. 0082, 0096, 0102, 0105, 0107-0108).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Sadeghi’s teaching of the information acquisition into the Terashita system and apply it to image the cup height of Terashita such that the operational conditions of the cup can be monitored and controlled accurately (Terashita, col. 4, lines 59-67; Sadeghi, para. 0046).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Terashita/Sadeghi renders the claimed invention obvious (see discussion for claim 2 above).
5. Claims 3-4, 6, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Terashita et al. in view of Sadeghi et al., further in view of McCHESNEY et al. (US 20170263478 A1).
Regarding claims 3 and 15, the combination of Terashita and Sadeghi is silent on: a first storage part configured to store conversion information for the cup for converting a number of pixels between a preset reference height in the image data acquired by the inspection wafer held by the spin chuck and the inner peripheral end of the annular protrusion body into a distance, wherein the acquisition part is further configured to acquire information about the height of the annular protrusion body based on the conversion information for the cup.
McCHESNEY discloses an information acquisition system for acquiring information about a substrate processing apparatus (Abstract; Fig. 26) comprising: a substrate holder (1725) configured to hold a substrate (1750); a cup (e.g., edge coupling ring 1740) surrounding the substrate (para. 0005, 0110); an information acquisition body (1760/1800) configured to image the cup and acquire image data (para. 0111), wherein the information acquisition body includes an acquisition part configured to acquire information about a height of the cup based on the image data (para. 0113, 0115, 0121-0123). McCHESNEY further teaches: a first storage part configured to store conversion information for the cup for converting a number of pixels between a preset reference height in the acquired image data and the inner peripheral end of an annular protrusion body that is extended from a side wall of the cup into a distance (para. 0115: “ … (e.g. number of pixels) to produce images of a suitable size to enable determination of the condition and position of the edge coupling ring 1740, and to provide direct measurement of ring height and ring erosion”; by inherency, there must be a storage part configured to store the conversion information so that a measurement of ring height can be obtained from the number of pixels in the image data; also, there must be “a preset reference height in the image data” based on which the degree/level of ring erosion can be measured; see the erosion as identified at 48 in Figs. 1 and 2; see also para. 0121-0123, 0127), wherein the acquisition part is further configured to acquire information about the height of the annular protrusion body based on the conversion information for the cup (para. 0022, 0025, 0035, 0115).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of McCHESNEY as discussed above into the combination of Terashita/Sadeghi (e.g., Sadeghi’s technique show in Fig. 9) to arrive the claimed invention. Doing so would allow Sadeghi’s acquisition part to accurately detect the vertical location of the upper edge (or the height relative to the wafer-handing robot coordinate system) of said cup based on the image data acquired by the imaging sensors mounted on said inspection wafer, such that the Terashita’s control unit (elevation mechanism 21) can be automated to control the operational conditions of the cup (2) as desired (Terashita, col. 4, lines 59-67; McCHESNEY, para. 0005).
Regarding claim 4, Terashita discloses: wherein the annular protrusion body (23 in Fig. 1) includes an intermediate annular body that protrudes from a height below an upper end of the side wall (see annotated Fig. 3 below). The rest of the claimed limitations are rendered obvious by the combination of Terashita/ Sadeghi/McCHESNEY as discussed for claim 3 above.
PNG
media_image1.png
690
790
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Terashita and Sadeghi is silent on: wherein the imaging part is provided such that a height of the imaging part in the inspection wafer is adjustable.
McCHESNEY discloses: wherein the imaging part is provided such that a height of the imaging part in the information acquisition body is adjustable (para. 0111).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate McCHESNEY’s teaching of adjustable imaging part into the combination of Terashita/Sadeghi to arrive the claimed invention. Doing so would allow for improving the feasibility and applicability of the Terashita/Sadeghi/McCHESNEY combination (Sadeghi, para. 0096: “By positioning the first imaging sensors 222 … to obtain image data that may more accurately reflect the size of any gaps that may exist between various fiducials in the images”).
6. Claims 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Terashita et al. in view of Sadeghi et al., further in view of MOCHIZUKI (US 20190172742 A1).
Regarding claims 17-19, the combination of Terashita/Sadeghi is silent on: wherein a through hole is formed in the inspection wafer below the imaging part, and wherein the imaging part is further configured to image a lower side of the inspection wafer through the through hole.
MOCHIZUKI discloses a substrate processing apparatus (Fig. 1), comprising: a substrate holder (spin chuck 21 in Figs. 3A and 3B) configured to hold and rotate a substrate (para. 0021); and an inspection wafer (para. 0029: “the inspection wafer 100 includes a base wafer 101 and a plurality of (e.g., three) cameras 102”) held by the substrate holder (Figs. 3A and 3B) and including an imaging part (Fig. 3A) configured to image and acquire image data (para. 0029, 0034: “ … the cameras 102 transmit identification information (e.g., camera IDs) and the images of the stage 21 to the external control unit 50”; see also para. 0035, 0041: “the cameras 102 image a part of the stage 21 which includes the outer periphery of the stage 21 … based on the images obtained by the cameras 102”); wherein a through hole (103 in Fig. 3B) is formed in the inspection wafer (100) below the imaging part (102), and wherein the imaging part is further configured to image a lower side of the inspection wafer through the through hole (para. 0029: “Each camera 102 is configured to image a lower side of the base wafer 101 through an opening 103 formed in the base wafer 101”).
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 combination of Terashita/Sadeghi to arrive the claimed invention by incorporating MOCHIZUKI’s through hole formed in the inspection wafer and adapting it to image a lower side of the inspection wafer through the through hole. Doing so would provide an additional mechanism through which the operational conditions of the cup can be more accurately monitored and controlled (Terashita, col. 4, lines 59-67; MOCHIZUKI, para. 0007, 0029).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 7 and 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Reason for Allowance
8. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The primary reason for the allowance of claim 7 is the inclusion of the limitations: wherein the cup includes a lower member provided below the substrate held by the spin chuck and a protrusion provided on the lower member to protrude upward, wherein the imaging part is further configured to image a top surface of the protrusion, and wherein the acquisition part is further configured to acquire a first distance between the substrate and the protrusion as the information about the height of the cup. It is this limitation found in the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations as claimed in independent claim 1, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes instant claim 7 distinguish over the prior art of record.
The primary reason for the allowance of claim 16 is the inclusion of the limitations: wherein the cup includes a lower member provided below the substrate held by the spin chuck and a protrusion provided on the lower member to protrude upward, wherein the acquiring the image data includes imaging a top surface of the protrusion, and wherein the acquiring the information about the height of the cup includes acquiring a first distance between the substrate and the protrusion. It is this limitation found in the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations as claimed in independent claim 1, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes instant claim 16 distinguish over the prior art of record.
Conclusion
9. 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 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 date of this final action.
Contact Information
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIUQIN SUN whose telephone number is (571)272-2280. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am-6:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shelby A. Turner can be reached on (571) 272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/X.S/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/SHELBY A TURNER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Prosecution Insights