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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12 February 2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “wherein the supporting base comprises one temperature control channel, and a part of the temperature control channel is in a ring shape” of claim 3 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). Also, in the specification, ¶0039 states “Referring to Fig. 2, the supporting base 11 can include an air floating channel 4 which is in communication with the mounting groove 13 and an external of the heating body 1 respectively.” However, in fig. 2, no element 13 is present or pointed to. Clarification is required. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-4, 7-13, 16-18 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.
Claim 1 recites “the supporting base comprises two temperature control channels” in line 10 and claim 3 recites, similarly, the supporting base comprises one temperature control channel” in line 2. It is not clear if these are additional temperature control channels in addition to the “at least one temperature control channel which is hollow…etc.” in line 3, or if they are describing the “at least one temperature control channels” which are already in the base. For purposes of examination, they are further describing the “at least one temperature control channel” in claim 1, line 3. In addition, the following is understood along the same lines.
Thus, Claim 1, line 6 is understood to mean “the at least one temperature control channel is configured”.
Claim 1 line 10 is understood to mean “the supporting base comprises two of the at least one temperature control channels”
Claim 2 lines 1-2 is understood to mean “wherein one of the at least one temperature control channels”.
Claim 3 and Claim 12 in lines 1-2 are understood to mean “wherein the supporting base comprises one of the at least one temperature control channels—
Claim 4 and claim 13, in lines 1-2, are understood to mean “wherein the at least one temperature control channels successively…”.
Claim 7 and claim 16 recite “wherein the supporting base comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprises a first groove, the second portion comprises a second groove” in lines 1-3. It is not clear if this is introducing a new groove, or if this is a further description of the groove introduced in claim 1, wherein claim 1 recites “a mounting groove is disposed on the supporting base” in line 12. For purposes of examination, the grooves in claim 7 are understood to be further describing the groove of claim 1, wherein claim 7 is understood to mean “wherein the supporting base comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprises a first portion of the mounting groove, the second portion comprises a second portion of the mounting groove.” Clarification is required.
Applicant currently amended claim 1 and seemingly included subject matter in claim 1 that was, in the previous claim set, introduced in dependent claims. Seemingly, Applicant did not currently amend the dependent claims to reflect that the elements now have already introduced in claim 1. The dependent claims seem to be reciting these elements again for the first time, which makes the claims unclear as written about whether they are indeed now introducing a new element (like another groove, for instance) or just describing the now previously introduced element. For purposes of examination, it is understood that the dependent claims are describing the previously introduced element, in accordance with the specification and drawings, which only has these elements introduced once, unless the claim clearly “further” introduces an element. Clarification and correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 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.
Claims 1-4, 7-13, 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical and Electrical Co Ltd. (Chinese Patent Publication CN210341057U; in applicant’s IDS; herein “Zhejiang”) in view of Arai (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/ 0045104).
Regarding claim 1, Zhejiang discloses a heating body of an epitaxial growth device configured to heat a substrate, comprising a supporting base and a tray,
tray (Zhejiang, 5) is mounted on the supporting base to support a substrate;
the supporting base comprises an air floating channel (22) (fig. 3, channel 22) and
a mounting groove is disposed on the supporting base (fig. 4, the hyphenated line indicates the groove for the tray), and the air floating channel is in communication with the mounting groove and an external of the heating body respectively (Zhejiang, Figs. 4-5, can see the air blowing out), when a gas flows into the air floating channel, the gas is capable of driving the tray to levitate and rotate circumferentially (¶0040, gases “are introduced from the air flotation nozzle 9 to make the air flotation tray 5 rotate”).
Zhejiang does not disclose “wherein the supporting base comprises at least two temperature control channels which are hollow and penetrate through the supporting base along an axis of the epitaxial growth device”;
“the at least two temperature control channels are configured to accommodate a temperature control medium, and the temperature control medium is able to be input and output via two ends of the at least two temperature control channels respectively, so as to control an environment temperature around the tray,
two of the at least two temperature control channels are disposed corresponding to two sides of the tray respectively”;
the supporting base comprises an air floating channel “which is located between the two of the at least two temperature control channels, the two of the at least two temperature control channels are symmetrically arranged” with the air floating channel as an axis, “and the air floating channel and the two of the at least two temperature control channels are different channels”.
However, Arai teaches “wherein the supporting base comprises at least two temperature control channels which are hollow and penetrate through the supporting base along an axis of the epitaxial growth device” (Arai, fig. 5).
“the at least two temperature control channels are configured to accommodate a temperature control medium, and the temperature control medium is able to be input and output via two ends of the at least two temperature control channels respectively, so as to control an environment temperature around the tray (Fig. 5, coolant flow, ¶0004”control the temperature of a semiconductor wafer with high accuracy),
two of the at least two temperature control channels are disposed corresponding to two sides of the tray respectively” (Aria, the channels 24, at least one is on one side and at least one is on the other);
The advantage of having these channels would be to control the temperature of the wafer so that the semiconductor wafer may be worked on and heated and cooled appropriately. Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Zhejiang with the teachings of Arai, to have cooling channels in the base too, would be in order to modify and control the temperature of the substrate in a conventional way, in order to make the wafer proper for processing in a conventional way (e.g. epitaxial growth)
And while Zhejiang in view of Arai teaches all the limitations above, it still doe not explicitly teach the supporting base comprises an air floating channel “which is located between the two of the at least two temperature control channels, the two of the at least two temperature control channels are symmetrically arranged” with the air floating channel as an axis, “and the air floating channel and the two of the at least two temperature control channels are different channels”.
However, given that Zhejiang teaches the air floating channel in the middle (Zhejiang, element 22, seen in figs. 3 & 5,), and that Arai teaches the cooling channels symmetrically spaced around a center (Fig. 5, with the channels moving from left to right, with separate channels as seen in Fig. 5, section B-B’), it would have been obvious to have the air floating channel “located between the two of the at least two temperature control channels, the two of the at least two temperature control channels are symmetrically arranged” with the air floating channel as an axis, “and the air floating channel and the two of the at least two temperature control channels are different channels”, as this would be an obvious placement in a rearrangement of parts, combining the teachings of Zhejiang and Arai, in order that the airflow channel is placed in the middle and that the cooling channels are placed around it so that the device can be properly temperature controlled evenly.
Regarding claim 2, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the temperature control channel is close to an edge of the tray, and along a direction perpendicular to a surface of the supporting base, a part of a projection of the temperature control channel is on the tray (Zhejiang in view of Arai, Arai fig. 5. Section A-A’ and B-B’, projections of base 1 would be on the tray in the combination)
Regarding claim 3, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the supporting base comprises one temperature control channel, and a part of the temperature control channel is in a ring shape (Zhejiang in view of Arai, Arai, fig. 5, the partial ring shape is how the channels move on the outside edges of the base).
Regarding claim 4, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the temperature control channel successively comprises a first segment, a second segment, and a third segment, which are in communication with each other; the second segment is in a ring shape, and the second segment is close to an edge of the tray (Zhejiang in view of Arai, the segments and the ring are apparent in Arai, fig. 5, section A-A’).
Regarding claim 7, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the supporting base comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprises a first groove, the second portion comprises a second groove, the first groove and the second groove are matched with each other, and the temperature control channel is defined by the first groove and the second groove (these portions may be designated in the different halves of the groove depicted by the dotted lines in fig. 4, and in the circular shape of the silicon wafer tray 4 in fig. 2) .
Regarding claim 8, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 1, as above, but does not further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the heating body comprises a plurality of supporting bases, the plurality of the supporting bases are sequentially arranged along a direction perpendicular to the axis of the epitaxial growth device. However, having a plurality of based would simply be a duplication of parts of the base of Zhejiang (the top of base of 7 in fig. 4 where air floating channel 22 goes into), one on top of the other. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Zhejiang in view of Arai, to have a plurality of bases, which would be a simple duplication of the parts of Zhejiang, in order to process more than one wafer at a time and this would increase the efficiency of this epitaxial growth processing apparatus.
Regarding claim 9, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 8, as above, but does not further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device comprises a supporting member disposed between adjacent two adjacent supporting base. However, in the combination above, the plurality of bases would indeed need a supporting member between them so that the bases do not collapse on each other, and thus this element, in light of the combination, would be obvious.
Regarding claim 10, Zhejiang in view of Arai further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device comprising the heating body of claim 1 (Zhejiang, ¶0040, “heating coil” for heating, allowing for “epitaxial growth”) .
Regarding claim 11, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 10, as above, and further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the temperature control channel is close to an edge of the tray, and along a direction perpendicular to a surface of the supporting base, a part of a projection of the temperature control channel is on the tray (Zhejiang in view of Arai, This is apparent in Arai, fig. 5, sections A-A', that this is how the temperature control channels are arranged, and do meet the limitations of the claim).
Regarding claim 12, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 10, as above, and further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the supporting base comprises one temperature control channel, and a part of the temperature control channel is in a ring shape (Zhejiang in view of Arai, Arai, fig. 5, the partial ring shape is how the channels move on the outside edges of the base).
Regarding claim 13, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 10, as above, and further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the temperature control channel successively comprises a first segment, a second segment, and a third segment, which are in communication with each other; the second segment is in a ring shape, and the second segment is close to an edge of the tray (Zhejiang in view of Arai, the segments and the ring are apparent in Arai, fig. 5, section A-A’).
Regarding claim 16, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 10, as above, and further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the supporting base comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprises a first groove, the second portion comprises a second groove, the first groove and the second groove are matched with each other, and the temperature control channel is defined by the first groove and the second groove.
Regarding claim 17, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 10, as above, but does not further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the heating body comprises a plurality of supporting bases, the plurality of the supporting bases are sequentially arranged along a direction perpendicular to the axis of the epitaxial growth device. However, having a plurality of based would simply be a duplication of parts of the base of Zhejiang (the top of base of 7 in fig. 4 where air floating channel 22 goes into), one on top of the other. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Zhejiang in view of Arai, to have a plurality of bases, which would be a simple duplication of the parts of Zhejiang, in order to process more than one wafer at a time and this would increase the efficiency of this epitaxial growth processing apparatus.
Regarding claim 18, Zhejiang in view of Arai teach all the limitations of claim 17, as above, but does not further teach a heating body of an epitaxial growth device wherein the heating body further comprises a supporting member disposed between adjacent two adjacent supporting bases. However, in the combination above, the plurality of bases would indeed need a supporting member between them so that the bases are supported and do not collapse on each other, and thus this element, in light of the combination, would be obvious.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAWRENCE H SAMUELS whose telephone number is (571)272-2683. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM M-F.
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/LAWRENCE H SAMUELS/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761