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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/24/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 10 have been amended. Claims 4 and 14-20 have been canceled. Claims 1-3 and 5-13 have been examined on the merits.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Page 5, filed 02/24/2026, with respect to the previous 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejection is persuasive. The previous 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 5-8, filed 02/24/2026, with respect to the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) but are not persuasive.
With respect to “There is no indication that Deshpande's controller is "configured to .. determine that grooving has formed on an inner surface of the retaining ring."”, the examiner disagrees.
The device of Deshpande teaches all the structural limitations required by the claim and therefore is capable of meeting the functional limitation of determining the grooving that has formed on an inner surface. As evidenced by Dornfeld US 6910942 B1 in columns 2-4, lines 62-6, the acoustic waves can determine the physical surface conditions, and then provides operating ranges. Paragraph 0017 of the specification discloses: “the impact of the substrate on the inner surface of the retaining ring can generate grooving on the inner surface.”. Deshpande similarly discloses in paragraph 0046: “the controller 190 can be configured to adjust one or more polishing parameters in order to compensate for effect of retaining ring wear on the polishing rate at the substrate edge.”; see substrate 10 in Fig. 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2 and 6-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Deshpande et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0027407 A1).
Referring to claim 1: Deshpande et al. discloses a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus (100 Fig. 1), comprising: a platen (120 Fig. 1) supporting a polishing pad (110 Fig. 1); a carrier head (140 Fig. 1) to hold a surface of a substrate (10 Fig. 1) against the polishing pad (110 Fig. 1), the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) including a retaining ring (160 Fig. 1) for holding the substrate (10 Fig. 1); an acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “Although FIG. 1 illustrates an eddy current monitoring system, other types of sensors could be used, e.g., acoustic, capacitive or optical sensors, that are capable of generating a signal that depends on the thickness of the lower portion 162.” [0029]) supported on the platen (120 Fig. 1); a motor (121 Fig. 1) to generate relative motion between the platen (120 Fig. 1) and the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) so as to polish the substrate (10 Fig. 1) and such that the acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “acoustic” [0029]) travels in a path (path of 201 shown in Fig. 3) below the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) and the retaining ring (160 Fig. 1); and a controller (190 Fig. 1) configured to analyze a signal
comprising a sequence of acoustic data (acoustic data based on the thickness of 162; “acoustic, capacitive or optical sensors, that are capable of generating a signal that depends on the thickness of the lower portion 162.” [0029]) from the acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “acoustic” [0029]) and determine that grooving (“thickness of the lower portion 162” [0029]) has formed on an inner surface of the retaining ring (160 Fig. 1) based on the signal [0029].
Referring to claim 2: Deshpande et al. discloses a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus (100 Fig. 1), comprising: a platen (120 Fig. 1) supporting a polishing pad (110 Fig. 1); a carrier head (140 Fig. 1) to hold a surface of a substrate (10 Fig. 1) against the polishing pad, the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) including a retaining ring (160 Fig. 1) for holding the substrate (10 Fig. 1); an acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “Although FIG. 1 illustrates an eddy current monitoring system, other types of sensors could be used, e.g., acoustic, capacitive or optical sensors, that are capable of generating a signal that depends on the thickness of the lower portion 162.” [0029]) supported on the platen (120 Fig. 1); a motor (121 Fig. 1) to generate relative motion between the platen (120 Fig. 1) and the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) so as to polish the substrate (10 Fig. 1) and such that the acoustic sensor travels in a path (path of 201 shown in Fig. 3) below the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) and the retaining ring (160 Fig. 1); and a controller (190 Fig. 1) configured to analyze a signal (“a signal that depends on the thickness of the lower portion 162.” [0029]) from the acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “acoustic” [0029]) and determine that a bottom surface (162 Fig. 1) of the retaining ring (160 Fig. 1) is broken in has reached the equilibrium geometry (“sensed thickness to compensate for non-uniformity” [0012]) based on the signal (“a signal that depends on the thickness of the lower portion 162.” [0029]).
Referring to claim 6: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller (190 Fig. 1) is configured to generate a measured spectrum (Merriam-Webster defines “spectrum” as “2a: a continuous sequence or range”) of the signal (“The monitoring system may generate a sequence of measurements with each sweep, and the controller may be configured to identify one or more measurements made at one or more locations below the retaining ring. The controller may be configured to average measurements made at locations below the retaining ring. The controller may be configured to select a maximum or minimum measurement from a plurality of measurements made at locations below the retaining ring.” [0010]).
Referring to claim 7: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the controller (190 Fig. 1) is configured to compare the measured spectrum to a reference spectrum (“In some implementations, measurements made over multiple substrates can be combined, e.g., averaged, or a measurement from the multiple substrates can be selected, e.g., the highest or lowest measurement out of the measurements from multiple substrates can be used.” [0043]; i.e. the data collected is then used for comparison between new and worn signal intensities [0045]).
Referring to claim 8: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the controller (190 Fig. 1) is configured to detect a signal strength in a band in the measured spectrum and compare the signal strength to a threshold (“For example, the controller 190 can be configured with a signal processing algorithm to detect a sudden change in signal strength. This sudden change can be used as indicating the shift to a different portion of the signal. Other techniques for detecting a different portion of the signal include changes in slope and threshold values in amplitude.” [0040]).
Referring to claim 9: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller (190 Fig. 1) is configured to select at least one portion of the signal corresponding to the acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “acoustic” [0029]) being positioned below the retaining ring (160 Fig. 1), wherein the portion of the signal comprises a contiguous subset of the sequence of data (“Which portion of the continuous signal from the sensor corresponds to the substrate, the retaining ring and the off-wafer zone can be determined based on the platen angular position and carrier head location, e.g., as measured by a position sensor and/or motor encoder.” [0038]).
Referring to claim 10: Deshpande et al. discloses a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus (100 Fig. 1), comprising: a platen (120 Fig. 1) supporting a polishing pad (110 Fig. 1); a carrier head (140 Fig. 1) to hold a surface of a substrate (10 Fig. 1) against the polishing pad (110 Fig. 1), the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) including a retaining ring (160 Fig. 1) for holding the substrate (10 Fig. 1); an acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “Although FIG. 1 illustrates an eddy current monitoring system, other types of sensors could be used, e.g., acoustic, capacitive or optical sensors, that are capable of generating a signal that depends on the thickness of the lower portion 162.” [0029]) supported on the platen (120 Fig. 1); a motor (121 Fig. 1) to generate relative motion between the platen (120 Fig. 1) and the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) so as to polish the substrate (10 Fig. 1) and such that the acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “acoustic” [0029]) travels in a path (path of 201 shown in Fig. 3) below the carrier head (140 Fig. 1) and the retaining ring (160 Fig. 1); and a controller (190 Fig. 1) configured to select at least one portion of a signal comprising a sequence of acoustic data (acoustic data based on the thickness of 162; “acoustic, capacitive or optical sensors, that are capable of generating a signal that depends on the thickness of the lower portion 162.” [0029]) from the acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “acoustic” [0029]), the at least one portion comprising a contiguous subset of the sequence of acoustic data (“Which portion of the continuous signal from the sensor corresponds to the substrate, the retaining ring and the off-wafer zone can be determined based on the platen angular position and carrier head location, e.g., as measured by a position sensor and/or motor encoder.” [0038]), corresponding to the acoustic sensor (170 Fig. 1; “acoustic” [0029]) being positioned below the retaining ring (160 Fig. 1), to generate a measured spectrum (“determine a thickness of the plastic portion from the signal” [0011]) of the at least one portion of the signal, to compare the measured spectrum to a reference spectrum (“a controller configured to receive the signal from the in-situ monitoring system and to determine a thickness of the plastic portion from the signal” [0011]), and to generate an alert or to modify a polishing parameter based on the comparison (“adjusting at least one polishing parameter in response to the sensed thickness to compensate for non-uniformity caused by changes in the thickness of the plastic portion of the retaining ring” [0012]).
Referring to claim 11: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller (190 Fig. 1) is configured to detect that a bottom surface (162 Fig. 1) of the retaining ring (160 Fig. 1) has reached an equilibrium geometry (“sensed thickness to compensate for non-uniformity” [0012]) based on the at least one selected portion of the signal (“a signal that depends on the thickness of the lower portion 162.” [0029]).
Referring to claim 12: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller (190 Fig. 1) is configured to detect that grooving (“non-uniformity” [0009]) has formed on an inner surface of the retaining ring based on the at least one selected portion of the signal (“a controller configured to receive the signal from the in-situ monitoring system and to adjust at least one polishing parameter in response to the signal to compensate for non-uniformity caused by changes in the thickness of the plastic portion of the retaining ring” [0009]).
Referring to claim 13: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller (190 Fig. 1) is configured to modify the polishing parameter (“In addition, the controller 190 can be configured to adjust one or more polishing parameters in order to compensate for effect of retaining ring wear on the polishing rate at the substrate edge. In particular, the signal intensity S2, S2' corresponding to the retaining ring can be used by the controller 190 as an input to a function that sets the polishing parameters” [0046]) based on the at least one selected portion (“portion of the continuous signal from the sensor corresponds to… the retaining ring” [0038]) of the signal.
Claims 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deshpande et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0027407 A1) and Lewis et al. (U.S. Patent No. 6,386,038 B1).
Referring to claim 3: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 2, but is silent on wherein the controller is configured to generate an alert in response to detecting that the bottom surface of the retaining ring has reached the equilibrium geometry.
Lewis et al. teaches a similar configuration controller (12 Fig. 1), wherein the controller is configured to generate an alert (“alarm” Col. 10, lines 60-65) in response to detecting that the bottom surface of the retaining ring has reached the equilibrium geometry (The controller is capable of detecting damage/ change exceeds a predetermined limit; “If the controller 12 determines that the damage count exceeds the predetermined limit, the controller 12 can generate an alarm signal supplied to the alarm unit 17 to generate an alarm to alert the user that the object 1 has been damaged beyond the predetermined limit.” Col. 10, lines 60-65).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the chemical mechanical polishing apparatus of Deshpande et al. with the detection alert as taught by Lewis et al. for the purpose of giving the users a prompt message in order to determine if the system is in normal/ abnormal operating behavior.
Referring to claim 5: Deshpande et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but is silent on wherein the controller is configured to generate an alert detect in response to detecting that grooving has formed on the inner surface of the retaining ring.
Lewis et al. teaches a similar configuration controller (12 Fig. 1), wherein the controller (12 Fig. 1) is configured to generate an alert detect (“the controller can generate an alarm signal, based on the damage data, to indicate to a user that the object has been damaged or that the object has been damaged beyond a predetermined limit.” Col. 3, lines 6-9) in response to detecting that grooving (“grooving” being a type of damage) has formed on the inner surface of the retaining ring (The controller is capable of detecting damage/ change of an object exceeding a predetermined limit; “If the controller 12 determines that the damage count exceeds the predetermined limit, the controller 12 can generate an alarm signal supplied to the alarm unit 17 to generate an alarm to alert the user that the object 1 has been damaged beyond the predetermined limit.” Col. 10, lines 60-65).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the chemical mechanical polishing apparatus of Deshpande et al. with the detection alert as taught by Lewis et al. for the purpose of giving the users a prompt message in order to determine if the system is in normal/ abnormal operating behavior.
Conclusion
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CHRISTOPHER SOTO
Examiner
Art Unit 3723
/CHRISTOPHER SOTO/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/MONICA S CARTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723