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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/21/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments filed 1/26/2026 have been entered and considered. The amendments of claim 5 and the cancellation of claims 1-4 are acknowledged.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 1/21/2026 with respect to the rejection of claim 5 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Terada, in view of Hojo.
The examiner agrees that Terada fails to teach the use of a voice coil motor to apply the pressing load. However, Hojo uses a voice coil motor to press the bumps of a chip onto the solder on a substrate. Para. 0034 of Hojo teaches “a sensor for detecting a pressing force at which the bonding tool 28 presses down the substrate 42 can be provided and the current through the coil 23 can be controlled to change such that the pressing force detected by the sensor represents a constant value, as mentioned above”. The movement of the mounting tool in Hojo and the pressing force is controlled by the current and the current in the detection step can be determined. From this, the examiner understands that the “voice coil motor 20” is capable of being controlled in the manner the “tool holder 17” is controlled to maintain a constant pressing load even as thermal expansion of the mounting tool takes place.
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 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Terada et al. US 20090289098 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Terada), in view of Hojo et al. US 20130153644 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Hojo).
Regarding claim 5, Terada teaches
A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device (“operation of the apparatus according to Example 1” for chip mounting, para. 0063, 0069 FIG. 1-10), comprising:
after bringing a chip (“chip 1” para. 0064 FIG. 2) held by a mounting tool (“tool 2” para. 0064) into contact with a substrate (“substrate 5” para. 0064) supported by a stage (“holding stage 4” para. 0064) and until a bump (“bump 1a” para. 0068 FIG. 2) provided on a bottom surface of the chip melts (“FIG. 3 shows a state where bump 1a of chip 1 has come into contact with electrode 5a of substrate 5” in “timing t1” while the heating of “tool 2” is at “timing t3”, para. 0072-0076), performing a first step of heating the chip by the mounting tool (“bump 1a is heated by tool 2 and begins to be molten” at “timing t3” para. 0076 FIG. 6),
a pressing mechanism (“tool holder 17” para. 0064), which moves the mounting tool in the vertical direction
in parallel with the first step, performing a detection step of monitoring a pressing load of the chip applied by the pressing mechanism and detecting melting of the bump based on a decrease in the pressing load (“tool holder 17” applies a low load on “chip 1” when “bump 1a” melts, para. 0075 and “tool holder position detecting means 23” detects a change in the position of the “tool holder 17” when “bumps 1a” is molten, para. 0076.), wherein
However, Terada fails to explicitly teach and constantly updating a command position in a vertical direction of the pressing mechanism, which moves the mounting tool in the vertical direction, so that a positional deviation, which is a difference between the command position and a current position of the pressing mechanism, is constant; and the first step updates, as the command position, a value obtained by subtracting a target value of the positional deviation greater than 0 from a sum of a detection position of the mounting tool detected by a sensor and a thermal expansion amount per sampling, the command position is according to a formula P* = Pd + aa - AP*, wherein P* denotes the command position, Pd denotes the detection position of the mounting tool, aa denotes the thermal expansion amount of the mounting tool that occurs per sampling, Pd + aa is the current position of the mounting tool, and AP* denotes a target value of the positional deviation AP, which is a constant fixed value, the pressing mechanism comprises a voice coil motor configured to move the mounting tool in the vertical direction by an electric current applied from a controller, and in the detection step monitors an electric current value of the voice coil motor as a parameter indicating the pressing load during the detection step.
Nevertheless, the command position is understood as the position to which the “tool 2” is instructed to move by the “feeding device 3” and “tool holder 17”. Because of the contact made with “substrate 5”, the path of “tool 2” is obstructed and a load is applied to “chip 1” (para. 0070 FIG. 3 and 10). The distance measured by the “tool holder position detecting means 23” corresponds to the detection position of the mounting tool. The distance between where “tool 12” is commanded to go and the position it holds on “chip 1” corresponds to the target value of the positional deviation. Thermal expansion of “tool 2” occurs during heating and the position of “tool holder 17” changes from “X1” to “X2” to compensate for the thermal expansion so that the bumps are not damaged. In other words, the position to which “tool 12” is instructed to go is updated so that the load applied on “chip 1” can be maintained substantially constant, as seen in FIG. 10. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized that the command position of “tool 2” is updated to account for the thermal expansion of “tool 2” so the load on “chip 1” is kept the same.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that a command position is being updated to compensate for the thermal expansion of the mounting tool. This is what allows the positional deviation and the load on the chip to be constant during the heating step.
However, Terada fails to teach the pressing mechanism comprises a voice coil motor configured to move the mounting tool in the vertical direction by an electric current applied from a controller, and in the detection step monitors an electric current value of the voice coil motor as a parameter indicating the pressing load during the detection step.
Nevertheless, Hojo teaches
the pressing mechanism comprises a voice coil motor (“voice coil motor 20” para. 0023 FIG. 1) configured to move the mounting tool in the vertical direction by an electric current applied from a controller (“voice coil motor 20” drives the “bonding tool 28” by changing the current through “coil 23” of the “voice coil motor 20”, para. 0030), and in the detection step monitors an electric current value of the voice coil motor as a parameter indicating the pressing load during the detection step (because “a sensor for detecting a pressing force at which the bonding tool 28 presses down the substrate 42 can be provided and the current through the coil 23 can be controlled to change”, the examiner understands the pressing load and the current can be detected when contact between “gold bump 33” “solder film 44” is made, para. 0033-0034 FIG. 6).
Terada and Hojo teach methods of bonding semiconductor chips to a substrate. While Terada uses a “tool holder 17” that relies on air pressure between a “pressurizing port 19” and a “balance pressure port 20” (Terada para. 0065), Hojo uses a “voice coil motor 20” that is driven by the current in “coil 23”. The “tool holder 17” movement is controlled by changing the pressures in each port by use of “pressure controllers 27a and 27b” and these are controlled by the “drive control means 22” (Terada para. 0066-0067). Meanwhile, Hojo uses a “power source 19” controlled by the “control unit 50” to adjust the current through the “coil 23”. The “voice coil motor 20” in Hojo requires less variables to control and less parts to operate than the “tool holder 17” in the air cylinder “tool holder supporting means 15” in Terada: the examiner understands it is simpler to control a single current than to balance out two opposing pressures with two pressure controllers. Since the load applied by the “voice coil motor 20” is sensed and controlled during the bonding operation to maintain a constant load, it can be used the same way the “tool holder 17” is used. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized that a “voice coil motor 20” is an easier alternative to the air pressure controlled “tool holder 17” in Terada that can also maintain a constant load by adjusting the current.
Therefore, 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 method taught in Terada with the voice coil motor taught in Hojo. A voice coil motor requires less independently controlled elements while still enabling constant control of the loading pressure.
Regarding claim 6, Terada, modified by Hojo, teaches the manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 5, further comprising:
performing a second step of constantly updating the command position of the pressing mechanism after a time point at which melting of the bump is detected in the detection step (“tool holder position detecting means 23” constantly measures the position of “tool holder 17”, para. 0067. When a change in position is detected upon melting of “bump a1”, the position of “tool 2” relative to “chip 1” is kept at a fixed position while “tool holder 17” and “feeding device 3” are moved, para. 0076-0078. In other words, the commanded position of “tool 12” is constantly update to account for the change of position of “tool holder 17” and “feeding device 3”. As modified, the “voice coil motor 20” is capable of being controlled in the same way since the load amount can be sensed, para. 0034.), so that a gap amount, which is a distance between the bottom surface of the chip and the substrate, is kept at a target value (“the gap (gap amount) between chip 1 and substrate 5 at the time of cooling becomes a predetermined value” and “bump 1a” is cooled at this gap, para. 0078).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC MULERO FLORES whose telephone number is (571)270-0070. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-5pm (typically).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julio Maldonado can be reached at (571)272-1864. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC MANUEL MULERO FLORES/Examiner, Art Unit 2898 /JULIO J MALDONADO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898