DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the request for continued examination filed on August 14th, 2026. Claims 1-3, 5-18, and 20-23 are pending, with claim 23 being new.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Newly submitted claims 21-22 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally elected for the following reasons: the claims recite “ascertaining a skewed position of the photomask on the sample stage based on the measured height difference”, which relates to non-elected invention IV, directed to determining the oblique position (or skew) of the photomask.
Applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally elected invention, and is not permitted to shift invention. Accordingly, claims 21-22 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention.
Currently, claims 1-2, 5-7, 11-13, 15, 20, and 23 are directed to the elected invention, or generic.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 11, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 5,672,885 (Allen et al.).
Regarding claim 1, Allen et al. discloses a method for determining an alignment of a photomask on a sample stage which is displaceable along at least one axis that is parallel to a chuck surface of the sample stage, and is rotatable about at least one axis that is perpendicular to the chuck surface (‘Photolithographic mask inspection system 5, FIG. 1, includes mask holder 12 supporting photolithographic mask 10. Holder 12 is rotated by air spindle 18’), comprising:
rotating the sample stage by a predefined angle and measuring a height change of the photomask during rotation (‘The photolithographic mask is rotated on a spindle at 1800 rpm and inspected by a sharply focussed laser beam trace directed to the surface by a parabolic mirror.’) at a predetermined, non-vanishing distance with respect to the rotation axis (‘A spiral pattern is formed on the surface of mask 10 as shown at 22, FIG. 2, as laser beam 24, FIG. 1, from beam forming optics 26 is directed to the rotating and translating surface of photolithographic mask 10 via parabolic minor 28.’);
wherein determining the alignment of the photomask on the sample stage comprises determining an alignment of a normal direction of the photomask relative to the rotation axis; wherein the normal direction of the photomask is determined to be aligned relative to the rotation axis when the height of the photomask does not change during the rotation of the sample stage (‘calculating the amount of displacement of the surface in each sector of the surface as it revolves;’).
Regarding claim 2, Allen et al. discloses the method of Claim 1, wherein the sample stage is rotated by an angle that is greater than or equal to: 60°, preferably 90°, more preferably 180°, and most preferably 360° (‘A spiral pattern is formed on the surface of mask 10 as shown at 22, FIG. 2, as laser beam 24, FIG. 1, from beam forming optics 26 is directed to the rotating and translating surface of photolithographic mask 10 via parabolic minor 28.’).
Regarding claim 11, Allen et al. discloses the method of Claim 1, wherein measuring the height change comprises: displacing the rotation axis under a point of incidence of a particle beam of a particle beam source on the photomask (‘Air spindle 18 is translated in the direction shown by arrow 19 by translation stage 17.’).
Regarding claim 20, Allen et al. discloses a computer program comprising instructions which, when they are executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to carry out the method steps of Claim 1 (‘software program disclosed below that provides information about the vertical position of the surface.’).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,672,885 (Allen et al.).
Regarding claim 12, Allen et al. discloses the claimed invention except for interpolating and/or extrapolating the measured height change of the photomask for a value deviating from the predetermined, non-vanishing distance. Interpolating and extrapolating are common data analysis steps in the art, and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to interpolate and/or extrapolate the height change to make predictions about what the upcoming height changes will be and/or to predict the height changes to except on another pass over different areas.
Regarding claim 13, Allen et al. discloses the claimed invention except for measuring the z-coordinate on the rotation axis. Including the rotation axis in the spiral pattern is a simple matter, and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to do so if desired.
Claim(s) 5-7, 15, and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Allen et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2019/0056674 (Solowan).
Regarding claim 5, Solowan discloses a method of determining the coordinates of the rotation axis comprises:
a. measuring a first set of coordinates for at least two markings of the photomask by use of a particle beam of a particle beam source, without rotating the photomask (‘geometric parameters of the mask can be measured’ P 35, Solowan);
b. rotating the photomask by an angle 0° < θ < 180° or 180° < θ < 360° (‘four rotational positions, respectively offset by 90°;’ P 36, Solowan); and
c. measuring a second set of coordinates for the at least two markings of the rotated photomask by use of the particle beam of the particle beam source (‘measured in different rotational positions’ P 35, Solowan).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to modify the method Allen et al. to include a step of determining the coordinates of the rotation axis on the surface of the photomask as in Solowan so that any positioning errors introduced by the center of rotation not being located at the center of the mask could be accounted for, as discussed in Solowan (‘Hence, the determination of the position of the mask holder on the measuring table overall becomes more reproducible which, as illustrated above, also opens up the possibility of determining the systematic error when establishing the position of the mask holder 1.’ P 37).
Regarding claim 6, Allen et al. in view of Solowan discloses the method of Claim 5, wherein determining the coordinates of the rotation axis comprises: determining the coordinates of the rotation axis from the first and second sets of measured coordinates of the at least two markings (‘To this end, the offset of the origin of the mask coordinate system in relation to the origin of the mask holder coordinate system is determined by way of the mentioned rotation of the mask.’ P 37).
Regarding claim 7, Allen et al. in view of Solowan discloses the method of Claim 5, wherein measuring the at least two markings is effected by use of at least one particle beam source configured to generate at least one focused particle beam from the following group: a photon beam, an electron beam, an ion beam, an atomic beam and a molecular beam (‘measuring of the mask holder 1 by use of a light microscope’ P 43).
Regarding claim 15, Allen et al. in view of Solowan discloses the method of Claim 5, furthermore comprising the following step: determining an transformation between a coordinate system of the photomask and a coordinate system of the sample stage from the first set of coordinates (‘If the positions of the edges of the mask holder are now known in the coordinate system of the measurement system, it is possible to determine the positions of the edges of the mask body by way of a suitable transformation and hence ultimately determine the centrality, inter alia.’ P 4, Solowan).
Solowan does not specify that the transformation is an affine transformation, but affine transformations are known in the art and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed because affine transformations can map the two coordinate systems to each other with a single relatively simple matrix.
Regarding claim 23, Allen et al. discloses the claimed invention except for determining coordinates of the rotation axis on a surface of the photomask. Solowan discloses a method for determining coordinates of a rotation axis on a surface of a photomask (‘To this end, the offset of the origin of the mask coordinate system in relation to the origin of the mask holder coordinate system is determined’ P 37). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to modify the method Allen et al. to include a step of determining the coordinates of the rotation axis on the surface of the photomask as in Solowan so that any positioning errors introduced by the center of rotation not being located at the center of the mask could be accounted for, as discussed in Solowan (‘Hence, the determination of the position of the mask holder on the measuring table overall becomes more reproducible which, as illustrated above, also opens up the possibility of determining the systematic error when establishing the position of the mask holder 1.’ P 37).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks, filed August 14th, 2026, have been considered but are moot because they do not relate to any of the current rejections.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZA W OSENBAUGH-STEWART whose telephone number is (571)270-5782. The examiner can normally be reached 10am - 6pm Pacific Time M-F.
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/ELIZA W OSENBAUGH-STEWART/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2881
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