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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Parkhe (US Pub. No. 2022/0270906)
Regarding claim 1, Parkhe discloses a substrate support carrier for use in a processing chamber, the substrate support carrier comprising: an electrostatic chuck (ESC) assembly comprising: a top ceramic disc (108) having a recess formed from a lower surface of the top ceramic disc; a bottom ceramic disc (102) having a hole through the bottom ceramic disc (figure 1); an upper bonding layer (114) interposed between the lower surface of the top ceramic disc (108) and an upper surface of the bottom ceramic disc (102); and a porous plug (116) within at least one of the recess of the top ceramic disc and the hole of the bottom ceramic disc (figure 1); a temperature control base (122); and a lower bonding layer (121) interposed between a lower surface of the bottom ceramic disc (102) and an upper surface of the temperature control base (122)(figure 1).
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YE et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0118716) and as evidenced by Parkhe (US Pub. No. 2022/0270906).
Regarding claim 1, YE et al. discloses a substrate support carrier for use in a processing chamber, the substrate support carrier comprising: an electrostatic chuck (ESC) (100) assembly comprising: a top ceramic disc (130) having a recess (131) formed from a lower surface of the top ceramic disc; a bottom ceramic disc (110) having a hole (112) through the bottom ceramic disc (figures 1 and 2); an upper bonding layer (120) interposed between the lower surface of the top ceramic disc (130) and an upper surface of the bottom ceramic disc (110); and a porous plug (1110/1313: paragraph 66, lines 13-15) within at least one of the recess (131) of the top ceramic disc (130) and the hole (112) of the bottom ceramic disc (110) (figures 2 and 4-14); a temperature control base (500) (figure 1); and a lower bonding layer interposed between a lower surface of the bottom ceramic disc and an upper surface of the temperature control base.
Regarding claim 2, YE et al. discloses wherein the porous plug (1110) includes an in-situ sleeve (1114) at least partially encapsulating the porous plug (1110) (figure 8 and paragraph 70).
Regarding claim 3, YE et al. discloses wherein the porous plug (1110) extends within the hole of the bottom ceramic disc and does not extend within the recess
of the top ceramic disc (figures 4-7).
Regarding claim 4, YE et al. discloses 4.
(Original)
The substrate support carrier of claim 1, wherein the porous plug
extends within the recess of the top ceramic disc and does not extend within the hole of
the bottom ceramic disc.
Regarding claim 5, YE et al. discloses wherein the porous plug comprises a top porous plug (1312/1313/1314) extending within the recess of the top ceramic disc (130) and a bottom porous plug (1111) extending within the hole of the bottom ceramic disc (110) (figures 11-14).
Regarding claim 6, YE et al. discloses wherein the top porous plug is manufactured monolithically as a part of the top ceramic
disc, and the bottom porous plug is manufactured monolithically as a part of the bottom
ceramic disc.
Regarding claim 7, YE et al. discloses wherein wherein the porous plug
further comprises a center porous plug between the top porous plug and the bottom
porous plug, extending within an opening of the upper bonding layer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARA ADDISU at (571) 272-6082. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (Mondays and Wednesday-Friday).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil K. Singh can be reached on (571) 272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SARA ADDISU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3722 5/14/26
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