DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim(s) 28, 31 and 34-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1).
Claim(s) 21-22, 24-27, 30, 32-33 and 36-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection presented below.
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) 28, 31 and 34-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by US Publication 2010/0054720 to Hunter et al.
In regards to claims 28, 31 and 34-35, Hunter discloses and shows in Figures 1-2 and 12-16, a system and method to monitor one or more properties of a substrate in a processing system comprising:
a system to monitor one or more properties of a substrate, suitable for use in semiconductor processing, the system comprising:
a light source (74, 312, 314) disposed at a first end of a propagation path (Figure 13)(par. 8, 11, 68, 74, 77, 80-81);
a light pipe (72, 192) disposed along the propagation path (Figure 13) (par. 10, 74);
a dichroic mirror (360) in optical communication with the light source and adapted to receive light from the light pipe (par. 81); and
a sensor (330, 340) in optical communication with the dichroic mirror along a first propagation sub-path of the propagation path downstream of the dichroic mirror (Figure 15-16) (par. 49, 77, 80-81; wherein a low temperature pyrometry system is shown to include a plurality of detector modules, each being configured to detect different wavelengths of radiation);
further comprising a pyrometer (330, 340) in optical communication with the dichroic mirror along a second propagation sub-path of the propagation path downstream of the dichroic mirror, wherein the second propagation sub-path is a light path reflected from the dichroic mirror to the pyrometer and the first propagation sub-path is a light path that passes through the dichroic mirror to the sensor (Figure 13, 15-16) (par. 49, 77, 80-81; wherein a low temperature pyrometry system is shown to include a plurality of detector modules, each being configured to detect different wavelengths of radiation);
[claim 31] wherein the dichroic mirror is disposed at an angle of incidence between about 40 degrees and about 50 degrees along the propagation path (Figure 16; wherein the dichroic mirror is arranged at an angle of 45 degrees to a propagation path) (par. 77, 81);
[claim 34] further comprising an adapter plate supporting the dichroic mirror, where the adapter plate disposes the dichroic mirror at an angle of incidence between about 40 degrees and about 50 degrees along the propagation path (Figure 16; wherein the dichroic mirror is arranged at angle of 45 degrees to a propagation path; Further, supporting structures or adapter plates are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art and would be inherent to the optical system of Hunter) (par. 77, 81);
[claim 35] further comprising: a mirror housing (54), wherein the mirror housing is coupled to a cooling plate (9) (par. 9; wherein the lamps are surrounded by a reflector body 54 and a cooling channel 56).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 30 and 32-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hunter, and in further view of US Publication 2004/0165872 to Nanjo et al.
In regards to claims 30 and 32-33, Hunter discloses a variety of light sources including a plurality of lamps (42) (par. 8, 68) and wavelength filters (par. 10, 82).
Hunter differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system and method further comprising:
[claim 30] wherein the dichroic mirror is configured to direct wavelengths of light between about 200 nm and about 800 nm along the first propagation sub-path;
[claim 32] wherein the dichroic mirror is configured to direct wavelengths of light between about 3.0 μm and about 4.0 μm along the second propagation sub-path;
[claim 33] wherein the dichroic mirror is configured to direct wavelengths of between about 200 nm and about 800 nm along the first propagation sub-path.
However, Nanjo teaches and shows in Figure 3A, an imaging system for obtaining a plurality of images having different wavelength ranges (par. 8), wherein a dichroic mirror (25, 28) is utilized to separate the light into visible (200 nm to 800 nm) and infrared (greater than 800 nm) wave bands, and reflect or transmit the desired wavelengths to a plurality of detectors for imaging (par. 24-25). Further, dichroic mirrors are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the selection of the wavelength ranges for reflection and transmission is a well-known parameter of the device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hunter to include the dichroic mirror discussed above for the advantage of utilizing a well-known optical device to obtain a plurality of images of different desired wavelength ranges, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 21-22 and 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 5,841,110 to Nenyei et al. in view of Hunter.
In regards to claims 21-22, 24-26, Nenyei discloses and shows in Figures 4 and 6, a substrate processing system (col. 1, ll. 7-33) comprising:
a process chamber (Figure 4) (col. 1, ll. 7-33) comprising:
a susceptor assembly to support a substrate (Figure 4) (col. 1, ll. 7-33);
an upper module disposed over the susceptor assembly (Figure 4) (col. 6, ll. 42-58); and
a reflectometry system coupled to the upper module (Figure 4) (col. 6, ll. 42-58), the reflectometry system comprising:
a pyrometer (47) (col. 6, ll. 42-58);
a sensor (45, 66) (col. 6, ll. 42-58);
a light source (43) to generate light that is directed to the substrate and reflected as reflected light (Figure 4 and 6) (col. 6, ll. 42-58);
[claim 22] wherein the sensor is a spectrometer (col. 4, ll. 47-50).
[claim 24] wherein the upper module has a plurality of lamps (411) (col. 6, ll. 42-58);
[claim 25] further comprising a collimator (44) in optical communication with the light source (col. 6, ll. 42-58);
[claim 26] wherein the light generated by the light source comprises wavelengths between 200 nm to 800 nm (col. 7, ll. 30-60; wherein a halogen lamp is utilized as a broadband light source to generate a desired wavelength measurement range of 0.4 µm to 4 µm).
Nenyei differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system further comprising:
a dichroic mirror to receive light from the substrate and to split the light onto a first sub-path to the pyrometer and a second sub-path to the sensor, wherein the light received by the dichroic mirror includes the reflected light;
However, Hunter teaches and shows in Figures 2 and 15-16, a rapid thermal processing chamber (110) that includes a pyrometer system having a dichroic mirror (360), and two separate detector modules (330, 340), that include wavelength filters (334, 344), and are configured to detect different wavelengths of light (par. 49, 77, 80-81), for the advantage of monitoring a semiconductor manufacturing process with improved sensitivity (par. 21-22, 75).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Nenyei to include the dichroic mirror for the advantage of for the advantage of monitoring a semiconductor manufacturing process with improved sensitivity, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nanyei and Hunter, and in further view of Nanjo.
In regards to claim 27, Nanyei discloses a rapid thermal processing system comprising: a pyrometer to detect a wavelength range of 1.5 µm to 3 µm, a broadband spectrometer to detect a visible light wavelength range, and a wavelength filter (col. 6, ll. 42-58; col. 7, ll. 30-60).
Nanyei and Hunter, differ from the limitations in that they are silent to the system further comprising a filter comprising a dielectric material that prevents transmission of wavelengths greater than about 500 nm,
wherein the dichroic mirror is configured to direct wavelengths of light between about 200 nm and about 800 nm toward the sensor, and
the dichroic mirror is configured to direct wavelengths of light between about 1.0 µm and about 6.0 µm toward the pyrometer.
However, Nanjo teaches and shows in Figure 3A, an imaging system for obtaining a plurality of images having different wavelength ranges (par. 8), wherein a dichroic mirror (25, 28) is utilized to separate the light into visible (200 nm to 800 nm) and infrared (greater than 800 nm) wave bands, and reflect or transmit the desired wavelengths to a plurality of detectors for imaging (par. 24-25). Further, dichroic mirror and wavelength filters are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the selection of the wavelength ranges for reflection, transmission or filtering is a well-known parameter of the device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Nanyei and Hunter to include the dichroic mirror discussed above for the advantage of utilizing a well-known optical device to obtain a plurality of images of different desired wavelength ranges, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 36 and 38-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hunter, in further view of Nanyei.
In regards to claim 36, Hunter discloses a method of monitoring one or more properties of a substrate during a semiconductor manufacturing operation comprising:
processing the substrate in a process chamber (12) (par. 4, 49) (Figures 1-2);
receiving light from the substrate at a dichroic mirror (360) (par. 74, 77, 80-81); and
splitting, with the dichroic mirror, the light along a first sub-path to a pyrometer and a second sub-path to a sensor (par. 80-81) (Figure 16);
[claim 38] further comprising filtering wavelengths of the light greater than about 550 nm (par. 77, 82);
[claim 39] wherein the light enters the processing chamber and the light leaves the processing chamber through a light pipe (72) disposed in a lid of the processing chamber (par. 10, 49, 74);
[claim 40] further comprising collimating (198) the light received from the dichroic mirror (par. 74).
Hunter differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the method wherein the light received by the dichroic mirror includes reflected light from the substrate.
However, Nenyei teaches and shows in Figures 4 and 6, a rapid thermal processing system that utilizes a broadband reflectometry spectrometer and a plurality of pyrometers, in a reflective configuration, to monitor system parameters and semiconductor processing conditions on a specific side of a wafer (col. 1, ll. 36-51; col. 3, ll. 1-6; col. 6, ll. 42-58).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hunter to include the reflective system configuration discussed above for the advantage of monitoring system parameters and a semiconductor manufacturing process on a specific side of a wafer with improved sensitivity, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 37 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hunter and Nanyei, and in further view of Nanjo.
In regards to claim 37, Hunter and Nanyei, differ from the limitations in that they are silent to the system and method further comprising:
[claim 37] wherein wavelengths of the light from the dichroic mirror to the sensor are between about 200 nm and about 800 nm and wavelengths of the light from the dichroic mirror to the pyrometer are from about 3.0 μm to about 4.0 μm.
However, Nanjo teaches and shows in Figure 3A, an imaging system for obtaining a plurality of images having different wavelength ranges (par. 8), wherein a dichroic mirror (25, 28) is utilized to separate the light into visible (200 nm to 800 nm) and infrared (greater than 800 nm) wave bands, and reflect or transmit the desired wavelengths to a plurality of detectors for imaging (par. 24-25). Further, dichroic mirrors are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the selection of the wavelength ranges for reflection and transmission is a well-known parameter of the device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hunter and Nanyei to include the dichroic mirror discussed above for the advantage of utilizing a well-known optical device to obtain a plurality of images of different desired wavelength ranges, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN M HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1736. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm.
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JONATHAN M. HANSEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2877
/JONATHAN M HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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