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 .
Non-Final Office Action
DETAILED ACTION
Examiner’s Notes
(a) Claim date: 05/08/2023.
(b) Priority date: 11/14/2022.
(c) Invention: Tuning doses while considering substrate curvature.
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, 8-9, 16-17, 19, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the prior art of record “Hooge” <US 20180342410 A1>.(As to claim 1, 9, 17, Elmer discloses):1. A method, comprising:
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generating a residual curvature map for a substrate [Fig. 5, 550] [0054: “substrate respectively; and K is the deformed curvature of the wafer”],
the residual curvature map being based upon a measurement of a surface of the substrate [0036-0037: “substrate can develop a bow or deflection of between 1 and 400 microns”, “measurement essentially measures out-of-plane distortion”];
generating a dose map based upon the residual curvature map [0071: “variation in the set dose vs actual dose with which the correction film is exposed across the wafer”],
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the d
dose map being for processing the substrate using a patterning energy source [Fig. 4, 430, 440]; and
applying the dose map to process the substrate using the patterning energy source [0079: “pixel's force(s) on every pixel (including itself) is factored into the estimation of that force(s). An amplitude of a pixel's force(s) is estimated based on the impact of that force closely matching the wafer-shape data”].
(As to claim 8, 16, Elmer discloses):8. The method of claim 1, the patterning energy source comprising an ion beam, an electron beam or a laser beam [0002: “deposition, lithography”].
(As to claim 19, Elmer discloses):19. The method of claim 17, wherein the model comprises a Gaussian curvature model or a mean curvature model [0060, “discretized distribution”].
Claims 1, 8-9, 16-17, 19, are further rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the prior art of record “Elmer” < JP 6890373 B2>.(As to claim 1, 9, 17, Elmer discloses):1. A method, comprising:
generating a residual curvature map for a substrate [Pg. 17, “The curvature 105 shows the relationship of quadruple grid exposure at a 20 nm beam spot with MBW.”; Note: “residual curvature” is interpreted as any curvature. Also, the curvature described by the prior art is related substrate curvature (“silicon wafer substrates” page 3)],
the residual curvature map being based upon a measurement of a surface of the substrate [Pg. 17, “FIG. 29A shows the relationship between ΔCD = (CD * -CD) vs. CD for two drawing”];
generating a dose map based upon the residual curvature map, the dose map being for processing the substrate using a patterning energy source [Page 18, “Figures 33a-c show three 2D simulations of lines with a width of 30 nm. Only half of the line is shown because the other half is a symmetrical image. Contours of dose levels of 45%, 50% and 55% relative to maximum dose are shown”]; and
applying the dose map to process the substrate using the patterning energy source [Page 6, “Therefore, the lithography beam lb is structured into a pattern beam pb that emerges from the PD system”].
(As to claim 8, 16, Elmer discloses):8. The method of claim 1, the patterning energy source comprising an ion beam, an electron beam or a laser beam [Page 19, “particle beam is generated from a light source”] [Page 4, “electron beam”].
(As to claim 19, Elmer discloses):19. The method of claim 17, wherein the model comprises a Gaussian curvature model or a mean curvature model [Page 21, “Gaussian function is used”].
Allowable Subject Matter
The following claims would be allowable if all rejections/objections cited in this office action (if any) are overcome and rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.The reason for this allowance is: the claimed subject matter could not have been anticipated or obviated using any prior arts.Allowable claims are: 2-7, 10-15 and 18.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record in the form PTO-892 are not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.Contact information:Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED ALAM whose telephone number is (571) 270-1507, email address: [mohammed.alam@uspto.gov] and fax number (571) 270-2507. The examiner can normally be reached on 10AM to 4PM (EST), Monday to Friday. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner's Supervisor, JACK CHIANG can be reached on (571) 272-7483. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300./Mohammed Alam/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2851
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