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 .
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention II (plasma processing system), directed to claim(s) 14-17 and 21-27 in the reply filed on 08/03/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim(s) 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention (method), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/03/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 and 35 USC § 103
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.
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) 14-16, 21-22, and 24-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Nangoy et al (US 9,162,236).
Regarding claim 14:
Nangoy teaches a plasma processing system (100) [fig 1 & col 3, lines 29-46], comprising: a unitary gas hub (210/250) and distribution nozzle (nozzle, 230) comprising: a gas hub portion (210/250) [fig 2A-2B & col 4, lines 17-32] comprising: a plurality of gas inlet paths (212a/212b) and one or more plenum chambers (254/256) formed within a body of the gas hub portion (distribution passages may be entirely or partially made of internal channels), wherein the plurality of gas inlet paths (212a/212b) and the one or more plenum chambers (254/256) form fully recursive gas paths (distribution passages of substantially equal length) [fig 2A-2B & col 5, lines 11-25 and 44-46]; and one or more output holes (plurality of outlets) in each of the one or more plenum chambers (254/256) [fig 2A-2B & col 5, lines 11-25]; and a gas delivery nozzle portion (230) comprising one or more gas flow paths (236/238) formed within a body of the gas delivery nozzle portion (230), wherein each gas flow path (236/238) is coupled to one of the one or more output holes in each of the one or more plenum chambers (plurality of outlets of 254/256), and wherein each gas flow path (236/238) has a respective output at an outer surface of the gas delivery nozzle portion (236) [fig 2A-2B & col 4, lines 17-32 and col 5, lines 11-25].
It is noted that the broadest reasonable interpretation of “unitary” includes a group that is constituent of a whole. The different parts set forth above may be interpreted to correspond to a single unit.
Alternatively, “unitary” may be interpreted to mean integral or monolithic. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to make the gas hub and distribution nozzle of Nangoy integral, since it has been held that making a formerly separable structure integral involves only routine skill in the art [MPEP 2144.04].
Regarding claim 15:
Nangoy teaches each of the plurality of gas inlet paths (212a/212b) comprises multiple branches, each of the multiple branches configured to provide input to a respective portion of a corresponding plenum chamber to provide uniform gas distribution (see fig 2B) [fig 2B & col 5, lines 11-25].
Regarding claims 16 and 24-25:
Nangoy teaches the one or more plenum chambers (254/256) comprise a first plenum chamber (254) configured to direct etch gases to gas flow paths of the gas delivery nozzle portion (238) having a first set of outputs and a second plenum chamber (256) configured to direct etch gases to gas flow paths of the gas delivery nozzle portion having a second set of outputs (236) [fig 2A-2B & col 5, lines 11-25 and 44-46]; the gas delivery nozzle portion (230) comprises a plurality of gas injection passages (238) that couple the first plenum chamber (254) to a plurality of nozzle outlets disposed at a bottom of the gas delivery nozzle portion (see fig 2B) [fig 2A-2B & col 5, lines 11-25 and 44-46]; and wherein the gas delivery nozzle portion (230) further comprises a plurality of gas injection passages (236) that couple the second plenum chamber (256) to a plurality of nozzle outlets disposed in a sidewall of the gas delivery nozzle portion (see fig 2B) [fig 2A-2B & col 5, lines 11-25 and 44-46].
Regarding claims 21-22:
Nangoy teaches the gas hub portion (210/250) is formed from a first dielectric material (aluminum oxide) [col 6, lines 26-31]; and wherein the gas delivery nozzle portion (230) is formed from one of the first dielectric material or a second dielectric material different from the first dielectric material (aluminum oxide) [col 6, lines 26-31].
Regarding claim 26:
Nangoy teaches each of the first plenum chamber (254) and the second plenum chamber (256) comprises one or more segments, each segment having a respective geometry formed within the body of the gas hub portion (distribution passages may be entirely or partially made of internal channels), wherein each segment is coupled to at least one gas inlet path of the plurality of gas inlet paths and a plurality of output holes (see fig 2B) [fig 2A-2B & col 5, lines 11-25 and 44-46].
Regarding claim 27:
Nangoy teaches at least one of the one or more gas flow paths (236/238) is a non-linear path that prevents line-of-sight from a corresponding output at the outer surface of the gas delivery nozzle portion (230) to a corresponding output hole in a corresponding plenum chamber (see fig 2A-2B) [fig 2A-2B].
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nangoy et al (US 9,162,236) as applied to claims 14-16, 21-22, and 24-27 above, and further in view of Wang et al (US 2006/0219361).
The limitations of claims 14-16, 21-22, and 24-27 have been set forth above.
Regarding claim 17:
Nangoy does not specifically teach the unitary gas hub and distribution nozzle further comprises one or more temperature monitoring sensors configured to monitor temperatures within the unitary gas hub and distribution nozzle.
Wang teaches one or more temperature monitoring sensors (one or more temperature sensors, 970) configured to monitor temperatures within the unitary gas hub and distribution nozzle (900) [fig 9 & 0053].
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to modify the unitary gas hub and distribution nozzle of Nangoy to further comprises one or more temperature monitoring sensors, as in Wang, to enable active temperature control of the nozzle [Wang – 0053].
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nangoy et al (US 9,162,236) as applied to claims 14-16, 21-22, and 24-27 above, and further in view of Sun et al (US 2015/0021324).
The limitations of claims 14-16, 21-22, and 24-27 have been set forth above.
Regarding claim 23:
Nangoy does not specifically disclose an exterior surface of the gas delivery nozzle portion has a coating, and the coating is of a third material, and the third material is different than the first dielectric material.
Sun teaches an exterior surface of the gas delivery nozzle portion has a coating (thin film protective layer, 134), and the coating (134) is of a third material (rare-earth oxide), and the third material (rare-earth oxide) is different than the first dielectric material (Al2O3) [fig 1 & 0020, 0031].
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to modify an exterior surface of the gas delivery nozzle portion of Nangoy to have a coating, as in Sun, to improve erosion resistance thereby improving the service life of the article, while reducing maintenance and manufacturing cost [Sun – 0020].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim et al (US 2004/0099378) and Kitahara (US 2010/0248409) teach a distribution nozzle [fig 3A and 2, respectively].
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/Benjamin Kendall/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896
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