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
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I, species Fig. 2a in the reply filed on 1/6/26 is acknowledged.
Claims 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 1/6/26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 10, 13, 14, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 10 recites the limitation, the impedance. It is unclear what exactly the impedance is referring to, and it was not previously introduced either in claim 10 or in claim 1. Claim 13 recites the limitation, the modulated data transmission. However, this transmission was not previously introduced, and it is unclear what exactly this transmission is, where it came from, what is its form and how it is transmitted/generated. For example, it is not clear if this is another modulated data transmission not necessarily associated with the modulated data of the antenna and if the transmission is sent to another destination. Claim 14 recites the chamber RF generator. However, it is unclear where this came from and what exactly it is. For instance, no previous mention of any chamber or RF generators were made. Claim 15 recites the carrier frequency. However, it is unclear where this came from and what exactly it is. For instance, it is unclear what exactly it is carrying/used for and what apparatus elements it is associated with. There is no previous mention/introduction in claim 11, 15 of this carrier frequency. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims.
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, 4-11, 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Mahoney (US 20050011611).
Regarding claim 1. Mahoney teaches in the figures a diagnostic substrate (diagnostic probe wafer 14 [34]), comprising: a substrate (wafer 14 [34] fig. 2ab-5); a sensor (sensor elements 42 [35], 52 [46-49]) on the substrate (sensors/probes 42, 52, 48, 50 on 14 fig. 2ab-5 [35-48]); and a communication module (wireless communication subsystem w/ processing elements 46 [35], shown in more detail/schematic as the supporting electronic architecture [46-48, 17-21], fig. 3-5) on the substrate (said 46/subsystem/support architecture on 14, fig. 2ab) that is communicatively coupled to the sensor (46/support architecture linked to 42/52 via communication lines 44 [35] fig. 2ab, lines connecting 52 to the support architecture w/ processing, power, communication elements, fig. 3-5, eg 80 in fig. 4), wherein the communication module comprises: an output antenna (the support architecture antenna 70 which is part of a transceiver [46] that outputs sensor data to an external computer [abstract]); a switch (reed switch 76 [46]) coupled to the output antenna (indirectly connected/linked to 70/36 via power and data signals through the microprocessor 64, as part of a communication/power/signaling network, fig. 3-5); and a signal source coupled to the switch (microprocessor 68 which provides/sources the processed sensor data signal to the transceiver/antenna 36/70 as discussed, is indirectly coupled to 76 via 56; alternatively, clock 68 sends signals having clock/timing info, indirectly coupled to 76 via 64 and 56, as part of the network schematic fig. 3-5).
Regarding claim 4. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 1, wherein the signal source is a clock (as discussed in claim 1) that generates a frequency (clocks/crystal oscillators generate timing/oscillation frequency signals) that is different from a plasma frequency (this can be any arbitrary or theoretical value of a plasma that is different from that of the clock).
Regarding claim 5. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, an voltage/bias sensor, an optical sensor, or a plasma sensor for detecting one or more of electrons, ions, radicals (DFPs are plasma sensors that measure ion/electron info [43]).
Regarding claim 6. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 5, wherein the sensor is one sensor of a plurality of sensors (fig. 3-5, DFPs include at least two).
Regarding claim 7. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 1, wherein the communication module has a first impedance when the switch is open and a second impedance when the switch is closed (the subsystem architecture, including the microprocessor, is subject to AC currents/signals from the clock thus having impedance, therefore turning on/off the power from DC source 74 by switch 76, turns on/off the subsystem’s baseline biasing/power level which changes the impedance, eg when the biasing is off, impedance becomes higher/open vs when biasing is on).
Regarding claim 8. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 7, wherein the switch is operated at a frequency correlated to the signal source (the frequency, i.e. timing of the on/off of 76 is directly correlated/related to 64 because it directly supplies power access to 64, without which 64 does not have the operating bias; hence the operation of 64 is directly correlated to the frequency/timing of 76).
Regarding claim 9. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 8, wherein the switching frequency is modulated with a ASK modulation, a PSK modulation, a BPSK modulation, or an FSK modulation (this is an intended operation and does not structurally add or limit the apparatus, MPEP 2114; various modulations can be used, including manually applying an external magnetic field to operate the magnetic reed switch).
Regarding claim 10. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 1, wherein the communication module is configured to download information from the diagnostic substrate to an external device through modulation of the impedance through switching of the switch (modulation of said impedance via the bias or power state of the module, as disc in claim 7, controls the power on/off of the operation of the microprocessor, which affects whether it is able to function, such as sending/downloading sensed/diagnostic info collected from the wafer 14’s sensors to external station 38 via the antenna/transceiver 70 36 [34-46]).
Regarding claim 11. Mahoney teaches a diagnostic substrate, comprising: a substrate; a sensor on the substrate; and a communication module on the substrate that is communicatively coupled to the sensor (all the previous, see claim 1), wherein the communication module (eg support subsystem architecture, as disc in claim 1) comprises: an input antenna (antenna 70, as part of the transceiver system including 36, receives data, instructions from external computer/transceiver 40/38 [34-46] fig. 1-5), wherein the input antenna is configured to collect modulated data (as discussed, the radio antenna receives the data via radio signal waves/modulated form); a demodulator (the transceiver 36 which performs demodulation to convert the radio waves from 70 to a digital/electronic signal that can be taken/processed by the computer/microprocessor 64) coupled to the input antenna (fig. 3-5); and a controller (computer/microprocessor 64 which receives/executes instructions from 36, as discussed), wherein the controller is configured to control the sensor (the computer/cpu 64 controls the start of sensing/sampling via turning on the sensors via output commands/signals to the sensor power supply 60, fig. 3, or via 60/62/82, fig. 4 and other intermediate elements in fig. 5).
Regarding claim 13. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 11, wherein the modulated data transmission is at a lower power level than a plasma power (we can take any arbitrary power level of an arbitrary or theoretical plasma that is higher than the actual power used for transmitting either the modulated data for the antenna or another arbitrary modulated data transmission having lower power; additionally, this relates to operation and does not structurally limit the apparatus, MPEP 2114).
Regarding claim 14. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 11, wherein the modulated data is provided on a carrier frequency delivered from the chamber RF generator (as discussed, the data is sent via radio waves to the radio antenna, and is emitted via radio emitter/generator, eg. Base station 38, shown with radio emission, fig. 1, wherein 38 is associated with the chamber 10 as part of its control apparatus, fig. 1), wherein the carrier frequency is at least an order of magnitude higher or lower than a plasma frequency (we can take any arbitrary frequency of an arbitrary or theoretical plasma that is at least a magnitude higher/lower than the actual frequency used for carrying the modulated data; additionally, this relates to operation and does not structurally limit the apparatus, MPEP 2114).
Regarding claim 15. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 11, wherein the carrier frequency is a frequency of a plasma used to process the diagnostic substrate (assuming an arbitrary or theoretical carrier frequency or one that is used to carry modulated data that is the same of an arbitrary/theoretical used to process the substrate in a theoretical process; additionally, this relates to operation and does not structurally limit the apparatus, MPEP 2114).
Regarding claim 16. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 11, wherein the communication module is configured to read data from an external RF generator by demodulating a signal from the input antenna (as discussed in claim 11, the transceiver, which is part of the comm module/subsystem architecture, receives the radio waves from the antenna sent by the external radio emitter/generator 38 and demodulates it to digital/computer signals so the cpu/microprocessor, also part of the comm module, can read it).
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) 2, 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mahoney (US 20050011611) in view of Lee (US 20210116393) and Chen (US 20180005802).
Regarding claim 2. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 1, but does not teach wherein the communication module further comprises: an input antenna coupled to the signal source, wherein the input antenna is configured to obtain a frequency of a plasma by detecting an electromagnetic field change around the substrate. However, Lee teaches an input antenna (reception antenna 30 [125]) coupled to the signal source (coupled to wireless comm module in the wafer 80 which wirelessly communicates [126], same as Mahoney’s comm module), wherein the input antenna is configured to obtain a frequency of a plasma (obtains freq of the HF plasma [82-86]) by detecting an electromagnetic field change around the substrate (the arrival of an HF plasma around the wafer surface of 80 where the antenna is located from when there is no HF plasma, is detected as the said HF freq by the antenna). It would be obvious to those skilled in the art at the time of the invention to modify Mahoney to be able to accurately determine cut off frequency to enable reliable plasma density measurement [4-6, 11], but does not teach wherein the signal source is a signal multiplier that multiplies the frequency of the plasma by an integer multiple. However, Chen teaches a signal source (freq multiplier 108 120 122 fig. 1) is a signal multiplier that multiplies the frequency of the plasma by an integer multiple ([7 34]). It would be obvious to those skilled in the art at the time of invention to modify Mahoney to enable generating different/custom frequencies, Chen [7 34] as desired for specific measurement applications, such as certain higher frequences, like microwaves, Lee [82] which is output by an output antenna that is part of an antenna pair system that is part of the previous Lee modification to Mahoney to enable said reliable plasma density measurement.
Regarding claim 3. Mahoney, in view of Lee and Chen, teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 2, wherein the signal multiplier comprises one or more of a diode, a varactor, a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device, and a phase locked loop (PLL) (the freq/signal multiplier is at least a diode, Chen [29]).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mahoney (US 20050011611) in view of Lee (US 20210116393).
Regarding claim 12. Mahoney teaches the diagnostic substrate of claim 11, but does not teach wherein the input antenna is a high frequency antenna that is configured to pick up frequencies different from plasma frequency. However, Lee teaches wherein the input antenna 30 [82-85] is a high frequency antenna that is configured to pick up frequencies (picks up microwave frequencies [82-86, 91-94]) different from plasma frequency (this is different from other, arbitrary plasma frequencies, such as those operating in sub-microwave regime). It would be obvious to those skilled in the art at the time of the invention to modify Mahoney to reliably measure plasma density in microwave applications [4-6, 11].
Conclusion
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/YUECHUAN YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718