DETAILED ACTION
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 with traverse of “Group II (claims 9-16)” in the reply filed on January 14, 2026, is acknowledged. The Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered and are persuasive regarding claims 1-16. The previous restriction on “Group I (claims 1-8)” is hereby withdrawn. Therefore, claims 1-16 remain pending, with claims 1 and 9 being independent.
Claims 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claims 1-3,6,9,11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over US 2023/0163019 A1; Hill et al.; 05/2023; (“019”) in view of US 2012/0067864 A1; Kusuda et al.; 03/2012; (“864”).
Regarding Claim 1. 019 teaches in Fig. 1 about a lift frame (“lift mechanism”, [0002], Ln. 5) for positioning in a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
a shaft (item 132) comprising an opening formed in the shaft (opening in shaft item 132 for at least item 144), the shaft comprising a first material (first material “quartz”, [0031], Ln. 2);
a plurality of arms (items 134) extending outwardly relative to the shaft (items 134 extend outwardly relative to shaft item 132).
019 does not teach about a lift frame for positioning in a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
an absorptive mass disposed in the opening of the shaft, the absorptive mass comprising a second material having a higher absorptivity than the first material of the shaft.
864 teaches in Fig. 9 about a heat treatment apparatus for heating substrate by irradiating substrate with flashes of light, comprising:
an absorptive mass (item 45b) not disposed within the opening of a shaft, the absorptive mass comprising a second material having a higher absorptivity (“light guiding part 45b”, [0089], Ln. 3; therefore, as a light guide part having higher absorptivity than surrounding materials) than the first material of the shaft.
Thus, it would have been obvious to try by one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the
invention was made, to consider utilizing the absorptive mass of the light guiding part of 864 to heat any given part of the wafer as required in 019 so “laser light exiting the laser light emitting part 45 is
directed onto and absorbed … to raise the temperature of the irradiated region of the semiconductor wafer” as taught by 864 in Fig. 11 and [0108], Ln. 9-12.
It would have been also obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to place the absorptive mass within the opening of the of the shaft due to both items sharing concentricity within the chamber before and after combined, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Regarding Claim 2. 019 teaches in Fig. 1 about a lift frame for positioning in a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
a plurality of columns (at least items 136 and 138) extending relative to the plurality of arms (items 136 and 138 extend relative to items 134).
Regarding Claim 3. 019 teaches in Figs. 1 and 2 about a lift frame for positioning in a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
the shaft, the plurality of arms, and the plurality of columns are integrally formed as a monolithic body (Fig. 1, items 134 and 136 are shown as a monolithic body); and
the plurality of arms have a width, and the plurality of columns have a diameter that is less than the width (Fig. 2, diameter of item 136 is less than width of item 134).
Regarding Claim 6. 019 teaches in Fig. 1 about a lift frame for positioning in a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, wherein
the opening is aligned or overlapped with a centerline axis of the shaft (opening within shaft item 132 is concentric with shaft item 132).
Regarding Claim 9. 019 teaches in Fig. 1 about a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
a substrate support assembly positioned in the internal volume (“substrate support assembly suitable for use in a reactor”, Abstract paragraph, Ln. 1), the substrate support assembly comprising a lift frame (“lift mechanism”, [0002], Ln. 5), the lift frame comprising:
a shaft (item 132) comprising an opening formed in the shaft (opening in shaft item 132 for at least item 144), the shaft comprising a first material (first material “quartz”, [0031], Ln. 2), and
a plurality of arms (items 134) extending outwardly relative to the shaft (items 134 extend outwardly relative to shaft item 132).
019 does not teach about a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
a chamber body comprising:
an internal volume,
a plurality of gas inject passages formed in the chamber body, and
one or more gas exhaust passages formed in the chamber body;
one or more heat sources configured to generate heat;
a liner disposed in the internal volume and lining at least part of one or more sidewalls of the chamber body;
a bias heat source oriented toward the opening formed in the shaft.
864 teaches in Figs. 1 and 9 about a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
a chamber body (Fig. 1, item 6) comprising:
an internal volume (Fig. 1, volume of chamber item 6),
a plurality of gas inject passages formed in the chamber body (Fig. 1, items 81 formed within item 6), and
one or more gas exhaust passages formed in the chamber body (Fig. 1, at least item 86 formed within item 6);
one or more heat sources (Fig. 1, items HL) configured to generate heat;
a liner (Fig. 1, items 68 and 69) disposed in the internal volume and lining at least part of one or more sidewalls of the chamber body (Fig. 1, items 68 and 69 are disposed in the internal volume of item 6 and lining at least part of one or more sidewalls of item 6);
a bias heat source (Fig. 9, item 41) oriented toward the opening formed in the shaft (Fig. 9, item 41 is oriented towards item 45).
Thus, it would have been obvious to try by one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the
invention was made, to consider utilizing the chamber body including the plurality of gas inject and exhaust passages, heat sources, liner, and bias heat source of 864 to provide a processing chamber body with a heat treatment apparatus in 019 so “a semiconductor wafer is preheated by halogen lamps
... A laser light emitting part disposed immediately under the center of the semiconductor wafer ... This achieves a uniform in-plane temperature distribution of the semiconductor wafer” as taught by 864 in the abstract paragraph and Figs. 1 and 9.
Regarding Claim 11. 864 teaches in Fig. 9 about a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
an absorptive mass (item 45b) not disposed within the opening of a shaft, the absorptive mass comprising a second material having a higher absorptivity (“light guiding part 45b”, [0089], Ln. 3; therefore, as a light guide part having higher absorptivity than surrounding materials) than the first material of the shaft.
864 does not teach about a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
an absorptive mass disposed in the opening of a shaft.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to place the absorptive mass within the opening of the of the shaft due to both items sharing concentricity within the chamber before and after combined, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Regarding Claim 14. 864 teaches in Figs. 9 about a processing chamber applicable for use in semiconductor manufacturing, wherein
the one or more heat sources comprise a plurality of lamps (items HL), and the bias heat source comprises a laser source (laser unit item 41).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5,7-8,10,12-13 and 15-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, since the prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JORGE ANDRES LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-5763. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (8:30am to 5:00pm).
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/FERNANDO L TOLEDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2897
/JORGE ANDRES LOPEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2897