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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 17 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Amended claim 17 recites “the plurality of second insulators are arranged at the first insulator at intervals”. There is no support in the Specification that plural second insulators are at the singular first insulator.
New claim 21 recites “the wafer carrier is removable from the bias guide assembly” (emphasis added). There is no support in the Specification that the “wafer carrier” is “removable”.
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 11-12 and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Subramani et al (US 9,853,579).
With respect to claim 11, Subramani discloses in fig. 1 an apparatus comprising a physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber [100] including a target [166] at the top of the PVD chamber [100] applied with a negative voltage via DC power source (i.e. excitation power supply assembly) [168] to cause a plasma to eject atoms from the target [166] (e.g. sputter the target [166]) to deposit onto substrate (i.e. wafer) [S] (col. 3, lines 37-40; col. 4, lines 35-59). Since the DC power source [168] applies an electric potential to the target [166] that inherently has an associated magnetic field with the target [166], the PVD chamber [100] is fully capable of a magnetron sputtering of the target [166]; thus the “apparatus” is a magnetron sputtering apparatus. Fig. 1 further depicts the PVD chamber [100] also includes a hollow shaft (i.e. base assembly) [112] of an electrostatic chuck arranged at a bottom of the PVD chamber [100] that is further shown in detail in fig. 2 (col. 3, lines 40-47); fig. 2 depicts a housing [206] (of the base assembly [112] from fig. 1) is configured to: support a disk (i.e. wafer carrier ) [202], drive the wafer carrier [202] to move (via lift mechanism [113] in fig. 1), and heat the wafer carrier [202] via lamps [214] (col. 4, lines 60-67; col. 5, lines 1-37). Fig. 2 depicts chucking power lines, electrodes, and bias plate (i.e. bias guide assembly) [228],[208],[212] arranged on the housing [206] (of the base assembly [112] from fig. 1) and configured to both support and electrically contact the wafer carrier [202], and DC and RF power sources (i.e. bias power supply assembly) [226],[117] electrically connected to the bias guide assembly [228],[208],[212] and configured to apply a bias voltage of DC and RF to the wafer carrier [202] (col. 5, lines 12-21; col. 6, lines 30-37). The claim requirements of “a bias power supply assembly electrically connected to the bias guide assembly and configured to apply a bias voltage to the wafer carrier through the bias guide assembly during a pre-cleaning process” (emphasis added) and “an excitation power supply assembly electrically connected to the target and configured to apply an excitation voltage to the target during a film deposition process” (emphasis added) relates to the intended functioning of the claimed apparatus, with the apparatus of Subramani fully capable of functioning in the claimed manner.
With respect to claim 12, Subramani further depicts in figs. 1-3 a dielectric plate and layer (i.e. insulation connector) [302],[306] arranged at a shaft [204] of the hollow shaft (i.e. base assembly) [112] (col. 3, lines 62-67; col. 4, lines 1-2; col. 6, lines 19-48), the insulation connector [302],[306] configured to insulate between conductors (i.e. conduction part) [304] and the shaft [204] of the base assembly [112] (col. 6, lines 19-48). Figs. 2-3 depict: electrodes (i.e. contact member) [208] electrically contacting the wafer carrier [202] and configured to support the wafer carrier [202] and guide the bias voltage of DC from the DC power source [226] of the bias power supply assembly [226],[117] (col. 6, lines 24-37); and the conduction part [304] inserted in the insulation connector [302],[306] to be insulated from the shaft [204] of the base assembly [112] (col. 6, lines 21-48), the conduction part [304] capable of guiding the bias voltage from the DC power source [226] (of the bias power supply assembly [226],[117]) to the contact member [208], with two ends of the conduction part [304] electrically connected to the DC power source [226] (of the bias power supply assembly [226],[117]) and the contact member [28] (col. 6, lines 21-48).
With respect to claim 14, Subramani further depicts in fig. 3 the insulation connector [302],[306] includes the dielectric plate (i.e. first insulator) [302] horizontally at the shaft [204] of the base assembly [112] (from fig. 1), and the dielectric layer (i.e. second insulator) [306] arranged vertically on top at the first insulator [302] (col. 6, lines 44-48). Subramani also discloses the conduction part [304] includes plural electrodes (i.e. first and second conductors) [304] (col. 6, lines 38-41), with fig. 3 depicting: the first conductor [304] (attached to lamp [214]) inserted in the first insulator [302] and extending from the first insulator [302] to be electrically connected with the DC power source [226] (of the bias power supply assembly [226],[117]) (col. 6, lines 38-50); and the second conductor [304] inserted in the second insulator [306] and extending from the second insulator [306] to be electrically connected to the first conductor [304] and the contact member [208] via the DC power source [226] (col. 6, lines 24-48).
With respect to claim 15, Subramani further depicts in fig. 3 the first insulator [302] has U-shape portions to fit the conductors [304], the first insulator [302] including first and second insulation members, wherein the second insulation member: intersects and is staggered with the first insulation member, and vertically arranged at the second insulation member [306]. Fig. 3 also depicts the first conductor [304] (attached to lamp [214]) includes: a first conduction member [214] inserted in the first insulation member and extending from the first insulation member to be electrically connected to the DC power source [226] of the bias power supply assembly [226],[117] (col. 6, lines 38-43); a second conduction member (below the first conduction member [214]) electrically connected to the first conduction member [214] and inserted in the second insulation member and electrically connected to the second conductor [304] via the DC power source [226] (col. 6, lines 41-44).
With respect to claim 16, Subramani further depicts in fig. 3 the first insulator [302] has U-shape portions to fit the conductors [304], wherein each U-shaped portion includes a first insulation connector including a first accommodation groove (for inserting/embedding each conductor [304]), and a second insulation connector capable of being detached from the first insulation connector and also including a second accommodation groove (for inserting/embedding each conductor [304]) that cooperate to form an accommodation space that contains the first conductor [304].
With respect to claim 17, Subramani further depicts in fig. 3 the first insulator [302] has plural U-shape portions (i.e. second insulators) to fit a corresponding same number of second conductors [304], wherein the second conductors [304] are electrically connected to different positions of the contact member [208] (col. 6, lines 21-48).
With respect to claim 18, Subramani further depicts in fig. 2 the bias power supply assembly [226],[117] includes the RF power source (i.e. bias power supply) [117] configured to provide the bias voltage (col. 5, lines 16-19), with fig. 1 depicting the RF power source [117] connected with RF match network (i.e. matcher) [116] (col. 3, lines 66-67; col. 4, lines 1-2), wherein the RF match network [116] is fully capable “to realize impedance matching”. Fig. 1 further depicts wiring (i.e. RF guide member) sealed and arranged at a vacuum chamber wall of the PVD chamber [100], an end of the RF guide being electrically connected to the bias guide assembly [228],[208],[212] (as shown in fig. 2), and another end of the RF guide member being electrically connected to the bias power supply [117] through the matcher [116] and configured to guide the bias voltage from the bias power supply [117] to the bias guide assembly [228],[208],[212] (col. 3, lines 25-27 and 62-67; col. 4, lines 1-2; col. 5, lines 12-23).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 13 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Subramani et al (US 9,853,579).
With respect to claim 13, Subramani further discloses the contact member [208] as “one or more electrodes” [208] (e.g. plural contact sub-members) “arranged in any configuration [e.g. arranged in any shape] that will sufficiently secure the substrate to the upper surface of the disk [i.e. wafer carrier] during processing” (col. 5, lines 2-11); thus each contact sub-member [208] is spaced apart from each other to have an opening between adjacent contact sub-members [208], with the opening in each capable of allowing lift pins (i.e. transfer member) to pass through for transferring the substrate (i.e. wafer) [S] (col. 7, lines 8-34). Since the contact sub-members [208] are within the disk (i.e. wafer carrier) [202] that is circular as shown in fig. 4, and the substrate [S] is a “semiconductor wafer” (which is also circular) (col. 3, lines 37-40), one of ordinary skill would find it obvious to arrange the contact sub-members [208] circumferentially to collectively define a ring shape that matches the circular shape of both the wafer carrier [202] and wafer [S] to “sufficiently secure” the wafer [S] to the wafer carrier [202] during processing (col. 5, lines 2-11). Further as taught by Subramani, the contact sub-members [208] are arranged in any configuration (col. 5, lines 2-11), with it being held that ‘the claimed shape is a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular shape was significant’ (MPEP 2144.04, IV, B). In this case, the contact sub-members [208] would still sufficiently secure the wafer to the wafer carrier regardless of each being arc-shaped or any other shape.
With respect to claim 21, Subramani further discloses in fig. 2 the wafer carrier [202] and bias guide assembly [228],[208],[212] (col. 4, lines 60-67; col. 5, lines 1-37; col. 6, lines 30-37); it has been held that it would be obvious to make a structure removable “if it were considered desirable for any reason to obtain access” to the structure (MPEP 2144.04, V, C). In this case, it would be obvious to make the wafer carrier [202] removable from RF bias plate [212] of the bias assembly [228],[208],[212] in order for maintenance, replacement, and/or cleaning of the wafer carrier [202].
Claims 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Subramani et al (US 9,853,579) as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Allen et al (US 11,049,701).
With respect to claim 19, the reference is cited as discussed for claim 18. However Subramani is limited in that a particular structure of the wiring (i.e. RF guide member) is not suggested.
Allen teaches in fig. 1 a magnetron sputtering apparatus comprising a PVD chamber [102] including a target [108] electrically connected to a power source (i.e. excitation power supply assembly) [116], and a substrate support (i.e. base assembly) [110] having an electrostatic chuck arranged at the bottom of the process chamber [102] (Abstract; col. 3, lines 9-65), similar to the PVD chamber [100] of Subramani. Allen further depicts in fig. 1 a bias voltage applied via RF power source (i.e. bias power supply) [156] to the base assembly [110] via conductive rod (i.e. RF guide member) [158] (as further shown in fig. 3) (col. 5, lines 21-47), similar to the wiring (i.e. RF guide member) of Subramani. Allen depicts in figs. 1 and 3 the RF guide member [158] includes a RF shield structure [322],[316] sealed and arranged at a vacuum chamber wall [150] of the PVD chamber [102], and a RF guide structure [158],[320] inserted into a dielectric outer covering (i.e. first insulator) [322] of the RF shield structure [322],[316] and sealed and connected to the RF shield structure [322],[316], wherein an end of the RF guide structure [158],[320] is arranged in the process chamber [102] (as shown in fig. 1) and another end of the RF guide structure [158],[320] is arranged outside of the process chamber [102] and electrically connected to the bias power supply [156] (as also shown in fig. 1) (col. 9, lines 49-64; col. 10, lines 3-20); fig. 3 also depicts the RF shield structure [322],[316] includes a dielectric outer covering (i.e. second insulator) [316] sleeved at the end of the RF guide structure [158],[320] in the process chamber [102] (as shown in fig. 1) (col. 9, lines 55-60; col. 10, lines 3-20). Allen further teaches the RF guide structure [158],[320] is configured to guide the bias voltage provided by the bias power supply [156] to the base assembly [110], and the RF shield structure [322],[316] is configured to shield the bias voltage guided by the RF guide structure [158],[320] (col. 9, lines 57-60; col. 10, lines 3-20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the RF guide member of Allen as the RF guide member of Subramani since Subramani fails to specify the particular structure of the RF guide member, and one of ordinary skill would have had a reasonable expectation for success in making the modification since Allen has shown success in a similar RF guide member having the particular structure of the RF guide structure and RF shield structure that yield the predictable result of allowing the bias voltage to the base assembly.
With respect to claim 20, Allen further depicts in fig. 3 the RF guide structure [158],[320] includes the conductive rod (i.e. first guide member) [158] sealed and connected to the end of the RF shield structure [322],[316] outside the process chamber [102] (as shown in fig. 1), wherein figs. 1 and 3 further depict: an end of the first guide member [158] being connected to the bias power supply [156], and another end of the first guide member [158] extending into the first insulator [322] (col. 5, lines 41-47; col. 10, lines 16-20), and figs. 1 and 3 depict a conductive coupler (i.e. second guide member) [320] sealed and connected to the end of the RF shield structure [322],[316] inside the process chamber [102], an end of the second guide member [320] connected to the base assembly [110] (and thus the base assembly [112] and bias guide assembly [228],[208],[212] of Subramani), and another end of the second guide member [320] extending into the first insulator [322] and connected to the first guide member [158], and the second insulator [316] sleeved at the end of the second guide member [320] to the base assembly [110] (and thus the base assembly [112] and bias guide assembly [228],[208],[212] of Subramani) (col. 10, lines 3-20).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s Remarks on p. 8-13 filed 5/19/2026 are addressed below.
112 Rejections
Claim 13 has been amended as previously suggested on p. 3 of Office Action mailed 2/20/2026; the previous 112(a) rejection has been withdrawn.
Claim 17 has been amended to ‘plural second insulators’ (in addition to claim 14); the previous 112(b) rejection has been withdrawn.
102 Rejections
NOTE: no arguments have been presented regarding sole independent claim 11.
On p. 9-11, Applicant argues Subramani does not teach dependent claim 12.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees since claim 12 recites that the claimed “conduction part” and “contact member” are both connected to a power supply that supplies the claimed “bias voltage” and be capable “to guide bias voltage” to the wafer carrier. For this, Subramani teaches that the conduction part [304] and contact member [208] are connected to the same DC power source [226] supplying the bias voltage to the wafer carrier [202] (col. 6, lines 21-48); thus the conduction part [304] and contact member [208] are fully capable (i.e. configured) to guide the bias voltage to the wafer carrier [202] as recited by claim 12.
103 Rejections
NOTE: no arguments have been presented regarding sole independent claim 11.
On p. 11-12, Applicant argues Subramani does not teach dependent claim 13.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees since Applicant has not provided persuasive evidence that the claimed shape of the electrodes (i.e. contact sub-members) provides a novel or unobvious result in view of the general teaching of Subramani that the contact sub-members are any shape and/or configuration. In addition any spacing, gap, or opening between the plural contact sub-members [208] (within the wafer carrier [202]) of Subramani would still read on the claimed “at least one opening configured to allow a transfer member for transferring wafer to pass through” recited by claim 13. Thus Subramani renders obvious claim 13.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 10,573,498 is relevant for teaching in fig. 2 a sputter deposition apparatus having a substrate support (i.e. wafer carrier) [202] applied with an electrical bias via power supply [117] and associated bias guide assembly, the wafer carrier [202] configured to be removable via removing lift pins [255] from the power supply [117] and associated bias guide member.
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 MICHAEL A BAND whose telephone number is (571)272-9815. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Lin can be reached at (571) 272-8902. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL A BAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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