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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application.
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) 9, 11-12, 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pathak (US 20210002763).
As to claim 9, Pathak discloses a purge ring comprising:
A ring body with first and second opposing surfaces defining a ring body with open interior (figure 1A: purge gas supply 112 with interior cavity 115 defined by top 112b and bottom of chamber 102);
An annular channel extending about the ring body (figure 1A: annular interior channel 115);
A gas inlet coupled to the channel (figure 1A: inlet 113);
Purge ports disposed at radial positions about the ring coupled to the annular channel (figure 1A: outlets 197).
As to claim 11, Pathak discloses the annular channel has a larger cross sectional area than the purge ports (figure 1A: showing illustration with far greater volume 115 than outlets 197).
As to claim 12, Pathak discloses the gas inlet is disposed within a lateral protrusion extending radially outward form an outer surface of the ring body (figure 1A: inlet 113 through bellow and baffle [protrusion] 117/161 together extending laterally and radially outward from surface of chamber bottom).
As to claims 15-16, Pathak discloses the outlet ports orthogonal to the plane of the annular channel (figure 1A: showing outlets 197 straight up and therefore perpendicular to channel 115 extension plane area).
As to claim 17, Pathak discloses the purge ring has a plurality of purge channels extending and coupling the annular channel with the purge port (figure 1A: showing ‘gas openings’ 197 to outlet in chamberer 110, the gas opening being channels extending between the annular channel 115 and the ultimate opening the channel, the purge port).
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-8, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghosh (US 20180261453) in view of Pathak (US 20210002763).
As to claim 1, Ghosh discloses a semiconductor processing chamber (abstract; paragraph 2) comprising:
A chamber with sidewall and base (figure 1: chamber 100 with sidewall 104 and base 106);
A pumping liner seated atop the chamber body defining an annular pumping plenum at an exhaust aperture fluidly coupling the plenum with an interior of the chamber body (figure 1: liner 150 with exhaust channel 152 [pumping liner] with annular space [plenum] connected to ‘vac’ [exhaust] and connecting to the chamber body through aperture 230 [detail shown in figure 2-3);
A purge ring to provide purge gas seated below the pumping liner having annular purge ports in fluid communication with pumping plenum (figure 1: radially provided purge gas ports 119 below exhaust channel 152; figure 3 showing detail of connection of purges gas flow to exhaust by inlet 220).
Ghosh, while disclosing a radial purge gas source below the exhaust ring [pumping liner], is silent as to the structure including the requisite annular channel providing the gas to the ports.
Pathak discloses a processing chamber in which a pumping liner with exhaust plenum is provided above a chamber body (abstract)
Pathak discloses a processing chamber in which a pumping liner with exhaust plenum is provided above a chamber body (abstract). Pathak also discloses a purge gas source below the exhaust structure with radially provided ports (figure 1A: purge gas openings 197) above a annular channel providing the purge gas from a source (figure 1A: 115 purge gas volume 115).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a purge gas channel structure, as disclosed by Pathak, in the system of Ghosh, because this allows for distribution from a gas source to a plurality of gas apertures in a chamber.
As to claim 2, Ghosh discloses an exhaust assembly coupled with the pumping plenum (figure 1 ‘VAC’ connected to liner 150; paragraph 30).
As to claim 4, Ghosh discloses a faceplate above the purge ring (figure 1: plate/showerhead 112).
As to claim 5, Ghosh discloses a thermal isolator between the faceplate and purge ring (figure 1: isolator ring 162; paragraph 22: isolator 162).
As to claim 6, Pathak discloses formation of purge components and rings of aluminum (paragraph 21).
As to claim 7, Pathak discloses the purge ring comprises a lateral protrusion and the gas inlet is in the protrusion (figure 1A: extending [protruding] horizontal portions 112b with outlets 197 ).
As to claim 8, Pathak discloses connection between the gas source and purge ring (figure 1A: source 114 to inlet 113 for channel 115) and welded coupling of the components (paragraph 27).
As to claim 18, Ghosh discloses a substrate processing method comprising:
Flowing precursor into a processing chamber (paragraph 7: flowing precursor to chamber);
Generating plasma of the precursor in a processing region of the chamber (paragraph 7: generating plasma of the precursor in the chamber);
Depositing a material on the substrate within the processing region (paragraph 7: using plasma for deposition onto exposed substrate);
Exhausting precursor from the chamber via a plenum of a pumping liner disposed atop a chamber body of the chamber (paragraph 7; figure 1: liner 150 with exhaust channel 152 [pumping liner] with annular space [plenum] connected to ‘vac’ [exhaust] and connecting to the chamber body through aperture 230 [detail shown in figure 2-3);
Flowing purge gas into the pumping liner (paragraph 7; figure 1: radially provided purge gas ports 119 below exhaust channel 152; figure 3 showing detail of connection of purges gas flow to exhaust by inlet 220).
Ghosh, while disclosing a radial purge gas source below the exhaust ring [pumping liner], is silent as to the structure including a purge ring.
Pathak discloses a processing chamber in which a pumping liner with exhaust plenum is provided above a chamber body (abstract).
Pathak discloses a processing chamber in which a pumping liner with exhaust plenum is provided above a chamber body (abstract). Pathak also discloses a purge gas source below the exhaust structure with radially provided ports (figure 1A: purge gas openings 197) above a ring shaped channel providing the purge gas from a source (figure 1A: 115 purge gas volume 115).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a purge gas channel structure, as disclosed by Pathak, in the system of Ghosh, because this allows for distribution from a gas source to a plurality of gas apertures in a chamber.
As to claim 20, Ghosh discloses the purge gas comprises oxygen (paragraph 39).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghosh in view of Pathak, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nishida (US 20150267296).
As to claim 3, Ghosh and Pathak discloses a purge gas supply system with a plurality of gas supply outlets below a substrate, but is silent as to their pointing downward.
Nishida discloses a substrate processing apparatus in which a gas supply ring is provided with a plurality of outlets below a substrate support (abstract; figure 3: substrate support structure at 255 and purge gas supply ring 41). Nishida also discloses providing the purge gas outlets at any desired configuration including pointing up, angled, or downward (figures 4-8 [8 showing down]), the down configuration suppressing by-products of the deposition gases from depositing within the inside the chamber walls in the bottom of the chamber (paragraph 85).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to angle the outlets as desired including downward, as disclosed by Nishida, in the system of Ghosh and Pathak, because this allows for control over purge gas flows and prevents unwanted deposition on chamber walls.
Claim(s) 10, 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pathak, as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Cook (US 6352594).
As to claim 10 and 13-14, Pathak discloses a gas distribution system, as discussed above, but is silent as to specifically providing uniformity or varying aperture characteristics.
Cook discloses a gas distribution system for a plasma processing apparatus in which the gas flow characteristics and uniformity are controlled by varying the sizes, numbers and spacings of the apertures in a gas distribution plate to obtain the desired gas flow patterns (abstract; col 6 lines 2-10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide uniformity by adjusting gas flow with changes in aperture spacing and sizing, as disclosed by Cook, in the system of Pathak.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghosh in view of Pathak, as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Cook (US 6352594).
As to claim 19, Ghosh discloses evacuation by a line [foreline] to a vacuum pump (figure 1: line after port 172 to ‘VAC’) and Pathak discloses a foreline connection to a vacuum pump (paragraph 38), but is silent as to use of a throttle valve.
Cook discloses an exhaust manifold for a plasma processing system in which an exhaust plenum is connected to a control throttle valve to obtain desired gas flow patterns (col 4 lines 36-54).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a throttle valve, as disclosed by Cook, in the system of Ghosh and Pathak, because this allows for control over the vacuum pumping system speed and gas flow characteristics.
Correspondence Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON BERMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5265. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday 8-4.
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/JASON BERMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794