Non-Final Rejection
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-20 are pending.
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, 4, 5, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2017/0338618 (“Jiang”) in view of JP H09-929171 (“JP ‘917”).
1. A gas laser apparatus comprising:
a laser chamber into which laser gas is introduced;
a pair of main discharge electrodes disposed inside the laser chamber;
a pre-ionization electrode disposed inside the laser chamber;
Jiang Figs. 1-3 and 18, [0003], [0042]-[0121], [0508]-[0537] describes a gas laser with chamber 10 having laser gas, main discharge electrodes 11 and pre-ionization electrode 221 in the chamber.
a main discharge circuit connected to the main discharge electrodes and configured to supply, to the main discharge electrodes, main discharge voltage that causes main discharge; and
a pre-ionization circuit connected to the pre-ionization electrode and configured to supply, to the pre-ionization electrode, pre-ionization voltage that causes corona discharge,
Main discharge circuit 50 provides power to the discharge electrodes to cause discharge, and pre-ionization circuit 22 provides power to the pre-ionization electrode to cause corona discharge.
the main discharge circuit including a step-up pulse transformer, a main capacitor and a switch that are connected to a primary side of the step-up pulse transformer,
a first power source connected to the main capacitor and configured to charge the main capacitor,
a first capacitor connected in parallel to a secondary side of the step-up pulse transformer,
a first magnetic switch connected to the first capacitor, and
a peaking capacitor connected in parallel to the first capacitor through the first magnetic switch and connected in parallel to the pair of main discharge electrodes,
Fig. 2 shows the main discharge circuit has step up transformer TC, a main capacitor C0 and switch SW on the primary side, power source 40 connected to the main capacitor to charge it, first capacitor Ca,b connected in parallel to the transformer secondary side, first magnetic switch MS1-3 connected to the first capacitor, and peaking capacitor Cp connected in parallel to the first capacitor through the first magnetic switch and connected in parallel to the pair of main discharge electrodes 11.
an interval between a timing at which the corona discharge starts and a timing at which the main discharge starts being 30 ns to 60 ns inclusive.
Jiang discloses that timing of the pre-ionization circuit can be controlled, but does not disclose that the interval between pre-ionization and main discharge is 30 to 60 ns.
JP ‘917 shows a similar type of laser and states that the timing interval between pre-ionization and main discharge may be 50 ns or less, overlapping with the claimed range. [0057]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to do this as JP ‘917 says this provides for stable and efficient laser operation.
Regarding claim 4, as noted in the rejection of claim 1 there are multiple capacitors and magnetic switches. They are arranged as claimed as seen in Fig. 2.
Regarding claim 5, in Jiang the pre-ionization circuit is also on the secondary side of the step-up pulse transformer.
20. An electronic device manufacturing method comprising:
generating a laser beam with a gas laser apparatus, the gas laser apparatus including [all limitations of claim 1];
outputting the laser beam to an exposure apparatus; and exposing a photosensitive substrate to the laser beam in the exposure apparatus to manufacture an electronic device.
The laser is taught as in claim 1 above. The laser of Jiang is output to an exposure apparatus 110 in Fig. 1. Jiang also indicates this type of laser is used in liquid immersion type devices for manufacturing semiconductor devices. [0003]-[0004]. A person of ordinary skill would understand that this is done by exposing a photosensitive substrate as liquid immersion exposure devices are a type of photolithography device.
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang and JP ‘917 as applied to the claims above, and further in view of JP H08-46275 (“JP ‘275”).
Regarding claim 2, Jiang has laser controller 30 that comprehensively controls the operations of the respective constituent elements of the gas laser apparatus, including the charger, which is a first power supply, and the charger switch. There is not disclosed a second separate power supply for the pre-ionization circuit. JP ‘275 shows such a laser where the pre-ionization and main discharge parts have their own separate power supplies 13,14. [0019]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to do this as it would be apparent to the skilled artisan that this allows for more independent control of the two, which may be useful as JP ‘275 teaches that the pre-ionization power supply needs to be much less than the main. [0022].
Regarding claim 3, Jiang does not have the delay pulser as claimed. JP ‘275 shows that there may be a delay 18 similar to this. [0023]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include this as it controls the timing difference between the main discharge and preionization discharge.
Claims 6-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang and JP ‘917 as applied to the claims above, and further in view of US 5,754,579 (“Mizoguchi”).
Regarding claims 6-8 and 12, Jiang shows a pre-ionization capacitor Cp’ in series with the pre-ionization electrode 221. This circuit is parallel to Cp and 11 and therefore would likewise be parallel to the first and second capacitors. There is not shown another magnetic switch in series with these elements. Mizoguchi shows a similar laser discharge circuit and shows a magnetic switch SR may be in series with discharge electrodes 6. Fig. 13, discussion at cols. 14-15. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include such a switch as it rapidly terminates pre-ionization at the appropriate time, as taught by Mizoguchi.
Regarding claims 9-11 and 13, Jiang does not necessarily show inductors. It does show diodes, but perhaps not in the claimed location. Mizoguchi shows numerous discharge circuits that have inductors in series with the pre-ionization electrodes, such as 21 in series with 6 in Fig. 13. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include such inductors as Mizoguchi says they provide stabilization or control the timing of the discharge. Col. 14 lines 51-53; col. 16 lines 27-31. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include diodes in whatever location is deemed appropriate by the skilled artisan as they prevent current from reversing in the circuit.
Regarding claim 14, Jiang does not show that the pre-ionization circuit shares a core of the transformer with the main discharge circuit on the secondary side. Mizoguchi shows a similar laser discharge circuit where the pre-ionizing circuit 24’ shares a core of a transformer 20 with the main discharge circuit 24. Fig. 17, col. 16 line 1 to col. 17 line 21. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to arrange them like this as it allows these circuits to be isolated and independent so they may be separately adjusted, as taught by Mizoguchi.
Regarding claim 15, Mizoguchi additionally shows in Fig. 17 a third magnetic switch SR that is in the pre-ionization circuit and in series with the pre-ionization electrode 6. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include this as it suppresses unwanted pre-ionization, as taught by Mizoguchi.
Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang and JP ‘917 as applied to the claims above, and further in view of US 6,650,679 (“Bragin”).
Regarding claims 16-18, in Jiang the pre-ionization electrode is provided with a dielectric in the interior thereof, [0520], but the structure is not otherwise given. Bragin shows such a pre-ionization electrode may be made as claimed, with an internal electrode being disposed inside a dielectric pipe and an external electrode being disposed outside the dielectric, the dielectric is sapphire. Col. 5 lines 30-54; col. 8 lines 50-58. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use such an electrode because Bragin states it provides an intense and uniform pre-ionization.
Claims 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang and JP ‘917 as applied to the claims above, and further in view of US 2006/0239309 (“Ariga”).
Regarding claim 19, Jiang does not have a magnetic assist on the primary side of the transformer. Ariga shows a similar laser driving circuit that includes a magnetic assist on the primary side as claimed. Fig. 3A, SR1, [0115]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include that as it reduces switching loss, as taught by Ariga.
Conclusion
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/JAMES A MENEFEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828
1 Applicant cited this on an IDS, but only with an English abstract. The examiner provides a machine translation of this reference (and also JP ‘275 applied below) with this action.