DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the Request for Continued Examination (RCE) and Amendment filed on 09 April 2026. Claims 1-13 are pending in the application.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09 April 2026 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, on which claims 1-9 are readable, in the reply filed on 05 September 2025 is acknowledged.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1, 2, 7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Ito et al., US 2005/0272228, of record.
With respect to claim 1, Ito et al. disclose an optical annealing apparatus, shown in Fig. 1, comprising:
a platform 31 for carrying a wafer 1;
a light source for emitting an annealing light to the wafer 1; and
a mask layer 10 disposed between the platform 31 and the light source 40, wherein the mask layer 10 has a pattern opening for allowing the annealing light to pass through, and the annealing light passing through the pattern opening is used for annealing a partial area of the wafer 1,
wherein the pattern opening has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer 1 so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer 1 to form the ion doped region in the wafer 1 without a photolithography process, see Fig. 1, the Abstract, and paragraphs [0037]-[0046].
Ito et al. clearly teach that an ion doped region can be formed in wafer 1 and annealed in the apparatus of Fig. 1, see paragraphs [0006] and [0037]-[0046]. As shown in Fig. 1, the mask layer 10 has an opening having “a size and position” consistent with “a size and position” of an ion doped region formed in the wafer 1. Since the opening in mask layer 10 exposes a surface region of wafer 1, the annealing light from light source 40 passes through the pattern opening in mask layer 10 to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer 1 to form the ion doped region in the wafer 1 without a photolithography process. However, it has been well established that the manner of operating an apparatus does not differentiate a claimed apparatus from a known apparatus, "[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does." Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990). Therefore, amending independent claim 1 to require “wherein the pattern opening has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer without a photolithography process” does not patentably distinguish Applicant’s claimed apparatus from that of Ito et al., since this limitation is drawn to the manner in which Applicant’s claimed apparatus is operated.
With respect to claim 2, in the optical annealing apparatus of Ito et al., the annealing light emitted by the light source comprises laser, see paragraph [0087].
With respect to claim 7, the optical annealing apparatus of Ito et al. further comprises an optical system 39 for adjusting and controlling parameters of the light source 40, see paragraph [0042].
With respect to claim 9, the optical annealing apparatus of Ito et al. further comprises a mask carrying component 33 for adjusting a relative position between the mask layer 10 and the wafer 1, see paragraphs [0038] and [0040].
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 and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Buh et al., US 2007/0117250, in view of Son, KR 2000-0031194.
With respect to claim 1, Buh et al. disclose an optical annealing apparatus, shown in Fig. 4, comprising:
a wafer 40;
a light source 45 for emitting an annealing light to the wafer 40; and
a mask layer 43 disposed between the wafer 40 and the light source 43, as shown in Fig. 4,
wherein the mask layer 43 has a pattern opening 43a for allowing the annealing light to pass through, and
the annealing light passing through the pattern opening 43a is used for annealing a partial area of the wafer;
wherein the pattern opening 43a has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region 41 (see Fig. 4 and paragraph [0029] and claims 29 and 33) to be formed in the wafer 40 so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening 43a to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer 40 without a photolithography process, see the Abstract and paragraphs [0014], [0028], and [0050]), as shown in Fig. 4. Furthermore, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 10a, a mask 1030 has an opening corresponding to a doped region 1010, see paragraphs [0066]-[0067]. In light of this embodiment of Buh et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the pattern opening 43a could have a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region 41 so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening 43a to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer 40 without a photolithography process.
Furthermore, it has been well established that the manner of operating an apparatus does not differentiate a claimed apparatus from a known apparatus, "[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does.” Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990). Therefore, amending independent claim 1 to require “wherein the pattern opening has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer without a photolithography process” does not patentably distinguish Applicant’s claimed apparatus from that of Buh et al., since this limitation is drawn to the manner in which Applicant’s claimed apparatus is operated.
Buh et al. lack anticipation only of a platform for carrying the wafer 40. Son discloses an optical annealing apparatus, shown in Fig. 3, comprising a platform 301 for carrying a wafer 101, a light source 302, and a mask layer 303 disposed between the platform 301 and the light source 302. In light of the known apparatus of Son, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the wafer40 in the apparatus of Buh et al. could have been supported on a platform, as taught by Son, in order to stabilize the wafer during the annealing process.
With respect to claim 4, Buh et al. disclose the mask layer 43 having a pattern opening 43a, the pattern opening 43a is formed between the plurality of mask pattern structures 43, as shown in Fig. 5 of Buh et al. However, Buh et al. do not disclose the mask layer can comprise comprises a mask substrate and a plurality of mask pattern structures disposed on the mask substrate, wherein the mask substrate is made of a light transmitting material, and the plurality of mask pattern structures are made of an opaque material. However, the mask used in the optical annealing apparatus of Son includes a mask substrate 400’ of quartz and a plurality of mask pattern structures 400a’ and 400b’ comprising a refractory metal, wherein the mask substrate is made of a light transmitting material, and the plurality of mask pattern structures are made of an opaque material, see Fig. 4b of Son (“That is, by forming mask patterns 400a’ and 400b' having a predetermined thickness on the thin quartz substrate 400 ', the heat resistance mask 303' may be formed. The thickness of the mask patterns 400a' and 400b' may be adjusted in accordance with a desired temperature in consideration of the thermal resistance coefficient of the material. The material of the mask pattern 400a' may be, for example, an insulating material such as oxide or nitride, or a refractory metal such as tungsten.”). In order to heat various portions of the wafer to different temperatures, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan to implement the mask of Son in the known optical annealing apparatus of Buh et al. to form the plurality of mask pattern structures 43.
With respect to claim 5, as noted above in the rejection of claim 4, the mask substrate 400’ is made of quartz.
With respect to claim 6, as noted above in the rejection of claim 4, Son discloses that the plurality of mask pattern structures 400a’ and 400b’ can be a refractory metal. Therefore, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan that the plurality of mask pattern structures 400a’ and 400b’ could be made of one or more selected from a group consisting of chromium, molybdenum, selenium, silicon, aluminum and copper, since chromium and molybdenum are refractory metals.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al., US 2005/0272228, as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of De Naurois et al. EP 2 856 588,
Ito et al. is applied as above. Although Ito et al. disclose that a laser including an excimer laser, a YAG laser, a carbon monoxide (CO) gas laser, a carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) gas laser, and the like, can be used as the light source 40 in the apparatus of Fig. 1, Ito et al. do not disclose the laser has a wavelength ranging from 300 microns to 600 microns. However, lasers having a wavelength in the claimed range are known in the art, see Field of the invention section of De Naurois et al. (“The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor lasers, and more particularly to spatially coherent arrayed semiconductor laser devices emitting a near infrared power beam (wavelengths between 0.8 μm and 3 μm), average ( 3 μm to 10 μm) or far (10 μm to 300 μm).”). Furthermore De Naurois et al. disclose a Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) which emit an optical beam of wavelength between 3 microns and 300 microns It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan to use the laser of De Naurois et al. in the known optical annealing apparatus of Ito et al., since the laser of De Naurois et al. has good thermal conductivity.
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al., US 2005/0272228, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Son, KR 2000-0031194.
With respect to claim 4, Ito et al. disclose the mask layer 10 having a pattern opening, the pattern opening is formed between the plurality of mask pattern structures 10, as shown in Fig. 1 of Ito et al., see also paragraph [0048]. However, Ito et al. do not disclose the mask layer can comprise comprises a mask substrate and a plurality of mask pattern structures disposed on the mask substrate, wherein the mask substrate is made of a light transmitting material, and the plurality of mask pattern structures are made of an opaque material. However, the mask used in the optical annealing apparatus of Son includes a mask substrate 400’ of quartz and a plurality of mask pattern structures 400a’ and 400b’ comprising a refractory metal, wherein the mask substrate is made of a light transmitting material, and the plurality of mask pattern structures are made of an opaque material, see Fig. 4b of Son (“That is, by forming mask patterns 400a’ and 400b' having a predetermined thickness on the thin quartz substrate 400 ', the heat resistance mask 303' may be formed. The thickness of the mask patterns 400a' and 400b' may be adjusted in accordance with a desired temperature in consideration of the thermal resistance coefficient of the material. The material of the mask pattern 400a' may be, for example, an insulating material such as oxide or nitride, or a refractory metal such as tungsten.”). In order to heat various portions of a wafer to different temperatures, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan to implement the mask of Son in the known optical annealing apparatus of Ito et al. to form the plurality of mask pattern structures 10.
With respect to claim 5, as noted above in the rejection of claim 4, the mask substrate 400’ is made of quartz.
With respect to claim 6, as noted above in the rejection of claim 4, Son discloses that the plurality of mask pattern structures 400a’ and 400b’ can be a refractory metal. Therefore, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan that the plurality of mask pattern structures 400a’ and 400b’ could be made of one or more selected from a group consisting of chromium, molybdenum, selenium, silicon, aluminum and copper, since chromium and molybdenum are refractory metals.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al., US 2005/0272228, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wang et al., US 2014/0262038.
Although Ito et al. discloses an optical annealing apparatus, shown in Fig. 1, the apparatus of Ito et al. does not include a transporting system for transporting the wafer to the platform or transporting the wafer from the platform. However, Wang et al. teach a processing apparatus that comprises a transporting system 104/110 for transporting a wafer to and from a processing chamber, as shown in Fig. 1B of Wang et al.. The transporting system of Wang et al. controls processing defects caused by moisture contamination, se the Abstract. Therefore, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan to include a transporting system as taught by Wang et al. to transport the wafer 1 to the platform 31 or to transport the wafer 1 from the platform.31 in the known apparatus of Ito et al., thereby preventing contamination of the wafer during processing.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 09 April 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant has argued that the limitation “the pattern opening has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer without a photolithography process” is not merely a manner of operation but defines the structural configuration enabling the functionality of Applicant’s invention. Whereas the limitation requires the pattern opening to have a size and position, the other parts of the limitation are directed to the manner of operating the claimed optical annealing apparatus. Consequently, since the applied prior art clearly teach a pattern opening having a size and position, this limitation does not patentably distinguish Applicant’s claimed optical annealing apparatus from the known apparatuses of either Ito et al. or Buh et al.
Ito et al. clearly teach that an ion doped region can be formed in wafer 1 and annealed in the apparatus of Fig. 1, see paragraphs [0006] and [0037]-[0046]. As shown in Fig. 1, the mask layer 10 has an opening having “a size and position” consistent with “a size and position” of an ion doped region formed in the wafer 1. Since the opening in mask layer 10 exposes a surface region of wafer 1, the annealing light from light source 40 passes through the pattern opening in mask layer 10 to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer 1 to form the ion doped region in the wafer 1 without a photolithography process.
Furthermore, it has been well established that the manner of operating an apparatus does not differentiate a claimed apparatus from a known apparatus, "[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does." Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990). Therefore, the only structural configuration provided by the limitation “wherein the pattern opening has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer without a photolithography process” is requiring the pattern opening to have a size and position with respect to wafer 1. Ito et al. clearly teach the mask layer 10 has an opening having “a size and position” over the wafer 1, as shown in Fig. 1. Therefore, amending independent claim 1 to require “wherein the pattern opening has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer without a photolithography process” does not patentably distinguish Applicant’s claimed apparatus from that of Ito et al., since this limitation is drawn to the manner in which Applicant’s claimed apparatus is operated, that is, the activation of implanted ions to be formed in the wafer 1.
Buh et al. clearly teach the pattern opening 43a of the mask layer 43 has a size and position consistent with a size and position of a region 41 to be formed in the wafer 40, see Fig. 4 and paragraph [0029], and claims 29 and 33 of Buh et al. Although independent claim 1 has been amended to require “wherein the pattern opening has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer without a photolithography process”, the only structural configuration of this limitation is to require the pattern opening to have a size and position. As is clearly shown in Fig. 4 of Buh et al., the pattern opening 43a of the mask layer 43 has a size and position consistent with a size and position of a region 41 to be formed in the wafer 40. The rest of this limitation is directed to the manner in which the claimed optical annealing apparatus is to be operated, that is, the region being an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer and the annealing to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer without a photolithography process.
It has been well established that the manner of operating an apparatus does not differentiate a claimed apparatus from a known apparatus, "[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does.” Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990). Therefore, amending independent claim 1 to require “wherein the pattern opening has a size and position consistent with a size and position of an ion doped region to be formed in the wafer so that the annealing light passes through the pattern opening to activate ions in a specific area of an initial ion implantation region in the wafer to form the ion doped region in the wafer without a photolithography process” does not patentably distinguish Applicant’s claimed apparatus from the known apparatus of Buh et al., since this limitation is drawn to the manner in which Applicant’s claimed apparatus is operated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARY A WILCZEWSKI whose telephone number is (571)272-1849. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 7:30 AM-5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jessica Manno can be reached at 571-272-2339. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197
(toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
MARY A. WILCZEWSKI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2898
/MARY A WILCZEWSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
Prosecution Insights