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 .
Response to Arguments
Regarding claims 1-14 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), applicant amendment has been fully considered. The amendment overcomes the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections from the prior office action. Hence, 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection is withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The office relies on new reference Weidman (US 20220308454 A1) to address the newly added limitations relating to controlled reactive gas supply during bake treatment. Accordingly, applicant’s amendment necessitated the new ground of rejection presented in this office action, and the rejection has been maintained for claims 1-14.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 1-8 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sano (US 20180164689 A1) in view of Weidman (US 20220308454 A1).
Re: Independent claim 1 (Currently amended), Sano discloses
a heat treatment apparatus configured to heat-treat a substrate having a metal-containing resist film formed thereon (Sano, Fig. 7 and ¶ [0033], substrate treatment system 310, substrate (wafer W) using a metal-containing resist), the heat treatment apparatus comprising:
a heat plate configured to support and heat the substrate (Sano, Fig. 7, ¶ [0064], thermal treatment plate 360 than can mount and heat the wafer W thereon);
a chamber in which the heat plate is accommodated and in which a heat treatment is performed in a processing space (Sano, Fig 7 and ¶ [0064], treatment chamber 320 including an upper chamber 321 and lower chamber 322 that unite to seal an inside thereof; thus, heat plate 360 is accommodated in the chamber. Sano further teaches, in ¶ [0063], the treatment chamber 320 houses and heat-treats the wafer W, thus processing space is the sealed internal space inside the treatment chamber 320 which is around wafer W above the thermal plate 360);
an exhaust unit configured to evacuate an inside of the processing space (Sano, Fig. 7 and ¶ [0070], central exhaust path 340 connected to an exhaust apparatus 342 such as a vacuum pump); and
a supply mechanism configured to supply a gas into the processing space (Sano, Fig. 7 and ¶ [0065], shower head 330 having multiple gas supply holes 331, connected via a gas supply pipe 332 to gas supply source, for supplying moisture-containing gas to the inside of the treatment chamber).
Sano is silent regarding,
wherein the gas is selected from (i) a CO2-containing gas having a CO2 concentration higher than a CO2 concentration in an ambient atmosphere around the chamber, and (ii) a moisture- containing gas, wherein the supply mechanism supplies a CO2-containing gas into the processing space until a first predetermined time elapses from a start of the heat treatment of the substrate having the metal-containing resist film formed thereon, independently from the moisture- containing gas.
However, Weidman teaches
wherein the gas is selected from (i) a CO2-containing gas having a CO2 concentration higher than a CO2 concentration in an ambient atmosphere around the chamber, and (ii) a moisture- containing gas, wherein the supply mechanism supplies a CO2-containing gas into the processing space until a first predetermined time elapses from a start of the heat treatment of the substrate having the metal-containing resist film formed thereon, independently from the moisture- containing gas (Weidman teaches, in ¶¶ [0005]-[0006], receiving a substrate in a process chamber, the substrate including a photoresist layer thereon, wherein the photoresist layer includes a metal-containing photoresist material; flowing a reactive gas species from a gas source, through a gas delivery line, into the process chamber; exposing the substrate to the reactive gas species in the process chamber; and baking the photoresist layer while the substrate is exposed to the reactive gas species. The reactive gas species may include carbon dioxide and water. Thus, Weidman teaches supplying a CO2-containing gas into a processing space during heat treatment/baking of a metal-containing resist/photoresist.
Weidman further teaches supplying the reactive gas for a controlled/predetermined period during the bake. For example, Weidman teaches, in ¶ [0024] and ¶ [0035], that the duration of PEB and/or the duration of substrate exposure to the reactive gas during PEB may be between about 5 seconds and about 1 minute, followed by purging the process chamber.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sano’s gas supply mechanism, to supply CO2-containing gas into Sano’s treatment chamber/processing space during heat treatment, as taught by Weidman. Such modification would have predictably applied Weidman’s known bake-atmosphere control technique to Sano’s heat treatment apparatus for a metal-containing resist film in order to improve/stabilize lithographic performance of the metal containing resist/photoresist. It would further have been obvious to supply the CO2-containing gas until a first predetermined time elapse from the start of heat treatment because Sano already teaches a controlled heat-treatment sequence in which gas is supplied during an initial heat-treatment step and stopped in a later step, and Weidman teaches exposing the substrate to reactive gas for a predetermined duration during bake/PEB followed by purging. Therefore, applying Weidman’s predetermined duration reactive-gas exposure to Sano’s controlled heat-treatment sequence would have been a predictable implementation of controlling gas exposure time during the heat treatment.
It further would have been obvious to supply the CO2-containing gas independently for the moisture-containing gas because Sano teaches, in ¶ [0065], a controllable moisture-containing gas supply using gas supply source 333 and valve 334, while Weidman teaches supplying a selected reactive gas species from a gas source through a gas delivery line into the process chamber. Providing independent control of the CO2-containing gas and the moisture containing gas would have been an obvious design choice to allow each gas to be selected, supplied, stopped, and controlled according to the desired bake sequence).
Re: Claim 2 (Currently amended), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Sano and Weidman further teach,
wherein the supply mechanism supplies the high concentration gas toward the substrate on the heat plate from a position at a side of the substrate on the heat plate and below the processing space (Sano teaches, in another embodiment (e.g., Figs 10-12, and ¶ [0113], a gas supply ring (400) provided “in a ring shape along the outer peripheral portion of the upper chamber (321)”, where an upper surface of the gas supply ring is formed with a plurality of gas supply holes (401) and the gas supply ring can uniformly supply gas upward via the gas supply holes (401). Sano additionally teaches an inside shutter (410) defining peripheral gas flow holes (412). Accordingly, this arrangement corresponds to supplying gas from a side/peripheral position and from below (i.e., upward through upper surface holes 401) towards the substrate region. Although Sano is silent regarding the high concentration gas, Weidman teaches supplying carbon dioxide containing reactive gas into a process chamber during bake treatment of a substrate having a metal-containing photoresist layer, as explained in claim 1 section above);
and supplies a moisture-containing gas toward the substrate on the heat plate from a ceiling portion of the chamber (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7 and ¶¶ [0064] - [0066], shower head 330 is provided inside an upper chamber 321 (ceiling side) at a position facing the thermal treatment plate. Sano further teaches that a moisture-containing gas is supplied into the treatment chamber 320 via the shower head 330 to adjust humidity in the chamber).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sano’s thermal apparatus so that the moisture containing gas is supplied from the ceiling using Sano’s fig. 7 shower head (330) arrangement, while the high concentration CO2 gas (as taught by Weidman) is supplied from the side/peripheral and below using Sano’s figs. 10-12 gas supply ring (100)/inside shutter (410) arrangement, in order to independently control and distribute different process gases within the same processing space using known, compatible gas introduction structures and to improve/stabilize lithographic performance of a metal containing resist/photoresist during bake treatment, as taught by Weidman.
Re: Claim 3 (Currently amended), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Sano and Weidman further teach,
wherein the supply mechanism supplies the C02-containing gas toward the substrate on the heat plate from a position at a side of the substrate on the heat plate and below the processing space (Sano teaches, in another embodiment (e.g., Figs 10-12, and ¶ [0113], a gas supply ring (400) provided “in a ring shape along the outer peripheral portion of the upper chamber (321)”, where an upper surface of the gas supply ring is formed with a plurality of gas supply holes (401) and the gas supply ring can uniformly supply gas upward via the gas supply holes (401). Sano additionally teaches an inside shutter (410) defining peripheral gas flow holes (412). Accordingly, this arrangement corresponds to supplying gas from a side/peripheral position and from below (i.e., upward through upper surface holes 401) towards the substrate region. Although Sano is silent regarding the high concentration gas, Weidman teaches supplying carbon dioxide containing reactive gas into a process chamber during bake treatment of a substrate having a metal-containing photoresist layer, as explained in claim 1 section above);
and from a ceiling portion of the chamber (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7 and ¶¶ [0064] - [0066], shower head 330 is provided inside an upper chamber 321 (ceiling side) at a position facing the thermal treatment plate. Sano further teaches that a moisture-containing gad is supplied into the treatment chamber 320 via the shower head 330 to adjust humidity in the chamber. Although Sano is silent regarding the high concentration gas, Weidman teaches supplying carbon dioxide containing reactive gas into a process chamber during bake treatment of a substrate having a metal-containing photoresist layer, as explained in claim 1 section above);
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure Sano’s thermal apparatus so that the high concentration CO2 gas (as taught by Weidman) is supplied from the ceiling using Sano’s fig. 7 shower head (330) arrangement, and the high concentration CO2 gas (as taught by Weidman) is supplied from the side/peripheral and below using Sano’s figs. 10-12 gas supply ring (100)/inside shutter (410) arrangement, in order to rapidly establish and more uniformly maintain the same high concentration ambient around the substrate during heat treatment using known, compatible gas introduction structures.
Re: Claim 4 (Currently amended), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Sano and Weidman further teach,
wherein the supply mechanism supplies the C02-containing gas toward the substrate on the heat plate from a ceiling portion of the chamber (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7 and ¶¶ [0064] - [0066], shower head 330 is provided inside an upper chamber 321 (ceiling side) at a position facing the thermal treatment plate. Sano further teaches that a moisture-containing gad is supplied into the treatment chamber 320 via the shower head 330 to adjust humidity in the chamber. Although Sano is silent regarding the high concentration gas, Weidman teaches supplying carbon dioxide containing reactive gas into a process chamber during bake treatment of a substrate having a metal-containing photoresist layer, as explained in claim 1 section above);
and supplies the moisture-containing gas toward the substrate on the heat plate from a position at a side of the substrate on the heat plate and below the processing space (Sano teaches, in another embodiment (e.g., Figs 10-12, and ¶ [0113], a gas supply ring (400) provided “in a ring shape along the outer peripheral portion of the upper chamber (321)”, where an upper surface of the gas supply ring is formed with a plurality of gas supply holes (401) and the gas supply ring can uniformly supply gas upward via the gas supply holes (401). Sano additionally teaches an inside shutter (410) defining peripheral gas flow holes (412). Accordingly, this arrangement corresponds to supplying gas from a side/peripheral position and from below (i.e., upward through upper surface holes 401) towards the substrate region).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure Sano’s thermal apparatus so that the high concentration CO2 gas (as taught by Weidman) is supplied from the ceiling using Sano’s fig. 7 shower head (330) arrangement, while moisture containing gas is supplied from the side/peripheral and below using Sano’s Figs. 10-12 gas supply ring (400)/inside shutter (410) arrangement. Such modification would have been obvious use of Sano’s known compatible gas introduction structures to independently control and distribute different process gases within the same processing space using known, and to improve/stabilize lithographic performance of a metal containing resist/photoresist during bake treatment.
Re: Claim 5 (Currently amended), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Sano and Weidman further teach,
further comprising: a controller, wherein the controller performs a control such that a flow rate of the C02-containing gas supplied from the supply mechanism is reduced from a middle of the heat treatment (Sano teaches, in Fig 1 and ¶ [0048], providing control unit 200 for controlling treatments in the substrate treatment system. Further, Weidman teaches, in Fig. 2 and ¶ [0049], a controller 206 for controlling operation of the processing chamber 200, including control delivery of processing gases and flow rate settings. Weidman further teaches, in ¶ [0035], exposing the substrate to reactive gas during PAB and/or PEB for a predetermined duration, and thereafter evacuating and/or purging the chamber with inert gas. Weidman teaches that useful reactive gases include CO2, as explained in claim 1 section above. Supplying CO2-containing reactive gas for a predetermined duration during the heat treatment/bake and then evacuating and/or purging the chamber corresponds to reducing the CO2 flow rate from a middle of the heat treatment, including reducing CO2 flow rate to zero).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure Sano’s control unit (200) to perform control of the high concentration CO2 gas supply such that the flow rate is reduced partway throughout the heat treatment (e.g., after initially establishing the desired CO2 rich environment) as taught by Weidman controller-controlled processing-gas delivery and predetermined duration reactive-gas exposure/purge during bake. Such modification would have predictably allowed the CO2-containing gas exposure time and flow rate to be controlled according to the desired bake sequence, while applying Weidman’s teaching of supplying CO2-containing reactive gas during bake treatment to improve/stabilize lithographic performance of a metal-containing resist/photoresist.
Re: Claim 6 (Currently amended), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Sano and Weidman further teach,
further comprising: a generating unit configured to generate the C02-containing gas (As set forth in the claim 1 rejection, Sano teaches, in Fig 7, a heat treatment chamber with a gas supply mechanism including a gas supply pipe connected to a gas supply source (e.g., gas supply source 333) and a valve (334) for controlling gas flow to supply the process gas into the chamber. Weidman teaches, ¶ [0005], flowing a reactive gas species from a gas source through a gas delivery line into the process chamber during bake treatment of a substrate having metal-containing photoresist layer, and the reactive gas species may include CO2).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate, in Sano’s apparatus (already having a gas supply source/pipe/valve architecture), a CO2 supply source/generating unit as taught by Weidman to enable supplying the high concentration CO2 gas required by claim 1 on order to improve/stabilize lithographic performance of a metal-containing resist/photoresist.
Re: Claim 7 (Original), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Sano further teaches,
wherein the supply mechanism has a supply configured to supply the gas toward the substrate on the heat plate from a position at a side of the substrate on the heat plate and below the processing space (Sano teaches that, in Figs. 10-12, a gas supply ring (400) is provided in a ring shape along the outer peripheral portion of the upper chamber, and has a plurality of gas supply hole (401) on its upper surface to supply gas upward, i.e., from a side of the substrate/heat plate region and from below the processing space toward the substrate), and
wherein the supply comprises: a gas flow path provided to surround a side surface of the heat plate (Sano further teaches, in ¶ [0116], than an inside shutter (410) is provided as a “gas flow unit” in a ring shape, and that a gas flow path (411) surrounded by the upper chamber 321, the gas supply ring 400, and the inside shutter 410 is formed in a ring shape along the outer peripheral portion of the upper chamber 321. Accordingly, this ring-shaped gas flow path corresponds to the recited “gas flow path provided to surround a side surface of the heat plate” because the thermal treatment plate 360 (heat plate) is housed at the chamber opening and the ring-shaped gas flow path is disposed at the outer peripheral portion surrounding the heat plate/substrate region); and
a rectifying member configured to direct the gas that has risen along the gas flow path toward the substrate on the heat plate (Sano additionally teaches, in Figs. 10-12 and ¶¶ [0116] - [0117], that the inside shutter 410 includes a plurality of gas flow holes 412 and can supply uniformly in the horizontal direction the gas toward the inside of the treatment chamber 320 via the gas flow holes 412. Accordingly, the inside shutter 410 (with holes 412) corresponds to the recited “rectifying member configured to direct the gas that has risen along the gas flow path toward the substrate” because the gas is supplied upward from the gas supply ring (holes 401), travels/rises within the ring-shaped gas flow path 411, and is then directed inward/horizontally towards the substrate region through the gas flow holes 412).
Re: Claim 8 (Original), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 7 on which this claim depends.
Sano further teaches,
wherein the gas flow path is connected to a buffer space below the heat plate in the chamber, and the buffer space has a volume larger than that of the processing space (Sano, in Fig. 10, shows a space below the heat plate (360) which gets connected to the gas flow path (411) when upper chamber 321 and lower chamber 322 are brought into contact with each other. Thus, the space below the heat plate that is surrounded by lower chamber 322 corresponds to the claimed buffer area. Also, as shown in Sano fig. 10, the space below the heat plate that is surrounded by lower chamber 322 that corresponds to the claimed buffer area visually has volume larger that the processing space that is above the heat plate (360) that is surrounded by upper chamber 321).
Re: Claim 14 (Currently amended), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Sano further teaches,
further comprising: a central exhaust unit configured to evacuate the inside of the processing space from a position of a ceiling portion of the chamber on a center side of the substrate on the heat plate, when viewed from above (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7 and ¶ [0087], a central exhaust unit configured to evacuate gas chamber via a central exhaust path (340) provided through the ceiling-side structure and connected to a central exhaust pipe (341) and exhaust apparatus (342), i.e., exhausting from the ceiling portion at a center side of the wafer when viewed from above);
a peripheral exhaust unit configured to evacuate the inside of the processing space from a position of the ceiling portion on a peripheral side of the substrate on the heat plate as compared to the central exhaust unit, when viewed from above (Sano teaches, in Fig.7 and ¶ [0130], a peripheral exhaust unit configured to evacuate gas from the treatment chamber via an outer peripheral exhaust pipe (351), the exhaust apparatus (352), and the exhaust pipe (351) in located towards the peripheral side of the substrate compared to the central exhaust unit which is at the center of the wafer W, when viewed from above); and
a controller (Sano teaches, in Fig. 1, a control unit (200) to control the thermal treatment operation),
wherein the supply mechanism comprises another gas supply provided at the ceiling portion and configured to supply a gas toward the substrate on the heat plate (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7 and ¶ [0064], a gas supply at the ceiling portion in the form of a shower head (330) provided in the upper chamber, facing the thermal plate, and configured to supply gas downward toward the wafer),
wherein the another gas supply comprises: a first discharge hole located above a peripheral portion of the substrate on the heat plate; a second discharge hole located above a central portion of the substrate on the heat plate (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7, the shower head includes a plurality of gas supply holes (331) formed in its lower surface to supply gas towards the wafer. Accordingly, at least one of the gas supply holes (331) disposed above an outer region of the wafer corresponds to the claimed first discharge hole above a peripheral portion, and at least one gas supply hole (331) disposed above the inner region corresponds to the claimed second discharge hole above a central portion); and
a gas distribution space in which the gas introduced into the another gas supply is distributed into the first discharge hole and the second discharge hole (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7, gas is introduced into the shower head from a gas supply pipe (332) and discharged through the plurality of gas supply holes (331). Accordingly, the shower head necessarily includes an interval that distributes the introduced gas to the multiple discharge holes, corresponding to the gas distribution space), and
wherein the controller performs a control such that, during the heat treatment, a supply from the another gas supply and an evacuation by the peripheral exhaust unit are continued and an exhaust amount of the central exhaust unit is increased relative to a prior exhaust amount from a middle of the heat treatment (Sano teaches, in ¶¶ [ 0096] - [0098]performing heat treatment in the sealed treatment chamber (320), while supplying gas from the shower head (330), i.e., the ceiling-side gas supply, through the plurality of gas supply hole (331), and simultaneously evacuating the processing space via the outer peripheral exhaust path (350) connected to the outer peripheral exhaust pipe (351) and the exhaust apparatus (352), i.e., continued “peripheral exhaust”. Sano further teaches that the chamber is also evacuated via the central exhaust path (340), which is connected to the central exhaust pipe (341) and the exhaust apparatus (342), such that central exhaust can be performed concurrently with (and independently controlled relative to) the peripheral exhaust path 350. Accordingly, Sano teaches an exhaust configuration in which peripheral exhaust (350/351/352) is continued during heat treatment while central exhaust (340/341/342) is also controlled, including changing/adjusting the evacuation condition so that the exhaust amount of the central exhaust unit is increased relative to a prior exhaust amount after an initial period of treatment),
and performs a control such that a flow rate of the gas supplied to the gas distribution space is increased in a period during which the exhaust amount of the central exhaust unit is increased (Sano teaches supplying the ceiling-side gas into the shower head (330) via a gas supply line (gas supply pipe 332) from a gas supply source (333) through a controllable flow component (e.g., a valve/flow controller), and discharging the supplied gas through the plural gas supply holes (331) toward the substrate. Thus, Sano teaches that the gas flow rate into the internal distribution space of the shower head 330 (i.e., the gas distribution region feeding holes 331) is controlled-adjusted by controlling the supply conditions of the gas supply path (i.e., via the valve/controller associated with pipe 332 and gas source 333. Although Sano does not explicitly state that “the flow rate to the gas distribution space is increased” specifically during the period when the exhaust amount of the central exhaust unit is increased, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to increase the gas supply flow rate into the shower head 330 (and thus into the distribution space feeding holes 331) during the time the exhaust amount of the central exhaust unit is increased, in order to maintain the intended gas atmosphere/uniformity at the substrate despite the increased removal rate at the center, which is a predictable optimization of coupled process variables (gas supply rate vs. exhaust rate) in a controlled heat-treatment chamber 320).
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sano (US 20180164689 A1) in view of Weidman (US 20220308454 A1) further in view of Nguyen (US 20040048220 A1).
Re: Claim 9 (Original), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 7 on which this claim depends.
Sano further teaches,
wherein the chamber comprises an upper chamber, including a ceiling portion of the chamber, configured to be moved up and down (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7 and ¶ [0063], that the treatment chamber includes an upper chamber (321), including ceiling portion that is the top portion of upper chamber 321. The upper chamber (321) freely rises and lowers relative to a lower chamber (322)),
the rectifying member is a solid body, and an entire top surface thereof is in contact with a bottom surface of the upper chamber (Sano teaches, in Figs. 10-12 and ¶ [0116], an inside shutter (410) provided as a gas flow unit in a ring shape, where a gas flow path (411) is surrounded by the upper chamber (321), gas supply ring (400), and inside shutter (410), and seal-up is made between each two of the upper chamber (321), the gas supply ring (400), and the inside shutter (410) to prevent outside air inflow. Accordingly, the inside shutter (410) constitutes a solid rectifying body that directs the gas flow into the chamber (via gas flow hole 412), and the disclosed seal-up between the upper chamber (321) and inside shutter (410) reasonably implies surface-to-surface contact at their interface (i.e., the shutter’s top surface contacting the bottom surface of the upper chamber) for sealing).
Sano and Weidman are silent regarding, the upper chamber is configured to be heated.
However, Nguyen teaches the upper chamber is configured to be heated (Nguyen teaches, in Fig. 5 and ¶ [0032], a thermal processing station in which the process chamber is defined in part by a heated lid assembly, including upper stage 48 preferably housing one or more suitable heat sources such as a heated gas and/or a heater device.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure Sano’s upper chamber/ceiling portion to be heated as taught by Nguyen in order to improve thermal uniformity (Nguyen, ¶ [0011]).
Re: Claim 10 (Original), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 7 on which this claim depends.
Sano further teaches,
wherein the chamber comprises an upper chamber (Sano teaches, in Fig. 7 and ¶ [0063], upper chamber (321)), including a ceiling portion of the chamber (upper chamber 321 has top portion (ceiling)), configured to be moved up and down (321 freely rises and lowers), and the rectifying member is a solid body (Sano further teaches, in Figs. 10-12 and ¶ [0116], gas supply mechanism having a gas flow path (411) formed in a ring shape and surrounded by the upper chamber (321), a gas supply ring (400), and an inside shutter (410), and teaches that seal-up is made between each two of the upper chamber, the gas supply ring, and the inside shutter to prevent outside air inflow. Accordingly, the inside shutter (410) constitutes a solid rectifying body that directs the gas flow into the chamber (via gas flow hole 412), and the disclosed seal-up between the upper chamber (321) and inside shutter (410) reasonably requires a fixed/secured interface (i.e., surface engagement/contact) sufficient to maintain sealing), and is fixed to the upper chamber in such a manner that an entire top surface thereof is in contact with a bottom surface of the upper chamber so that the rectifying member is moved up and down along with the upper chamber (Further Sano teaches that the upper chamber (321) is the portion that moves up and down to open/close the chamber, the sealed assembly including the inside shutter would correspondingly be moved up and down together with the upper chamber, thereby meeting the limitation that the rectifying member is fixed to the upper chamber such that it moves with the upper chamber).
Sano and Weidman are silent regarding, the upper chamber is configured to be heated.
However, Nguyen teaches the upper chamber is configured to be heated (Nguyen teaches, in Fig. 5 and ¶ [0032], a thermal processing station in which the process chamber is defined in part by a heated lid assembly, including upper stage 48 preferably housing one or more suitable heat sources such as a heated gas and/or a heater device.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure Sano’s upper chamber/ceiling portion to be heated as taught by Nguyen in order to improve thermal uniformity (Nguyen, ¶ [0011]).
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sano (US 20180164689 A1) in view of Weidman (US 20220308454 A1) further in view of Atsushi (WO 2019181652 A1).
Re: Claim 11 (Currently amended), Sano and Weidman disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Both Sano and Weidman are silent regarding,
wherein the heat plate has an attraction hole configured to attract the substrate to the heat plate, the heat treatment apparatus further comprises a resin pad having a flow path communicating with the attraction hole, and the resin pad communicates with the attraction hole, and is connected to the heat plate via a metal member.
However, Atsushi teaches
wherein the heat plate has an attraction hole configured to attract the substrate to the heat plate by evacuating gas through the attraction hole, (Atsushi teaches, in Fig 2 and related description, a vacuum chuck device including a through hole plate (15) that is a metal plate, where the through-hole plate includes a plurality of through-holes (15a) and is disposed between a porous pad (20) and a base plate such that negative pressure can be applied to generate an adsorption force that holds a workpiece on the pad. Atsushi further teaches a vacuum pump (30) for adsorbing the workpiece W to the installation surface (20a) of the porous pad (20). Accordingly, the through-holes (15a) correspond to the claimed “attraction hole” configured to attract the substrate/workpiece to the heat plate by evacuating gas through the attraction hole,
the heat treatment apparatus further comprises a resin pad having a flow path communicating with the attraction hole, and the resin pad communicates with the attraction hole (Atsushi further teaches, in Figs 2-4, that the porous pad (20) includes an anti-slip portion (27) formed of resin, and the anti-slip portion includes a plurality of tube portions (28) extending in the thickness direction of the pad, thereby defining internal passage structure (i.e., flow path) through/within the pad. Atsushi further teaches that the vacuum adsorption structure operates such that the suction/negative pressure is applied through the through-holes (15a) of the through-hole plate (15) to hold the workpiece. Accordingly, the tube portions (28) in the resin anti-slip portion (27) provide a flow path in the resin pad that is in fluid communication with the through-holes (15a), thereby meeting the limitation “a resin pad having a flow path communicating with the attraction hole”),
and the resin pad is connected to the heat plate via a metal member (Atsushi teaches that the through-hole plate (15) is a metal plate positioned between the porous pad (20) and the base plate (12), thereby providing a metal member through which the suction structure (including the resin pad) is supported and coupled).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sano’s thermal treatment plate apparatus to incorporate the vacuum adsorption holding structure of Atsushi (attraction holes + resin pad with communicating flow paths + metal through-hole plate), in order to improve substrate retention and positional stability on the heat plate during heat treatment, thereby improving stability and uniformity.
Re: Claim 12 (Currently amended), Sano and Weidman and Atsushi disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Atsushi further teaches,
wherein the metal member has a portion having a diameter larger than another portion of the same metal member (Atsushi teaches, in Fig. 2, that the metal through-hole plate (15) includes through-hole structures at the leftmost and rightmost sides that have large-diameter portion and a smaller diameter portion within the same metal through-hole plate 15).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sano (US 20180164689 A1) in view of Weidman (US 20220308454 A1) further in view of Atsushi (WO 2019181652 A1) and further in view of Matsunaga (US 20150059985 A1).
Re: Claim 13 (Original), Sano, Weidman and Atsushi disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Sano, Weidman and Atsushi are silent regarding,
further comprising: an annular member connected to a lower portion of the heat plate with a supporting column therebetween, and wherein the resin pad is located under the annular member.
However, Matsunaga teaches
an annular member connected to a lower portion of the heat plate with a supporting column therebetween (Matsunaga teaches, in Fig. 6A and ¶ [0130], a heating device including a heating section (220) having an annular holding member (231) configures to accommodate a heat plate (230) so as to hold an outer periphery of the heat plate, and further includes a support ring (232) of a substantially cylindrical shape surrounding the outer periphery of the holding member. Accordingly, Matsunaga’s annular holding member (231) corresponds to the claimed “annular member” and support ring (232) being substantially cylindrical corresponds to the claimed “supporting column”).
Regarding wherein the resin pad is located under the annular member: as applied in claim 11, Atsushi teaches resin pas structure used in association with the substrate holding/attraction function, which is positioned below the substrate support surface. Upon incorporating this resin-pad attraction structure into Sano’s heat plate, and further providing the annular holding member arrangement as taught by Matsunaga (holding the heat plate outer periphery), the resin pad of Atsushi would be located below the annular holding member in the assembled heat-plate structure, as claimed.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Matsunaga’s annular holding/support ring structure for supporting/holding a heat plate into the heat-treatment apparatus of Sano (as modified by Atsushi), in order to provide stable peripheral support, alignment and structural rigidity for the heat plate while accommodating the underlying substrate attraction/holding structures (e.g., resin pad and communication flow path).
Conclusion
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 BIPANA ADHIKARI DAWADI whose telephone number is (571)272-4149. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11:30am-7:30pm.
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/BIPANA ADHIKARI DAWADI/Examiner, Art Unit 2898
/JESSICA S MANNO/SPE, Art Unit 2898
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