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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1 April 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim 1-10 and 12-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 9,281,164 B2) in view of Ando (US 20190355547 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Wu teaches a charged particle beam apparatus (scanning electron beam apparatus, fig. 8) for directing a charged particle beam to preselected locations of a sample surface (wafer 816; scattered hot spot areas 104, col. 2 line 26), the charged particle beam having a field of view of the sample surface (col. 2 lines 36-40), comprising:
A charged-particle-optical arrangement (electron column 810) configured to direct a charged particle beam along a beam path towards the sample surface and to detect charged particles generated in the sample in response to the charged particle beam (by detector 832);
A stage (movable substrate holder 818) configured to support and move the sample relative to the beam path; and
A controller (system controller 840) configured to control the charged particle beam apparatus so that the charged particle beam scans over a preselected location of the sample simultaneously with the stage moving the sample relative to the charged particle arrangement along a route (stage is moved during off-axis scanning, col. 3 lines 35-50).
Wu does not teach that the charged particle optical arrangement is configured to dynamically correct aberrations in the charged particle beam whilst scanning the charged particle beam over the preselected locations of the sample.
Ando teaches an electron beam inspection system which is configured to dynamically correct aberrations in the beam (dynamic correction of image field aberration, [0046]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the invention to add the aberration corrector of Ando to the system of Wu, in order to ensure proper focusing of the beam on the substrate and accurately determine the presence of defects (Ando, [0075]).
Regarding claim 2, Wu teaches that the charged-particle-optical arrangement comprises a deflector arrangement (scanning deflector 813) configured to scan the charged particle beam over the preselected location of the sample.
Regarding claim 3, Wu teaches that the charged particle optical arrangement comprises a lens arrangement (objective lens 814) configured to control a focus of the charged particle beam.
Regarding claim 4, Ando teaches a lens arrangement (aberration corrector 221) that is controllable to dynamically compensate the aberrations in the charged particle beam, the aberrations comprising off-axis aberrations (field curvature, [0046]).
Regarding claim 5, Ando teaches a charged-particle optical component (220) controllable to dynamically compensate the aberrations in the charged particle beam, the aberrations comprising astigmatic aberrations generated whilst scanning the charged particle beam over the preselected location of the sample (dynamic astigmatism correction, [0051]).
Regarding claim 6, Wu teaches that the charged particle optical arrangement is configured to generate a signal on detection of a charged particle (by detector 832), the signal being used to generate an image (col. 5 line 45).
Regarding claim 7, Wu teaches that the stage is configured to move continuously (col. 4 line 22).
Regarding claim 8, Wu teaches that the stage is configured to move continuously for multiple straight sections of the route (route, swath path 504 in fig. 5, has multiple straight sections).
Regarding claim 9, Wu teaches that the controller is configured to control the charged particle beam apparatus so that the charged particle beam is incident on any location of the sample (i.e. the beam is incident on the sample at hot spots).
Regarding claim 10, Wu teaches that the controller is configured to control the charged particle beam apparatus so that the charged particle beam is incident on any location of the sample so as to generate images of preselected locations of the sample in order to verify flagged locations as defects (imaging hot spots 504; defect review, col. 5 lines 16-17).
Regarding claim 12, Wu teaches that the scan is over the preselected location of the sample covering part of the area of the field of view (hot spots 104 cover part of FOV, fig. 5).
Regarding claim 13, Wu teaches that the field of view comprises multiple preselected locations (multiple hot spots in FOV, fig. 5).
Regarding claim 14, Wu teaches that the controller is configured to control the stage to move the sample in a meandering path (fig. 5) relative to the charged particle optical arrangement along a meandering route.
Regarding claim 15, Ando teaches directing a plurality of charged particle beams (Abstract) towards the sample, wherein the charged particle beams are independently controllable (by aberration corrector 221) to simultaneously scan over different locations of the sample ([0044]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the invention to use multiple beams in the system of Wu, in order to scan a wafer with faster throughput due to the presence of multiple beams.
Regarding claim 16, Wu teaches that the preselected locations are determined by defect prediction (hot spot areas are those predicted to have a high likelihood of defects, col. 1 lines 11-16)
Regarding claim 17, Wu teaches a method for directing a charged particle beam to preselected locations of a sample surface (inspection of hot spots by e-beam, col. 3 lines 19-25; sample 816), comprising:
Directing a charged particle beam along a beam path towards a preselected location of a sample (hot spots 104), the charged particle beam having a field of view of the sample (col. 2 lines 36-40);
Moving the sample relative to the beam path (scanning, col. 3 lines 21-22); and
Detecting charged particles emitted from the sample in response to the charged particle beam (by detector 832),
Wherein the directing the charged particle beam comprises scanning the charged particle beam over a preselected location of the sample simultaneously with the sample being moved relative to the beam path along a route (col. 3 lines 35-50).
Wu does not teach dynamically correcting aberrations in the charged particle beam whilst scanning the charged particle beam over the preselected location of the sample.
Ando teaches an electron beam inspection system which is configured to dynamically correct aberrations in the beam (dynamic correction of image field aberration, [0046]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the invention to add the aberration corrector of Ando to the system of Wu, in order to ensure proper focusing of the beam on the substrate and clear imaging of the hot spots for defect review.
Regarding claim 18, Ando teaches controlling a charged particle optical component (221) to dynamically compensate for astigmatic aberrations generated whilst scanning over the preselected locations of the sample.
Regarding claim 19, Wu teaches a charged particle beam apparatus (scanning electron beam apparatus, fig. 8) for directing a charged particle beam to preselected locations of a sample surface (wafer 816; scattered hot spot areas 104, col. 2 line 26), the charged particle beam having a field of view of the sample surface (col. 2 lines 36-40), comprising:
A charged-particle-optical arrangement (electron column 810) configured to direct a charged particle beam along a beam path towards the sample surface and to detect charged particles generated in the sample in response to the charged particle beam (by detector 832);
A stage (movable substrate holder 818) configured to support and move the sample relative to the beam path; and
A controller (system controller 840) configured to control the charged particle beam apparatus so that the charged particle beam scans over a preselected location of the sample simultaneously with the stage moving the sample relative to the charged particle arrangement along a route (stage is moved during off-axis scanning, col. 3 lines 35-50).
Wu does not teach that the charged particle optical arrangement is configured to dynamically correct aberrations in the charged particle beam.
Ando teaches an electron beam inspection system which is configured to dynamically correct aberrations in the beam (dynamic correction of image field aberration, [0046]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the invention to add the aberration corrector of Ando to the system of Wu, in order to ensure proper focusing of the beam on the substrate and clear imaging of the hot spots for defect review.
Regarding claim 20, Ando teaches that the arrangement is configured to correct dynamically aberrations in the charged particle beam to counteract stage movement the beam substantially moves through a field of view (correcting focus position, [0046]).
Regarding claim 21, Wu teaches that the controller is configured to accept a data file or data signal including the preselected data of the sample (obtaining design data including hot spot locations, col. 1 line 16-18) and control the stage and the charged-particle-optical arrangement based on the data in the data file or data signal (i.e. scan the hot spots).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu in view of Ando and in further view of Fang (US 20200027693 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Wu and Ando teach all the limitations of claim 1 as described above. Wu and Ando do not teach that the area of the sample covered by the charged particle beam is different for different preselected locations.
Fang teaches a charged particle inspection system which can adjust the area covered by a charged particle beam based on the location (adjusting field of view, Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the system of Wu and Ando to allow modification of the field of view as taught by Fang, in order to optimize the imaging for locating defects and increase throughput as described by Fang ([0058]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 1 April 2026 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID E SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-7096. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
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/DAVID E SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 2881
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