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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 4-7, filed January 15, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-3 and 5-15 under U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. A new ground(s) of rejection is necessitated by the amendment. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3 and 5-15 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.
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 1-3 and 5-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fung et al. US 6,771,092 B1 (hereinafter referred to as Fung) in view of Verkuil US 5,767,693 A in view of Fukunaga et al. JP 2018176983 A (hereinafter referred to as Fukunaga).
Regarding claim 1, Fung discloses a corona charge deposition system (fig. 1, elm. 10, col. 2, ln. 14) configured to dispose electric charge (fig. 1, depositing corona charge, col. 2, ln. 25) on a sample (fig. 1, surface 20 of the dielectric layer 18, col. 2, ln. 26) via corona charge flow toward the sample (see fig. 1), the system comprising: at least one emitter electrode (fig. 1, elm. 36, col. 2, ln. 50-51) provided with a first voltage (fig. 1, elm. 38, col. 2, ln. 52), the said at least one emitter electrode configured to generate the corona charge flow (corona current IC from the corona gun 26 flows into the wafer 14, col. 4, ln. 16-18); at least one control electrode (fig. 1, elm. 64, col. 4, ln. 57), disposed downstream said at least one emitter electrode (fig. 1, needle 36, col. 4, ln. 50-51), such that said control electrode is closer to the sample than said at least one emitter electrode (fig. 1, top surface of the electrode 64 is positioned in a substantially similar plane as the top surface 20 of the dielectric layer 18, the corona gun 26 is suitably positioned above the electrode 64, col. 4, ln. 61-63, col. 5, ln. 2-4).
Fung does not disclose the said control electrode provided with a second voltage lower than the first voltage and configured to control the corona charge flow toward the sample; and at least one high voltage (HV) amplifier configured to generate and directly control the second voltage; wherein an output of the at least one HV amplifier is electrically connected to the control electrode; and wherein the at least one HV amplifier is configured to generate and provide a source current to the at least one control electrode and sink an external current received from the at least one control electrode while keeping the second voltage within a specified range.
Verkuil discloses the said control electrode (fig. 1, screen 26, col. 3, ln. 13-21) provided with a second voltage (fig. 1, inverting input of the amplifier 24 is connected to a conductive screen 26 located between a corona source 28 and the wafer 14, col. ln. 32-34, 45-49) lower than the first voltage and configured to control the corona charge (fig. 1, potential of the screen 26 can control the charge deposited on the wafer 14 and, thus, the current through the chuck 16, col. 3, ln. 13-21) flow toward the sample (see fig. 1); and at least one high voltage (HV) amplifier (fig. 1, amplifier 24, col. 2, ln. 32-34) configured to generate the second voltage (fig. 1, inverting input of the amplifier 24 is connected to a conductive screen 26 located between a corona source 28 and the wafer 14, col. 2, ln. 32-34); wherein the at least one HV amplifier is configured to generate and provide a source current to the at least one control electrode and sink an external current (fig. 1, amplifier 24, col. 2, ln. 21-37) received from the at least one control electrode while keeping the second voltage within a specified range (fig. 1, feedback loop of the amplifiers 20, 22, 24 forces the screen 26 to maintain a constant corona current between the screen 26 and the surface of the wafer 14 as determined by the value of VChuck, col. 3, ln. 22-25 ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to charge surface of wafer with corona passing through a screen a wafer is, part of a feedback loop that forces a constant corona current resulting in the potential of the wafer surface following the potential of the screen, as taught in Verkuil in modifying the apparatus of Fung. The motivation would be the measurement of the surface charge and potential that are used to measure mobile charge in an oxide layer on the wafer. (see Verkuil: abs.).
Fukunaga discloses at least one high voltage (HV) amplifier (fig. 1, power supply circuit 40, par. [0024]) configured to generate and directly control the second voltage (fig. 1, voltage, par. [0024]); wherein an output of the at least one HV amplifier is electrically connected (fig. 1, power supply wiring 402, par. [0024]) to the control electrode (fig. 1, reference electrode 30, par. [0024]).
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 power supply circuit which generates an output voltage for controlling a potential difference between the discharge electrode and the standard electrode, as taught in Fukunaga in modifying the apparatus of Fung and Verkuil. The motivation would be to provide variable voltage output. (see Fukunaga: abs.).
Regarding claim 2, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 1, Fung discloses further comprising a first high voltage source (fig. 1, high voltage supply 38, col. 2, ln. 52 ) configured to generate the first voltage provided to the emitter electrode (fig. 1, needle 36, col. 4, ln. 50-51).
Regarding claim 3, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 1, Verkuil discloses further comprising a plurality of HV sources (fig. 1, VChuck, VCorona, col. 2, ln. 28-30, 58-60) configured to supply drive voltages to the at least one HV amplifier (fig. 1, elm. 22, 38,col. 2, ln. 26-30, 56-60).
The references are combined for the same reason already applied in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 2, Fung discloses further comprising control electronics (fig. 1, controller 34, col. 2, ln. 36) electrically connected to at least one of the sample (fig. 1, surface 20 of the dielectric layer 18, col. 2, ln. 26), the first HV source, or the least one HV amplifier (fig. 1, operational amplifier 56, col. 4, ln. 16-31), and configured to control an amount of charge disposed on the sample and/or a rate of charge deposition (col. 4, ln. 43-59).
Regarding claim 6, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the claimed invention except for control electronics are configured to control an amount of charge disposed on the sample within ± 1 Picocoulomb from a specified amount of charge. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to control an amount of charge disposed on the sample within ± 1 Picocoulomb from a specified amount of charge, absent any criticality, is only considered to be the “optimum” value of the amount of charge, as stated above, that a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been able to determine using routine experimentation based, among other things, on the desired accuracy and since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Boesch, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980) and MPEP 2144.04 and 2144.05.
Regarding claim 7, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 5, Fung discloses wherein the control electronics (fig. 1, controller 34, col. 2, ln. 36) is electrically connected to the first HV source (fig. 1, high voltage supply 38, col. 2, ln. 52 ) and controls and/or monitors the first voltage(fig. 1, elm. 38, col. 2, ln. 52).
Regarding claim 8, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 7, Fung discloses wherein the control electronics is (fig. 1, controller 34, col. 2, ln. 36) electrically connected to the at least one HV amplifier (fig. 1, operational amplifier 56, col. 4, ln. 16-31) and controls and/or monitors the second voltage (fig. 1, current meter 66 is connected to the electrode 64 connects the controller 34 with the current meter 66, as appropriate for control of the current meter 66, col. 4, ln. 63-66).
Regarding claim 9, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 1, Fung discloses wherein said at least one control electrode (fig. 1, controller 34, col. 2, ln. 36) comprises a control electrode (fig. 1, elm. 64, col. 4, ln. 57) configured to control a spatial distribution of the corona charge (calibrating a corona density deposited, col. 4, ln. 57-59) flow toward the sample (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 10, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 1, Fung discloses wherein the control electronics (fig. 1, controller 34, col. 2, ln. 36) controls the first and/or the second voltages based at least in part on at least one feedback signal (fig. 1, high voltage supply is suitably connected to the controller 26 via an appropriate signal line 39, for a desired feedback control of the high voltage supply 38 during an operation of the apparatus 10, col. 3, ln. 2-6).
Regarding claim 11, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 10, Fung discloses wherein the control electronics (fig. 1, controller 34, col. 2, ln. 36) is electrically connected to the sample and the feedback signal comprises at least a sample current received from the sample (fig. 1, current meter 66 is connected to the electrode 64 connects the controller 34 with the current meter 66, as appropriate for control of the current meter 66, col. 4, ln. 63-66).
Regarding claim 12, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 10, Fung discloses wherein the feedback signal comprises a magnitude of current flowing into the emitter electrode (fig. 1, corona gun 26, a corona current IC from the corona gun 26 flows into the wafer 14 and then the chuck 123 , the current IC is fed back to the controller 34 via a signal line 57, which in turn, provides appropriate control of the high voltage supply 38 and thus the voltage to the corona discharge needle 36, col. 4, ln. 16-30).
Regarding claim 13, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 10, Fung discloses wherein the feedback signal comprises a magnitude of current flowing into the at least one control electrode (fig. 1, current meter 66 is connected to the electrode 64 connects the controller 34 with the current meter 66, as appropriate for control of the current meter 66, col. 4, ln. 63-66).
Regarding claim 14, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 7, Verkuil discloses, wherein the control electronics (fig. 1, controller 48, col. 3, ln. 7-12) are configured to adjust the first and/or the second voltages to compensate deviation of the amount of charge disposed on the sample from a specified amount of charge (col. 3, ln. 35-42).
The references are combined for the same reason already applied in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 15, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 14, Fung discloses wherein the control electronics (fig. 1, controller 34, col. 2, ln. 36) are further configured to control a first current provided to the at least one control electrode (fig. 1, current meter 66 is connected to the electrode 64 connects the controller 34 with the current meter 66, as appropriate for control of the current meter 66, col. 4, ln. 63-66) and a second current provided to the emitter electrode (fig. 1, needle 36, col. 4, ln. 50-51) to compensate deviation of the amount of charge disposed on the sample from a specified amount of charge (corona current IC from the corona gun 26 flows into the wafer 14, col. 4, ln. 63-66).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fung in view of Verkuil in view of Fukunaga as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lyalin US 2017/0338781 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Lyalin).
Regarding claim 4, Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga discloses the system of claim 1, Fung and Verkuil do not disclose wherein the at least one HV amplifier comprises a push-pull circuit to keep the second voltage within a specified range in the presence of the external current.
Lyalin discloses at least one HV amplifier comprises a push-pull circuit (fig. 1, par. [0049]) to keep the second voltage within a specified range in the presence of the external current which enhances load capacity.
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 power amplification system can include a push-pull amplifier, as taught in Lyalin in modifying the apparatus of Fung, Verkuil and Fukunaga. The motivation would be to amplifier able to source and sink current (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push%E2%80%93pull_output).
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 COURTNEY G MCDONNOUGH whose telephone number is (571)272-6552. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, EMAN ALKAFAWI can be reached at (571) 272-4448. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/COURTNEY G MCDONNOUGH/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/EMAN A ALKAFAWI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858 5/14/2026
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