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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 April 3, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 13 ‘one or more illumination beam’ should read -one or more illumination beams-. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 24-29 are objected to by virtue of their dependency from claim 23.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. Claims 30-32, 34, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laske et al. (10,474,040).
As for claim 30, Laske in a systems and methods for device-correlated overlay metrology discloses/suggests the following: an overlay metrology target (FIGS. 2A-2B: 200) comprising: one or more cells (FIGS. 2A and 2B: treating the area that 200 occupies as necessarily one cell) having a grating structure and a reference grating structure (FIGS. 2A-2B: grating structures: 210a and 210b; reference grating structures: 212a and 212b), wherein, the grating structures are adjacent to the reference grating structures (FIGS. 2A-2B: 210a adjacent to 212a and 210b adjacent to 212b); wherein the grating structure and the reference grating structure are configured to simultaneously interact with one or more illumination beams as a sample is scanned relative to the one or more illumination beams along a scan direction (FIGS. 2A-2B: 210a and 210b with 212a and 212b and FIG. 2C: 230 and 226); wherein the reference grating structures are configured as a reference (col. 12, line 27 to col. 13, line 25; FIGS. 2A-2B: 212A, 212b); wherein the grating structures and the reference grating structures are periodic along a scan direction (FIG. 2A: noting 210b and 210a are periodic along y direction and 212a and 212b are periodic along y direction with FIG. 2C: 226 being scan direction); wherein the reference grating structures have one or more known parameters (col. 12, line 52 to col. 13, line 11).
As for ‘to calibrate the time-varying interference signals from the grating structure,’ it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex Parte Masham, 2 USPQ F.2d 1647 (1987).
As for the grating structure includes one or more diffraction gratings and wherein the reference grating structure includes a reference grating, Laske does not explicitly state this. As stated above Laske shows grating structures and reference grating structures (FIGS. 2A-2B: 210a, 210b, 212a, 212b). Nevertheless, he teaches that high-throughput overlay measurements may use scatterometry in which overlay is determined based on light scattered or diffracted from diffraction gratings on multiple layers and incorporates by reference several references that demonstrate that overlay targets comprise diffraction gratings (col. 4, line 22-col. 5, line 19).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the overlay metrology target of Laske have the grating structure includes one or more diffraction gratings and wherein the reference grating structure includes a reference grating to provide targets that diffract or scatter light to perform high-throughput overlay measurements via scatterometry.
As for claims 31-32, Laske discloses/suggests everything as above (see claim 30). In addition, Laske discloses/suggests wherein the one or more diffraction gratings of the grating structure comprise: a first exposure structure on a first layer of the sample; and a second exposure structure on a second layer of the sample (claim 31)(noting claim 30 above: ‘it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the overlay metrology target of Laske have the grating structure includes one or more diffraction gratings and wherein the reference grating structure includes a reference grating to provide targets that diffract or scatter light to perform high-throughput overlay measurements via scatterometry,’ with FIG. 2B: 210b would be one diffraction grating and 210a would be another diffraction grating); wherein the first exposure structure and the second exposure structure form a grating-over-grating structure, wherein the first exposure structure overlaps with the second exposure structure (FIG. 2B: again, 210b would be one diffraction grating and 210a would be another diffraction grating ).
As for claims 34 and 35, Laske discloses/suggests everything as above (see claim 30). In addition, Laske discloses/suggests wherein the one or more known parameters of the reference grating include a known pitch (claim 34) (noting claim 30 above: ‘it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the overlay metrology target of Laske have the grating structure includes one or more diffraction gratings and wherein the reference grating structure includes a reference grating to provide targets that diffract or scatter light to perform high-throughput overlay measurements via scatterometry’ with FIGS. 2A-2B: 212a and 212b; col. 12, line 52 to col. 13, line 11) and wherein the known pitch of the reference grating is different from pitches of the one or more diffraction gratings of the grating structure (claim 35)(noting claim 30 above: ‘it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the overlay metrology target of Laske have the grating structure includes one or more diffraction gratings and wherein the reference grating structure includes a reference grating to provide targets that diffract or scatter light to perform high-throughput overlay measurements via scatterometry’ with FIGS. 2A-2B: 212a and 212b with 210a and 210b; col. 12, line 52 to col. 13, line 11).
6. Claim 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laske et al. (10,474,040) in view of Deckers et al. (2012/0133938)-previously cited in PTO-892 mailed on March 26, 2025.
As for claim 33, Laske discloses/suggests everything as above (see claim 31). As for wherein the first exposure structure and the second exposure structure form a non-overlapping side-by-side grating structure, wherein the first exposure structure is arranged adjacent to the second exposure structure, Laske is silent. Laske demonstrates overlapping structures (FIG. 2B: 210b over 210a and 212b over 212a). Nevertheless, Deckers in a measuring method, apparatus, and substrate discloses marks for determining a performance parameter such as CD or overlay (abstract) wherein all the structures are arranged adjacent to each other and the sub-patterns are formed in separate lithographic steps and are configured to be simultaneously illuminated while be scanned (paragraph 0009 with paragraphs 0078 and 0079; Fig. 11(a): 612, 614, and 616 treating 616 as the reference structure; noting 606 and the white arrow pointing to the right). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to at least try to have an overlay metrology target of Laske the first exposure structure and the second exposure structure form a non-overlapping side-by-side grating structure, wherein the first exposure structure is arranged adjacent to the second exposure structure in order to be able to simultaneously illuminate the overlay target while scanning to save time while measuring overlay optically.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 1-22 are allowed.
Claims 23-29 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the claim objection set forth in this Office action.
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant’s arguments of April 3, 2026 with respect to claims 30-35 (see Remarks: pages 12-13) and 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
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: please refer to the attached PTO-892.
Fax/Telephone Numbers
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Gordon J. Stock, Jr. whose telephone number is (571) 272-2431.
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/GORDON J STOCK JR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
Prosecution Insights