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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 34 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 4-9, 13, and 28-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (PG/PUB 20210154796).
Claim 4. Zhang et al. teaches a polishing system (ABSTRACT, Figure 5B) , comprising:
a rotatable platen (0040 platen 20)
a polishing pad on the platen, the polishing pad having an annular outer region that surrounds a circular central region, the annular outer region having a plurality of polishing liquid discharge grooves that start at an outer perimeter of the circular central region and extend radially outward to an edge of the polishing pad so as to preferentially discharge polishing liquid from the annular outer region (Figure 3A, Figure 3B, Figure 5B)
a dispenser to deliver the polishing liquid onto the polishing pad;( 0024)
a carrier head to hold a substrate against the polishing pad, the carrier head laterally movable across the polishing pad (0022-0027, Figure 5B)
an actuator to move the carrier head (0026 actuator 122)
a controller coupled to the actuator and configured to cause the actuator to oscillate the carrier head and substrate laterally across the polishing pad such that for a first duration cause the actuator to position a central portion of the substrate and an edge portion of the substrate over the central region of the polishing pad such that the central portion of the substrate and the edge portion of the substrate are polished for the first duration by the central region of the polishing pad (0038-0042)
for a second duration cause the actuator to position the central portion of the substrate over the central region of the polishing pad and an angularly extending section of the edge portion of the substrate over the outer annular region such that the central portion of the substrate is polished for the second duration by the central region of the polishing pad and the edge portion of the substrate is polished for the second duration by both the central region of the polishing pad and the annular outer region so as to reduce a polishing rate of the edge portion (0039-0044, 0047)
Claim 5. (Original) The system of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to cause the actuator to hold the substate in a laterally fixed position for the second duration (0039)
Claim 6. (Original) The system of claim 5, wherein the polishing pad further comprises polishing liquid distribution grooves (0036-41)
Claim 7. (Original) The system of claim 6, wherein the polishing liquid distribution grooves are uniformly spaced across the central portion of the polishing pad (0036-41)
Claim 8. (Original) The system of claim 7, wherein the polishing liquid distribution grooves are uniformly spaced across the central portion and annular outer portion of the polishing pad (0037)
Claim 9. (Currently Amended) The system of claim [[65]] 5, wherein the polishing liquid distribution grooves are narrower than the polishing liquid discharge grooves (0008-0011)
Claim 13. (Currently Amended, Withdrawn) The polishing pad of claim 10, wherein the polishing liquid distribution discharge grooves are distributed at equal angular intervals around the circumference of the polishing pad (0011, 0049 figure 5B
Claim 28. (New) The system of claim 7, wherein the polishing liquid distribution grooves comprise a plurality of concentric circular grooves (0029)
Claim 29. (New) The system of claim 7, wherein the polishing liquid distribution grooves are shallower than the polishing liquid discharge grooves (0037)
Claim 30. (New) The system of claim 4, wherein the polishing liquid discharge grooves have a width of 1 to 5 mm (0036)
Claim 31. (New) The system of claim 4, wherein the polishing liquid discharge grooves are distributed at equal angular intervals around the circumference of the polishing pad (0049)
Claim 32. (New) The system of claim 4, wherein the polishing pad includes a polishing layer that has a thickness of 40-100 mils (0030)
Claim 33. (New) The system of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to receive a desired polishing rate for the edge portion substrate and to calculate the first duration and the second duration based on the desired polishing rate and the relative polishing rates of the circular center region and the annular edge region of the polishing pad (0042)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
20240075583 described first and second durations for edge correction
11298794 describes first and second polishing durations for edge correction
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/DARRIN D DUNN/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2117
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