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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the:
Claim 1 recites "a polishing head having gas passages".
Claim 1 recites “ the wafer”
Claim 2 recites "the polishing head comprises five independent gas passages"
Claim 4 recites “temperature sensor”
Claim 5 recites “gas flow adjuster”
Claim 8 recites “a computer device comprising a processor and a memory”
Claim 9 recites “a non-transitory computer readable storage medium”
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Th specification does not discuss various claimed structures (polishing head having gas passages, etc.) with reference characters. The drawings fail to show any significant details pertaining to the claimed invention’s structure.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites "five independent gas passages". It is unclear what makes a gas passage "independent". Does this mean each gas passage requires its own fluid source, or control valve? Or does this mean that there are five individual gas lines that can be connected to the same source? Applicant's specification does not discuss what an "independent gas passage" requires.
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(s) 1, 2, 4-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohashi et al. (US 5605488), hereinafter ‘Ohashi’ in view of Easter et al. (US 6150271), hereinafter ‘Easter’ and Bright et al. (US 7029368), hereinafter ‘Bright’.
Ohashi discloses:
1. A wafer temperature control system (Fig. 9), comprising:
a wafer (31) polishing apparatus (Fig. 1), a control module (60, 41), an adjustment module (53, 37), and a monitoring module (implicitly disclosed since the temperature distribution of the wafer is equalized, therefore a temperature monitoring device must exist in order for the temperature to be determined to be equalized across the wafer, Col. 5 lines 36-44), wherein:
the wafer polishing apparatus comprises a polishing head (22) having fluid passages, and during chemical mechanical polishing, a temperature of a wafer is adjusted by introducing a temperature control fluid into the passages (temperature of fluid 36 that is supplied through lines 35 into chambers 33 adjust the temperature of the wafer 31 at different locations); and discloses an adjustment module 53 that adjusts a flow rate/pressure of the fluid, and implicitly renders obvious the limitations of after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the temperature control fluid, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module; and
the adjustment module adjusts, according to the received adjustment signal, the flow rate and the introduction duration of the temperature control fluid flow introduced into the fluid passages, so as to adjust the temperature of the wafer (Col. 5 lines 21-44).
Ohashi does not disclose using a cooling gas as the fluid that adjusts the temperature of the wafer, and does not explicitly disclose monitoring the temperature of the wafer, sending a temperature signal, or adjusting the flow rate and time of a cooling fluid.
However, Easter discloses a CMP apparatus similar to Ohashi and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Easter discloses adjusting the temperature of the wafer through fluid flow passages through the polishing head that carries the wafer similar to Ohashi. Easter teaches a temperature control means that includes heating and cooling to counteract the gradients produced by the CMP apparatus (Col. 3 lines 8-19). Both Ohashi and Easter control the temperature of the wafer for the same purpose of addressing the temperature variations across the wafer being polished. Easter discloses a polishing head (26) including a plurality of cooling fluid lines (31, 32, 33) that circulates coolant, "the coolant can be chosen from a variety of known effective heat transfer fluids, either gas or liquid" which establishes that a coolant fluid gas or liquid are obvious equivalents that can be substituted with one another to yield the same results (Col. 3 lines 27-34). Easter renders obvious adjusting the number of cooling coils to produce the result desired (Col. 3 lines 39-41) and discloses monitoring and controlling the flow rate of the fluid within each coil to control the temperature of the wafer. Easter discloses temperature sensors (28) to monitor the temperature of the wafer during polishing (Col. 3 lines 39-53). Easter discloses selectively controlling the temperature gradients on the wafer (Col. 5 lines 20-35). Easter renders obvious after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the temperature control fluid, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module; and the adjustment module adjusts, according to the received adjustment signal, the flow rate and the introduction duration of the temperature control fluid flow introduced into the fluid passages, so as to adjust the temperature of the wafer (Col. 5 lines 19-40).
Since using a gas or liquid as the heat transfer fluid is known in the art, and since simple substitution is an exemplary rationale that supports a conclusion of obviousness, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the system of Ohashi to have used s gas fluid to adjust the temperature of the wafer as taught by Easter.
Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the system of Ohashi to have a fluid temperature control means include both a heating and cooling mode as taught by Easter to achieve elimination of temperature gradients across the wafer which is desirable to improve the CMP process resulting in more even polishing.
The combination of Ohashi and Easter does not explicitly disclose a controller receiving a temperature signal.
However, Bright discloses a CMP apparatus similar to Ohashi, Easter, and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Bright discloses a wafer temperature control system, comprising:
a wafer (52) polishing apparatus (Fig. 1A), a control module (58), an adjustment module (60), and a monitoring module (54, 56), wherein:
the wafer polishing apparatus comprises a polishing head (66) having gas passages, and during chemical mechanical polishing, a temperature of a wafer is adjusted by introducing a cooling fluid into the fluid passages (Col. 5 lines 27-41 discloses using a cooling fluid);
the monitoring module is configured to measure the temperature of the wafer in real time to generate a temperature signal, and send the temperature signal to the control module (Col. 5 lines 32-41 discloses temperature sensors 54 sending temperature signals to controller 58);
after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module (Bright discloses the controller 58 sending an adjustment signal to the thermal controller 60 to adjust the temperature of the supplied cooling fluid).
Since using temperature sensors to monitor the temperature gradient across the wafer and sending these temperature signals to a controller to affect cooling fluid control is a known technique in the art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the system of Ohashi in view of Easter to have used temperature sensors that monitor the temperature gradient across the wafer, wherein a controller receives the temperature signals and controls the apparatus accordingly to achieve the desired cooling at different locations of the wafer as taught by Bright.
In light of the above, the combination of Ohashi, Easter, and Bright renders obvious:
1. A wafer temperature control system (system of Ohashi), comprising:
a wafer polishing apparatus (Ohashi Fig. 1), a control module (rendered obvious by Bright, control module 58), an adjustment module (adjustable valves 53 of Ohashi), and a monitoring module (implemented temperature sensors in light of Bright), wherein:
the wafer polishing apparatus comprises a polishing head (Ohashi 22) having gas passages (Ohashi’s fluid liquid lines 35 are replaced with gas fluid in light of Easter), and during chemical mechanical polishing, a temperature of a wafer is adjusted by introducing a cooling gas into the gas passages (in light of Easter, the fluid lines 35 would supply cooling gas to sections 51 that adjusts the temperature of the wafer accordingly to achieve even polishing);
the monitoring module is configured to measure the temperature of the wafer in real time to generate a temperature signal, and send the temperature signal to the control module (rendered obvious by Bright Col. 5 lines 32-41 which discloses temperature sensors 54 sending temperature signals to controller 58);
after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module (rendered obvious by Easter Col. 3 lines 46-52, Col. 5 lines 19-40); and
the adjustment module adjusts, according to the received adjustment signal, the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas introduced into the gas passages, so as to adjust the temperature of the wafer (since Easter does not specifically disclose a flow rate control device, and Ohashi’s system already discloses a flow rate control device 57, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the system of Ohashi to use the existing flow rate control device 57 of Ohashi to adjust a flow rate and introduction duration to adjust the temperature of the wafer in different areas in accordance with the control rendered obvious by Easter).
2. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the polishing head comprises five independent gas passages, and during the chemical mechanical polishing, the cooling gas is introduced into all of the five independent gas passages (Ohashi, five independent passages 35 would be implemented as gas passages in light of the teachings from Easter).
4. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring module comprises at least one temperature sensor (implemented temperature sensor 54, 56 from Bright).
5. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the control module comprises a receiving unit (Bright, control unit 58 receives signal 56 and therefore includes a receiving unit), a processing unit (implicit within system controller 58 as it must convert a temperature signal 56 to a control signal sent to thermal controller 60), and a sending unit (Bright, control unit 58 sends signal to thermal controller 60 and therefore includes a sending unit), and the receiving unit is configured to receive the temperature signal and send the temperature signal to the processing unit (Bright, Fig. 1A); and the processing unit is configured to perform an analysis calculation according to the received temperature signal to obtain the adjustment signal (Bright, adjustment signal is the line between system controller 58 and the thermal controller 60), and to send the adjustment signal to the adjustment module by means of the sending unit (Bright, Col. 5 lines 27-41, see Fig. 1A; an analysis implicit in the control;
an analogous system controller would be implemented into the system of Ohashi to control the temperature control section and the pressure control section to achieve the desired temperature control of the wafer).
6. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment module comprises a gas flow adjuster (Ohashi, valves 53 are modified to be gas flow adjusting valves in light of Easter).
7. A wafer temperature control method using the wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, comprising:
step S1): introducing the cooling gas, wherein the cooling gas is introduced via the gas passages of the polishing head during the chemical mechanical polishing (Ohashi, Fig. 9, fluid paths 35 would be implemented as cooling gas paths in light of Easter);
step S2): measuring a temperature, wherein the monitoring module measures the temperature of the wafer in real time to generate the temperature signal, and sends the temperature signal to the control module (rendered obvious by Bright Col. 5 lines 27-41; this step is already implicitly rendered obvious in Ohashi Col. 3 lines 66-67, Col. 4 lines 1-5);
step S3): generating and sending the adjustment signal, wherein the control module generates, according to the received temperature signal, the adjustment signal for adjusting the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module (Bright renders obvious generating and sending the adjustment signal, Easter renders obvious adjusting the flow rate and the introduction direction of the cooling gas); and
step 4): adjusting the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas, wherein the adjustment module adjusts the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas according to the received adjustment signal (Easter renders obvious controlling the flow rate and Ohashi’s system discloses a fluid flow rate adjustment device in the form of valves 57).
8. A computer device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is adapted to implement various instructions, and the memory is adapted to store a plurality of instructions, the instructions being adapted to be loaded by the processor and to perform the wafer temperature control method according to claim 7 (rendered obvious by Bright controller 58).
9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing computer executable instructions which, when executed, implement the wafer temperature control method according to claim 7 (rendered obvious by Bright controller 58).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohashi in view of Easter and Bright as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Saito et al. (US 7156720), hereinafter ‘Saito’.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Ohashi, Easter and Bright does not explicitly disclose wherein the cooling gas comprises nitrogen or an inert gas.
However, Saito discloses a CMP apparatus similar to Ohashi and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Saito discloses wherein the cooling gas comprises nitrogen or an inert gas (Saito Col 6 lines 1-5 discloses nitrogen).
Since nitrogen is a known gas used for cooling in a similar manner used in the combination of Ohashi, Easter, and Bright, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the system of Ohashi in view of Easter and Bright to have used nitrogen as the cooling gas as taught by Saito as a matter of simple substitution of one known cooling gas for another to yield only the expected results of a coolant fluid cooling the wafer in a CMP apparatus.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito et al. (US 7156720), hereinafter ‘Saito’ in view of Easter et al. (US 6150271), hereinafter ‘Easter’ and Bright et al. (US 7029368), hereinafter ‘Bright’.
Saito discloses:
1. A wafer temperature control system, comprising:
a wafer (W) polishing apparatus (see Figures), a control module (implicit controller that controls flow valve 6 and regulator 5), an adjustment module (flow valve 6, regulator 5), and a monitoring module (thermometer 10, Col. 7 lines 55-67, Col. 8 lines 1-37), wherein:
the wafer polishing apparatus comprises a polishing head (2) having gas passages (Fig. 8A, 8B), and during chemical mechanical polishing, a temperature of a wafer is adjusted by introducing a cooling gas into the gas passages (Col. 7);
the monitoring module is configured to measure the temperature of the wafer in real time to generate a temperature signal (Col. 7 lines 60-64 "thermometer may be provided...to measure the temperature of the rear face of the wafer W"), and send the temperature signal to the control module;
after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal;
an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module; and
the adjustment module adjusts, according to the received adjustment signal, the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas introduced into the gas passages, so as to adjust the temperature of the wafer (Col 6 discloses intermittently discharged fluid from valve 6, which means the introduction duration of the cooling gas is controlled; Col. 7 lines 29-35 discloses that the fluid 9 is supplied at different flow rates into the chambers 34a, 34b, 34c which means the flow rate is controlled; Col. 7 lines 56-67 and Col. 8 renders obvious using a measured temperature of the wafer W in the control of the cooling fluid to perform more accurate temperature control of the wafer therefore the temperature signal of the wafer must be received before adjusting the cooling fluid’s flow rate and supply to achieve a desired wafer temperature).
Saito does not explicitly disclose a control module that receives temperature signals of the wafer in real time to generate a temperature signal, and send the temperature signal to the control module; after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module; and the adjustment module adjusts, according to the received adjustment signal, the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas introduced into the gas passages, so as to adjust the temperature of the wafer.
However, Easter discloses a CMP apparatus similar to Saito and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Easter discloses adjusting the temperature of the wafer through fluid flow passages through the polishing head that carries the wafer similar to Saito. Easter teaches a temperature control means that includes heating and cooling to counteract the gradients produced by the CMP apparatus (Col. 3 lines 8-19). Both Saito and Easter control the temperature of the wafer for the same purpose of addressing the temperature variations across the wafer being polished. Easter discloses a polishing head (26) including a plurality of cooling fluid lines (31, 32, 33) that circulates coolant, "the coolant can be chosen from a variety of known effective heat transfer fluids, either gas or liquid" which establishes that a coolant fluid gas or liquid are obvious equivalents that can be substituted with one another to yield the same results (Col. 3 lines 27-34). Easter renders obvious adjusting the number of cooling coils to produce the result desired (Col. 3 lines 39-41) and discloses monitoring and controlling the flow rate of the fluid within each coil to control the temperature of the wafer. Easter discloses temperature sensors (28) to monitor the temperature of the wafer during polishing (Col. 3 lines 39-53). Easter discloses selectively controlling the temperature gradients on the wafer (Col. 5 lines 20-35). Easter renders obvious after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the temperature control fluid, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module; and the adjustment module adjusts, according to the received adjustment signal, the flow rate and the introduction duration of the temperature control fluid flow introduced into the fluid passages, so as to adjust the temperature of the wafer (Col. 5 lines 19-40).
Further, Bright discloses a CMP apparatus similar to Saito, Easter, and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Bright discloses a wafer temperature control system, comprising:
a wafer (52) polishing apparatus (Fig. 1A), a control module (58), an adjustment module (60), and a monitoring module (54, 56), wherein:
the wafer polishing apparatus comprises a polishing head (66) having gas passages, and during chemical mechanical polishing, a temperature of a wafer is adjusted by introducing a cooling fluid into the fluid passages (Col. 5 lines 27-41 discloses using a cooling fluid);
the monitoring module is configured to measure the temperature of the wafer in real time to generate a temperature signal, and send the temperature signal to the control module (Col. 5 lines 32-41 discloses temperature sensors 54 sending temperature signals to controller 58);
after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module (Bright discloses the controller 58 sending an adjustment signal to the thermal controller 60 to adjust the temperature of the supplied cooling fluid).
It is obvious to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. See MPEP 2143(A). The MPEP states the prior art must: (1) teach each claimed element (a method or apparatus that will be modified), (2) show that one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements by known methods and that the combination doesn’t change the function of the elements, and (3) show that one of ordinary skill would have recognized that applying the known technique to the base device would yield predictable results. See MPEP 2143(A).
In this case, Saito teaches all elements except an explicit control module, wherein the monitoring module is configured to measure the temperature of the wafer in real time to generate a temperature signal, and send the temperature signal to the control module; after receiving the temperature signal, the control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module; and the adjustment module adjusts, according to the received adjustment signal, the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas introduced into the gas passages, so as to adjust the temperature of the wafer.
Bright teaches the monitoring module is configured to measure the temperature of the wafer in real time to generate a temperature signal, and send the temperature signal to the control module which has the function of controlling the CMP system to cool the wafer according to the sensed wafer temperatures.
Easter teaches after receiving the temperature signal, a control module generates, according to the temperature signal, an adjustment signal used for adjusting a flow rate and an introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module; and the adjustment module adjusts, according to the received adjustment signal, the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas introduced into the gas passages, so as to adjust the temperature of the wafer which is the function of controlling the CMP system to cool the wafer accordingly.
When combined into Saito, the control module of Bright and the control method of Easter maintains their respective functions of controlling the CMP system to cool the wafer accordingly. One of ordinary skill would expect predictable results because all references pertain to cooling a wafer on a polishing head/carrier that function in the same manner in the environment of Chemical Mechanical Polishing/Planarization systems.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Saito in view of Easter and Bright because all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The combination of Saito, Easter, and Bright renders obvious:
2. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the polishing head comprises five independent gas passages, and during the chemical mechanical polishing, the cooling gas is introduced into all of the five independent gas passages (one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the number of cooling air chambers 34 of Saito can be increased to increase the individual zones that are able to be cooled independently; increasing the number of gas passages to five only requires routine skill in the art and would only yield the expected results of increased independently controlled cooling chambers 34 that are arranged concentrically such that there are five concentric ring zones 34 similar to as seen in Saito Fig. 8B).
3. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 2, wherein the cooling gas comprises nitrogen or an inert gas (Saito Col 6 lines 1-5 discloses nitrogen).
4. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring module comprises at least one temperature sensor (Saito 10; in light of Bright and Easter, the temperature of the wafer measured by the sensor would be used to control the cool gas flow rate and duration to achieve the desired cooling for each portion of the wafer).
5. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the control module comprises a receiving unit (Bright, control unit 58 receives signal 56 and therefore includes a receiving unit), a processing unit (implicit within system controller 58 as it must convert a temperature signal 56 to a control signal sent to thermal controller 60), and a sending unit (Bright, control unit 58 sends signal to thermal controller 60 and therefore includes a sending unit), and the receiving unit is configured to receive the temperature signal and send the temperature signal to the processing unit (Bright, Fig. 1A); and the processing unit is configured to perform an analysis calculation according to the received temperature signal to obtain the adjustment signal (Bright, adjustment signal is the line between system controller 58 and the thermal controller 60), and to send the adjustment signal to the adjustment module by means of the sending unit (Bright, Col. 5 lines 27-41, see Fig. 1A; an analysis implicit in the control;
an analogous system controller would be implemented into the system of Saito to control the temperature control section and the pressure control section to achieve the desired temperature control of the wafer).
6. The wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment module comprises a gas flow adjuster (Saito, regulator 5, flow valve 6).
7. A wafer temperature control method using the wafer temperature control system according to claim 1, comprising: step S1): introducing the cooling gas, wherein the cooling gas is introduced via the gas passages of the polishing head during the chemical mechanical polishing (Saito, Fig. 8A);
step S2): measuring a temperature, wherein the monitoring module measures the temperature of the wafer in real time to generate the temperature signal, and sends the temperature signal to the control module (Saito, temperature sensor 10, in light of the implemented controller of Bright, the sensor would send the temperature signal to a control module);
step S3): generating and sending the adjustment signal, wherein the control module generates, according to the received temperature signal, the adjustment signal for adjusting the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas, and sends the adjustment signal to the adjustment module (in light of Bright and Easter, the temperature of the wafer measured by the sensor would be used to control the cool gas flow rate and duration to achieve the desired cooling for each portion of the wafer); and
step 4): adjusting the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas, wherein the adjustment module adjusts the flow rate and the introduction duration of the cooling gas according to the received adjustment signal (in light of Bright and Easter, the temperature of the wafer measured by the sensor would be used to control the cool gas flow rate and duration to achieve the desired cooling for each portion of the wafer).
8. A computer device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is adapted to implement various instructions, and the memory is adapted to store a plurality of instructions, the instructions being adapted to be loaded by the processor and to perform the wafer temperature control method according to claim 7 (rendered obvious by Bright controller 58).
9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing computer executable instructions which, when executed, implement the wafer temperature control method according to claim 7 (rendered obvious by Bright controller 58).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Huang (US 2020/0001425) discloses: a wafer temperature control system, comprising: a wafer (112) polishing apparatus (Fig. 1), and a monitoring module (“temperature sensors” paragraph [0033]), wherein: the wafer polishing apparatus comprises a polishing head (106) having gas passages, and during chemical mechanical polishing, a temperature of a wafer is adjusted by introducing a cooling gas into the gas passages (gas passages leading to air chambers 220, paragraph [0031] temperature module, paragraph [0032] discloses cooling the wafer with the air in each air chamber); paragraph [0038] discloses adjusting the temperatures to adjust the polishing rate of the wafer.
Choi et al. (US 9999957) discloses a polishing head with a plurality of coolant fluid paths 116
Sakurai et al. (US 6402597) discloses a CMP apparatus that controls the temperature of dresser element 22 and the polishing cloth 6by supplying cooling fluid through flow passage 32 in the polishing head 320. Lowered temperature of the wafer increases the hardness of the low k material deposited thereon in order to improve the planarization of the CMP process.
Marcyk et al. (US 6726529), Col. 3 lines 48-67, Col. 4 lines 1-6 discloses a CMP apparatus that includes a chiller 360 to lower the temperature of the wafer 310, wherein the chiller 360 is temperature controller loop which circulates a cooled liquid or gas through the polishing head 200; Marcyk Col. 4 lines 7-19 renders obvious having a chiller in both the polishing head/carrier 320 and the polishing platen or either one, and renders obvious using a chiller in combination with a temperature controlled slurry and other chillers.
Kimura et al. (US 6544111) discloses a CMP apparatus that includes cooling the polishing table with water, but not the polishing head
Chen (US 2023/0321791) discloses a grinding wheel with coolant passages through the grinding wheel, which would correspond to the polishing head.
Kim et al. (US 10131031) discloses a chemical-mechanical polishing device and discloses a using a cooling gas supply portion 150 to eject nitrogen gas towards a polishing pad 111.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dustin T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-0163. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 8:00am - 4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel E. Wiehe can be reached at (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DUSTIN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745 August 17, 2026
Prosecution Insights