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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 7, 9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bushida et al. (US PG Pub 2002/0141464) in view of Hara et al. (US PG Pub 2006/0139594).
Regarding claim 1, Bushida et al. disclose: a chamber device (12) including electrodes (14, 15) at an inside thereof to be filled with laser gas and configured to output, through a window (17, 19) to an outside thereof, light generated from the laser gas when a voltage is applied to the electrodes (Fig. 1, [0041]); a mirror (34) arranged at the outside of the chamber device and configured to reflect at least a part of the light output through the window (Fig. 1, [0043]); a holding portion (38) holding the mirror (34); a support member (36) configured to support the holding portion, a moving mechanism (40, 41) configured to move the holding portion with respect to the support member along the plane; and an angle maintaining mechanism (40, 41) configured to maintain an inclination angle of the holding portion with respect to the support member at a predetermined angle (Fig. 1, [0042]-[0047]).
Bushida et al. do not disclose: to be movable along a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of the light output through the window.
Hara et al. disclose: stage is two dimensionally movable in the plane perpendicular to the optical axis AX of the projection optical system ([0060]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Bushida by forming the moving mechanism to move the holding portion along a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of the light output in order to be able to further tune the center wavelength of the laser light.
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Fig. 1 of Bushida et al.
Regarding claim 7, Bushida as modified disclose: a voltage application circuit configured to apply the voltage to the electrodes; and a processor (laser controller 13) configured to control the voltage application circuit so that the voltage is applied to the electrodes, wherein the moving mechanism includes an actuator (40, 41) configured to move the holding portion (36) with respect to the support member along the plane, and the processor (laser controller 13) controls the actuator so that the mirror is moved from a first position to a second position being different from the first position via the holding portion during the application of the voltage (Bushida, Fig. 1, [0043]-[0049]).
Regarding claim 9, Bushida as modified disclose: further comprising an optical resonator configured of a rear mirror (34) and an output coupling mirror (16), wherein the chamber device is arranged between the rear mirror and the output coupling mirror, the window is configured of a pair of windows, the rear mirror reflects at least a part of the light traveling from one of the windows, the output coupling mirror reflects a part of the light traveling from the other of the windows and transmits a remaining part of the light traveling from the other of the windows, and the mirror is at least one of the rear mirror and the output coupling mirror (Bushida, Fig. 1, [0043]-[0049]).
Regarding claim 11, Bushida et al. disclose: generating laser light using a gas laser device; the gas laser device including: a chamber device (12) including electrodes (14, 15) at an inside thereof to be filled with laser gas and configured to output, through a window (17, 19) to an outside thereof, light generated from the laser gas when a voltage is applied to the electrodes (Fig. 1, [0041]); a mirror (34) arranged at the outside of the chamber device and configured to reflect at least a part of the light output through the window (Fig. 1, [0043]); a holding portion (48) holding the mirror (34); a support member (36) configured to support the holding portion, a moving mechanism (40, 41) configured to move the holding portion with respect to the support member along the plane; and an angle maintaining mechanism (40, 41) configured to maintain an inclination angle of the holding portion with respect to the support member at a predetermined angle (Fig. 1, [0042]-[0047]).
Bushida et al. do not disclose: outputting the laser light to an exposure apparatus; and exposing a photosensitive substrate to the laser light in the exposure apparatus to manufacture an electronic device; to be movable along a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of the light output through the window.
Hara et al. disclose: outputting the laser light to an exposure apparatus; and exposing a photosensitive substrate to the laser light in the exposure apparatus to manufacture an electronic device ([0005]); stage is two dimensionally movable in the plane perpendicular to the optical axis AX of the projection optical system ([0060]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Bushida by forming the moving mechanism to move the holding portion along a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of the light output in order to be able to further tune the center wavelength of the laser light. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Bushida as modified by using the gas laser device in an exposure apparatus in order to use the device to fabricate semiconductor devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6, 8 and 10 are 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 2 is allowable as the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “…a voltage application circuit configured to apply the voltage to the electrodes; and a processor configured to control the voltage application circuit so that the voltage is applied to the electrodes, wherein the moving mechanism includes an actuator configured to move the holding portion with respect to the support member along the plane, and the processor controls the actuator so that the mirror stops at a first position, moves thereafter to a second position being different from the first position, and then stops at the second position via the holding portion, and controls the voltage application circuit so that the voltage is applied to the electrodes each time after the mirror is stopped at the first position and at the second position.”
Claim 8 is allowable as the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “…wherein the processor controls the actuator so that the mirror reciprocates between the first position and the second position via the holding portion during the application of the voltage.”
Claim 10 is allowable as the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “…further comprising an optical resonator configured of a grating and an output coupling mirror, wherein the chamber device is arranged between the grating and the output coupling mirror, the window is configured of a pair of windows, the grating reflects the light traveling from one of the windows, the output coupling mirror reflects a part of the light traveling from the other of the windows and transmits a remaining part of the light traveling from the other of the windows, and the mirror is the output coupling mirror.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ohtani et al. (US PG Pub 2018/0034229) disclose: In a laser oscillator, a pair of electrodes is disposed in a housing into which a gas is sealed, a waveguide is formed by the pair of electrodes, and a laser beam is configured to be extracted from an end of the housing. The laser oscillator includes a mirror holder attached to an end of the electrode, the end serving as an end of the waveguide, and a reflection mirror attached to the mirror holder and reflecting a laser beam generated in the waveguide. In the laser oscillator, a passage through which a cooling medium is passed is formed inside each of the pair of electrodes (Abstract). Miyamoto et al. (US PG Pub 2018/0198253) disclose: a narrow band excimer laser apparatus includes a line narrowing module that narrows the spectral line width of laser light, a nitrogen gas introducing unit, a first valve that restricts the flow of nitrogen gas from the introducing unit into a casing of the module, an exhaust unit that causes gas to flow out from the casing, an exhaust pump for exhausting the gas from the casing, a second valve that restricts the exhausting of gas from the exhaust unit, an atmosphere discharge unit that discharges the gas within the casing into the atmosphere, a third valve that restricts the discharge of gas into the atmosphere, and a control unit that closes the second valve while opening the first and third valves, supplies nitrogen gas into the casing, then closes the third valve while opening the first and second valves, drives the exhaust pump, and causes laser oscillation thereafter (Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XINNING(TOM) NIU whose telephone number is (571)270-1437. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30am-6:00pm.
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/XINNING(Tom) NIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828
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