Detailed Correspondence
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 Amendment
Applicants’ submission, filed on 07/28/2026, addressing rejection of claims 1-20 from the non-final office action (04/28/2026), by amending claims 1, 4, 9, 11, and 18-20 is entered and will be addressed below.
Claim Interpretations
The “a processing unit” is not treated under 112(f) interpretation because it is further structurally modified by “a process chamber, …”.
The “wherein the controller is configured to control the additive supply and the chemical liquid supply so as to:
(9a) circulate the additive in the first tank for a first time using the first circulating pipe;
(9b) heat the raw etching liquid in the auxiliary tank using the heater such that a temperature of the raw etching liquid is increased from room temperature to a first temperature;
(9c) based on the raw etching liquid reaching the first temperature, start supply of the additive to the auxiliary tank;
(9d) produce the chemical liquid by circulating the raw etching liquid and the additive at the first temperature for a second time using the second circulating pipe; and
(9e) supply the chemical liquid to the processing unit“ of claim 9, the claimed steps of steps 9a-9e may be in any timing order. The “a first time” and the “a second time” may be different time or the same time, or may be different length of time.
Claims 11 and 20 “the controller is further configured to circulate the chemical liquid in the recycling tank at the first temperature for a third time using the third circulating pipe”, the third time also can be various order respective to the “a first time” and “a second time” of parent claims.
Claims 1 and 18 have similar controller language and same interpretations of claim 9 also applies to claims 1 and 18.
The “wherein the first time is a time duration elapsed until a concentration of the silica in the additive becomes constant”, “wherein the second time is a time duration required for dissolving the additive in the raw etching liquid”, “the third time is a time duration required for dissolving the additive in the chemical liquid that is collected” in various claims are referred to “the controller is configured to control the additive supply and the chemical liquid supply so as to”, however, there is no disclosure of the controller with feedback control of the timing based on the meter/sensor of these timing. Therefore, these time are considered pre-programed. As such, the controller does not have a way to determine the time duration corresponding to the respective operation. If Applicants disagree, Applicants are invited to cite support if these steps are feed-back controlled.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-3, 7, 9, 13, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hinode et al. (US 20160035597, hereafter ‘597), in view of CHANGCHIEN et al. (US 20150111311, hereafter ‘311).
‘597 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 9: SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD (title, includes the claimed “A substrate treating apparatus comprising”):
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the new liquid supply device 8 and the dispersion state determinator 89 of FIG. 1 ([0105], see also Fig. 11), A circulation pipe 87a is provided to connect a portion, of the coupling pipe 40x, that is located between the filter 82 and the valve 81 to the production tank 80. A valve 87b is inserted into the circulation pipe 87a. Further, a silicon containing liquid supply system 94 is connected to a portion, of the circulation pipe 87a, that is located between the valve 87b and the production tank 80 ([0107]), The silicon containing liquid is made of the silicon particles, an organic solvent and pure water ([0110], includes the claimed “an additive supply comprising: a first tank configured to receive an additive from an additive container; and a first circulating pipe connected to the first tank”);
As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 100 mainly includes a processor 1, a first tank 5, a second tank 6, a third tank 7, a new liquid supply device 8, a controller 9 and a dispersion state determinator 89. Further, the processor 1 includes a spin chuck 2, a processing liquid nozzle 3, a heating device 4 and a cup CU ([0087]), A liquid surface sensor s3 is provided in each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b, and a DIW supply system 91, a nitrogen gas supply system 92 and a phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply system 93 are connected to each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b ([0099], last sentence, the second storage tank 6b and/or the third storage tank 7b reads into the claimed “a chemical liquid supply comprising: an auxiliary tank for receiving a raw etching liquid from a raw etching liquid container”), A third supply pipe 40 is provided to connect the new liquid supply device 8 to each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b of each of the second and third tanks 6, 7 ([0104], includes the claimed “and receiving the additive from the additive supply”);
A circulation pipe 25 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20b, that is located between the filter 22 and the valve 21 to the circulation tank 6a ([0101], 2nd sentence), A circulation pipe 35 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20c, that is located between the filter 32 and the valve 31 to the circulation tank 7a ([0102], 2nd sentence, includes the claimed “a second circulating pipe connected to the auxiliary tank”);
At the time point t14, the controller 9 further opens the valve 31 of FIG. 1. Thus, as indicated by a thick arrow A10 in FIG. 8, part of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution that has passed through the branch pipe 20c and the filter 32 from the storage tank 7b of the third tank 7 is sent to the storage tank 5b of the first tank 5 through the main pipe 20a ([0171], includes the claimed “and a main tank configured to receive and store a chemical liquid from the auxiliary tank”);
When the power of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is turned on from the initial state, the operations of heaters 11, 14, 23, 33, pumps 15, 24, 34 and the new liquid supply device 8 of FIG. 11 are started ([0230]), The heater 73 heats the phosphoric acid aqueous solution flowing in the branch pipe 40d, thereby increasing the temperature of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution to a preset temperature (hereinafter referred to as a set temperature). In the present example, the set temperature is 150° C., for example ([0222], 2nd sentence, as both heaters 23 and 73 affect the temperature of the tanks 6 and 7, includes the claimed “and a heater“);
Further, the processor 1 includes a spin chuck 2, a processing liquid nozzle 3, a heating device 4 and a cup CU ([0087]), A first supply pipe 10 is provided to connect the storage tank 5b of the first tank 5 to the processing liquid nozzle 3 of the processor 1 ([0097], includes the claimed “a processing unit comprising a process chamber, a substrate, and a substrate support, the processing unit configured to receive the chemical liquid from the chemical liquid supply”, indirectly receiving from the chemical liquid supply through main tank, same as Applicants’ Fig. 1 or 3);
The controller 9 controls an operation of each constituent element of the substrate processing apparatus 100 ([0114]), the controller 9 controls the new liquid supply device 8, the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply system 93 and the silicon containing liquid supply system 94 based on the silicon concentration measured by each silicon concentration meter s2 ([0115], last sentence), the controller 9 controls the DIW supply system 91, the nitrogen gas supply system 92 and the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply system 93 based on the measurement value of the phosphoric acid concentration meter s1 of the third tank 7 such that the phosphoric acid concentration in the storage tank 7b becomes close to the reference phosphoric acid concentration ([0152], last sentence, and throughout ‘597, includes the claimed “and a controller configured to control the additive supply and the chemical liquid supply, wherein the controller is configured to control the additive supply and the chemical liquid supply so as to: circulate the additive in the first tank for a first time using the first circulating pipe”);
When the power of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is turned on from the initial state, the operations of heaters 11, 14, 23, 33, pumps 15, 24, 34 and the new liquid supply device 8 of FIG. 11 are started ([0230]), The heater 73 heats the phosphoric acid aqueous solution flowing in the branch pipe 40d, thereby increasing the temperature of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution to a preset temperature (hereinafter referred to as a set temperature). In the present example, the set temperature is 150° C., for example ([0222], 2nd sentence, as both heaters 23 and 73 affect the temperature of the tanks 6 and 7, includes the claimed “heat the raw etching liquid in the auxiliary tank using the heater such that a temperature of the raw etching liquid is increased from room temperature to a first temperature”);
A circulation pipe 25 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20b, that is located between the filter 22 and the valve 21 to the circulation tank 6a ([0101], 2nd sentence), A circulation pipe 35 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20c, that is located between the filter 32 and the valve 31 to the circulation tank 7a ([0102], 2nd sentence, includes the claimed “produce the chemical liquid by circulating the raw etching liquid and the additive at the first temperature for a second time using the second circulating pipe”);
A first supply pipe 10 is provided to connect the storage tank 5b of the first tank 5 to the processing liquid nozzle 3 of the processor 1 ([0097], includes the claimed “and supply the chemical liquid to the processing unit”).
Claim 18: As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 100 mainly includes a processor 1, a first tank 5, a second tank 6, a third tank 7, a new liquid supply device 8, a controller 9 and a dispersion state determinator 89. Further, the processor 1 includes a spin chuck 2, a processing liquid nozzle 3, a heating device 4 and a cup CU ([0087]), A liquid surface sensor s3 is provided in each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b, and a DIW supply system 91, a nitrogen gas supply system 92 and a phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply system 93 are connected to each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b ([0099], last sentence, includes the claimed “A chemical liquid supply apparatus comprising”):
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the new liquid supply device 8 and the dispersion state determinator 89 of FIG. 1 ([0105], see also Fig. 11), A circulation pipe 87a is provided to connect a portion, of the coupling pipe 40x, that is located between the filter 82 and the valve 81 to the production tank 80. A valve 87b is inserted into the circulation pipe 87a. Further, a silicon containing liquid supply system 94 is connected to a portion, of the circulation pipe 87a, that is located between the valve 87b and the production tank 80 ([0107]), The silicon containing liquid is made of the silicon particles, an organic solvent and pure water ([0110], includes the claimed “an additive container containing an additive; a first tank configured to receive the additive from the additive container and store the additive; a first circulating pipe connected to the first tank and configured to circulate the additive in the first tank”);
The main pipe 40a of the third supply pipe 40 is connected to the new liquid supply device 8, and the two branch pipes 40b, 40c are respectively connected to the storage tanks 6b, 7b of the respective second and third tanks 6, 7 ([0104], 4th sentence), A pump 85, a heater 84, a valve 83 and a filter 82 are inserted into the coupling pipe 40x in this order from the production tank 80 towards the valve 81 ([0105], last sentence, includes the claimed “a first supply pipe connected to the first circulating pipe and configured to supply the additive, wherein the first supply pipe comprises a filter”, note filter 82 is considered as part of the supply pipe, or it is obvious to rearranged or added a filter near valve 81);
As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 100 mainly includes a processor 1, a first tank 5, a second tank 6, a third tank 7, a new liquid supply device 8, a controller 9 and a dispersion state determinator 89. Further, the processor 1 includes a spin chuck 2, a processing liquid nozzle 3, a heating device 4 and a cup CU ([0087]), A liquid surface sensor s3 is provided in each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b, and a DIW supply system 91, a nitrogen gas supply system 92 and a phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply system 93 are connected to each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b ([0099], last sentence, the second storage tank 6b and/or the third storage tank 7b reads into the claimed “an auxiliary tank for receiving a raw etching liquid from a raw etching liquid container”), A third supply pipe 40 is provided to connect the new liquid supply device 8 to each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b of each of the second and third tanks 6, 7 ([0104], includes the claimed “and receiving the additive from the first supply pipe”);
A circulation pipe 25 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20b, that is located between the filter 22 and the valve 21 to the circulation tank 6a ([0101], 2nd sentence), A circulation pipe 35 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20c, that is located between the filter 32 and the valve 31 to the circulation tank 7a ([0102], 2nd sentence, includes the claimed “a second circulating pipe connected to the auxiliary tank and configured to circulate a chemical liquid in the auxiliary tank, wherein the chemical liquid comprises the raw etching liquid and the additive added to the raw etching liquid”);
When the power of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is turned on from the initial state, the operations of heaters 11, 14, 23, 33, pumps 15, 24, 34 and the new liquid supply device 8 of FIG. 11 are started ([0230], includes the claimed “a heater connected to the second circulating pipe and configured to heat the chemical liquid”);
At the time point t14, the controller 9 further opens the valve 31 of FIG. 1. Thus, as indicated by a thick arrow A10 in FIG. 8, part of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution that has passed through the branch pipe 20c and the filter 32 from the storage tank 7b of the third tank 7 is sent to the storage tank 5b of the first tank 5 through the main pipe 20a ([0171], includes the claimed “a main tank configured to receive the chemical liquid from the auxiliary tank and store the chemical liquid”);
When the power of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is turned on from the initial state, the operations of heaters 11, 14, 23, 33, pumps 15, 24, 34 and the new liquid supply device 8 of FIG. 11 are started ([0230]), The heater 73 heats the phosphoric acid aqueous solution flowing in the branch pipe 40d, thereby increasing the temperature of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution to a preset temperature (hereinafter referred to as a set temperature). In the present example, the set temperature is 150° C., for example ([0222], 2nd sentence, as both heaters 23 and 73 affect the temperature of the tanks 6 and 7, includes the claimed “an additional heater“);
Further, the processor 1 includes a spin chuck 2, a processing liquid nozzle 3, a heating device 4 and a cup CU ([0087]), A first supply pipe 10 is provided to connect the storage tank 5b of the first tank 5 to the processing liquid nozzle 3 of the processor 1 ([0097], includes the claimed “a processing unit comprising a process chamber, a substrate, and a substrate support, the processing unit configured to receive the chemical liquid from the main tank”, same as Applicants’ Fig. 1 or 3);
The controller 9 controls an operation of each constituent element of the substrate processing apparatus 100 ([0114]), the controller 9 controls the new liquid supply device 8, the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply system 93 and the silicon containing liquid supply system 94 based on the silicon concentration measured by each silicon concentration meter s2 ([0115], last sentence), the controller 9 controls the DIW supply system 91, the nitrogen gas supply system 92 and the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply system 93 based on the measurement value of the phosphoric acid concentration meter s1 of the third tank 7 such that the phosphoric acid concentration in the storage tank 7b becomes close to the reference phosphoric acid concentration ([0152], last sentence, and throughout ‘597, includes the claimed “and a controller configured to perform control so as to: circulate the additive in the first tank for a first time using the first circulating pipe”);
When the power of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is turned on from the initial state, the operations of heaters 11, 14, 23, 33, pumps 15, 24, 34 and the new liquid supply device 8 of FIG. 11 are started ([0230]), The heater 73 heats the phosphoric acid aqueous solution flowing in the branch pipe 40d, thereby increasing the temperature of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution to a preset temperature (hereinafter referred to as a set temperature). In the present example, the set temperature is 150° C., for example ([0222], 2nd sentence, as heater 73 also affects the temperature of the tanks 6 and 7, includes the claimed “heat the raw etching liquid in the auxiliary tank using the additional heater such that a temperature of the raw etching liquid is increased from room temperature to a first temperature”);
A circulation pipe 25 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20b, that is located between the filter 22 and the valve 21 to the circulation tank 6a ([0101], 2nd sentence), A circulation pipe 35 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20c, that is located between the filter 32 and the valve 31 to the circulation tank 7a ([0102], 2nd sentence, includes the claimed “produce the chemical liquid by circulating the raw etching liquid and the additive at the first temperature for a second time using the second circulating pipe”);
A second supply pipe 20 is provided to connect the storage tank 5b of the first tank 5 to each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b of each of the second and third tanks 6, 7 ([0100], includes the claimed “supply the chemical liquid to the main tank”).
‘597 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claims 9 and 18: based on the raw etching liquid reaching the first temperature, start supply of the additive to the auxiliary tank.
‘311 is analogous art in the field of METHOD OF SELECTIVELY REMOVING SILICON NITRIDE AND ETCHING APPARATUS THEREOF (title, same as ‘597, [0004]). ‘311 teaches that Phosphoric acid may be preheated to a predetermined temperature before adding the silicon-containing material into phosphoric acid to help dissolve the silicon-containing material ([0021], 4th sentence).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have preheat the phosphoric acid in the auxiliary tank 6, or 7 of ‘597 before adding the silicon-containing material, as taught by ‘311, for the purpose of helping dissolving the silicon-containing material ([0021], 4th sentence).
In case Applicants argue that “The controller 9 controls an operation of each constituent element of the substrate processing apparatus 100” of [0114] ‘597 is not specifically teaching the control of the auxiliary tank, circulating pipe of the auxiliary tank, and the supply the chemical liquid to the processing unit, it is obvious to put these component under the controller control.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected for substantially the same reason as claim 9 rejection above.
‘597 further teaches the limitations of:
Claims 7 and 13: A circulation pipe 25 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20b, that is located between the filter 22 and the valve 21 to the circulation tank 6a ([0101], 2nd sentence), A circulation pipe 35 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20c, that is located between the filter 32 and the valve 31 to the circulation tank 7a ([0102], 2nd sentence, Fig. 1 shows the circulation pipe 25 and 35 are located within the second storage tank 6 and the third storage tank 7 respectively, includes the claimed “wherein the chemical liquid supply further comprises a discharge pipe connected to the second circulating pipe and located within the auxiliary tank”, note for claim 1, the entire second storage tank 6 and the third storage tank 7 reads into the claimed “auxiliary tank”).
Claim 17: A phosphoric acid concentration meter s1 and a silicon concentration meter s2 are provided in each of the circulation tanks 6a, 7a … a DIW supply system 91, a nitrogen gas supply system 92 and a phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply system 93 are connected to each of the storage tanks 6b, 7b ([0099], 2nd and 3rd sentences, includes the claimed “wherein the chemical liquid supply further comprises: a concentration meter connected to the second circulating pipe; and a water container configured to supply water to the auxiliary tank”).
The combination of ‘597 and ‘311 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 3: The silicon containing liquid is made of the silicon particles, an organic solvent and pure water (‘597, [0110]), The second component supplier 120 is coupled to the first component supplier 110, such that phosphoric acid and the silicon-containing material mix to form a mixture having a predetermined silicon concentration before entering the process tank 130. In various embodiments, the silicon-containing material is … colloidal silica (‘311, [0013]), The colloidal silica can be dispersed in a solvent (e.g., water) to form colloidal silica solution that is more easily dissolved in phosphoric acid ([0023], last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the additive comprises water and silica”),
a dispersion state detection device that detects a dispersion state of the silicon particles in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution using a laser or ultrasonic may be used instead of the silicon concentration meter 89a of FIG. 2. In this case, when the dispersion state of the silicon particles is kept in a constant range for a constant time period, the determinator 89b may determine that the supplied silicon particles are uniformly dispersed in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution (‘597, [0272], includes the claimed “wherein the first time is a time duration elapsed until a concentration of the silica in the additive becomes constant”),
Phosphoric acid may be preheated to a predetermined temperature before adding the silicon-containing material into phosphoric acid to help dissolve the silicon-containing material. In various embodiments, the predetermined temperature is in a range of about 100o C. to about 180o C. In various embodiments, the predetermined temperature is in a range of about 120o C. to about 170o C. (‘311, middle of [0021], includes the claimed “wherein the first temperature is in a range of 160° C. to 170° C., wherein the second time is a time duration required for dissolving the additive in the raw etching liquid”).
Alternatively claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘597 and ‘311, as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of KOBAYASHI et al. (US 20140290859, from IDS, hereafter ‘859).
In case Applicants argue that the temperature range of ‘311 is too large, not specific to “wherein the first temperature is in a range of 160° C. to 170° C”.
‘859 is analogous art in the field of WET ETCHING APPARATUS (title), The wet etching apparatus performs selective etching for nitride film and oxide film formed on a semiconductor substrate, that is, etches nitride film more than oxide film ([0005], last sentence, same as ‘597). ‘859 teaches that the aqueous solution will be vaporized as the aqueous solution is continuously processed, inevitably raising the silica concentration. Consequently, solid silica will precipitate on the semiconductor device in some cases. The solid silica results in contamination, impairing the quality control during the process. Conversely, if the silica concentration is low, a sufficiently high etching selection cannot be attained during the process ([0007], last three sentences). As shown in FIG. 1, the wet etching apparatus 10 comprises a reservoir unit 20 for storing an aqueous solution of phosphoric acid, an additive reservoir unit 30 for a storing silica additive, a processing unit 40 configured to perform wet etching on the substrate W, a circulation unit 50 connecting the units 20, 30 and 40, and a control unit 100 configured to control the units 20, 30, 40 and 50 in unison ([0023], note unit 20 corresponds to the claimed auxiliary tank), the control unit 100 controls the heater 51b in accordance with the output of the temperature detecting unit 23, thereby heating the aqueous solution to the predetermined temperature (160 to 170o C.) ([0035]), the concentration of silica dissolved can easily be controlled appropriately ([0011]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have adopted silica as the silicon particle of ‘597 and operate the second and third tanks 6, 7 of ‘597 at 160o C til silica is dissolved, as taught by ‘859, for the purpose of preventing aggregate formation, as required by ‘597 ([0009]), 2nd sentence), and for the purpose of controlling concentration of silica, as taught by ‘859 ([0011]).
Claims 4, 6 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘597 and ‘311, as being applied to claims 1 and 9 rejection above, further in view of KOBAYASHI et al. (US 20210366740, hereafter ‘740).
‘597 also teaches some limitations of:
Claims 4 and 15: a dispersion state detection device that detects a dispersion state of the silicon particles in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution using a laser or ultrasonic may be used instead of the silicon concentration meter 89a of FIG. 2. In this case, when the dispersion state of the silicon particles is kept in a constant range for a constant time period, the determinator 89b may determine that the supplied silicon particles are uniformly dispersed in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution ([0272], includes the claimed “wherein the additive supply further comprises: a liquid particle counter configured to count particles of the additive”);
The main pipe 40a of the third supply pipe 40 is connected to the new liquid supply device 8, and the two branch pipes 40b, 40c are respectively connected to the storage tanks 6b, 7b of the respective second and third tanks 6, 7 ([0104], 4th sentence, includes the claimed “a first supply pipe configured to supply the additive from the additive supply to the auxiliary tank”).
‘597 and ‘311 does not teach the limitations of:
Claims 4 and 15: (4A) (a liquid particle counter) connected to the first circulating pipe and (configured to count particles of the additive),
(4B) and a flow meter connected to the first supply pipe.
‘597 further teaches that A phosphoric acid concentration meter s1 and a silicon concentration meter s2 are provided in each of the circulation tanks 6a, 7a ([0099], 2nd sentence). In other words, the silicon concentration meter is in the circulating loop.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have adopted the dispersion state determinator 89 of the production tank 80 to the circulation pipe 87a and coupling pipe 40x, as taught by the location of s2 (the limitation of 4A), for its suitability for silicon concentration measurement. The selection of something based on its known suitability for its intended use has been held to support a prima facie case of obviousness. MPEP 2144.07.
‘740 is analogous art in the field of perform an etching on a substrate by immersing the substrate in an etching liquid that contains a phosphoric acid aqueous solution and an additive for suppressing a precipitation of silicon oxide ([0003]). ‘740 teaches that The silicon solution supply source 25a is, for example, a tank that stores the silicon solution. The flow rate regulator 25c is provided in the silicon solution supply path 25b, and regulates the flow rate of the silicon solution that flows in the silicon solution supply path 25b. The silicon solution supply path 25b is connected to the inner tank 31a of the processing container 31. The flow rate regulator 25c is configured by, for example, an opening/closing valve, a flow rate control valve, or a flow meter (Fig. 1, [0070]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a flow meter of ‘740, to the supply pipe 40 of ‘597 (the limitation of 40B), for the purpose of regulate flow rate of the silicon solution, as taught by ‘740 ([0070]).
‘597 further teaches the limitations of:
Claims 6 and 16: A valve 41 is inserted into the branch pipe 40b, and a valve 42 is inserted into the branch pipe 40c ([0104], last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the additive supply further comprises a valve connected to the first supply pipe”).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘597, ‘311, and ‘740, as being applied to claim 4 rejection above, further in view of KOBAYASHI et al. (US 20140290859, from IDS, hereafter ‘859).
The combination of ‘597, ‘311, and ‘740 also teaches some limitations of:
Claim 5: The silicon containing liquid is made of the silicon particles, an organic solvent and pure water (‘597, [0110]), The second component supplier 120 is coupled to the first component supplier 110, such that phosphoric acid and the silicon-containing material mix to form a mixture having a predetermined silicon concentration before entering the process tank 130. In various embodiments, the silicon-containing material is … colloidal silica (‘311, [0013]), The colloidal silica can be dispersed in a solvent (e.g., water) to form colloidal silica solution that is more easily dissolved in phosphoric acid ([0023], last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the additive comprises water and silica”).
‘597 teaches that A circulation pipe 87a is provided to connect a portion, of the coupling pipe 40x, that is located between the filter 82 and the valve 81 to the production tank 80 ([0107]) but filter 82 is not connected to the main pipe 40a (Fig. 2).
The combination of ‘597, ‘311, and ‘740 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 5: wherein the additive supply further comprises a filter connected to the first supply pipe and configured to filter the silica.
‘859 is analogous art as discussed above. ‘859 further teaches that the filter 51c remove the foreign matter from the aqueous solution of phosphoric acid ([0034], 6th sentence), while Fig. 1 shows filter 51c is in the circulation loop, Fig. 4 shows filter 51c is at junction between the circulation loop and outlet pipe.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have re-arranged the filter 82 in Fig. 2 of ‘597 to be connected to the main pipe 40a, as taught by Fig. 4 of ‘859, for its suitability of removing foreign matter from the aqueous solution of phosphoric acid with predictable results. The selection of something based on its known suitability for its intended use has been held to support a prima facie case of obviousness. MPEP 2144.07.
Claims 8, 14, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘597 and ‘311, as being applied to claims 7, 13, and 18 rejection above, further in view of Sano et al. (US 20210035825, hereafter ‘825).
‘597 also teaches some limitations of:
Claims 8, 14, and 19: “wherein the auxiliary tank comprises a first area and a second area, below the first area” (by definition).
Claim 19: A circulation pipe 25 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20b, that is located between the filter 22 and the valve 21 to the circulation tank 6a ([0101], 2nd sentence), A circulation pipe 35 is provided to connect a portion, of the branch pipe 20c, that is located between the filter 32 and the valve 31 to the circulation tank 7a ([0102], 2nd sentence, Fig. 1 shows the circulation pipe 25 and 35 are located within the second storage tank 6 and the third storage tank 7 respectively, includes the claimed “wherein the chemical liquid supply apparatus further comprises a discharge pipe connected to the second circulating pipe”).
The combination of ‘597 and ‘311 does not teach the limitations of:
Claims 8 and 14: wherein the discharge pipe comprises a plurality of holes that are located in the first area of the auxiliary tank.
Claim 19: (a discharge pipe connected to the second circulating pipe) and located in the first area of the auxiliary tank, and
wherein the discharge pipe comprises a plurality of holes.
‘825 is analogous art in the field of SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS (title), an etching liquid for use in etching the substrates 2 … This processing liquid enters the opening of the stacked film and selectively etches and removes the silicon nitride film among the silicon oxide film and the silicon nitride film ([0022]). ‘825 teaches that the supply line 61 is a circulation path through which the processing liquid 3 overflown from the processing tub 5 is returned back into the processing tub 5 (Fig. 1, [0026], 3rd last sentence), The substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present modification example further includes, in addition to the first liquid supply 6A and the second liquid supply 6B, a third liquid supply 6C and a fourth liquid supply 6D ([0103]), The fourth discharge openings 68D are provided, between the two zones ZA1 and ZA2 arranged in the vertical direction, in the zone ZA2 at the upper side, and not provided in the zone ZA1 at the lower side (Fig. 8, [0110]), a temperature distribution within the water tank of the inner tube 51 can be easily adjusted ([0037], 2nd sentence).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have adopted multiple circulation pipes of varying length with openings, including supply pipe 6D with holes 68D as shown in Fig. 8 of ‘825, as the circulation pipe 87a of ‘597, for the purpose of a temperature distribution within the water tank of the inner tube 51 can be easily adjusted, as taught by ‘825 ([0037], 2nd sentence).
Claims 10-12 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘597 and ‘311, as being applied to claims 9 and 18 rejection above, further in view of Lee et al. (US 20220199432, hereafter ‘432).
‘597 also teaches some limitations of:
Claim 10: As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 100 mainly includes a processor 1, a first tank 5, a second tank 6, a third tank 7, a new liquid supply device 8, a controller 9 and a dispersion state determinator 89. Further, the processor 1 includes a spin chuck 2, a processing liquid nozzle 3, a heating device 4 and a cup CU ([0087], includes the claimed “wherein the processing unit is configured to perform a wet etching process on the substrate using the chemical liquid”),
Thus, the phosphoric acid aqueous solution being shaken off from the substrate W is caught by the cup CU. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution being caught by the cup CU is sent to the second tank 6 or the third tank 7 as described below ([0095], the cup CU reads into the claimed “and wherein the substrate treating apparatus further comprises: a collection tank configured to collect the chemical liquid remaining after the wet etching process”).
As the second tank 6 or the third tank 7 is also auxiliary tank for receiving additive from production tank 80, ‘597 does not teach separate tanks for the recycling and for storage/auxiliary tanks. The combination of ‘597 and ‘311 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 10: a recycling tank configured to receive and store the chemical liquid from the collection tank; and
a third circulating pipe connected to the recycling tank.
‘432 is analogous art in the field of APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SUPPLYING PROCESSING LIQUID (title), the phosphoric acid solution is used to selectively etch the silicon nitride film and the silicon oxide film, silica contained in the phosphoric acid solution is an important factor in the etching selectivity ratio ([0006]). ‘432 teaches that with the parallel arrangement of the plurality of the processing liquid recycling parts 550, any one of the processing liquid recycling parts 550 is supplied with the used processing liquid from a recovery part 510 and recycles the processing liquid. At the same time, a remaining one of the processing liquid recycling parts 550 may supply the recycled processing liquid to any one of the plurality of adjustment supply parts 410 (Fig. 5, for example, note Silica addition in the adjustment supply parts and a collection tank in the recovery part 510, and recycling tanks in processing liquid recycling parts 550 with a third circulating pipe. In short, the storage/auxiliary tank and the recycling tanks are separated/distinct), for the purpose of adjusting the concentration of silica contained in the processing liquid within an appropriate range in response to a purpose of processing ([0008]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have separated the storage and recycling function of the second storage tank 6 and the third storage tank of ‘597 to two tanks each with circulation pipe as shown in Fig. 5 of ‘432, for the purpose of adjusting the concentration of silica contained in the processing liquid within an appropriate range in response to a purpose of processing, as taught by ‘432 ([0008]).
The combination of ‘597, ‘311, and ‘432 also teaches the limitations of:
Claim 11: The control unit recycles the processing liquid by self-circulating the processing liquid through the first recycling circulation line 561 and the second recycling circulation line 581 and by controlling the adjustment of the concentration and temperature of phosphoric acid moisture (‘432, [0181], last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the controller is further configured to circulate the chemical liquid in the recycling tank for a third time using the third circulating pipe”, see also 112(b) rejection above. It is also obvious to operate the recycling tank and the storage tank at the same temperature that avoid precipitation problem discussed in ‘037)).
Claim 12: The second component supplier 120 is coupled to the first component supplier 110, such that phosphoric acid and the silicon-containing material mix to form a mixture having a predetermined silicon concentration before entering the process tank 130. In various embodiments, the silicon-containing material is … colloidal silica (‘311, [0013]), The colloidal silica can be dispersed in a solvent (e.g., water) to form colloidal silica solution that is more easily dissolved in phosphoric acid ([0023], last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the additive comprises water and silica”, note water is taught by ‘597 and silica taught by ‘432),
a dispersion state detection device that detects a dispersion state of the silicon particles in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution using a laser or ultrasonic may be used instead of the silicon concentration meter 89a of FIG. 2. In this case, when the dispersion state of the silicon particles is kept in a constant range for a constant time period, the determinator 89b may determine that the supplied silicon particles are uniformly dispersed in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution (‘597, [0272], includes the claimed “wherein the first time is a time duration elapsed until a concentration of the silica in the additive becomes constant”),
Phosphoric acid may be preheated to a predetermined temperature before adding the silicon-containing material into phosphoric acid to help dissolve the silicon-containing material. In various embodiments, the predetermined temperature is in a range of about 100o C. to about 180o C. In various embodiments, the predetermined temperature is in a range of about 120o C. to about 170o C. (‘311, middle of [0021], includes the claimed “wherein the first temperature is in a range of 160° C. to 170° C., wherein the second time is a time duration required for dissolving the additive in the raw etching liquid”),
The control unit recycles the processing liquid by self-circulating the processing liquid through the first recycling circulation line 561 and the second recycling circulation line 581 and by controlling the adjustment of the concentration and temperature of phosphoric acid moisture (‘432, [0181], last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the third time is a time duration required for dissolving the additive in the chemical liquid that is collected”).
Claim 20 is rejected for substantially the same reason as claims 10 and 11 rejection above.
Alternatively, claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘597, ‘311, and ‘432, as being applied to claim 11 rejection above, further in view of ‘859.
In case Applicants argue that the temperature range of ‘311 is too large, not specific to “wherein the first temperature is in a range of 160° C. to 170° C”.
‘859 is analogous art as discussed above.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have operate the second and third tanks 6, 7 of ‘597 at 160o C til silica is dissolved (therefore, concentration is constant), as taught by ‘859, for the purpose of preventing aggregate formation, as required by ‘597 ([0009]), 2nd sentence), and for the purpose of controlling concentration of silica, as taught by ‘859 ([0011]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/28/2026 have been fully considered but they are not convincing in light of the new ground of rejection above.
In regarding 35 USC 112(b) rejection, see the middle of page 11, Applicants’ amendment overcomes the rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20200289994 is cited for a shower nozzle 12e (Fig. 6, corresponds to the discharge pipe of claims 7-8).
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 KEATH T CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1870. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00 pm.
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/KEATH T CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716
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