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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A, Fig. 1, in the reply filed on 07/02/2026 is acknowledged.
Applicants designated claims 1-6 and 9-20 readable into Species A.
Claims 7-8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species B-E, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/02/2026.
Claim Interpretations
The “a radio frequency electrode disposed inside the body portion”, Applicants’ Specification did not disclose whether the RF electrode(s) are for plasma generation or for biasing and will be examined inclusive either RF electrode(s) for plasma generation, or RF electrode(s) for biasing.
The ”wherein the first outer RF electrode (210), the inner RF electrode (220), and the second outer RF electrode (230) are spaced apart from each other to have a non-contact structure” of claim 1, the “a non-contact structure” is considered as “spaced apart from each other“ within the body portion 100. Note externally, these electrodes may be electrically connected to each other outside the body portion 100, for example, through an electrical circuit. As such, claim 1 also includes a conductor connected to the first outer RF electrode 210 such as shown in Fig. 9A or Fig. 10A (and adding such conductor to the first outer RF electrode to Fig. 1 of instant application).
For this portion of claim 1, the examiner suggests to add some description paraphrasing “transferring alternating current electrical energy through capacitance between two conductors spaced apart” ([0040]) to clarify the nature of the first outer RF electrode does not have a wired connector to a RF power source (note claim 2 and 16 describes non-contact capacitive coupling but still does not exclude a conductor connected to the first outer RF electrode 210 because the non-contact capacitive coupling may be a parasitic capacitive coupling).
The rejection below is based on capacitive power transmission (without wired connector to the first outer RF electrode), a narrow interpretation of claim 1. However, in the future, the examiner may add reference with independent wired connector to the first outer RF electrode in the future (broader interpretation of claim 1).
The “wherein each heater electrode conductor of the plurality of heater electrode conductors is connected to a temperature controller from among a plurality of temperature controllers” of claim 15, the temperature controller includes a switch (on-off control), a dial (adjustable control), or feedback control with a temperature sensor.
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.
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 1-2, 4-6, 9, 13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al (US 20230326779, same as IDS KR 102259949, hereafter ‘779), in view of Schaepkens et al. (US 20060096946, hereafter ‘946) and Subramani et al. (US 20230282506, hereafter ‘506).
‘779 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 1: Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the susceptor 100 includes a plate 110 on which a pocket-type wafer loading surface 116 is formed … The dielectric plate 110 has an upper surface, which is a side supporting a wafer, and a lower surface, which is an opposite side, facing the upper surface ([0036], includes the claimed “A substrate support comprising: a body portion comprising: substrate disposition surface on an upper portion thereof; and a lower portion surface on a surface of the body portion opposite from the substrate disposition surface”);
An inner RF electrode 120A and an outer RF electrode 120B are provided within the susceptor ([0038], includes the claimed “a radio frequency (RF) electrode disposed inside the body portion”);
RF electrodes 12A and 12B and a heating element 14 may be provided within the dielectric plate 10 (Fig. 1, [0004]), a heating element disposed within the plate (claim 9 of ‘779, as parent claim 1 describes Fig. 2A, claim 9 states that the heating element 14 is available in Fig. 2A, includes the claimed “a heater electrode disposed between the RF electrode and the lower portion surface”);
The connection member and the leads 130 and 132 may pass through the inside of the support member 150 to be connected to a power supply means ([0039], 3rd sentence, includes the claimed “and a shaft that is formed on the lower portion surface, wherein the shaft comprises a hollow inner portion”),
An inner RF electrode 120A and an outer RF electrode 120B are provided within the susceptor ([0038], includes the claimed “wherein the RF electrode comprises: a first outer RF electrode disposed along a perimeter of the substrate disposition surface; an inner RF electrode disposed parallel to and beneath the substrate disposition surface“, the horizontal portion of the lead 130 reads into the claimed “a second outer RF electrode disposed between the inner RF electrode and the heater electrode”, note up to this point claim 1 does not require non-contact structure),
A connection member 142 and/or a lead 140 may be provided to supply power to the inner RF electrode 120A ([0039], includes the claimed “an inner electrode conductor having one end connected to the inner RF electrode, wherein the inner electrode conductor is disposed within the shaft” and as shown in Fig. 2A, the lead 132 reads into the claimed “and an outer electrode conductor having one end connected to the second outer RF electrode, wherein the outer electrode conductor is disposed within the shaft”).
Fig. 2A of ‘779 shows the lead connection member 130 has a straight angle bend/turn.
‘779 is silent on the inner RF electrode 120A and the outer RF electrode 120B is for plasma generation or plasma biasing, same as the instant Application.
‘779 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 1: wherein the first outer RF electrode, the inner RF electrode, and the second outer RF electrode are spaced apart from each other to have a non-contact structure.
Claim 2: wherein the second outer RF electrode is configured to couple with the first outer RF electrode through non-contact capacitive coupling.
‘946 is analogous art in the field of Encapsulated Wafer Processing Device (title), an Electro-Static Chuck (ESC) (abstract). ’946 teaches that the corners or steps in the grooved surface may act as electrical stress concentration points, resulting in dielectric breakdown of the overcoat material. Lastly, the corners or steps in the grooved surface functions as a mechanical stress concentration point in the overcoat material, potentially resulting in either in delamination and/or cracking of the overcoat material ([0005], last two sentences).
‘506 is analogous art in the field of BIASABLE ROTATING (title), include an electrostatic chuck (abstract). ’506 teaches that capacitive coupling can be used to power the biasing electrode, and current can pass over bearings in order to power the electrostatic chucking electrodes ([0014], 3rd sentence, note capacitive coupling is non-contact). (Note Fig. 4 of ‘506 shows connector wire 495B does not need a turn because the shaft 407 has a larger diameter than the inner radius of the biasing electrode 492).
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 recognized that the straight angle bend/turn lead connection member 130 of ‘779 is a mechanical stress concentration point where delamination/cracking occurs, as taught by ‘946, and to have replaced the vertical portion of the lead connection member 130 with a non-contact capacitive coupling, as taught by ‘506, for the purpose of avoiding cracking, as taught by ‘946 ([0005], last two sentences) and suitability for power transfer to the outer RF electrode 120B of ‘779. 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. Note the horizontal portion of the lead connection member 130 is the claimed “a second outer RF a second outer RF”.
‘779 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 4: Fig. 2A shows the claimed “wherein the first outer RF electrode is disposed on a plane higher than a height at which the inner RF electrode is disposed relative to the lower portion surface.
Claim 5: Fig. 2B shows the claimed “wherein the first outer RF electrode comprises a ring shape”.
Claim 6: Fig. 2A shows the claimed “wherein the first outer RF electrode is disposed parallel to the substrate disposition surface”.
Claim 9: Figs. 2A and 2B shows the claimed “wherein the inner RF electrode comprises a disk shape”.
The combination of ‘779, ‘946, and ‘506 also teach the limitations of:
Claims 13 and 15: multiple wires 495 may be connected to the heating element 493 in order to independently control the different zones (‘506, Fig. 4, [0040], 6th sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the heater electrode comprises a plurality of heater electrodes disposed on a plane, and wherein each of the plurality of heater electrodes is connected to a heater electrode conductor from among a plurality of heater electrode conductors” of claim 13, obvious to combined with ‘779 for the purpose independently control the different zones, and “wherein each heater electrode conductor of the plurality of heater electrode conductors is connected to a temperature controller from among a plurality of temperature controllers” of claim 15, see also claim interpretation above).
Claims 3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘779, ‘946, and ‘506, as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of Ichikawa et al. (US 20160006271, hereafter ‘271).
The combination of ‘779, 946, and ‘506 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 3: wherein a radius of the second outer RF electrode is the same as a radius of the first outer RF electrode.
Claim 10: wherein the second outer RF electrode comprises a disc shape including a hole.
‘271 is solving similar problem of wireless power transmission systems that transmit power through capacitive coupling (electric-field coupling) ([0002]). ’271 teaches that This wireless power transmission system of a capacitive coupling type is advantageous in that the amount of transmitted power per unit area can be increased and the degree of positional freedom along the mounting surface can be increased ([0003], last sentence), When Caa<Cpp holds true (FIG. 2), the configuration is such that the areas of the passive electrodes 12 and 22 are greater than the areas of the active electrodes 11 and 21. In this case, a voltage produced between the active electrodes 11 and 21 is greater than a voltage produced between the passive electrodes 12 and 22. Meanwhile, when Caa=Cpp holds true (FIG. 3), the configuration is such that the areas of the active electrodes 11 and 21 are equal to the areas of the passive electrodes 12 and 22. In this case, a voltage produced between the active electrodes 11 and 21 is equal to a voltage produced between the passive electrodes 12 and 22 ([0051], both Figs. 2-3 show the matching electrode shape and size).
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 same shape and size of an electrode pair for the capacitive coupling from wireless power transmission, as taught by ‘271, to transmit power to the outer RF electrode 120B of ‘779, for the purpose of increase amount of power transmitted per unit area, as taught by ‘271 ([0003], last sentence).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘779, ‘946, and ‘506, as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of 木村 Kimura et al. (JP 5896595, from IDS, hereafter ‘595).
The combination of ‘779, 946, and ‘506 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 11: wherein the second outer RF electrode comprises:
an inner ring comprising a hole through which the inner electrode conductor passes and which is connected to the one end of the outer electrode conductor;
an outer ring that is spaced apart from the inner ring and is formed on a same plane as the inner ring; and
one or more jumpers connecting the inner ring and the outer ring.
‘595 is analogous art in the field of Two-layer RF Structure Wafer Holder (title), include electrostatic chuck electrodes (English translation, P1, last complete paragraph). ’595 teaches that Samples 2 to 11 were prepared in the same manner as Sample 1 except that the patterns of the annular RF electrode 3 and the connection circuits 11 and 11a were formed in the patterns shown in B to K of FIG. 3 (P7, middle), the density of the generated plasma can be made uniform (P4, last complete paragraph). Note all of the patterns shown in Fig. 3 includes an inner ring, an outer ring, and jumpers connecting the inner ring and the outer ring.
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 connection circuits of ‘595 as the horizontal portion of the connection member 130 of ‘779, for the purpose of the density of the generated plasma can be made uniform, as taught by ‘595 (P4, last complete paragraph).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘779, ‘946, and ‘506, as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of KOSHIMIZU et al. (US 20210407772, hereafter ‘772). Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘779, in view of ‘946, ‘506, and ‘772.
The combination of ‘779, 946, and ‘506 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 12: wherein the inner electrode conductor is connected to a first impedance controller and the outer electrode conductor is connected to a second impedance controller.
‘772 is analogous art in the field of PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS (title), including an electrostatic chuck ([0003]), including a first electrode 81 (Fig. 3, [0048]) and a second electrode 82 ([0050]). ’772 teaches that The bias power source 62 is connected to the bias electrode (the base 18 in the example of FIG. 1) through a matcher 64 in order to supply the radio frequency bias power to the bias electrode. The matcher 64 has a matching circuit configured to match the impedance on the load side of the bias power source 62 with the output impedance of the bias power source 62 ([0045]), In the plasma processing apparatus 1C, a bias power source 92 is connected to the edge ring ER (or the first electrode 81) through a matcher 94 and the electrical path 72. The bias power source 92 is the same power source as the bias power source 62. The matcher 94 includes a matching circuit for matching the impedance on the load side of the bias power source 92 with the output impedance of the bias power source 92 ([0071]).
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 matcher 64, 94 that matching the impedance on the load, as taught by ‘772, to the lead 132 and 140 of ‘779, respectively, for the purpose of impedance matching, as taught by ‘772 ([0045], [0071]).
‘779 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 16: Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the susceptor 100 includes a plate 110 on which a pocket-type wafer loading surface 116 is formed … The dielectric plate 110 has an upper surface, which is a side supporting a wafer, and a lower surface, which is an opposite side, facing the upper surface ([0036], includes the claimed “A substrate support comprising: a body portion comprising: a substrate disposition surface on an upper portion thereof; and a lower portion surface on a surface of the body portion opposite from the substrate disposition surface”);
An inner RF electrode 120A and an outer RF electrode 120B are provided within the susceptor ([0038], includes the claimed “a radio frequency (RF) electrode disposed inside the body portion”);
RF electrodes 12A and 12B and a heating element 14 may be provided within the dielectric plate 10 (Fig. 1, [0004]), a heating element disposed within the plate (claim 9 of ‘779, as claim 1 describes Fig. 2A, clearly the heating element 14 is available in Fig. 2A but omitted for simplifying the drawing, includes the claimed “a heater electrode disposed between the RF electrode and the lower portion surface”);
The connection member and the leads 130 and 132 may pass through the inside of the support member 150 to be connected to a power supply means ([0039], 3rd sentence, includes the claimed “and a shaft that is formed on the lower portion surface, wherein the shaft comprises a hollow inner portion”),
An inner RF electrode 120A and an outer RF electrode 120B are provided within the susceptor ([0038], includes the claimed “wherein the RF electrode comprises: a first outer RF electrode; an inner RF electrode“; the horizontal portion of the lead 130 reads into the claimed “a second outer RF electrode”),
A connection member 142 and/or a lead 140 may be provided to supply power to the inner RF electrode 120A ([0039], includes the claimed “an inner electrode conductor having one end connected to the inner RF electrode, wherein the inner electrode conductor is disposed within the shaft” and as shown in Fig. 2A, the lead 132 reads into the claimed “and an outer electrode conductor having one end connected to the second outer RF electrode, wherein the outer electrode conductor is disposed within the shaft” and “wherein the inner electrode conductor and the outer electrode conductor each have a straight line shape, wherein the first outer RF electrode, the inner RF electrode, and the second outer RF electrode are spaced apart from each other in a stacked configuration, wherein within the stacked configuration the first outer RF electrode is closest to the substrate disposition surface, the inner RF electrode is next closest to the substrate disposition surface, and the second outer RF electrode is farthest from the substrate disposition surface” as shown in Fig. 2),
Fig. 2A of ‘779 shows the lead connection member 130 has a straight angle bend/turn.
‘779 is silent on the inner RF electrode 120A and the outer RF electrode 120B is for plasma generation or plasma biasing, same as the instant Application.
‘779 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 16: (16A) wherein the first outer RF electrode and the second outer RF electrode are configured to couple through non-contact capacitive coupling,
(16B) wherein the inner electrode conductor is connected to a first impedance controller and the outer electrode conductor is connected to a second impedance controller, and each of the first impedance controller and the second impedance controller are configured to independently control an impedance of the inner electrode conductor and the outer electrode conductor, respectively.
‘946 and ‘506 are analogous arts 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 recognized that the straight angle bend/turn lead connection member 130 of ‘779 is a mechanical stress concentration point where delamination/cracking occurs, as taught by ‘946, and to have replaced the vertical portion of the lead connection member 130 with a non-contact capacitive coupling, as taught by ‘506 (the limitation of 16A), for the purpose of avoiding cracking, as taught by ‘946 ([0005], last two sentences) and suitability for power transfer to the outer RF electrode 120B of ‘779. 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. Note the horizontal portion of the lead connection member 130 is the claimed “a second outer RF a second outer RF”.
‘772 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 added matcher 64, 94 that matching the impedance on the load, as taught by ‘772, to the lead 132 and 140 of ‘779 (the limitation of 16B), respectively, for the purpose of impedance matching, as taught by ‘772 ([0045], [0071]).
Claim 18 is rejected for substantially the same reason as claim 4 rejection above.
Claim 19 is rejected for substantially the same reason as claims 5 and 6 rejection above.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘779, ‘946, and ‘506, as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of Tsukamoto (US 20080083724, hereafter ‘724).
The combination of ‘779, 946, and ‘506 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 14: wherein the heater electrode comprises:
a first heater electrode disposed inside of the perimeter of the substrate disposition surface; and
a second heater electrode disposed on a side of the first heater electrode closest to the perimeter of the substrate disposition surface.
‘724 is analogous art in the field of Temperature Controlled Substrate Holder Having Erosion Resistant Insulating Layer For A Substrate Processing System (title). ’724 teaches that as shown in FIG. 6, the substrate holder 500 can further comprise an electrostatic clamp (ESC) comprising one or more clamping electrodes 535 embedded within substrate support 530 ([0058]), the center heating element 533 and the edge heating element 531 are coupled to a heating element control unit 532. Heating element control unit 532 is configured to provide either dependent or independent control of each heating element, and exchange information with a controller 550 ([0057]).
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 replaced the single heater 14 of ‘779 with center and edge heating elements of ‘724, for the purpose of independent temperature control, as taught by ‘724 ([0057]).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘779, ‘946, ‘506, and ‘772, as being applied to claim 16 rejection above, further in view of ‘271.
The combination of ‘779, 946, ‘506, and ‘772 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 17: wherein a radius of the second outer RF electrode is the same as a radius of the first outer RF electrode.
‘271 is solving similar problem 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 adopted same shape and size of an electrode pair for the capacitive coupling from wireless power transmission, as taught by ‘271, to transmit power to the outer RF electrode 120B of ‘779, for the purpose of increase amount of power transmitted per unit area, as taught by ‘271 ([0003], last sentence).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘779, ‘946, ‘506, and ‘772, as being applied to claim 16 rejection above, further in view of ‘595.
The combination of ‘779, 946, ‘506, and ‘772 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 20: wherein the second outer RF electrode comprises:
an inner ring comprising a hole through which the inner electrode conductor passes and which is connected to the one end of the outer electrode conductor;
an outer ring that is spaced apart from the inner ring and is formed on a same plane as the inner ring; and
one or more jumpers connecting the inner ring and the outer ring.
‘595 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 adopted the connection circuits of ‘595 as the horizontal portion of the connection member 130 of ‘779, for the purpose of the density of the generated plasma can be made uniform, as taught by ‘595 (P4, last complete paragraph).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20030051665 is cited for RF shaft attachment to the RF plane/electrode (Fig. 9C, therefore, it is not a concern for local stress due to sintering). US 20150354286 is cited for localized stress at sharp corner ([0159], 5th sentence).
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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