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
Claims 1-14 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/6/2026.
Prior Art of Record
The applicant's attention is directed to additional pertinent prior art cited in the accompanying PTO-892 Notice of References Cited, which, however, may not be currently applied as a basis for the following rejections. While these references were considered during the examination of this application and are deemed relevant to the claimed subject matter, they are not presently being applied as a basis for rejection in this Office action. The pertinence of these documents, however, may be revisited, and they may be applied in subsequent Office actions, particularly in light of any amendments or further clarification of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 15-19 & 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hasegawa (CN 203265909 U).
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CLAIM 15. Hasegawa teaches a defect removal method using position information of a defect on a semiconductor substrate (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0082]1),
the defect removal method comprising:
irradiating the semiconductor substrate with laser light 14 to remove the defect based on the position information of the defect on the semiconductor substrate 11 (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] & Fig. 1).
CLAIM 16. Hasegawa teaches a defect removal method using position information of a defect on a semiconductor substrate (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] ), the defect removal method comprising:
a step of measuring whether or not the defect is present on the semiconductor substrate to obtain the position information of the defect on the semiconductor substrate (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0002-4, 13 & 82] – The detection and collection of positional information for the defect, is understood to require measuring. ); and
a removal step of irradiating the semiconductor substrate with laser light to remove the defect based on the position information of the defect on the semiconductor substrate (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] & Fig. 1).
CLAIM 17. Hasegawa teaches a defect removal method comprising a detection step of emitting incidence light 13 for detecting a defect on a semiconductor substrate to detect the defect on the semiconductor substrate (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0023] – Defect and positional information is “obtained by difference of the image captured by the imaging unit to the image and the reference image to for detecting the defective portion of the substrate.” Image detection requires a step of incident light to be incident on the object being imaged and reflected to the imager.); and a removal step of emitting laser light 14 of which an optical axis is adjusted to be the same as that of the incidence light to the semiconductor substrate to remove the defect (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] & Fig. 1 – As shown in the figure, the incident light and the laser light paths are adjusted to both be normal to the surface of the substrate.).
CLAIM 18. Hasegawa teaches a defect removal method according to claim 17, wherein in the removal step, the laser light is emitted to the defect detected in the detection step along the same optical axis as that of the incidence light Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] & Fig. 1 – As shown in the figure, the incident light and the laser light paths are adjusted to both be normal to the surface of the substrate.).
CLAIM 19. Hasegawa teaches a defect removal method according to claim 17, further comprising: an adjustment step of adjusting the optical axes of the incidence light and the laser light before the detection step or before the removal step (Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] & Fig. 1 – As shown in the figure, the incident light and the laser light paths are adjusted to both be normal to the surface of the substrate. The recitation of the sequencing does not provide a clear distinction, as the figure shows the paths are aligned at some point before the lase is used for removal.).
CLAIM 21. Hasegawa teaches a defect removal method according to claim 17, wherein in the detection step, the defect on the semiconductor substrate is detected using a light receiving unit that receives radiated light radiated by reflection or scattering of the incidence light from the defect on the semiconductor substrate (This is the standard of how imagers operate.) and a condenser lens 35 that collects the radiated light to the light receiving unit 13 , and in the removal step, a shutter (In imagers (i.e. camera) a “shutter” is inferred, as a standard component.) is disposed between the condenser lens 35 and a surface of the semiconductor substrate 11 such that the laser light 14 is emitted to the detected defect (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] & Fig. 1).
CLAIM 22. Hasegawa teaches a defect removal method according to claim 17, wherein in the detection step, position information of the defect on the semiconductor substrate is obtained (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] & Fig. 1).
CLAIM 23. Hasegawa teaches a defect removal method according to claim 17, wherein the incidence light is laser light that continuously oscillates (Hasegawa Abstract & ¶[0002-4 & 82] & Fig. 1- Laser light is a wavelength. Light waves “oscillate.”).
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.
Claim(s) 24-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (CN 203265909 U) in view of Morizumi et al. (JP 2008102180 A)
CLAIM 24. Hasegawa in view of Morizumi teaches a defect removal method according to claim 15, however may be silent upon wherein the laser light is laser light that pulse-oscillates. Pulsed lasers where however known at the time of the invention for the purpose of removing defects. Morizumi teaches2 “defect correction mechanism…” may be a “laser light source …” that is a “Q-switched YAG laser and can emit a short pulse light of 10 nsec or less.”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the laser of Hasegawa with the pulsed laser as taught by Morizumi, since simple substitution of one known element for another (i.e. one defect laser for another) to obtain predictable results (defect removal) is considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.-, 82 USPQ2d 1385).
CLAIM 25. Hasegawa in view of Morizumi teaches a pattern forming method comprising: a step of forming a resist film on a surface of a semiconductor substrate using the semiconductor substrate from which a defect on the surface is removed using the defect removal method according to claim 15; and a step of forming a pattern on the resist film (Hasegawa - ¶[0175] – “after the focus method irradiating a laser to remove the residual metal, generating the resist at the periphery of the defect portion” Hasegawa teaches the capability, of forming resist on the surface of the wafer after a laser defect removal step, thereby teaching the known capability by a PHOSITA at the time of the invention. It would therefore be obvious to a PHOSITA at the time of the invention to perform further processing of the device as needed using standard lithography techniques in order to complete or repair a device after the removal of the defect.)
CLAIM 26. Hasegawa in view of Morizumi teaches a method of manufacturing an electronic device, the method comprising: a step of forming a resist film on a surface of a semiconductor substrate using the semiconductor substrate from which a defect on the surface is removed using the defect removal method according to claim 15; and a step of forming a pattern of an electronic device on the resist film (The limitation do not clearly provide a further manipulative distinction over the prior art. Patterning of an electronic device a resist film is implicitly to the art of Lithography for the purpose of forming electronic devices. Hasegawa - ¶[0175] – “after the focus method irradiating a laser to remove the residual metal, generating the resist at the periphery of the defect portion” Hasegawa teaches the capability, of forming resist on the surface of the wafer after a laser defect removal step, thereby teaching the known capability by a PHOSITA at the time of the invention. It would therefore be obvious to a PHOSITA at the time of the invention to perform further processing of the device as needed using standard lithography techniques in order to complete or repair a device after the removal of the defect.)
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (CN 203265909 U) in view of Freimann (DE 102007058105 A1).
CLAIM 20. Hasegawa discloses a defect removal method according to claim 17, however is silent upon wherein in the removal step, the defect is removed in a state where carrier gas is supplied to a surface of the semiconductor substrate. When performing defect removal by laser ablation and/or deposition it as known in the art to supply a “carrier gas.” Freimann discloses an analogous defect removal/repair process using a pulsed laser and a carrier gas is now to be added to laser ablation to assist ablation of a material3.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the pulsed laser ablation of Hasegawa with “Laser-Induced” “carrier gas” etching of Freimann , since applying a known technique (adding a carrier gas) to a known device ready for improvement (pulsed laser ablation) to yield predictable results (ablation agents in the gas work to increase ablation of the desired material) is considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.-, 82 USPQ2d 1385).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JARRETT J STARK whose telephone number is (571)272-6005. The examiner can normally be reached 8-4 M-F.
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JARRETT J. STARK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2822
3/4/2026
/JARRETT J STARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
1 Hasegawa - [0082] table control part 53 controls the XY stage 12 so that the position of the defect substrate 11 irradiated by the laser. the control part 51 the control part 53 input position information, a control part 53 to control the XY table 12 based on the input position information, such that the camera 13 captures defect portion and is displayed in the display part 59.
2 Morizumi et al. – “The defect detected by the above-described defect detection mechanism is corrected by the defect correction mechanism. The defect correction mechanism will be described below. The laser light source 1 is a Q-switched YAG laser and can emit a short pulse light of 10 nsec or less. The short pulse laser beam emitted from the laser light source 1 enters the beam shaping mechanism 2. The beam shaping mechanism 2 includes an aperture, a slit, a lens, or the like, and can form a short pulse light spot into a beam spot having an appropriate shape. For example, the beam spot of the short pulse light on the substrate is formed into a rectangular shape substantially the same as the pixel of the color filter. Or you may make it shape | mold in the shape substantially the same as the shape of a defect. Furthermore, an opening larger than the defect is formed in the mask film 5 by the beam shaping mechanism 2. The shape of the opening 5a can be, for example, a rectangular shape. Further, the opening 5a may have a shape corresponding to the shape of the defect, for example, a polygon. The half mirror 3 reflects short pulse light in the direction of the substrate 6. Here, the respective optical components are arranged so that the light from the laser light source 1 and the lamp light source 9 are coaxial. The short pulse laser beam reflected by the half mirror 3 is applied to the mask film 5. An opening 5a is formed in the mask film 5 by laser ablation. Further, a laser beam is irradiated to a defective portion of the substrate through the opening 5a. Laser ablation removes unnecessary portions and enables defect correction.”
3 Freimann - Corresponding may include means for disposing of an ablation agent or at or near the surface to be processed be provided. These means for arranging a removal agent can Supply and / or removal devices for a removal agent include, so that the ablation means, which with the processing laser light cooperates, applied to the surface to be processed or at or near this and from this can be removed again. For example, this can be one Be nozzle arrangement, with a carrier gas, which enriched with a liquid erosion agent, over the surface to be worked blows, so that there is an adsorption layer of the ablation agent dissolved in the carrier gas on the surface to be processed forms (laser-induced Wet etching). In the same way can also be a gaseous Abtragungsmittel, which comes from a steam generator supplied be without, however, on the optical to be processed Element precipitates. This can z. B. to be processed be heated optical element. In this case, the gas phase-assisted Laser material processing is the ablation agent substantially in gaseous form in front of the surface to be worked.