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 § 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 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) 1, 2, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kitagawa (US-Pub 2022/0015213).
Regarding claim 1, Kitagawa discloses a heat treatment apparatus for irradiating a substrate with light to heat the substrate, comprising: a chamber (10, fig 11) for receiving a substrate (W1B, fig 11) therein; a holder (16, fig 11) for holding said substrate in said chamber; a first light source (12a, fig 11) for irradiating said substrate held by said holder with light; and a second light source (11, fig 11) for irradiating said substrate held by said holder with light, said second light source being different from said first light source, wherein at least part of an irradiation region in which said substrate is irradiated with light from said first light source overlaps an irradiation region in which said substrate is irradiated with light from said second light source (see dashed lines, fig 11), said heat treatment apparatus further comprising a common power supply circuit (13 is a power controller that controls the lights for both and is located in all embodiments as they would all need power control, fig 1) for supplying power to said first light source and said second light source.
Regarding claim 2, Kitagawa discloses wherein said second light source emits light of higher directivity than said first light source (shade 17 directs the light in a smaller angle towards 16, fig 11).
Regarding claim 6, Kitagawa discloses wherein the irradiation region of said second light source is a peripheral portion of said substrate (fig 11, the light source covers the whole area, and thus covers the peripheral).
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 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.
Claims 3 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitagawa in view of Gouda (US-Pub 2023/0232501).
Regarding claim 3, Kitagawa discloses wherein said first light source is an LED lamp (12a, fig 11).
Kitagawa does not disclose wherein said second light source is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser.
Gouda teaches a lamp (100, fig 1) used to heat silicon wafers (par. 0008), wherein the light sources used is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (par. 0011).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the light source disclosed by Kitagawa by a VCSEL based on the teachings of Gouda. Doing so would allow for using only wavelengths that can be more efficiently absorbed by the substrate (par. 0037), as suggested by Gouda.
Regarding claim 7, Kitagawa discloses a flash lamp (17, fig 11) for irradiating said substrate held by said holder with a flash of light.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitagawa as modified by Gouda as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Shin (7940014).
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Kitagawa does not disclose wherein said power supply circuit includes a PWM control circuit, and wherein said power supply circuit includes a constant-current circuit.
Shin teaches a circuit to power an LED or Laser (col 1, lines 24-30) using a constant current circuit and a PWM control circuit(col 4, line 59-67).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the driving circuit disclosed by Kitagawa by using a constant current circuit including a PWM control circuit based on the teachings of Shin. Doing so would reduce waste heat generation (col 2, lines 1-7), as suggested by Shin.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN V MEILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-9229. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-5pm.
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/SEAN V MEILLER/ Examiner, Art Unit 3741
/GERALD L SUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3741
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