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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Non-Final office is a response to the papers filed on 09/19/2023.
Claims 1-19 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Morita et al. (Pub. No. 2015/0368794 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 15, and 19, Morita discloses:
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device (see par [0011], there is provided a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device….), comprising
(a) displaying, on a recipe edit screen configured to create a recipe comprising a plurality of steps (see Fig. 3, display 218, see par [0083], control data (control instructions) for processing a substrate, to the temperature controller 212a or the like, based on a recipe prepared or edited using an operation screen or the like of the display device 218….), a parameter setting region configured to set control parameters at least comprising a gas flow rate of a flow rate controller and a gas pattern screen configured to set an opening / closing state of a valve (see par [0085-0091], he process system controller 212 is configured to control the pas sypply flow rate controller 212c (the MFC) and the sequencer 212d (the valve 212D) so that the flow rate of a gas supplied into process….., the gas supply flow rate controller 212c and the pressure controller 212b via the I/O communication part 255…,);
(b) editing the recipe on the recipe edit screen (see par [0088-0090], if a process recipe is prepared or edited and preserved by a user's operation on the operation screen of the display device 218 as a display part, the process recipe…); and
(c) processing a substrate by performing the recipe edited in (b) (see par [0094-01111], the substrate processing process to be carried out in this way largely includes a transfer process, a loading process, a film forming process….),
wherein, in (b), when the gas flow rate of the flow rate controller is set on the parameter setting region, a flow rate controller on the gas pattern screen in association with the flow rate controller whose gas flow rate is set on the parameter setting region is clearly specified (see par [0090-0095], If the data for setting a recipe or the data (input data) on an operation authority of a user (a worker) with respect to the recipe are input from an input part via the operation screen of the display device 218…., see par [0073], see par [0134-0136], recipe setting screen for setting the parameters of the sub recipe executed by the command set ….).
Regarding claim 2, Morita discloses:
wherein (b) comprises (b-1) setting the opening / closing state of the valve on the gas pattern screen, and wherein, when an arbitrary valve is selected on the gas pattern screen in (b-1), an opening / closing state of the arbitrary valve is determined (see par 0072-0073], The gas supply flow rate controller 212c is configured by an MFC (Mass Flow Controller). The sequencer 212d is configured to control the supply of a gas from a process gas supply pipe or a purge gas supply pipe and the stop of the gas by opening or closing a valve 212D…., see par [0085], [0100-0101]).
Regarding claim 3, Morita discloses:
wherein, when the opening / closing state of the arbitrary valve is being set in (b-1), a prohibition condition for prohibiting the arbitrary valve from being opened is confirmed, and wherein an alarm display is performed when the arbitrary valve meets the prohibition condition (see par [0134-0136], As an example, the gas cleaning process conditions are set such that the flow rate of a fluorine (F.sub.2) gas as a cleaning gas is 2 slm, the flow rate of an additive gas is 8 slm…., see par [0122], f the current value exceeds the second setting value, the execution of all the recipes including the maintenance-purpose recipe is prohibited…).
Regarding claim 4, Morita discloses:
wherein, when the arbitrary valve for which a prohibition condition for prohibiting the arbitrary valve from being opened is set is selected on the gas pattern screen, the prohibition condition is displayed on the gas pattern screen (see par [0068], the display controller 216 allows the information displayed on the display device 218 to be output to a device such as a USB memory or the like inserted into the main controller 201. The display controller 216 receives input data….).
Regarding claim 5, Morita discloses:
wherein, in (b-1), when the arbitrary valve is selected on the gas pattern screen, a gas pipe connected to the arbitrary valve selected on the gas pattern screen is clearly specified (see par [0088-0092], If the data for setting a recipe or the data (input data) on an operation authority of a user (a worker) with respect to the recipe are input from an input part via the operation screen of the display device 218….).
Regarding claim 6, Morita discloses:
wherein the gas pattern screen is configured such that at least a plurality of valves located within a range from a supply system to an exhaust system are displayed, and wherein a source material is supplied to a reaction chamber through the supply system and an inner pressure of the reaction chamber is reduced to a vacuum atmosphere through the exhaust system (see par [0061-0062], par [0072-0076], see par [0135-0136] and [0176-0178]).
Regarding claim 7, Morita discloses:
wherein the gas pattern screen is further configured such that one or more icons for the flow rate controller, a vaporizer, an exhaust apparatus and a pressure regulator are capable of being displayed (see par [0117-0118], If a predetermined number is selected from the item numbers (the buttons) and is pushed down…, see Fig. 6-10, [wherein the buttons are the icons]).
Regarding claim 8, Morita discloses:
wherein the one or more icons for the flow rate controller, the vaporizer, the exhaust apparatus and the pressure regulator are displayed such that parameters related thereto are capable of being set on the gas pattern screen (see par [0117-0118], If a predetermined number is selected from the item numbers (the buttons) and is pushed down…, see Fig. 6-10, [wherein the buttons are the icons]).
Regarding claim 9, Morita discloses:
wherein the recipe edit screen is further configured to be capable of setting parameters related to at least one of a temperature or a pressure as the control parameters (see par [0131], The item for acquiring a detection signal for the cleaning completion determination is set by the parameter type which includes control parameters such as a temperature, a gas and a pressure and preliminary parameters such as AUX (Auxiliary) …., see par [0070-0071]).
Regarding claim 10, Morita discloses:
wherein the recipe edit screen further comprises a switching button configured to switch types of the control parameters to be displayed (see par [0137], The type of display may be either switching display or pop-up screen display. Then, if a command to be used in the cleaning completion determination is selected on the command selection screen (if a sub recipe button is pushed down) and if a detail button is pushed down….).
Regarding claim 11, Morita discloses:
wherein one or more among a temperature, a pressure, the valve, the flow controller, a transfer, an external equipment and a signal are selected as the control parameters to be displayed on the recipe edit screen (see par [0066-0068], see Fig. 6-10, see par [0089-0090], [0115-0118]).
Regarding claim 12, Morita discloses:
wherein the recipe edit screen is further configured to display the parameter setting region and the gas pattern screen for each of the plurality of steps, and wherein the recipe edit screen comprises a step setting region configured to set steps of the gas pattern screen and the parameter setting region to be displayed (see Fig. 6-10, see par [0117-0118], [0123-0128], see par [0134-0138], FIG. 10 illustrates a sub recipe setting screen for setting the parameters of the sub recipe executed by the command set in FIG. 9…..).
Regarding claim 13, Morita discloses:
wherein the step setting region is configured to display whether or not a setting of the control parameters of each of the plurality of steps has been changed (see Fig. 6-10, see par [0117-0118], [0123-0128], see par [0134-0138], FIG. 10 illustrates a sub recipe setting screen for setting the parameters of the sub recipe executed by the command set in FIG. 9…..).
Regarding claims 14 and 16, Morita discloses:
wherein an alarm display is performed on the step setting region when the control parameters are set to meet an interlock condition (see Fig. 10, see par [0146-0149], see par [0235], f the execution frequency exceeds the second predetermined frequency (the maximum cycle number), an alarm indicating an end point detection incapability is notified….).
Regarding claim 17, Morita discloses:
wherein contents set for a predetermined step is displayed on the step contents setting region when the predetermined step is selected in the step setting region (see Fig. 6-10, see par [0117-0118], [0123-0128], see par [0134-0138], FIG. 10 illustrates a sub recipe setting screen for setting the parameters of the sub recipe executed by the command set in FIG. 9…..).
Regarding claim 18, Morita discloses:
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes, by a computer, a substrate processing apparatus provided with a controller capable of creating a recipe by setting a plurality of parameters and capable of processing a substrate by executing the recipe, to perform a process comprising the method of claim 1 (see Fig. 6-10, see par [0079-0083], there are stored individual recipe files of a recipe which defines processing conditions and processing procedures, a control program file for executing these recipe files, a parameter file for setting processing conditions and processing procedures….).
Conclusion
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/BRIAN NGO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2851
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