DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2, 6-9, and 11-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the claim recites the limitation “…and each of the second dwell regions of the second scan line being arranged closer to the determined region than each of the first dwell regions…” (emphasis added). It is unclear if the limitation “the determined region” refers to the determined region of interest or the determined scanned region, both previously established earlier in the claim, or another determined region different from the established determined regions. This renders the claim indefinite. In this action, “the determined region” will be interpreted as the determined region of interest.
Independent claims 19 and 20 recite the same limitation and are indefinite for the same reasons above.
Dependent claims 2, 6-9, 11-18, and 21-23 are indefinite as they do not further define the limitation for respective independent claims 1 and 20.
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 1-13, 16, 18-21, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakamura et al. (US PGPub 2008/0224039, hereinafter Nakamura).
Regarding claim 1, Nakamura discloses a method for operating a particle beam apparatus (SEM 100, see paragraph [0033]) comprising:
determining a region of interest of the object using a control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; measurement target regions B17 and B18 on SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076]);
determining a scanned region of the object using the control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076], being the scanned regions), the scanned region including the region of interest (target measurement region B18 on SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076]), the scanned region having at least one first scan line and at least one second scan line with the first scan line forming a first geometric shape (first scan line pattern L9 having a shape, see Fig. 7A and paragraph [0076]), the second scan line forming a second geometric shape (second scan line pattern L10 having a shape, see Fig. 7A and paragraph [0076]), the first scan line having first dwell regions for a particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L9 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), the second scan line having a second dwell region for the particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L10 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), and each of the second dwell regions of the second scan line being arranged closer to the determined region than each of the first dwell regions of the first scan line (scanned line pattern L10 being closer to measured target region B18 than scanned line pattern L9, see Fig. 7A);
guiding the particle beam along the first scan line and along the first dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L9 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]);
guiding the particle beam along the second scan line and along the second dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L10 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), wherein the particle beam remains at a first dwell time at each of the first dwell regions when guiding the particle beam along the first dwell regions of the first scan line (when electron beam is set to irradiate the sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, the time the sample 7 is exposed to the electron beam is the dwell time during the scan of line pattern L9, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), and the particle beam remains a second dwell time at each of the second dwell regions when the guiding the particle beam along the second dwell regions of the second scan line (when electron beam is set to irradiate the sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, the time the sample 7 is exposed to the electron beam is the dwell time during the scan of line pattern L10, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), wherein guiding of the particle beam along the first scan line and/or the second scan line is provided only after clearance has been given by the control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L10 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]).
Regarding claim 2, Nakamura discloses the particle beam interacting with the material of the object when guiding the particle beam along the first scan line and along the first dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus, wherein first interaction particles and/or a first interaction radiation arises, the first interaction particles and/or the first interaction radiation being detected using a detector (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L9 on sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]; an amount of secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 is detected by an electron detector 8, see paragraph [0038]);
the particle beam interacting with the material of the object when guiding the particle beam along the second scan line and along the second dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus wherein second interaction particles and/or a second interaction radiation arises, with the second interaction particles and/or the second interaction radiation being detected using the detector (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L10 on sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]; an amount of secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 is detected by an electron detector 8, see paragraph [0038]); and
processing the object using the particle beam and/or imaging and/or analyzing the object using the first interaction particles/radiation, and/or the second interaction particles/radiation (secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 when the irradiating the electron beam 9 (when scanning line pattern L9 and L10) is detected by electron detector 8 and converted in the signal processing unit 30 for display on display unit 40, see paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 3, Nakamura discloses a method for operating a particle beam apparatus (SEM 100, see paragraph [0033]) comprising:
determining a region of interest of the object using a control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; measurement target regions B16 and B14 on SEM images of line patterns L6, L7, and L8, see paragraph [0064]);
determining a scanned region of the object using the control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; SEM images of line patterns L6, L7, and L8, see paragraph [0065]), the scanned region including the region of interest (measurement target region B14, see paragraph [0066]), the scanned region including at least one first scan line, at least one second scan line, and at least one third scan line (SEM images from SEM line patterns L6, L7, and L8, see paragraph [0064]), the first scan line forming a first geometric shape (SEM image line pattern L6 having a first shape, see Fig. 6A), the second scan line forming a second geometric shape (SEM image line pattern L7 having a second shape, see Fig. 6A), the third scan line forming a third geometric shape (SEM image line pattern L8 having a third shape, see Fig. 6A), the first scan line having first dwell regions for a particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L6 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), the second scan line having second dwell regions for the particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L7 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), the third scan line having third dwell regions for the particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L8 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), each of the third dwell regions of the third scan line being arranged closer to the region of interest than each of the second dwell regions of the second scan line, and each of the second dwell regions of the second scan line and each of the second dwell regions of the second scan line being arranged closer to the region of interest than each of the first dwell regions of the first scan line (measurement target region B14 is closer to scan line pattern L8, which is closer than scan line pattern L7, where line patterns L8 and L7 are both closer to the measurement target region B14 than line pattern L6, see Fig. 6A);
guiding the particle beam along the first scan line and along the first dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L6 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]);
guiding the particle beam along the second scan line and along the second dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L9 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]); and
guiding the particle beam along the third scan line and along the third dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L9 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]); wherein initially the particle beam is guided along the first scan line and remains a first dwell time at each of the first dwell regions, subsequently the particle beam is guided along the second scan line and remains a second dwell time at each of the second dwell regions, subsequently the particle beam is guided along the third scan line and remains a third dwell time at each of the third dwell regions (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line patterns L6, L7, and L8 to irradiate the sample 7 for a time when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), the first dwell time, the second dwell time, and the third dwell time being chosen to be identical using the control device (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line patterns L6, L7, and L8 to irradiate the sample 7 for a time when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), guiding the particle beam along the second scan line being provided upon or after elapse of a first time interval that follows guiding the particle beam along the first scan line, the first time interval being specified by the control device, guiding the particle beam along the third scan line being provided upon or after elapse of a second time interval that follows guiding the particle beam along the second scan line, the second time interval being specified by the control device, and the first time interval being shorter than the second time interval (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line patterns L6, L7, and L8 to irradiate the sample 7 for a time when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078], sequentially, see Fig. 6A).
Regarding claim 4, Nakamura discloses the particle beam interacting with the material of the object when guiding the particle beam along the first scan line and along the first dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus, wherein first interaction particles and/or a first interaction radiation arises, the first interaction particles/radiation being detected using a detector (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L6 on sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]; an amount of secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 is detected by an electron detector 8, see paragraph [0038]);
the particle beam interacting with the material of the object when guiding the particle beam along the second scan line and along the second dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus, wherein second interaction particles/radiation arises, the second interaction particles/radiation being detected using the detector (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L7 on sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]; an amount of secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 is detected by an electron detector 8, see paragraph [0038]);
the particle beam interacting with the material of the object when guiding the particle beam along the third scan line and along the third dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus wherein third interaction particles/radiation arises, the third interaction particles/radiation being detected using the detector (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L9 on sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]; an amount of secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 is detected by an electron detector 8, see paragraph [0038]); and
processing the object using the particle beam and/or imaging and/or analyzing the object using the first interaction particles/radiation, the second interaction particles/radiation, and/or the third interaction particles/radiation (secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 when the irradiating the electron beam 9 (when scanning line pattern L9 and L10) is detected by electron detector 8 and converted in the signal processing unit 30 for display on display unit 40, see paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 5, Nakamura discloses guiding the particle beam along the first scan line, the second scan line, and/or the third scan line is provided only after clearance has been given by a user and/or by the control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; control unit 20 guides electron beam along each scan line pattern L6, L7, and/or L8 sequentially when the blanker unit 11 is set to off at the proper coordinates, see paragraphs [0076-0078]).
Regarding claim 6, Nakamura discloses one of the following:
guiding the particle beam along the first scan line and then subsequently guiding the particle beam along the second scan line and/or guiding the particle beam along the second scan line and then subsequently guiding the particle beam along the first scan line (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line patterns L9 and L10 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]).
Regarding claim 7, Nakamura discloses at least one of the following:
determining a center of the scanned region as the region of interest; determining a midpoint of the scanned region as a region of interest; and/or determining a centroid of the scanned region as the region of interest (region of interest B18 is scanned and identified during scan line L10, see Fig. 7A).
Regarding claim 8, Nakamura discloses the region of interest is determined by using the control device and a non-destructive examination (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L10 on sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off for identifying the measurement target region B18, see paragraphs [0076-0078]; an amount of secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged (e.g. non-destructive) from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 is detected by an electron detector 8, see paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 9, Nakamura discloses the first scan line is formed as a first polygon (scan line L9 being formed as a rectangular stripe (e.g. a polygon) having a width and length, see Fig. 7A).
Regarding claim 10, Nakamura discloses the third scan line is formed as a first polygon (scan line L8 being formed as a rectangular stripe (e.g. a polygon) having a width and length, see Fig. 6A).
Regarding claim 11, Nakamura discloses the first dwell regions include dwell regions having a first region spacing from the region of interest (scan line L9 at a first distance from measurement target region B18, see Fig. 7A); wherein the second dwell regions include dwell regions having a second region spacing from the region of interest (scan line L10 at a second distance from the measurement target region B18, see Fig. 7A), and wherein the first region spacing is greater than the second region spacing (scan line L9 is further from the measurement target region B18 than scan line L10, see Fig. 7A).
Regarding claim 12, according to MPEP 2111.04(II): “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met.” The instant claim limitations are reliant upon the first and second scan lines to be formed as a circle to perform the subsequent steps. Nakamura discloses the scan lines L9 and L10 are straight lines (see Fig. 7A). Therefore, according to broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim limitations, neither first nor second scan line is formed to be a circle and as such, the subsequent method steps are not required to be given patentable weight.
Regarding claim 13, Nakamura discloses an analysis regarding the object and/or an image of the object is displayed on a display unit of the particle beam apparatus (secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 thereon is detected by an electron detector 8 which is displayed on the display unit 40, see paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 16, Nakamura discloses guiding the particle beam along the first scan line until clearance for guiding the particle beam along the second scan line is given by the control device (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; control unit 20 guides electron beam along each scan line pattern L9 and L10 sequentially when the blanker unit 11 is set to off at the proper coordinates, see paragraphs [0076-0078]).
Regarding claim 18, Nakamura discloses the particle beam apparatus is an electron beam apparatus and wherein an electron beam of the electron beam apparatus is used to image the object (secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 thereon is detected by an electron detector 8 which is displayed on the display unit 40, see paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 19, Nakamura discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium that includes program code which is loadable into a processor and which, when executed, controls a particle beam apparatus (SEM 100 is controlled by control unit 20, see paragraph [0033]; the control unit 20 comprises a microcomputer to store a program to execute and control the system, see paragraph [0040]) to perform the following:
determining a region of interest of the object using a control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; measurement target regions B17 and B18 on SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076]);
determining a scanned region of the object using the control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076], being the scanned regions), the scanned region including the region of interest (target measurement region B18 on SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076]), the scanned region having at least one first scan line and at least one second scan line with the first scan line forming a first geometric shape (first scan line pattern L9 having a shape, see Fig. 7A and paragraph [0076]), the second scan line forming a second geometric shape (second scan line pattern L10 having a shape, see Fig. 7A and paragraph [0076]), the first scan line having first dwell regions for a particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L9 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), the second scan line having a second dwell region for the particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L10 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), and each of the second dwell regions of the second scan line being arranged closer to the determined region than each of the first dwell regions of the first scan line (scanned line pattern L10 being closer to measured target region B18 than scanned line pattern L9, see Fig. 7A);
guiding the particle beam along the first scan line and along the first dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L9 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]);
guiding the particle beam along the second scan line and along the second dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L10 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), wherein the particle beam remains at a first dwell time at each of the first dwell regions when guiding the particle beam along the first dwell regions of the first scan line (when electron beam is set to irradiate the sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, the time the sample 7 is exposed to the electron beam is the dwell time during the scan of line pattern L9, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), and the particle beam remains a second dwell time at each of the second dwell regions when the guiding the particle beam along the second dwell regions of the second scan line (when electron beam is set to irradiate the sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, the time the sample 7 is exposed to the electron beam is the dwell time during the scan of line pattern L10, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), wherein guiding of the particle beam along the first scan line and/or the second scan line is provided only after clearance has been given by the control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L10 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]).
Regarding claim 20, Nakamura discloses a particle beam apparatus (SEM 100, see paragraph [0033]) comprising:
at least one control device that determines a region of interest of an object (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; measurement target regions B17 and B18 on SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076]);
at least one first beam generator that generates a first particle beam that includes first charged particles (electron optical column unit 15 includes an electron gun 1 to form a beam of electrons 9, see paragraphs [0034] and [0037])
at least one first objective lens that focuses the particle beam on the object (objective lens 4 for electron beam 9, see Fig. 1 and paragraph [0037]);
at least one scanning device that scans the first particle beam over the object (deflecting coil 3 to scan the electron beam 9, see paragraphs [0034] and [0037]); and
at least one processor coupled to a non-transitory computer readable medium that includes computer program code which when executed by the processor (processing unit 30 coupled with control unit 20, see paragraph [0038]), performs the following:
determining a region of interest of the object using a control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; measurement target regions B17 and B18 on SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076]);
determining a scanned region of the object using the control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076], being the scanned regions), the scanned region including the region of interest (target measurement region B18 on SEM images of line patterns L9 and L10, see paragraph [0076]), the scanned region having at least one first scan line and at least one second scan line with the first scan line forming a first geometric shape (first scan line pattern L9 having a shape, see Fig. 7A and paragraph [0076]), the second scan line forming a second geometric shape (second scan line pattern L10 having a shape, see Fig. 7A and paragraph [0076]), the first scan line having first dwell regions for a particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L9 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), the second scan line having a second dwell region for the particle beam of the particle beam apparatus (scanned line pattern L10 has the blanker unit 11 set to OFF when the electron beam is positioned to irradiate sample 7 (i.e. dwell on the sample), see paragraphs [0077-0078]), and each of the second dwell regions of the second scan line being arranged closer to the determined region than each of the first dwell regions of the first scan line (scanned line pattern L10 being closer to measured target region B18 than scanned line pattern L9, see Fig. 7A);
guiding the particle beam along the first scan line and along the first dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L9 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]);
guiding the particle beam along the second scan line and along the second dwell regions using the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L10 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), wherein the particle beam remains at a first dwell time at each of the first dwell regions when guiding the particle beam along the first dwell regions of the first scan line (when electron beam is set to irradiate the sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, the time the sample 7 is exposed to the electron beam is the dwell time during the scan of line pattern L9, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), and the particle beam remains a second dwell time at each of the second dwell regions when the guiding the particle beam along the second dwell regions of the second scan line (when electron beam is set to irradiate the sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, the time the sample 7 is exposed to the electron beam is the dwell time during the scan of line pattern L10, see paragraphs [0076-0078]), wherein guiding of the particle beam along the first scan line and/or the second scan line is provided only after clearance has been given by the control device of the particle beam apparatus (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L10 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]).
Regarding claim 21, Nakamura discloses at least one detector that detects interaction particles/radiation resulting from an interaction of the first particle beam with the object (control unit 20 which controls the electron scanning unit 10, see paragraph [0033]; guides electron beam along scan line pattern L9 on sample 7 when the blanker unit 11 is set to off, see paragraphs [0076-0078]; an amount of secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 by irradiating the electron beam 9 is detected by an electron detector 8, see paragraph [0038]); and
at least one display device that displays an image and/or an analysis of the object (secondary electrons or reflection electrons discharged from the sample 7 when the irradiating the electron beam 9 (when scanning line pattern L9 and L10) is detected by electron detector 8 and converted in the signal processing unit 30 for display on display unit 40, see paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 23, Nakamura discloses the particle beam apparatus is an electron beam apparatus (SEM 100, see paragraph [0033]).
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.
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura.
Regarding claim 14, while Nakamura does not explicitly disclose using the second dwell time at each dwell region of the second dwell regions a dwell time to which the following formula applies: t2 = (d1/d2) t1 is satisfied. The claim defines d1 and d2 to be the respective first and second diameter of the first and second geometric shapes. Nakamura depicts the first and second scan lines L9 and L10 to be identical in size and shape (see Fig. 7A). A person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the equation would reduce down to t2 = t1, where the dwell times of the first dwell region would take the same amount of time to scan the second dwell region as a result effective variable of the chosen scan dimensions.
Regarding claim 15, while Nakamura does not explicitly disclose the second spacing is a spacing of less than or equal to 500 nm, Fig. 2 of Nakamura teaches the width of the line pattern can be chosen (e.g. less than 500 nm, see Fig. 2). Fig. 7A of Nakamura teaches the spacing between line patterns are less than the width of the chosen line pattern (spacing between line patterns L9 and L10 is less than width of L9 and L10, see Fig. 7A). A person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that as the dimensions of the chosen line pattern decreases (e.g. a thinner line pattern for L9 and L10), the measurement error decreases as taught by Nakamura (see paragraph [0044] and measurement error of Fig. 2).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura in view of Giannuzzi et al. (US PGPub 2006/0186336, hereinafter Giannuzzi).
Regarding claim 17, Nakamura fails to disclose the particle beam apparatus is an ion beam apparatus.
Giannuzzi teaches an area of interest may be identified using a SEM or using ion imaging via a focused ion beam microscope (see paragraph [0027]). Giannuzzi teaches that ion beam and electron beams are interchangeable (see paragraph [0028]).
Giannuzzi modifies Nakamura by suggesting replacing the electron beam with an ion beam.
Since both inventions are drawn to electron microscopes, it would have been obvious to the ordinary artisan before the effective filing date to modify Nakamura by replacing the electron beam with an ion beam for the purpose of allowing further processing (such as ion beam milling) of the sample to more easily access the area of interest as taught by Giannuzzi (see paragraphs [0027-0028]).
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura in view of Biberger et al. (US PGPub 2015/0048248, hereinafter Biberger).
Regarding claim 22, Nakamura fails to teach at least one second beam generator that generates a second particle beam that includes second charged particles and at least one second objective lens that focuses the second particle beam on the object.
Biberger discloses a two beam microscope system where a first beam column 2 forms an ion beam (see paragraph [0038] and a second beam column 3 forms an electron beam (see paragraph [0038]). Biberger teaches the first beam column 2 has an objective lens 31 to focus the ion beam onto a sample 16 (see paragraph [0045]) while the second beam column 3 has a second objective lens 18 to focus the electron beam onto the sample 16 (see paragraph [0042]). Biberger teaches equipping an SEM with an ion beam column is well known in the art for observing a sample as well as further preparing a sample of interest (see paragraph [0004]).
Biberger modifies Nakamura by suggesting a second beam generator with a second objective lens to focus a second particle beam on the object.
Since both inventions are drawn to electron microscopes, it would have been obvious to the ordinary artisan before the effective filing date to modify Nakamura by providing a second beam column with a second objective lens to focus a second particle beam on the object for the purpose of observing a sample as well as further preparing a sample of interest as taught by Biberger.
Conclusion
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Hanway Chang
/HC/ Examiner, Art Unit 2881
/MICHAEL J LOGIE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2881