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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/24/26 have been fully considered but they are not
persuasive.
The Applicant argues that Aggarwal does not disclose a sensor or adjusting purge-gas flow rate based upon determined internal property value, and that Lio’s gas flow rate is a preset recipe parameter rather than a flow rate adjusted in response to such a value.
The Examiner acknowledges that neither Aggarwal nor Liao individually discloses the entire claimed arrangement. However, as set forth in the rejection below, the rejection is based upon the combined teachings of Aggarwal and Liao and the modification that would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, rather than upon either reference individually.
In particular, Aggarwal teaches a FOUP purge system in which purge gas is supplied to reduce and maintain oxygen and water-vapor concentration within the FOUP at acceptable levels (see ¶¶ [0005] and [0020]), while Liao teaches determining a condition of a controlled volume using exhaust-sensor measurements and identifies gas flow rate as an operating parameter (see ¶¶ [0030]-[0035] and [0039]-[0041]). For the reasons set forth in the rejection, it would have been obvious to apply Liao’s exhaust-sensing and condition determination teachings to Aggarwal’s FOUP purge system and to adjust the purge-gas flow rate based upon the determined internal condition because Aggarwal uses purge-gas flow to establish and maintain an acceptable internal FOUP atmosphere, thereby predictably controlling the purge operation according to the condition that the purge operation is intended to affect.
To the extent Applicant’s argument implies that the claimed flow rate adjustment must cause the second value to satisfy the subsequently recited threshold condition, claim 1 does not require such relationship. Claim 1 separately recites adjusting purge-gas flow rate based on the second value, determining that the second value satisfies a threshold condition, and opening the door responsive to the threshold determination. Claim 1 does not require remeasuring or redetermining the second value after adjusting the flow rate, nor does it require that the flow rate adjustment cause satisfaction of the threshold condition. The threshold determination and responsive door opening limitations are addressed separately in the rejection below.
Regarding the 35 U.S.C. § 101:
Applicant’s arguments, see applicant’s remarks, filed 8/24/26, with respect to
claims 1-6, 8, 9, and 11-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. § 101 of claims 1-6, 8, 9, and 11-20 has been withdrawn.
Under 35 USC § 101
Although claims 1, 13, and 20 include abstract ideas, claims 1, 13 and 20 also
recite additional elements such as “opening a door of the first substrate carrier responsive to determining that the second value of the first property has satisfied the threshold condition” (claim 1); “open a door of the first FOUP responsive to determining that the second RH or the second amount of the first gas has satisfied the threshold condition” (claim 13) and “opening a door of the new substrate carrier responsive to determining that the estimated value of the first property has satisfied the threshold condition” (claim 20). The inclusion of these additional elements integrates the identified judicial exception into a practical application that effects a meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception. Therefore, claims 1-20 are considered to be eligible under 35 USC 101.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because the claim contains multiple periods and therefore
is not presented as a single sentence in proper claim form. A claim is required to be presented as a single sentence. Correction is required by replacing the intermediate periods with appropriate punctuation, such as semicolons or commas, as appropriate, while retaining a single period at the end of the claim.
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 1-20 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.
Claims 1, 13 and 20 recite “supplying a fluid, at a first flow rate, through an inlet of the first substrate carrier” and subsequently recite the limitation “adjusting, based on the second value of the first property inside the first substrate carrier, a flow rate of a purge gas”, “adjust, based on the second RH or the second amount of the first gas inside the first FOUP, a flow rate of a purge gas”, and “adjusting, based on the estimated value of the first property within the new substrate carrier, a flow rate of a purge gas”, respectively. It is unclear whether the subsequent recited “purge gas” is intended to be the previously recited “fluid”, and it is further unclear whether the “flow rate of a purge gas” that is adjusted is intended to be the previously recited “first flow rate” or a different flow rate. Consequently, the metes and bounds of the claimed flow rate adjustment cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.
For clarity, Applicant may amend the claims, if supported by the original disclosure, to explicitly identify the relationship between the recited fluid and purge gas and between their respective flow rates, for example by specifying that the fluid comprises the purge gas and that the adjusting comprises adjusting the first flow rate of the purge gas. Other amendments that clearly define the intended relationship would also be considered.
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 1-6, 8, 9, and 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being
unpatentable over Aggarwal (Pub. No. US 2004/0182472) in view of Liao et al. (Pub. No. US 2023/0366081) (hereinafter Liao).
As per claim 1, Aggarwal teaches receiving a first substrate carrier; supplying a fluid, at a first flow rate, through an inlet of the first substrate carrier; at least partially purging the fluid through an outlet of the first substrate carrier for a first period of time (see Abstract, and ¶¶ [0006]-[0009], i.e., substrate carrier (FOUP) configured to receive purge gas through an inlet and discharge gas through an outlet during purging).
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach measuring, using a first sensor disposed at the outlet, a first value of a first property of an exhaust from the substrate carrier at the outlet of the first substrate carrier; and determining, based at least in part on the first value of the first property, a second value of the first property inside the first substrate carrier.
Liao, however, teaches measuring properties (e.g., gas concentration and temperature) of exhaust at an outlet and determining a system condition based on those measurements (see ¶¶ [0031]-[0035] and [0039]). Further, ¶ [0041] of Liao teaches using a machine learning model to determine an internal condition of the system (e.g., level of cleanliness within the chamber) based on measured exhaust properties, thereby establishing a relationship between outlet measurements and internal system conditions. Further, Liao teaches that cleaning gas introduced into the processing chamber where it reacts with materials within the chamber to generate chemical compounds, and the resulting gas exits the chamber through an outlet into a foreline where it is measured (see ¶¶ [0029]-[0032]). Thus, the measured exhaust gas contains reaction products formed within the chamber and corresponds to gas that has passed through the internal volume of the system. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to apply the exhaust-based sensing and model-based determination of Liao to the substrate carrier of Aggarwal and to determine a value of a property inside the carrier based on the measured outlet value because Liao teaches that outlet measurements are predictive of internal conditions and the exhaust gas originates from and reflects the internal environments, thereby enabling inference of internal properties from outlet measurements. Further, It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to express the determined internal condition as a value of the same property being measured at the outlet, rather than as a derived condition such as cleanliness, because this constitutes a predictable implementation of the taught model-based relationship consistent with known state-estimation techniques, thereby yielding the claimed determination of the second value of the property inside the substrate carrier based on the measured outlet value.
Regarding “adjusting based on the second value of the first property inside the first substrate carrier, flow rate of a purge gas”,
Aggarwal teaches that its purging process is specifically directed to maintaining oxygen and water-vapor concentrations within the FOUP at acceptable levels and that the purge may be driven by a gas inlet, an outlet vacuum pump, or a combination thereof (see ¶ [0020]). Aggarwal further teaches that the purge arrangement is selected based on operational considerations including desired purge time (see ¶ [0029]).
Liao further teaches controlling operating parameters of supplied gas, including gas flow rate, and using sensor information to determine the condition of the process (see ¶¶ [0030] and [0039]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to adjust the purge gas flow rate based upon the determined internal property because Aggarwal explicitly identifies the purpose of the purge as bringing the internal oxygen and water-vapor concentrations to acceptable levels, while Liao teaches sensor-based determination of process condition and control of gas-processing parameters, thereby providing feedback control of the purge operation according to the determined condition of the FOUP atmosphere.
Regarding “determining that the second value of the first property has satisfied a threshold condition”,
Aggarwal teaches that the objective of its purge operation is to maintain oxygen and water-vapor concentrations within the FOUP at “acceptable levels” (see ¶ [0020]).
Liao further evaluating exhaust-sensor information to determine whether a desired process condition has been reached; for example, a measured concentration below a specified level may indicate completion of the dry-clean operation, and the controller determines process completion from sensor data (see ¶¶ [0031] and [0039-]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to determine whether the estimated internal FOUP property satisfies a predetermined threshold corresponding to the acceptable level taught by Aggarwal because comparison with such a threshold provides a predictable means for determining when the environmental objective of the purge has been achieved, thereby identifying when the internal FOUP atmosphere has reached an acceptable condition.
Regarding “opening a door of the first substrate carrier responsive to determining that the second value of the first property has satisfied the threshold condition”,
Aggarwal explicitly teaches that the FOUP is configured to be placed at an interface of a processing tool and is generally provided with a door configured to be automatically removed (see ¶ [0004]). Aggarwal further teaches that the FOUP has standard mechanical interface for attachment to process tools (see ¶ [0021]), a sealing mechanism configured to seal against a loading port of a process tool (see ¶ [0022]), and a removable door having key slots configured to lock and unlock the door from the FOUP (see ¶ [0023]). Aggarwal additionally teaches maintaining the desired FOUP atmosphere during loading/unloading operations and interfacing the FOUP with loading ports (see ¶ [0035]).
Liao teaches responsive control based upon satisfaction of a determined process condition, including determining from sensor information that a process operation has reaches completion and changing system operation in response (see ¶¶ [0039]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to open the automatically removable FOUP door of Aggarwal responsive to determining that the internal property has satisfied the threshold condition because Aggarwal teaches both (i) conditioning the internal FOUP atmosphere to acceptable oxygen and water-vapor levels before or between semiconductor processing operations and (ii) automatically removing the FOUP door to provide access to wafers at a processing tool interface, while Liao teaches automatically changing system conditions in response to determining from sensed information that a desired condition has been reached, Thereby permitting access to and transfer of the wafers after the FOUP atmosphere has reached the predetermined acceptable condition.
As per claim 5, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach determining the second value of the first property inside the first substrate carrier is greater than a threshold value; and transmitting a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber comprising the first substrate carrier.
Liao, however, teaches determining a condition based on sensor data and providing notification or control signals vis a controller (see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to compare the determined value to a threshold and transmit a message to a processing system because threshold-based monitoring and notification are conventional in process control systems, thereby enabling response communication based on detected conditions.
As per claim 6, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Liao further teaches collecting sensor data over time and determining system status based on variations in measured values during operation (see ¶¶ [0052]-[0057]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to determine a value of the property at a first time (i.e., the claimed third value) and compare it to a value at a later time (i.e., the claimed second value), and to determine a difference between those values, because Liao teaches monitoring changed in measured properties over time to assess system conditions, thereby enabling comparison of values at different times. It would have been further obvious to determine the elapsed time between the measurements because time-based monitoring inherently involves associating measurements with the time intervals, thereby enabling temporal analysis or system behavior. It would have been further obvious to determine a leak rate based on the difference between the values and the elapsed time because calculating a rate of change of a measured property over time (i.e., Δvalue/Δtime) is a well-known and predictable diagnostic technique for identifying leakage or loss in a contained system, particularly in systems involving gas flow and sealed volumes, thereby enabling estimation of leakage conditions of the substrate carrier as recited.
As per claim 8, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Liao further teaches measuring a property od a gas at an outlet, including determining a concentration of a chemical compound in a gas (see ¶¶ [0031] and [0039]), which corresponds to an amount of the gas.
Aggarwal further teaches that environmental conditions within a substrate carrier, including the presence of oxygen and moisture, are important factors affecting the condition of substrates stored therein (see ¶¶ [0009]; [0020]; and [0022]), thereby identifying specific gas species of interest within the carrier environment. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to measure an amount of a gas comprising oxygen or moisture within the substrate carrier because Aggarwal identifies these gases as relevant environmental constituents within the carrier, and Liao teaches measuring gas concentration to determine system conditions, thereby enabling monitoring of specific gas species within the substrate carrier environment. Further, it would have been obvious to select other gas constituents such as aerosol particles or volatile organic compounds (TVOC) because selecting particular gas species for monitoring is a routine extension of measuring gas concentration depending on the desired environmental condition to be evaluated, thereby enabling detection of environmental parameters as recited.
As per claim 9, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach determining the second amount of the first gas inside the first substrate carrier is greater than a threshold value; and transmitting a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber comprising the first substrate carrier.
Liao, however, teaches determining a condition based on sensor data and providing notification or control signals vis a controller (see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to compare the determined value to a threshold and transmit a message to a processing system because threshold-based monitoring and notification are conventional in process control systems, thereby enabling response communication based on detected conditions.
As per claim 12, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Aggarwal teaches a substrate carrier comprising front opening unified pod (FOUP) used to store and transport semiconductor substrates and further identified environmental conditions within the carrier, including moisture, as relevant to substrate integrity (see ¶¶ [0007]-[0009]).
Liao teaches measuring properties of gas at an outlet using sensors, including gas concentration and temperature sensors (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention for the first substrate carrier to comprise a FOUP because Aggarwal explicitly teaches the use of FOUP-type substrate carriers, thereby providing the claimed carrier structure. It would have been further obvious to implement the first sensor as a MEMS sensor because MEMS-based environmental sensors are widely used for compact and accurate measurement of gas properties in confined environments, thereby enabling integration of sensing functionality within the substrate carrier system.
Although Liao fails to explicitly disclose measuring relative humidity (RH), Aggarwal teaches that moisture within the substrate carrier is an important environmental parameter (see ¶ [0025]), and moisture in gas corresponds to water vapor content, which is commonly quantified as relative humidity. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to measure RH at the outlet and /or inside the substrate carrier because RH is a well-known parameter for quantifying moisture in gas-phase environments, and Liao teaches measuring gas properties and using those measurements to determine system condition, thereby enabling monitoring of moisture-related conditions within the substrate carrier as recited.
As per claims 13 and 14, Aggarwal teaches a substrate carrier comprising a front opening unified pod (FOUP) configured to receive and contain substrates and to allow gas flow through the carrier, including introduction of fluid and purging through an outlet (see Abstract), thereby teaching a FOUP having an inlet and an outlet for fluid flow.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly disclose a sensor disposed at the outlet configured to measure a property of a gas or a controller configured to determine an internal environmental property of the FOUP based on a measured outlet value.
Liao teaches providing sensors at an outlet to measure properties of gas, including concentration and temperature, and determining system conditions based on those measurements (see ¶¶ [0031]-[0035] and [0039]), thereby teaching a sensor disposed at an outlet configured to determine a property of gas.
Although Liao fails to explicitly disclose measuring relative humidity (RH), Aggarwal teaches that moisture within the substrate carrier is an important environmental parameter (see ¶ [0025]), and moisture in gas corresponds to water vapor content, which is commonly quantified as relative humidity. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention for the first sensor to determine RH or an amount of a gas at the outlet because RH and gas concentration are well-known measures of environmental conditions in gas-phase systems, thereby enabling monitoring of conditions within the FOUP.
Liao further teaches determining system conditions based on measured gas properties and using models to relate measured values to internal conditions of the system (see ¶¶ [0039] and [0041]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to configure the controller to determine a second RH or a second amount of the gas inside the FOUP based on the measured outlet value because Liao teaches using measured exhaust properties to infer internal system conditions and to establish relationships between measured values and internal states, thereby enabling determination of internal environmental properties of the FOUP based on outlet measurements as recited.
Regarding “adjust, based on the second RH or the second amount of the first gas inside the first FOUP, a flow rate of a purge gas”,
Aggarwal teaches that its purging process is specifically directed to maintaining oxygen and water-vapor concentrations within the FOUP at acceptable levels and that the purge may be driven by a gas inlet, an outlet vacuum pump, or a combination thereof (see ¶ [0020]). Aggarwal further teaches that the purge arrangement is selected based on operational considerations including desired purge time (see ¶ [0029]).
Liao further teaches controlling operating parameters of supplied gas, including gas flow rate, and using sensor information to determine the condition of the process (see ¶¶ [0030] and [0039]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to adjust the purge gas flow rate based upon the determined internal property because Aggarwal explicitly identifies the purpose of the purge as bringing the internal oxygen and water-vapor concentrations to acceptable levels, while Liao teaches sensor-based determination of process condition and control of gas-processing parameters, thereby providing feedback control of the purge operation according to the determined condition of the FOUP atmosphere.
Regarding “determine that the second RH or the second amount of the first gas has satisfied a threshold condition”,
Aggarwal teaches that the objective of its purge operation is to maintain oxygen and water-vapor concentrations within the FOUP at “acceptable levels” (see ¶ [0020]).
Liao further evaluating exhaust-sensor information to determine whether a desired process condition has been reached; for example, a measured concentration below a specified level may indicate completion of the dry-clean operation, and the controller determines process completion from sensor data (see ¶¶ [0031] and [0039-]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to determine whether the estimated internal FOUP property satisfies a predetermined threshold corresponding to the acceptable level taught by Aggarwal because comparison with such a threshold provides a predictable means for determining when the environmental objective of the purge has been achieved, thereby identifying when the internal FOUP atmosphere has reached an acceptable condition.
Regarding “open a door of the first FOUP responsive to determining that the second RH or the second amount of the first gas has satisfied the threshold condition”,
Aggarwal explicitly teaches that the FOUP is configured to be placed at an interface of a processing tool and is generally provided with a door configured to be automatically removed (see ¶ [0004]). Aggarwal further teaches that the FOUP has standard mechanical interface for attachment to process tools (see ¶ [0021]), a sealing mechanism configured to seal against a loading port of a process tool (see ¶ [0022]), and a removable door having key slots configured to lock and unlock the door from the FOUP (see ¶ [0023]). Aggarwal additionally teaches maintaining the desired FOUP atmosphere during loading/unloading operations and interfacing the FOUP with loading ports (see ¶ [0035]).
Liao teaches responsive control based upon satisfaction of a determined process condition, including determining from sensor information that a process operation has reaches completion and changing system operation in response (see ¶¶ [0039]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to open the automatically removable FOUP door of Aggarwal responsive to determining that the internal property has satisfied the threshold condition because Aggarwal teaches both (i) conditioning the internal FOUP atmosphere to acceptable oxygen and water-vapor levels before or between semiconductor processing operations and (ii) automatically removing the FOUP door to provide access to wafers at a processing tool interface, while Liao teaches automatically changing system conditions in response to determining from sensed information that a desired condition has been reached, Thereby permitting access to and transfer of the wafers after the FOUP atmosphere has reached the predetermined acceptable condition.
As per claims 15 and 16, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Aggarwal teaches a substrate carrier (FOUP) system including fluid flow through an inlet and outlet (see ¶¶ [0006]-[0007]).
Liao teaches sensors disposed at an outlet and within the system, as well as a controller configured to determine system conditions based on measured values (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035], [0039], and [0045]-[0048]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to configure the system to include sensors disposed at multiple locations, including inside the substrate carrier and at the outlet, to obtain corresponding internal and outlet measurements because Liao teaches placement of sensors at different locations within the system to monitor conditions, thereby enabling acquisition of multiple related measurements from the same system.
Further, Liao teaches training and updating a model based on relationships between measured parameters and system conditions using operational and historical data (see ¶ [0042]). This establishes that Liao determines relationships between measured values and uses those relationships to update a model. Although Liao expresses the relationship between measured exhaust parameters and a system condition (e.g., cleanliness), one having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the same training approach can be applied to determine a relationship between different but related measured values, including an internal measurement and a corresponding outlet measurement, because both values are derived from the same system and are physically related through the flow of gas passing through the internal volume and exiting at the outlet, thereby enabling determination of a relationship between the internal and outlet values. It would have been further obvious to update the model based on that relationship because Liao teaches refining models using relationships derived from measured data, thereby enabling calibration of the model using paired internal and outlet measurements in a system implementation, as recited.
As per claim 17, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach determine the second RH inside the first FOUP is greater than a threshold value; and transmit a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber comprising the first FOUP.
Liao, however, teaches evaluating measured gas properties using controller logic to determine system conditions and to generate signals or notifications based on those conditions (see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]). Although Liao does not explicitly disclose RH, Liao teaches evaluating gas-related properties against conditions indicative of system status. As discussed above, it would have been obvious to use RH as the monitored property based on Aggarwal’s teaching that moisture is a relevant environmental parameter within a FOUP, where moisture corresponds to water vapor content commonly quantified as RH. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to determine whether the internal RH exceeds a threshold value because threshold-based evaluation of measured or derived environmental parameters is a standard technique for determining whether system conditions are acceptable, thereby enabling identification of out-of-spec conditions.
It would have been further obvious to transmit a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber in response to the threshold determination because Liao teaches generating signals or notifications based on evaluated conditions, and communicating such information to associated system components is a routine and predictable implementation in integrated semiconductor processing environments, thereby enabling coordination between the FOUP and the processing chamber equipment based on environmental conditions as recited.
As per claim 18, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above except that the first sensor comprises a micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor.
Liao, however, teaches the use of sensors to measure properties of gas, including concentration and temperature, at an outlet (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035])., but does not limit the sensor implementation to any particular sensor technology. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the first sensor as a MEMS sensor because MEMS-based sensors are widely used for measuring environmental parameters such as gas concentration, temperature, and humidity in compact and integrated systems, particularly where space constraints and integration with electronic control systems are important, thereby enabling a compact and efficient sensor implementation within the substrate carrier system as recited.
As per claim 19, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above except that the second sensor is disposed on one or more slots of the second FOUP.
However, Aggarwal teaches a FOUP configured to hold substrates in a plurality of slots within the carrier (see ¶ [0021]) and Liao teaches placing sensors at various locations within a system to measure properties of gas (see ¶¶ [0045]-[0048]). It would have been obvious to dispose the second sensor on one or more slots of the FOUP because sensor placement within different regions of the system, including near or on structural elements, is a routine design choice to obtain representative or localized measurements of environmental conditions, thereby enabling measurement of conditions in proximity to substrates stored in the slots as recited.
As per claim 20, Aggarwal teaches supplying a fluid through an inlet of a substrate carrier and purging the fluid through an outlet (see Abstract and ¶¶ [0006]-[0009]), thereby teaching the recited fluid flow through the substrate carrier.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach providing sensors to determine values of a property inside the substrate carrier and at the outlet, determining a relationship between such values, or updating a model based on that relationship.
Liao, however, teaches measuring properties of gas using sensors disposed at an outlet and at various locations within a system (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035] and [0045]-[0048]), thereby suggesting obtaining measurements corresponding to internal and outlet conditions of a system. Liao further teaches using a model to determine system conditions based on measured values (see ¶ [0041]) and training and updating the model using relationships between measured parameters and system conditions based on operational and historical data (see ¶ [0042]).
Although Liao expresses the learned relationship between measured exhaust properties and system condition (e.g., cleanliness), one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have recognized that the same training approach can be applied to determine a relationship between different related measured values, including a value measured inside the substrate carrier and a corresponding value measured at the outlet, because both values are derived from the same system and are physically related through the flow of gas passing through the carrier and exiting at the outlet, thereby enabling determination of a relationship between internal and outlet values. It would have been further obvious to update the model based on that relationship because Liao teaches refining models using relationships derived from measured data, thereby enabling estimation of internal properties of a new substrate carrier as recited.
Regarding “adjusting, based on the estimated value of the first property within the new substrate carrier, a flow rate of a purge gas”,
Aggarwal teaches that its purging process is specifically directed to maintaining oxygen and water-vapor concentrations within the FOUP at acceptable levels and that the purge may be driven by a gas inlet, an outlet vacuum pump, or a combination thereof (see ¶ [0020]). Aggarwal further teaches that the purge arrangement is selected based on operational considerations including desired purge time (see ¶ [0029]).
Liao further teaches controlling operating parameters of supplied gas, including gas flow rate, and using sensor information to determine the condition of the process (see ¶¶ [0030] and [0039]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to adjust the purge gas flow rate based upon the determined internal property because Aggarwal explicitly identifies the purpose of the purge as bringing the internal oxygen and water-vapor concentrations to acceptable levels, while Liao teaches sensor-based determination of process condition and control of gas-processing parameters, thereby providing feedback control of the purge operation according to the determined condition of the FOUP atmosphere.
Regarding “determining that the estimated value of the first property has satisfied a threshold condition”,
Aggarwal teaches that the objective of its purge operation is to maintain oxygen and water-vapor concentrations within the FOUP at “acceptable levels” (see ¶ [0020]).
Liao further evaluating exhaust-sensor information to determine whether a desired process condition has been reached; for example, a measured concentration below a specified level may indicate completion of the dry-clean operation, and the controller determines process completion from sensor data (see ¶¶ [0031] and [0039-]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to determine whether the estimated internal FOUP property satisfies a predetermined threshold corresponding to the acceptable level taught by Aggarwal because comparison with such a threshold provides a predictable means for determining when the environmental objective of the purge has been achieved, thereby identifying when the internal FOUP atmosphere has reached an acceptable condition.
Regarding “opening a door of the new substrate carrier responsive to determining that the estimated value of the first property has satisfied the threshold condition”,
Aggarwal explicitly teaches that the FOUP is configured to be placed at an interface of a processing tool and is generally provided with a door configured to be automatically removed (see ¶ [0004]). Aggarwal further teaches that the FOUP has standard mechanical interface for attachment to process tools (see ¶ [0021]), a sealing mechanism configured to seal against a loading port of a process tool (see ¶ [0022]), and a removable door having key slots configured to lock and unlock the door from the FOUP (see ¶ [0023]). Aggarwal additionally teaches maintaining the desired FOUP atmosphere during loading/unloading operations and interfacing the FOUP with loading ports (see ¶ [0035]).
Liao teaches responsive control based upon satisfaction of a determined process condition, including determining from sensor information that a process operation has reaches completion and changing system operation in response (see ¶¶ [0039]-[0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to open the automatically removable FOUP door of Aggarwal responsive to determining that the internal property has satisfied the threshold condition because Aggarwal teaches both (i) conditioning the internal FOUP atmosphere to acceptable oxygen and water-vapor levels before or between semiconductor processing operations and (ii) automatically removing the FOUP door to provide access to wafers at a processing tool interface, while Liao teaches automatically changing system conditions in response to determining from sensed information that a desired condition has been reached, Thereby permitting access to and transfer of the wafers after the FOUP atmosphere has reached the predetermined acceptable condition.
Claims 7, 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Aggarwal in view of Liao and further in view of Rice et al. (Pub. No. US 2016/0147235) (hereinafter Rice).
As per claim 7, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above except that the first property comprises relative humidity (RH), wherein the threshold condition is whether the second value of the first property has dropped below a RH threshold.
Rice teaches a carrier environmental control system configured to control the environment within a substrate carrier by supplying an inert gas to purge the carrier environment prior to opening the carrier door (see ¶ [0061]). Rice further teaches controlling relative humidity (RH) within the substrate carrier and disposing an RH sensor on a carrier exhaust conduit to sense the RH level exiting the substrate carrier (see ¶ [0062]). Rice additionally teaches that the desired environment condition for the carrier environment within the substrate carrier may be based upon a predefined RH threshold level and that an RH less the predefined RH level may be sought before opening the carrier door (see ¶ [0058]). Rice further teaches supplying inert gas to purge the carrier environment and opening the carrier door after the environmental conditions have reached a desired predefined level (see ¶ [0065]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the FOUP purge and monitoring system of Aggarwal as modified by Liao to use relative humidity as the first property and to determine whether the estimated internal RH has dropped below a predefined RH threshold, as taught by Rice, because Aggarwal seeks to reduce moisture within the FOUP to an acceptable level and Rice explicitly teaches controlling RH within a substrate carrier and using a predefined RH threshold as the desired environmental condition before opening the carrier door, thereby providing a predictable quantitative criterion for determining whether the desired low-moisture condition within the substrate carrier has been achieved.
As per claim 10, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above except that the first property comprises temperature, and wherein the threshold condition is whether the second value of the first property is within a threshold range.
Rice teaches controlling environmental conditions associated with substrate carriers, including temperature. In particular, Rice teaches that carrier environmental control system 126C may control temperature within substrate carrier 116 (see ¶¶ [0062]-[0063]). Rice further teaches determining whether a measured temperature satisfies a predefined temperature threshold level (see ¶ [0047]) and identifies temperature as an environmental precondition that may be satisfied before opening a substate-carrier door (see ¶ [0075]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to define the acceptable temperature condition as a predetermined temperature range because Rice teaches monitoring and controlling temperature as environmental condition and determining whether the temperature has reached an acceptable predefined condition, and defining acceptable operating conditions by upper and lower temperature limits is predictable implementation of temperature control, thereby permitting the controller to determine whether the estimated internal temperature is within the desired operating condition.
As per claim 11, the combination of Aggarwal, Liao, and Rice teaches the system as stated above.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach determining the second amount of the first gas inside the first substrate carrier is greater than a threshold value; and transmitting a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber comprising the first substrate carrier.
Liao, however, teaches determining a condition based on sensor data and providing notification or control signals vis a controller (see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to compare the determined value to a threshold and transmit a message to a processing system because threshold-based monitoring and notification are conventional in process control systems, thereby enabling response communication based on detected conditions.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but
would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims and overcoming the 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejection made above.
Claim 2 distinguish over the prior art of record because none of the prior art of record teaches or fairly suggests a method comprising: wherein determining the second value of the first property inside the first substrate carrier comprises inputting the first value of the first property into a model that outputs the second value of the first property, wherein inputs to the model further comprise a time elapsed since closing a door of the first substrate carrier, in combination with the rest of the claim limitations as claimed and defined by the applicant.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in
this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to MOHAMED CHARIOUI whose telephone number is (571)272-2213. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 6 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Schechter can be reached on (571) 272-2302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Mohamed Charioui
/MOHAMED CHARIOUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
