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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 13-20 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/17/26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5-6, 9-10, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2008068270 A (NOMARU KEIJI) in view of JP 2007268600 A (MORI HOMARE) and US 20120281271 A1 (Sandstrom; Torbjorn et al.)
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Per claim 1, Nomaru teaches a laser processing device [figure 1] configured to form a hole at each irradiation position of a plurality of beams of laser light radiated to a workpiece [workpiece 30; see ADVANTAGEOUS-EFFECTS: “In addition, since a plurality of pulsed laser beams can be irradiated to a predetermined processing position, a via hole can be formed efficiently”], the laser processing device comprising: a first acousto-optic element on which the plurality of beams of laser light from the diffractive optical element are incident [651], the first acousto-optic element being configured to shift, in accordance with a frequency of a voltage applied thereto, an optical path of the plurality of beams of laser light output therefrom along a first direction perpendicular to an irradiation direction of the plurality of beams of laser light [see the disclosure: “a first acoustooptic element 651 for deflecting the optical axis of the laser beam oscillated by the laser beam oscillator 61 in the processing feed direction (X-axis direction)”]; a first voltage application circuit [655, “Control signals are output to the deflection angle adjusting means 654 and the output adjusting means 655 constituting the optical deflecting means 65,”] configured to apply a voltage of a desired frequency to the first acousto-optic element; a light concentrating optical system configured to concentrate the plurality of beams of laser light output from the first acousto-optic element and radiate the plurality of beams of laser light to the workpiece [see the disclosure: “the first RF oscillator 652 outputs RF corresponding to the control signals from the first deflection angle adjusting means 654 and the first output adjusting means 655. The RF power output from the first RF oscillator 652 is amplified by the first RF amplifier 653 and applied to the first acousto-optic element 651. The RF power output from the first RF oscillator 652 is amplified by the first RF amplifier 653 and applied to the first acousto-optic element 651. The second RF oscillator 662 also outputs RF corresponding to the control signals from the second deflection angle adjusting means 664 and the second output adjusting means 665. The RF power output from the second RF oscillator 662 is amplified by the second RF amplifier 663 and applied to the second acoustooptic element 661. As a result, the first acoustooptic element 651 and the second acoustooptic element 661 indicate the optical axis of the pulse laser beam oscillated from the pulse laser beam oscillation means 61 by a two-dotted line from the position indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. Deflection in the range up to the position”]; and a processor configured to control the first voltage application circuit to adjust the frequency of the voltage applied to the first acousto-optic element [control 20, “the laser processing apparatus in the illustrated embodiment includes a control means 20. The control means 20 is configured by a computer”].
Nomaru lacks a diffractive optical element configured to divide laser light incident thereon into the plurality of beams of laser light and output the plurality of beams of laser light. However, Mori and Sandstrom teach laser machining for forming holes 8 that devices a received laser beam into a plurality of laser beams. See Sandstrom’s beam splitter 1329 and Mori’s DOE 6 [“a laser beam 2 emitted from a laser oscillator 1 enters a DOE 6 through a predetermined optical path transmission system constituted by a bend mirror 3. The laser beam 2 is split into a plurality of spectral laser beams 11 having a predetermined number and angle by the DOE 6.”] Improved production capacity would have been an expected benefit. Therefore, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art combine Sandstrom and Mori with Nomaru.
Per claim 2, Nomaru et al. teach the laser processing device according to claim 1, wherein the laser light is pulse laser light [“a pulse laser beam oscillator 611”].
Per claim 5, Nomaru et al. teaches the laser processing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a second acousto-optic element on which the plurality of beams of laser light from the first acousto-optic element are incident, the second acousto-optic element being configured to shift [662], in accordance with a frequency of a voltage applied thereto, an optical path of the plurality of beams of laser light output therefrom along a second direction perpendicular to the irradiation direction of the plurality of beams of laser light and the first direction; and a second voltage application circuit configured to apply a voltage of a desired frequency to the second acousto-optic element, wherein the processor controls the second voltage application circuit to adjust the frequency of the voltage applied to the second acousto-optic element, and the plurality of beams of laser light output from the first acousto-optic element are incident on the light concentrating optical system via the second acousto-optic element [see the disclosure: “the first RF oscillator 652 outputs RF corresponding to the control signals from the first deflection angle adjusting means 654 and the first output adjusting means 655. The RF power output from the first RF oscillator 652 is amplified by the first RF amplifier 653 and applied to the first acousto-optic element 651. The RF power output from the first RF oscillator 652 is amplified by the first RF amplifier 653 and applied to the first acousto-optic element 651. The second RF oscillator 662 also outputs RF corresponding to the control signals from the second deflection angle adjusting means 664 and the second output adjusting means 665. The RF power output from the second RF oscillator 662 is amplified by the second RF amplifier 663 and applied to the second acoustooptic element 661. As a result, the first acoustooptic element 651 and the second acoustooptic element 661 indicate the optical axis of the pulse laser beam oscillated from the pulse laser beam oscillation means 61 by a two-dotted line from the position indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. Deflection in the range up to the position”].
Per claim 6, Nomaru et al. teach the laser processing device according to claim 1, but lack a λ/2 wave plate is arranged between the first acousto-optic element and the second acousto-optic element, and the plurality of beams of laser light from the first acousto-optic element are incident on the second acousto-optic element via the λ/2 wave plate. However, official notice is hereby taken that it would have been an matter of routine skill in the art to a λ/2 wave plate is arranged between the first acousto-optic element and the second acousto-optic element, and the plurality of beams of laser light from the first acousto-optic element are incident on the second acousto-optic element via the λ/2 wave plate in order to ensure proper polarization direction of the laser light entering the second AOD 661 and thus improve light output efficiency. Therefore, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Per claim 9, Nomaru et al. teach the laser processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a table on which the workpiece is placed [36], the table being movable in the first direction, wherein the processor controls the first voltage application circuit, while moving the table in the first direction, to change the frequency of the voltage applied from the first voltage application circuit to the first acousto-optic element in synchronization with the movement of the table so that the irradiation position of each beam of the laser light on the workpiece does not change [see Nomaru’s disclosure: “e chuck table 36 that sucks and holds the semiconductor wafer 30 is positioned directly below the imaging unit 11 by the processing feed unit 37. When the chuck table 36 is positioned immediately below the imaging means 11, the semiconductor wafer 30 on the chuck table 36 is positioned at the coordinate position shown in FIG. In this state, an alignment operation is performed to determine whether or not the lattice-shaped division planned lines 301 formed on the semiconductor wafer 30 held on the chuck table 36 are arranged in parallel to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. That is, the semiconductor wafer 30 held on the chuck table 36 is imaged by the imaging means 11, and image processing such as pattern matching is executed to perform alignment work.”]
Per claim 10, Nomaru et al. teach the laser processing device according to claim 9, wherein the laser light is pulse laser light, and the processor controls the first voltage application circuit to change the frequency of the voltage applied from the first voltage application circuit to the first acousto-optic element so that each of the irradiation positions on the workpiece is irradiated with the pulse laser light for a plurality of times [inherent to Nomaru since a pulse laser beam is used].
Per claim 12, Nomaru et al. teach the laser processing device according to claim 1, but lack the workpiece is made of an insulating inorganic material. However, official notice is hereby taken that it would have been a matter of routine skill in the art to for the workpiece to be an insulating inorganic material. Simplified manufacturing the semiconductor would have been an expected benefit. Therefore, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4, 7-8, and 11 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Per claims 3, 7, and 11, Nomura et al. teach the laser processing device according to claim 1. In combination with the limitations above, the prior art does not teach an aperture through which the plurality of beams of laser light output from the light concentrating optical system are transmitted, wherein the processor controls the first voltage application circuit to adjust the frequency of the voltage applied to the first acousto-optic element so that a number of the beams of laser light transmitted through the aperture becomes a desired number.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES A DUDEK whose telephone number is (571)272-2290. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:30-4:30 MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Carruth can be reached at 571-272-9791. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES A DUDEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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