MEMBER FOR SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING APPARATUS

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 Applicant's election with traverse of Invention I (claims 1-9, drawn to “A member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus”) and of Species i (A first species of a member (10) for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus as is embodied in Figures 1-3) in the reply filed on 4/23/2026 was previously acknowledged. Claims 5, 7, 8, and 10 were previously withdrawn (and still are) from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention and/or species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 4/23/2026. Claim Objections Claims 2-4, 6, and 9 are each objected to because of the following informalities: On lines 1-2 of each of said claims, “a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus” should be amended to “[[a]] the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus”. Appropriate correction is required. 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, 2, 6, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uchida (U.S. PG Publication No. 2020/0219753 A1) in view of Miwa (Japan Publication No. JP 2020061401 A). Please be advised that an EPO Machine Translation of Miwa is relied upon below, and this EPO Machine Translation has been furnished with this office action. Claim 1: Figure 2 of Uchida shows a member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (1) comprising a central member (25) having a wafer placement surface on an upper surface thereof, and further comprising an annular outer circumferential member (30) which is disposed on an outer circumferential side of the central member (25) and having a focus ring placement surface for a ring (CR) on an upper surface thereof. Uchida; however, does not disclose the central member being a “ceramic member” and does not disclose the annular outer circumferential member (30) being a “ceramic member.” Figure 2 of Miwa though, shows a member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising a central ceramic member (110) having a wafer placement surface (S11) on an upper surface thereof. Please be advised that the central ceramic member (110) is disclosed by Miwa as being made of alumina, for example [EPO Machine Translation, paragraph 0018]. The member further comprises an annular outer circumferential ceramic member (210) disposed on an outer circumferential side of the central ceramic member (110). Please be advised that the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (210) is disclosed as being made of ceramics, e.g. alumina [EPO Machine Translation, paragraph 0036]. As Figure 2 shows, the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (210) has a focus ring placement surface (S21) on upper surface thereof, and it is on this focus ring placement surface (S21) that a focus ring (FR) is disposed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the central member (25) of Uchida from alumina (which is a ceramic) in accordance with the disclosure of Miwa and to have formed the annular outer circumferential member (30) of Uchida from alumina (which again is a ceramic) in accordance with the disclosure of Miwa, so as to provide said central member (25) and said annular outer circumferential member (30) of Uchida with the advantage of being formed of ceramic material that provides both for electrical insulation and surface precision. Based on the foregoing, the modified central member (25) of Uchida is formed of ceramic (in the form of alumina), and as such, will hereinafter be referred to by Examiner as “the central ceramic member (25).” Likewise, the modified annular outer circumferential member (30) of Uchida is formed of ceramic (in the form of alumina), and as such, will hereinafter be referred as “the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (30).” Thus, the member of Uchida comprises the central ceramic member (25) having the wafer placement surface on the upper surface thereof, and further comprises the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (30) disposed on the outer circumferential side of the central ceramic member (25) and having the focus ring placement surface on the upper surface thereof. The member of Uchida further comprises a conductive base (11+13) having a central support (11) that is joined to a lower surface of the central ceramic member (25) to support said the central ceramic member (25). This can be seen in Figure 2. Please be advised that Uchida discloses the central support (11) as being made of aluminum (11) [Uchida, paragraph 0026]. Since aluminum is conductive, the central support (11) is a conductive member of said conductive base (11+13). The conductive base (11+13) further comprises an outer circumferential support (13) that is “joined” to a lower surface of the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (30) (by way of a cylindrical holding member (12), for example) to support the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (30). (Claim 1 as presently set forth doesn’t require, for example, direct interfacing between an (unclaimed) upper surface of the outer circumferential support and the lower surface of the outer circumferential member. Rather, Applicant opts for the broader “joined” terminology in claim 1 with “an outer circumferential support joined to a lower a surface of the outer circumferential member). Noting this, Figure 1 shows the circumferential support (13) being integral with a processing chamber (10) made of aluminum [paragraph 0026]. Since aluminum is a conductor, the outer circumferential support (13) is the other conductive member of said conductive base (11+13). Also, as can be seen in Figure 1 of Uchida, the central support (11) and the outer circumferential support (13) are configured to be separated. Next, as can best be seen in Figure 2, an outer circumferential surface of the central ceramic member (25) and an inner circumferential surface of the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (30) each change in diameter in an up-down direction. As can be seen on the following page in annotated Figure 2 of Uchida, a maximum diameter of the outer circumferential surface of the central ceramic member (25) is smaller than a maximum diameter of the inner circumferential surface of the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (30), and larger than a minimum diameter of the inner circumferential surface of the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (30). PNG media_image1.png 560 1140 media_image1.png Greyscale Lastly, in modifying Uchida in view of Aoto, the central ceramic member (25) is formed from alumina in accordance with the disclosure of Miwa. Due to being formed from alumina, the central ceramic member (25) is an electrical insulator comprising a ceramic material. Claim 2: Examiner directs attention to annotated Figure 2 provided below. PNG media_image2.png 574 1190 media_image2.png Greyscale As can be seen in the above annotated figure, a minimum diameter of the outer circumferential surface of the central ceramic member (25) is smaller than the minimum diameter of the inner circumferential surface of the outer circumferential ceramic member (30). Claim 6: As can be seen in Figure 1 of Uchida, the outer circumferential support (13) is an annular part disposed on an outer circumference of the central support (11) with a gap disposed between the outer circumferential support (13) and the central support (11). Claim 9: As was stated above in the rejection of claim 1, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the central member (25) of Uchida from alumina (which is a ceramic) in accordance with the disclosure of Miwa. Thus, the ceramic material of the central ceramic member (25) includes alumina in accordance with claim 9. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3 and 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. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Figures 1-3 of Aoto (U.S. PG Publication No. 2014/0069585 A1) show a member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (100) comprising a central ceramic member (9) having a wafer placement surface on an upper surface thereof [paragraph 0044]. In at least paragraphs [0021], [0032], and [0044] is the central ceramic member (9) disclosed as being made of ceramic. The member further comprises an annular outer circumferential ceramic member (131) disposed on an outer circumferential side of the central ceramic member (9). Please be advised that the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (131) is disclosed in paragraph [0065] as being formed of, for example, Al2O3 or Y2O3. Please be advised that the former (Al2O3) is alumina which is a ceramic, while the latter (Y2O3) is yttria which is also a ceramic. Thus, regardless of whether the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (131) is formed of alumina or yttria, it (131) is a ceramic member. As Figure 3 shows, the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (131) has a focus ring placement surface on upper surface thereof, and it is on this focus ring placement surface that a focus ring (21) [paragraph 0038] is disposed. Figures 1-3 show the member as further comprising a conductive base member (10) having a central support joined to a lower surface of the central ceramic member (9) to support the central ceramic member (9). Please be advised that the lower surface of the central ceramic member (9) is bonded to the conductive base member (10) by a bonding layer (20) [paragraph 0061]. Please be advised that the conductive base member (10) may be formed of, for example, titanium, kovar, or nobinite [paragraph 0068], each of which is an electrical conductor. As such, the base member (10) is a “conductive base member.” (Noted that claim 1 doesn’t specify as to what type of conductor the claimed “conductive base member” is). Additionally/Alternatively, the conductive base member (10) (see Figure 3) has an embedded metal portion (130) which is formed of a material having a higher thermal conductivity that the material for the base member (10), and which improves thermal conductivity of said base member (10) [paragraph 0069]. For at least this additional/alternative reason, said base member (10) constitutes a “conductive base member.” Next, be advised that the conductive base member (10) (see again Figure 3) has an outer circumferential support joined to a lower surface of the annular outer circumferential ceramic member (131) to support said annular outer circumferential ceramic member (131), wherein the central support and the outer circumferential support are “configured to be separated or integrated.” 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Vitale whose telephone number is (571)270-5098. 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Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MICHAEL VITALE/Examiner, Art Unit 3722 /SUNIL K SINGH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3722