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 .
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 1-5, 8-17, and 20-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Albert et al. [US 2022/0350260] .
For claims 1, 13, and 25, Albert teaches an overlay metrology system and associated method comprising:
a collection sub-system including an objective lens (see Figs. 4, 5A and 6 and [0137]) and detector (4, 19) located at a pupil plane (see [0059], pupil imaging, see [0077], detection pupil DP, see Fig. 14A and [0127]);
an illumination sub-system comprising: one or more broadband illumination sources configured to generate one or more broadband illumination beams (broadband source, xenon lamp 11, see [0055] and [0056]); and
one or more illumination optics configured to direct the one or more broadband illumination beams to an overlay target on a sample at incidence angles outside a numerical aperture of the objective lens (607 outside 604, see Fig. 6), in an outside-the-lens (OTL) configuration (see Fig. 6), wherein the illumination comprises two mutually coherent broadband illumination beams oriented at opposing azimuth incidence angles (illuminating from two opposite directions in order to capture different diffraction orders, see [0125]-[0126]), wherein the overlay target in accordance with a metrology recipe includes one or more cells having periodic features formed grating-over-grating structures (810, see [0082] and Fig. 8a); and
a controller (processor PU, see [0060] and [0138]) communicatively coupled to the detector, the controller including one or more processors configured to execute program instructions causing the one or more processors to implement the metrology recipe by:
receiving one or more pupil images of the one or more cells from the detector in the pupil plane, wherein a respective one of the one or more pupil images include first-order diffraction from at least one of the one or more broadband illumination beams (first order information 605, see [0071]), wherein spectra of the first-order diffraction is spectrally dispersed in the pupil plane (pupil measurement by scatterometry, see [0054] and [0055] and Fig. 8B, detection pupils at different modes, see [0125]-[0127] and Fig. 14A and 14B); and
generating an overlay measurement of the sample based on selected portions of the one or more pupil images corresponding to selected wavelengths of the spectra of the first-order diffraction (see [0044] and [0055]), wherein the one or more pupil images are free of zero-order diffraction due to the OTL configuration (specular radiation 607, 809 is outside the numerical aperture 604, 811, see Figs. 6 and 8B, detection pupils at different modes, see [0125]-[0127] and Fig. 14A and 14B).
For claims 2 and 14, Albert teaches the one or more pupil images include a first pupil image of a first cell of the overlay target and a second pupil image of a second cell of the overlay target (measurement by first and second mode, see [0058]-[0059], coherent illumination, using apertures 13, see [0061]-[0067], illumination pupils captured using illumination at different modes in opposing directions, see [0125]-[0127], and Fig. 14A and 14B, incident angles 0(S) and 0(N), shown in Fig. 5A, pupil image formed by both illumination modes in opposing directions, see [0059] and [0126] and Fig. 14A).
For claims 3 and 15, Albert teaches a respective one of the one or more pupil images is formed based on two mutually coherent broadband illumination beams of the one or more broadband illumination beams (measurement by first and second mode, see [0058]-[0059], coherent illumination, using apertures 13, see [0061]-[0067], illumination pupils captured using illumination at different modes in opposing directions, see [0125]-[0127], and Fig. 14A and 14B, incident angles 0(S) and 0(N), shown in Fig. 5A, pupil image formed by both illumination modes in opposing directions, see [0059] and [0126] and Fig. 14A).
For claims 4 and 16, Albert teaches the two mutually coherent broadband illumination beams are oriented at opposing azimuth incidence angles (measurement by first and second mode, see [0058]-[0059], coherent illumination, using apertures 13, see [0061]-[0067], illumination pupils captured using illumination at different modes in opposing directions, see [0126] and Fig. 14A and 14B, incident angles 0(S) and 0(N), shown in Fig. 5A, pupil image formed by both illumination modes in opposing directions, see [0059] and [0126] and Fig. 14A).
For claims 5 and 17, Albert teaches the respective one of the one or more pupil images is formed based on a single lobe of the first-order diffraction from each of the two mutually coherent broadband illumination beams (measurement by first and second mode, see [0058]-[0059], coherent illumination, using apertures 13, see [0061]-[0067], illumination pupils captured using illumination at different modes in opposing directions, see [0125]-[0127], and Fig. 14A and 14B, incident angles 0(S) and 0(N), shown in Fig. 5A, pupil image formed by both illumination modes in opposing directions, see [0059] and [0126] and Fig. 14A).
For claims 8 and 20, Albert teaches the one or more broadband illumination sources comprise a rotated quadrupole illumination source providing oblique illumination beams along two orthogonal directions in the pupil plane (see Fig. 5D or [0125] and [0126]).
For claims 9 and 22, Albert teaches the one or more processors are further configured to: store the overlay measurement in memory when implementing the metrology recipe (measurement recipe executed by processor, see [0049], [0138] and Fig. 15); and adjust one or more process parameters based on the overlay measurement (adjustments, for example, may be made to exposures of subsequent substrates, see [0041]).
For claims 10 and 21, Albert teaches the detector includes a charge-coupled device or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor device (see [0059]).
For claims 11, 12, 23, and 24, Albert teaches the sample includes a substrate/wafer (W, see Figs. 4, 5a, and 6).
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 6, 7, 18, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albert in view of Fu et al. [US 10,101,676].
For claims 6, 7, 18, and 19, Albert teaches in Fig. 12(f) identifying a reduced sensitivity due to filtering of the imaging signal but fails to teach the overlay measurement is based on per-pixel overlay measurements associated with a plurality of wavelengths in the first-order diffraction, wherein generating the overlay measurement of the sample based on the selected portions of the one or more pupil images corresponding to the selected wavelengths of the spectra of the first-order diffraction further comprises: identifying one or more regions of the one or more pupil images associated with the selected wavelengths, wherein the one or more regions correspond to one or more regions of stability providing insensitivity of the overlay measurement to overlay process variations within a selected tolerance.
Fu teaches teach the overlay measurement is based on per-pixel overlay measurements associated with a plurality of wavelengths in the first-order diffraction (pixel measurements at sensor 118, see Figs. 1 and 16 and col. 10 lines 1-14), wherein generating the overlay measurement of the sample based on the selected portions of the one or more pupil images corresponding to the selected wavelengths of the spectra of the first-order diffraction further comprises: identifying one or more regions of the one or more pupil images associated with the selected wavelengths (see Fig. 15), wherein the one or more regions correspond to one or more regions of stability providing insensitivity of the overlay measurement to overlay process variations within a selected tolerance (collection angle and wavelength required to capture 1st order diffraction, see col. 10 line 60 - col. 11 line 41, and within sensitivity requirements, see col. 13 lines 1-7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the overlay measurement as taught by Fu in the collection as taught by Albert in order to establish requisite metrology recipe parameters to ensure accurate measurement.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on February 2, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant argues on pages 9 and 10, regarding claims 1, 13, and 25, that Albert fails to teach the newly amended subject matter recited in claims 1, 13, and 25.
Albert teaches in paragraph [0058] and shows in Fig. 5A the illumination comprises two mutually coherent broadband illumination beams oriented at opposing azimuth incidence angles formed by the rotating aperture plate 13 in order to capture first order diffractions in two separate images. Albert teaches in Fig. 6 and 8B providing outside the lens illumination from a single direction where the pupil plane captures only ordered diffracted light from the target pattern. Albert teaches in [0125]-[0127] illuminating from two opposite directions in order to capture different diffraction orders in the detection pupil. Accordingly, Albert teaches the salient features of the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jeong et al. [US 2013/0278942] teaches in Fig. 2A simultaneous illumination from opposing directions used to capture ordered diffraction and omit specular reflection.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/Steven H Whitesell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759