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 without traverse of Species A and Sub-Species 1, indicating claims 1-5, 8-15, and 21-27 with all remaining claims canceled, in the reply filed on January 8, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 2, 9-11, 13-15, 21, 23, 24, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Niimi et al. [US 2022/0141945].
For claim 1, Niimi teaches a method for operating a radiation source apparatus (see Figs. 3, 5, and 8), comprising:
producing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation by emitting a laser onto a target material in a vessel (EUV light 101 generated by laser light 90 incident on tin target droplet DL at plasma generation region AR in chamber 10, see Fig. 3);
directing a gas from the vessel into a first debris handling device (tin trap 400 connected to exhaust port 10E via the exhaust pipe 10P, see [0068] and Figs. 3 and 8);
blocking the gas from the first debris handling device (gate valves 571a and 571b, see [00138] and [0139]); and
perform a maintenance process on the first debris handling device when the gas is blocked from the first debris handling device (tin trap is replaced, see [0139]).
For claim 11, Niimi teaches a method for operating a radiation source apparatus, comprising:
producing EUV radiation by emitting a laser onto a target material in a vessel (EUV light 101 generated by laser light 90 incident on tin target droplet DL at plasma generation region AR in chamber 10, see Fig. 3);
moving a gas away from the vessel through a first exhaust line coupling a gas outlet of the vessel to a pump (tin trap 400 and pump 453 connected to exhaust port 10E via the exhaust pipe 10P, see [0068], [0118], and Figs. 3, 5, and 8); and
removing a debris of the target material in the gas in the first exhaust line (collected by trap 400, see [0116]).
For claim 23, Niimi teaches method for operating a radiation source apparatus, comprising:
producing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation by emitting a laser beam from a laser source onto a target material in a vessel to form a plasma (EUV light 101 generated by laser light 90 incident on tin target droplet DL at plasma generation region AR in chamber 10, see Fig. 3);
moving a gas from the vessel through a gas outlet of the vessel into an exhaust pipe; driving the gas through the exhaust pipe toward a pump (tin trap 400 and pump 453 connected to exhaust port 10E via the exhaust pipe 10P, see [0068], [0118], and Figs. 3, 5, and 8); and
handling debris of the target material in the gas by a debris handling device coupled with the exhaust pipe and positioned between the gas outlet of the vessel and the pump (collected by trap 400, see [0116]).
For claim 2, Niimi teaches blocking the gas from the first debris handling device comprising: closing a debris isolation device between the first debris handling device and the vessel (gate valves 571a and 571b, see [00138] and [0139]).
For claim 9, Niimi teaches the first debris handling device is outside the vessel (separated by exhaust line 10P, see Figs. 3, 5, and 8).
For claim 10, Niimi teaches the first debris handling device is fluidly connected to the vessel by an exhaust line (exhaust line 10P, see Figs. 3, 5, and 8).
For claim 13, Niimi teaches removing the debris of the target material in the gas in the first exhaust line is performed using a debris handling device coupled with the first exhaust line (tin adhered to tube member 511, see [0116]).
For claim 14, Niimi teaches perform a maintenance process on the debris handling device after removing the debris of the target material in the gas in the first exhaust line (removed, cleaned, and reattached, see [0138]-[0141]).
For claim 15, Niimi teaches the removing the debris of the target material in the gas in the first exhaust line is performed during producing the EUV radiation (collected during plasma generation, see [0068]-[0069]).
For claim 21, Niimi teaches the maintenance process is performed in an independent chamber isolated from the vessel by the closed debris isolation device (housing 410, see Fig. 8).
For claim 24, Niimi teaches handling the debris of the target material in the gas comprises scrubbing the gas using the debris handling device (tin in the residual gas is dry scrubbed by contact with and deposition on the tube member 511, see [0116]).
For claim 26, Niimi teaches isolating the debris handling device from the vessel by operating a debris isolation device disposed along the exhaust pipe between the gas outlet of the vessel and the debris handling device (gate valves 571a and 571b, see [00138] and [0139]).
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 3-5, 22, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niimi.
For claims 3, 5, 22, and 25, Niimi teaches the housing 410 and body 430 can be reused once the tin adhering to the surface has been removed, see [0140]-[0141], but fails to teach in the first embodiment in Figs. 5 and 8, heating the first debris handling device using a heating unit disposed adjacent to the debris handling device, wherein heating the first debris handling device is performed with a temperature higher than a melting point of the target material, wherein the maintenance process further comprises: allowing a liquefied debris of the target material to flow from the first debris handling device into a box fluidly connected to the first debris handling device.
Niimi teaches in the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, heating the first debris handling device using a heating unit disposed adjacent to the debris handling device, wherein heating the first debris handling device is performed with a temperature higher than a melting point of the target material, wherein the maintenance process further comprises: allowing a liquefied debris of the target material to flow from the first debris handling device into a box fluidly connected to the first debris handling device (plate-like member 431 is heated by the heater 433 to a temperature equal to or higher than 231.93° C, tin adhering to the plate-like member 431 falls from the plate-like member 431 by gravity and is collected in the drain tank 410d, see Fig, 4 and [0093]).
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 heating maintenance as taught by Niimi in Fig. 4 in the removal of tin from the main body and housing as taught by paragraphs [0140] and [0141] of Niimi in order to clean the tin trap for reuse using the known method of heating the tin to achieve known result of removal of tin from a tin trap surface.
For claim 4, Niimi teaches the first debris handling device is a scrubber (tin in the residual gas is dry scrubbed by contact with and deposition on the tube member 511, see [0116]).
Claims 8 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niimi in view of Iyer [US 2022/0111324].
For claims 8 and 12, Niimi teaches the production process is producing the EUV radiation (see Fig. 3 and [0068]), but fails to teach the maintenance process is performed during production process and terminating moving the gas away from the vessel through the first exhaust line; and moving the gas away from the vessel through a second exhaust line coupling the gas outlet of the vessel to the pump when the moving the gas away from the vessel through the first exhaust line is terminated.
Iyer teaches the maintenance process is performed during production process (trap filters connected to the inlet and are interchangeable while the semiconductor processing tool remains in operation, [0053]) and terminating moving the gas away from the vessel through the first exhaust line (shut off the flow of gas effluent to one or more used or exhausted filters, step 505, see Figs. 2 and 5); and moving the gas away from the vessel through a second exhaust line coupling the gas outlet of the vessel to the pump when the moving the gas away from the vessel through the first exhaust line is terminated (the gas effluent is directed to an unused filter by activating a bypass mechanism in step 505, see Figs. 2 and 5).
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 bypass mechanism to a separate trap filter as taught by Iyer in the maintenance as taught by Niimi in order to maintain throughput and eliminate downtime for trap filter maintenance.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niimi in view of Yabuta et al [US 2007/0018119].
For claim 27, Niimi fails to teach isolating the debris handling device from the vessel comprises blocking debris propagation using a shielding film curtain having a plurality of fins, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of fins are disposed along a flow path between the vessel and the pump.
Yabuta teaches isolating the debris handling device from the vessel comprises blocking debris propagation using a shielding film curtain having a plurality of fins (fins 31, 31a, 31b, 31, see [0070] and Figs. 3a-3c, fins 36a, 36b, 36c, see [0085] and Figs. 5a-5c]), wherein at least a portion of the plurality of fins are disposed along a flow path between the vessel and the pump (between the outlet opening 6 of the radiation source chamber 10 and an evacuation device 9, see Fig. 1 and 3a and 5a).
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 fin mechanism as taught by Yabuta in the isolation system as taught by Niimi to further reduce the likelihood of debris entering the pump while allowing for maintaining pressure in the vessel.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chien et al. [US 2018/0173117] teaches debris trap in and EUV generation chamber.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steven H Whitesell whose telephone number is (571)270-3942. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM (MST).
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/Steven H Whitesell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759