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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 6-11, 13, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over STETTNER et al. (hereinafter “STETTNER”) (US 20230178398 A1) in view of Ravid et al. (hereinafter “Ravid”) (US 20160027675 A1), and further in view of SADEGHI et al. (hereinafter “SADEGHI”) (US 20220270901 A1).
As to claims 1 and 13, STETTNER teaches a system and method for susceptor alignment, comprising:
a processing chamber for processing substrates ([Fig. 1] [0063] The reaction chamber of the deposition device 20 shown in FIG. 1);
a susceptor configured to hold a substrate ([Fig. 1] [0063] The support arms 10 support a susceptor 2, on which a substrate wafer 1 rests during the deposition of an epitaxial layer);
a ring ([Fig. 1] [0063] A pre-heating ring 3 is arranged between the side wall of the deposition device and the susceptor 2);
a camera system configured to capture camera data comprising image data associated with the susceptor and the ring ([Fig. 2] [0014, 0067] a camera system for monitoring the width of a section of a gap between the susceptor and the pre-heating ring…The camera system 7 shown in FIG. 2 comprises a camera for observing an image excerpt 6 during the rotation of the susceptor 2 by means of the support shaft 9. The image excerpt 6 captures a radially extending region which preferably encloses a section of the outer circumference of the substrate wafer 1, a section of the outer circumference of the susceptor 2, and a section of the inner circumference of the pre-heating ring 3 and thus also a section of the gap 5 between the susceptor 2 and the pre-heating ring 3); and
a computing device ([Figs. 1-2, control device 21]) capable of: creating, within the substrate processing chamber, camera data comprising image data associated with the susceptor and the ring; and adjusting a position of the susceptor based on the image data to create a gap having a target size between the susceptor and the ring ([Figs. 1-2] [0011, 0014, 0031, 0064-0067] monitoring whether a misalignment of the susceptor exists with respect to its position relative to the position of a pre-heating ring surrounding it… if at least one of the misalignments is present, elimination of the respective misalignment… an image processing device for determining the presence of a misalignment of the susceptor with respect to its position relative to the position of the pre-heating ring… a drive unit for moving and tilting the susceptor support shaft, and a control device for generating a signal in the event of a misalignment, wherein the signal causes the drive unit to move in a manner that corrects the existing misalignment… it is found that the observed width of the gap between the susceptor and the pre-heating ring differs from the width of the gap that was observed and stored when the support shaft and the susceptor were positioned as intended. This misalignment of the support shaft is corrected by tilting the support shaft into the intended position along the vertical axis through the center of the pre-heating ring, so that the observed width of the gap corresponds to the stored width of the gap… In the intended arrangement of the susceptor 2 with respect to its position relative to the position of the pre-heating ring 3 surrounding it, a gap 5 is provided between the pre-heating ring 3 and the susceptor 2, the width of which is constant along the outer circumference of the susceptor and the inner circumference of the pre-heating ring… in the first case the observed width of the gap 5 between the susceptor 2 and the pre-heating ring 3 changes… The image excerpt 6 captures… a section of the inner circumference of the pre-heating ring 3 and thus also a section of the gap 5 between the susceptor 2 and the pre-heating ring 3… The information contained in the image excerpt 6 is evaluated by means of the image processing device 8, in particular with regard to the width of the gap 5… The control device 21 is used to check whether a misalignment of the susceptor 2 and/or the support shaft 9 is present and, as necessary, if a misalignment of the support shaft 9 exists it generates a signal that sets the drive device 12 (FIG. 1) into motion that corrects the existing misalignment of the support shaft).
STETTNER teaches a system and method for susceptor alignment by using the camera gathered information to determine the relative spatial arrangement of the susceptor and the ring, and adjusting the position of the susceptor based on the determined spatial information to obtain a target gap between the susceptor and the ring [0011, 0014, 0031, 0064-0067]. STETTNER does not explicitly teach creating and using a three-dimensional (3D) map of the susceptor and the ring based on camera data.
However, Ravid teaches a system and method for processing substrates. Especially, Ravid teaches providing static and dynamic 3D mapping of the gap across the plating area by using at least a camera and a plurality of sensors to create a three-dimensional map of top surface of a susceptor assembly to determine a gap between the top surface of the susceptor assembly and nearby components, and a feedback circuit in communication with at least one gap control actuation device, the controller providing a signal to the at least one gap control actuation device to direct the device to move one or more of the susceptor assembly and the nearby components to change the gap [0007, 0016-0018, 0048, 0064-0065, 0076, 0078].
In the same field of endeavor, SADEGHI teaches a system and method for real-time in-situ inspection and control of substrate processing systems. Especially, SADEGHI teaches using an arrangement of cameras for capturing three-dimensional images of the components within the substrate processing systems to create 3D point cloud of an object, such as a wafer 2308 and edge coupling ring 2314,wherein the 3D point cloud can be directly analyzed or can be converted into a mesh, a surface model, or a 3D model [0163-0165, 0288-0292].
STETTNER and Ravid and SADEGHI are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of processing a substrate within a processing chamber. At the time before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use 3D image processing in combining with camera captured data with the processing chamber to determine potential gap misalignment and perform corresponding gap control actuation based on the 3D data and camera captured data. The suggestion for doing so would have been obvious to use camera captured data and/or 3D image data to determine relative spatial arrangement of the susceptor and the ring within the processing chamber to determine whether a target gap between the susceptor and the ring has existed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Ravid and SADEGHI with the teachings of STETTNER for the purpose of determining a three-dimensional (3D) map of the susceptor and the ring within the processing chamber to determine and adjust a gap between the susceptor and the ring as specified in the claims 1 and 13.
As to claims 6 and 18, STETTNER and Ravid and SADEGHI combined to teach the gap is created based on using an optimization algorithm to adjust the position of the susceptor based on the 3D map [STETTNER: 0011, 0014, 0031, 0064-0067] [Ravid: 0007, 0016-0018, 0048, 0064-0065, 0076, 0078] [SADEGHI: 0163-0165, 0288-0292].
As to claims 7 and 19, STETTNER and Ravid and SADEGHI combined to teach the gap is created based on using a machine learning model that is trained to adjust the position of the susceptor based on the 3D map [STETTNER: 0011, 0014, 0031, 0064-0067] [Ravid: 0007, 0016-0018, 0048, 0064-0065, 0076, 0078] [SADEGHI: 0163-0165, 0288-0292].
As to claim 8, STETTNER teaches the gap between the susceptor and the ring is substantially equidistant [0011, 0014, 0031, 0064-0067].
As to claim 9, STETTNER teaches adjusting the position of the susceptor further comprises adjusting the susceptor so that the susceptor is substantially level with the ring [0011, 0014-0016, 0031, 0064-0067].
As to claims 10 and 20, STETTNER teaches the susceptor comprises an arm and a substrate holder, wherein the arm of the susceptor is configured to translate the substrate holder within a substrate processing chamber and tilt the substrate holder in order to create the gap [0011, 0014-0016, 0031, 0064-0067].
As to claim 11, Ravid teaches the camera data is provided by a camera system comprising three cameras positioned along a circumference of the ring [0008, 0064-0068, 0072].
Claim(s) 2-5, 12, 14-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over STETTNER in view of Ravid and SADEGHI, and further in view of Dhandapani et al. (hereinafter “Dhandapani”) (US 20210407065 A1).
As to claims 2 and 14, STETTNER teaches obtain position data from cameras [0014, 0067]. STETTNER and SADEGHI and Ravid do not explicitly teach obtain position data from a two-dimensional (2D) profilometer.
However, Dhandapani teaches a substrate processing system with in-line optical measurement functionality. Especially, Dhandapani teaches receiving calibration images and obtaining profilometer ground truth measurements at particular locations, associating those measurements with the images and training a neural network [Abstract, 0060-0063].
It would have been obvious to an ordinary person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Dhandapani with the teachings of STETTNER and SADEGHI and Ravid for the purpose of improving image derived semiconductor method using additional profilometer information as ground truth.
As to claims 3 and 15, SADEGHI teaches the 3D map is created by a machine learning model that is trained through a supervised learning process involving the position data to create 3D maps [0174-0176, 0207-0218].
As to claims 4 and 16, Dhandapani teaches receiving additional position data from the 2D profilometer [Abstract, 0060-0063]. SADEGHI teaches retraining the machine learning model using the additional position data, wherein the retrained machine learning model is used to update the 3D map [0174-0176, 0207-0218].
As to claims 5 and 17, SADEGHI teaches the supervised learning process comprises iteratively adjusting parameters of the machine learning model until a characteristic of the 3D map matches a characteristic indicated by the position data [0174-0176, 0207-0218].
As to claim 12, STETTNER teaches a method for positioning a substrate susceptor, comprising:
receiving camera data comprising image data and depth data associated with the susceptor and the ring ([Fig. 2] [0014, 0067] a camera system for monitoring the width of a section of a gap between the susceptor and the pre-heating ring…The camera system 7 shown in FIG. 2 comprises a camera for observing an image excerpt 6 during the rotation of the susceptor 2 by means of the support shaft 9. The image excerpt 6 captures a radially extending region which preferably encloses a section of the outer circumference of the substrate wafer 1, a section of the outer circumference of the susceptor 2, and a section of the inner circumference of the pre-heating ring 3 and thus also a section of the gap 5 between the susceptor 2 and the pre-heating ring 3);
creating, within the substrate processing chamber, camera data comprising image data associated with the susceptor and the ring; and adjusting a position of the susceptor based on the image data to create a gap having a target size between the susceptor and the ring ([Figs. 1-2] [0011, 0014, 0031, 0064-0067] monitoring whether a misalignment of the susceptor exists with respect to its position relative to the position of a pre-heating ring surrounding it… if at least one of the misalignments is present, elimination of the respective misalignment… an image processing device for determining the presence of a misalignment of the susceptor with respect to its position relative to the position of the pre-heating ring… a drive unit for moving and tilting the susceptor support shaft, and a control device for generating a signal in the event of a misalignment, wherein the signal causes the drive unit to move in a manner that corrects the existing misalignment… it is found that the observed width of the gap between the susceptor and the pre-heating ring differs from the width of the gap that was observed and stored when the support shaft and the susceptor were positioned as intended. This misalignment of the support shaft is corrected by tilting the support shaft into the intended position along the vertical axis through the center of the pre-heating ring, so that the observed width of the gap corresponds to the stored width of the gap… In the intended arrangement of the susceptor 2 with respect to its position relative to the position of the pre-heating ring 3 surrounding it, a gap 5 is provided between the pre-heating ring 3 and the susceptor 2, the width of which is constant along the outer circumference of the susceptor and the inner circumference of the pre-heating ring… in the first case the observed width of the gap 5 between the susceptor 2 and the pre-heating ring 3 changes… The image excerpt 6 captures… a section of the inner circumference of the pre-heating ring 3 and thus also a section of the gap 5 between the susceptor 2 and the pre-heating ring 3… The information contained in the image excerpt 6 is evaluated by means of the image processing device 8, in particular with regard to the width of the gap 5… The control device 21 is used to check whether a misalignment of the susceptor 2 and/or the support shaft 9 is present and, as necessary, if a misalignment of the support shaft 9 exists it generates a signal that sets the drive device 12 (FIG. 1) into motion that corrects the existing misalignment of the support shaft).
STETTNER teaches a system and method for susceptor alignment by using the camera gathered information to determine the relative spatial arrangement of the susceptor and the ring, and adjusting the position of the susceptor based on the determined spatial information to obtain a target gap between the susceptor and the ring [0011, 0014, 0031, 0064-0067]. STETTNER does not explicitly teach creating and using a three-dimensional (3D) map of the susceptor and the ring based on camera data using a machine learning model trained, based on position data from a two-dimensional (2D) profilometer indicating a location of the susceptor relative to the ring, to create 3D maps; receiving additional position data from the 2D profilometer; receiving additional camera data; and retraining the machine learning model using the additional position data, wherein the retrained machine learning model is used to update the 3D map.
However, Ravid teaches a system and method for processing substrates. Especially, Ravid teaches providing static and dynamic 3D mapping of the gap across the plating area by using at least a camera and a plurality of sensors to create a three-dimensional map of top surface of a susceptor assembly to determine a gap between the top surface of the susceptor assembly and nearby components, and a feedback circuit in communication with at least one gap control actuation device, the controller providing a signal to the at least one gap control actuation device to direct the device to move one or more of the susceptor assembly and the nearby components to change the gap [0007, 0016-0018, 0048, 0064-0065, 0076, 0078].
SADEGHI teaches a system and method for real-time in-situ inspection and control of substrate processing systems. Especially, SADEGHI teaches using an arrangement of cameras for capturing three-dimensional images of the components within the substrate processing systems to create 3D point cloud of an object, such as a wafer 2308 and edge coupling ring 2314,wherein the 3D point cloud can be directly analyzed or can be converted into a mesh, a surface model, or a 3D model [0163-0165, 0288-0292]. SADEGHI further teaches the 3D map is created by a machine learning model that is trained through a supervised learning process involving the position data to create 3D maps, and retraining the machine learning model using the additional position data, wherein the retrained machine learning model is used to update the 3D map [0174-0176, 0207-0218].
Dhandapani teaches a substrate processing system with in-line optical measurement functionality. Especially, Dhandapani teaches receiving calibration images and obtaining profilometer ground truth measurements at particular locations, associating those measurements with the images and training a neural network [Abstract, 0060-0063].
STETTNER and Ravid and SADEGHI and Dhandapani are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of processing a substrate within a processing chamber. At the time before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use 3D image processing in combining with camera captured data with the processing chamber to determine location of components for potential gap misalignment and perform corresponding gap control actuation based on the 3D data and camera captured data and additional profilometer information and refined neural network. The suggestion for doing so would have been obvious to use camera captured data and 3D image data and additional profilometer information as ground truth to determine relative spatial arrangement of the susceptor and the ring within the processing chamber to determine whether a target gap between the susceptor and the ring has existed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Ravid and SADEGHI and Dhandapani with the teachings of STETTNER for the purpose of determining a three-dimensional (3D) map of the susceptor and the ring within the processing chamber to determine and adjust a gap between the susceptor and the ring as specified in the claim 12.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHIPENG WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5437. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-7.
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/ZHIPENG WANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115
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