DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to communication received on 5/16/24.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The text of those sections of AIA 35 U.S.C. code not present in this action can be found in previous office actions dated 7/6/26.
Election/Restrictions
Claim 11 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 8/4/26.
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) 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inatomi US PGPub 20142016506 hereinafter INATOMI in view of Liu et al. US PGPub 20090159424A1 hereinafter LIU.
As for claim 1, INATOMI teaches “There is provided a substrate processing apparatus including: a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate on which a resist pattern is formed…a vapor supply unit configured to supply vapor of a first processing solution” (abstract, lines 1-6), i.e. A substrate-processing method for processing a substrate.
INATOMI further teaches “substrate holder configured to hold a substrate on which a resist pattern is formed” (paragraph 15, lines 3-4), and “Accordingly, by way of example, a rotation speed of the wafer Wand the moving speed of the nozzle may be determined by, e.g., calculation or by previous experiment based on a length of the strip-shaped discharge opening 16c so as to allow the vapor 44 of the first processing solution to be discharged on the entire surface of the wafer W without missing parts in a radial direction thereof” (paragraph 207, lines 6-12) i.e. (A) holding the substrate by a substrate holder in a process chamber and rotating the substrate.
INATOMI teaches “FIG.19 is a perspective view illustrating an example vapor supply nozzle provided with a strip-shaped discharge opening” (paragraph 36), and “the vapor supply nozzle supplies vapor of a first processing solution including a hydrophobicizing agent for hydrophobicizing a surface of a resist pattern on the wafer W” (paragraph 63, lines 3-6), i.e. (B) discharging gas from a discharge hole of a nozzle gas discharge mechanism toward the substrate that is rotating in (A).
INATOMI teaches “The nozzle scan arm 18 is rotatable about a motor 19 in a direction by being driven by the motor 19” (paragraph 63, lines 6-7) and “When the vapor supply nozzle 16 is located at the 'position above the approximate center of the wafer W'” (paragraph 98, lines 1-2), i.e. (C) moving the nozzle gas discharge mechanism relative to the substrate in a direction parallel to a surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder so that the discharge hole passes over a center of the substrate.
INATOMI is silent on wherein in (B), a flow rate of the gas discharged from the discharge hole is changed in accordance with a surface area of a section of the substrate, the section being faced by the discharge hole of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism that is moving relative to the substrate in (C).
LIU teaches “The present invention generally provides apparatus and method for processing a substrate” (abstract, lines 1-2).
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47), i.e. wherein in (B), a flow rate of the gas discharged from the discharge hole is changed in accordance with a surface area of a section of the substrate, the section being faced by the discharge hole of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism that is moving relative to the substrate in (C).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include wherein in (B), a flow rate of the gas discharged from the discharge hole is changed in accordance with a surface area of a section of the substrate, the section being faced by the discharge hole of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism that is moving relative to the substrate in (C) in the process of INATOMI because LIU teaches that controlling the flow rate of the gas relative to the surface area of the substrate allows for control of the gas distribution across the surface.
As for claim 2, INATOMI teaches “the second embodiment, a moving speed of the vapor supply nozzle 16b that is moved from the edge of the wafer W toward the center of the wafer Wis set so as to allow the discharge opening 16c to reach the approximate center of the wafer Win about 1 to about 5 seconds in case of the 12 inch wafer W, for example). Accordingly, by way of example, a rotation speed of the wafer Wand the moving speed of the nozzle may be determined by, e.g., calculation or by previous experiment based on a length of the strip-shaped discharge opening 16c so as to allow the vapor 44 of the first processing solution to be discharged on the entire surface of the wafer W without missing parts in a radial direction thereof,” (paragraph 207, lines 1-12), i.e. (C), a speed of a relative movement of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism is changed in accordance with the surface area of the section of the substrate.
As for claim 3, INATOMI is silent on in (C), the speed of the relative movement on an outer edge side of the substrate is set to be lower than the speed of the relative movement at a center area of the substrate.
INATOMI does teach “the second embodiment, a moving speed of the vapor supply nozzle 16b that is moved from the edge of the wafer W toward the center of the wafer Wis set so as to allow the discharge opening 16c to reach the approximate center of the wafer Win about 1 to about 5 seconds in case of the 12 inch wafer W, for example). Accordingly, by way of example, a rotation speed of the wafer Wand the moving speed of the nozzle may be determined by, e.g., calculation or by previous experiment based on a length of the strip-shaped discharge opening 16c so as to allow the vapor 44 of the first processing solution to be discharged on the entire surface of the wafer W without missing parts in a radial direction thereof,” (paragraph 207, lines 1-12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the relative movement such that the desired coverage of application of the vapor is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 4, INATOMI is silent on in (B), the flow rate of the gas is set to be higher as a surface area of the section becomes larger.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 5, INATOMI is silent on wherein in (B), the flow rate of the gas on an outer edge side of the substrate is set to be higher than the flow rate of the gas at a center area of the substrate.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 6, INATOMI is silent on in (B), the flow rate of the gas is set in accordance with a surface area of the substrate, the surface area including a surface area of a pattern formed at the surface of the substrate.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 7, INATOMI is silent wherein in (B), the surface of the substrate is divided into multiple sections, and the flow rate of the gas is set for each of the multiple sections.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 8, INATOMI is silent wherein in (B), the flow rate of the gas is set in accordance with a target shape of a film to be formed on the surface of the substrate.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato US 2021/0249265 hereinafter KATO in view of Inatomi US PGPub 20142016506 hereinafter INATOMI in view of Liu et al. US PGPub 20090159424A1 hereinafter LIU.
As for claim 1, KATO teaches “A method of depositing a silicon film on a recess formed in a surface of a substrate is provided” (abstract, lines 1-2), i.e. a substrate-processing method for processing a substrate.
KATO teaches “illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, an upper surface of the rotary table 2 is provided with circular recesses 24 on which multiple (five in the example illustrated) substrates are placed along the rotation direction (the circumferential direction) of the rotary table” (paragraph 21, lines 1-5), i.e. (A) holding the substrate by a substrate holder in a process chamber.
KATO further teaches “The reactant gas nozzle 31 is connected to a source (not illustrated) of disilane (Si2H6) gas as a reactant gas through piping, a flow controller, and the like that are not illustrated” (paragraph 23, lines 5-7), and “Si2H6 gas is supplied from the reactant gas nozzle 31, and SiH3 formed by pyrolyzing the Si2H6 gas is adsorbed onto the surface of the wafer W as a molecular layer” (paragraph 27, lines 9-12), i.e. (B) discharging gas from a discharge hole of a nozzle gas discharge mechanism.
KATO is silent on rotating the substrate and (C) moving the nozzle gas discharge mechanism relative to the substrate in a direction parallel to a surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder so that the discharge hole passes over a center of the substrate.
INATOMI teaches INATOMI does teach “the second embodiment, a moving speed of the vapor supply nozzle 16b that is moved from the edge of the wafer W toward the center of the wafer Wis set so as to allow the discharge opening 16c to reach the approximate center of the wafer Win about 1 to about 5 seconds in case of the 12 inch wafer W, for example). Accordingly, by way of example, a rotation speed of the wafer Wand the moving speed of the nozzle may be determined by, e.g., calculation or by previous experiment based on a length of the strip-shaped discharge opening 16c so as to allow the vapor 44 of the first processing solution to be discharged on the entire surface of the wafer W without missing parts in a radial direction thereof,” (paragraph 207, lines 1-12), i.e. rotating the substrate.
INATOMI teaches “The nozzle scan arm 18 is rotatable about a motor 19 in a direction by being driven by the motor 19” (paragraph 63, lines 6-7) and “When the vapor supply nozzle 16 is located at the 'position above the approximate center of the wafer W'” (paragraph 98, lines 1-2), i.e. (C) moving the nozzle gas discharge mechanism relative to the substrate in a direction parallel to a surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder so that the discharge hole passes over a center of the substrate.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the nozzle and rotating substrate of INATOMI to apply the gas of KATO such that the process includes rotating the substrate and (C) moving the nozzle gas discharge mechanism relative to the substrate in a direction parallel to a surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder so that the discharge hole passes over a center of the substrate because INTOMI teaches that such a process can ensure than an entire surface of the wafer can be exposed to the gas without any missing parts.
KATO and INATOMI are silent on wherein in (B), a flow rate of the gas discharged from the discharge hole is changed in accordance with a surface area of a section of the substrate, the section being faced by the discharge hole of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism that is moving relative to the substrate in (C).
LIU teaches “The present invention generally provides apparatus and method for processing a substrate” (abstract, lines 1-2).
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47), i.e. wherein in (B), a flow rate of the gas discharged from the discharge hole is changed in accordance with a surface area of a section of the substrate, the section being faced by the discharge hole of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism that is moving relative to the substrate in (C).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include wherein in (B), a flow rate of the gas discharged from the discharge hole is changed in accordance with a surface area of a section of the substrate, the section being faced by the discharge hole of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism that is moving relative to the substrate in (C) in the process of KATO and INATOMI because LIU teaches that controlling the flow rate of the gas relative to the surface area of the substrate allows for control of the gas distribution across the surface.
As for claim 2, KATO is silent on wherein in (C), a speed of a relative movement of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism is changed in accordance with the surface area of the section of the substrate.
INATOMI does teach “the second embodiment, a moving speed of the vapor supply nozzle 16b that is moved from the edge of the wafer W toward the center of the wafer Wis set so as to allow the discharge opening 16c to reach the approximate center of the wafer Win about 1 to about 5 seconds in case of the 12 inch wafer W, for example). Accordingly, by way of example, a rotation speed of the wafer Wand the moving speed of the nozzle may be determined by, e.g., calculation or by previous experiment based on a length of the strip-shaped discharge opening 16c so as to allow the vapor 44 of the first processing solution to be discharged on the entire surface of the wafer W without missing parts in a radial direction thereof,” (paragraph 207, lines 1-12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the relative movement such that the desired coverage of application of the vapor is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 3, KATO is silent on wherein in (C), the speed of the relative movement on an outer edge side of the substrate is set to be lower than the speed of the relative movement at a center area of the substrate.
INATOMI does teach “the second embodiment, a moving speed of the vapor supply nozzle 16b that is moved from the edge of the wafer W toward the center of the wafer Wis set so as to allow the discharge opening 16c to reach the approximate center of the wafer Win about 1 to about 5 seconds in case of the 12 inch wafer W, for example). Accordingly, by way of example, a rotation speed of the wafer Wand the moving speed of the nozzle may be determined by, e.g., calculation or by previous experiment based on a length of the strip-shaped discharge opening 16c so as to allow the vapor 44 of the first processing solution to be discharged on the entire surface of the wafer W without missing parts in a radial direction thereof,” (paragraph 207, lines 1-12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the relative movement such that the desired coverage of application of the vapor is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 4, KATO is silent on wherein in (B), the flow rate of the gas is set to be higher as a surface area of the section becomes larger.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 5, KATO is silent on wherein in (B), the flow rate of the gas on an outer edge side of the substrate is set to be higher than the flow rate of the gas at a center area of the substrate.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 6, KATO is silent on wherein in (B), the flow rate of the gas is set in accordance with a surface area of the substrate, the surface area including a surface area of a pattern formed at the surface of the substrate.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 7, KATO is silent on wherein in (B), the surface of the substrate is divided into multiple sections, and the flow rate of the gas is set for each of the multiple sections.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 8, KATO is silent on wherein in (B), the flow rate of the gas is set in accordance with a target shape of a film to be formed on the surface of the substrate.
LIU further teaches “The distribution of the process gas in the process volume 403, thus, degrees of exposure of surface areas of the substrate 406 may be controlled using the gas supply assembly 410. At least three methods may be used individually or combined to achieve a desired gas distribution. First, direction, number, and dimension of the injection ports of the nozzle 412 may be adjusted to direct the process gas towards different regions of the process volume 403. Second, a ratio of the flow rates among different regions may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution. Third, a total flow rate may be adjusted to achieve a desired distribution” (paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the flow rate of the gas such that the desired gas distribution is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 10, KATO is silent on the nozzle gas discharge mechanism includes a first nozzle gas discharge mechanism configured to discharge an adsorbing gas as the process gas from the discharge hole, and a second nozzle gas discharge mechanism configured to discharge a reactive gas as the process gas from the discharge hole, the nozzle gas discharge mechanism performs (B) by swinging the first nozzle gas discharge mechanism and the second nozzle gas discharge mechanism independently of each other in (C) while rotating the substrate in (A).
However, when combined with INATOMI as shown in the rejection of claim 1, KATO and INATOMI do teaches the nozzle gas discharge mechanism includes a first nozzle gas discharge mechanism configured to discharge an adsorbing gas as the process gas from the discharge hole, wherein the disilane is an absorbing gas.
KATO further teaches “The reactant gas nozzle 33 is connected to a source (not illustrated) of chlorine (Cl2) gas as an etching gas” (paragraph 23, lines 8-9), i.e. wherein there is a second nozzle system applying a reactive gas.
As argued above, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include a second nozzle gas discharge mechanism configured to discharge a reactive gas as the process gas from the discharge hole the nozzle gas discharge mechanism performs (B) by swinging the first nozzle gas discharge mechanism and the second nozzle gas discharge mechanism independently of each other in (C) while rotating the substrate in (A) in the process of KATO to apply the separate absorbing gases and reactive gases through their independent application nozzles because INATOMI teaches that such a gas delivery surface allows for complete coverage of the applied gas without any missing parts.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is 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: The claim 9 contains the following limitations that, within the context of the overall claim and independent claim, is not taught nor suggested by the prior art one record:
in (B), the nozzle gas discharge mechanism discharges a process gas as the gas from the discharge hole and a purge gas around the process gas, and suctions the gas around the purge gas
INATOMI does teach “having a vapor supply nozzle of an elongated shape and a suction nozzle at a front side in a moving direction of the nozzle unit” (paragraph 212, lines 4-6), however this suction nozzle is used to remove liquid rather than gas.
Conclusion
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/KRISTEN A DAGENAIS/ Examiner, Art Unit 1717
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