DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/23/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
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 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi et al. (US 2020/0147747 A1, May 14, 2020, herein Takahashi '747) in view of Takaku (JP 2018169296, Nov 1, 2018).
Regarding Claim 1, Takahashi teaches:
An eddy current sensor (In [0001], an eddy current detection device) comprising:
(Fig 9 & [0104]) a magnetic material (the pod core 60 is a magnetic element) including a bottom (the bottom surface portion 61a), a first pillar extending from a center of the bottom (magnetic center portion 61b), and an external wall extending from a periphery of the bottom (circumferential wall 61c);
(Fig 9 & [0105]) an excitation coil wound to surround the first pillar (exciting coil 860 surrounds 61b) and/or the external wall (exciting coil 862 surrounds 61c), the excitation coil configured to generate an eddy current in a conductive film (Exciting coils 860, 862 form an eddy current in conductive film mf; see also Fig 13A); and
(Fig 9 & [0105]) a detection coil and a correction coil wound to surround the first pillar and/or the external wall (Detection coil 864 surrounds 61b and detection coil 866 surrounds 61c, and dummy coil 868 - "correction coil" - surrounds 61b and dummy coil 870 - "correction coil" - surrounds 61c), the detection coil (864,866) and the correction coil (868,870) configured to detect a change in the eddy current generated in the conductive film (In [0106], detection coils 864,866 and dummy coils 868,870 detect an eddy current formed in the conductive film.), wherein
(Fig 9) an amount of change in an output signal of the correction coil when the eddy current generated in the conductive film changes is less than an amount of change in an output signal of the detection coil (Since the dummy coils 868,870 are further away from the metallic film than the detection coils 864,866, the amplitude of the change sensed by the dummy coils is less than the amplitude of change sensed by the detection coils.), and
one end of the correction coil is directly connected to one end of the detection coil (In Fig 14A-B, one end of 868,870,L3 - "correction coil" - is connected to one end of 864,866,L1 - "detection coil."),
Takahashi does not teach:
another end of the correction coil and another end of the detection coil are directly connected to an impedance converter or an amplifier.
However, Takaku teaches:
([0022] & Fig 1-2) one end of the correction coil (reference coil 120) is directly connected (one end of each of 120 and 110 is connected to ground) to one end of the detection coil (measuring coil 110), and another end of the correction coil and another end of the detection coil are directly connected to an impedance converter or an amplifier (In [0040] the non-grounded ends of reference coil 120 and measuring coil 110 are connected to differential output circuit 158 made up of operational amplifiers 154a and 154b or of any circuit capable of taking a difference - "amplifier").
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Takahashi in view of Takaku by having another end of the correction coil and another end of the detection coil are directly connected to an impedance converter or an amplifier because it allows for a change in distance to be measured that is unaffected by changes in ambient temperature as taught by Takaku [0039].
Regarding Claim 2, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 9) the detection coil has a cross-sectional area larger than a cross-sectional area of the correction coil, and/or the detection coil has a count of turns more than a count of turns of the correction coil, and/or a distance from the detection coil to the bottom is longer than a distance from the correction coil to the bottom (The distance between detection coil 864,866 and bottom surface portion 61a is longer than the distance between dummy coil 868, 870 and portion 61a.).
Regarding Claim 3, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 12A) the external wall (61c) surrounds an outer periphery of the first pillar (61b).
Regarding Claim 4, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 17-19 & [0135]) the bottom is in a bar shape (61a), and the external wall includes a second pillar (iteration of 61d on the left) and a third pillar (iteration of 61d on the right) disposed at respective both ends of the bar shape.
Regarding Claim 5, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 14A & [0125]) the correction coil (868,870) and the detection coil (864,866) have winding directions in opposite directions (The detection coils and dummy coils are connected with an opposite phase to each other).
Regarding Claim 6, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 9) the excitation coil (862,864) and the detection coil (866,868) are both disposed in an opposite side (Since all of coils 862,864,866,868 are above base 61a, they are on the opposite side of the bottom) of the bottom (61a) in a direction (vertical direction) in which the first pillar (61b) extends.
Regarding Claim 7, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 17-19) the correction coil (870) is wound around the second pillar (iteration of 61d on the left) and the third pillar (iteration of 61d on the right).
Regarding Claim 8, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 9) the detection coil (864,866) and the correction coil (868,870) have winding directions in a same direction (The coils 864-870 are wound in the same direction, unlike the excitation coils 860,872 that in Figure 10 that are wound in opposite directions.).
Regarding Claim 9, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 14A) the detection coil (864,866) and the correction coil (868,870) are configured of one continuous conductive line (The continuity between 864,866 and 868,870 shows that it is continuous), a part of the one conductive line is the detection coil (864,866), and another part of the one conductive line is the correction coil (868,870).
Claim 10 is rejected on the same grounds as Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 11, Takahashi teaches:
(Fig 5 & [0055]) A polishing apparatus (polishing unit 3A) comprising:
(Fig 5) a polishing pad having a polishing surface for polishing (In [0045] polishing pad 10 having a polishing surface) the conductive film (In [0072] a semiconductor wafer (polishing target) on which a conductive film is formed);
(Fig 5 & [0045]) a polishing table (polishing table 30A) to which the polishing pad (10) is mounted;
(Fig 5 & [0065]) the eddy current sensor (eddy current detection device 50) according to claim 1 (see Rejection of Claim 1) disposed in the polishing table (30A);
Takahashi does not teach:
the impedance converter or the amplifier; and
a detected signal processing circuit configured to calculate film thickness data of the conductive material from an output of the impedance converter or the amplifier.
However, Takaku teaches:
the impedance converter or the amplifier (In [0040] the non-grounded ends of reference coil 120 and measuring coil 110 are connected to differential output circuit 158 made up of operational amplifiers 154a and 154b or of any circuit capable of taking a difference - "amplifier"); and
a detected signal processing circuit configured to calculate film thickness data of the conductive material (In [0028] Calculation means 164 calculates the displacement measured by the sensor 100) from an output of the impedance converter or the amplifier (158).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Takahashi in view of Takaku by having the impedance converter or the amplifier; and a detected signal processing circuit configured to calculate film thickness data of the conductive material from an output of the impedance converter or the amplifier because it allows for a change in distance to be measured that is unaffected by changes in ambient temperature as taught by Takaku [0039].
Conclusion
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/R.M/Examiner, Art Unit 2858 09/16/2026
/SON T LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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