DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of electing Group I (claims 1-12) in the reply filed on February 27, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 13-21 were withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a canceled invention. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on February 27, 2026.
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, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Eldridge et al. (US 2019/0177840 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Eldridge discloses a method, comprising: coupling a delivery vessel disposed at a first location on a substrate processing platform to a remote refill vessel disposed in a second location remote from the substrate processing platform (FIG. 1, [0023] of Eldridge, bulk container #115 located in sub-fab area separate from fab area; FIG. 1 of Eldridge, bulk container #115 coupled to run/refill chamber #155 and deposition chamber #160 for substrate processing in fab area); storing a chemical in the remote refill vessel in a first phase (FIG. 1, [0024] of Eldridge, precursor #120 stored in bulk container #115 in solid form); changing a phase of the chemical in the remote refill vessel to a second phase ([0024] of Eldridge, solid precursor #120 converted to vapor in bulk container); and transporting the chemical in the second phase, to the delivery vessel ([0024] of Eldridge, vapor in bulk container transported to fab via vapor supply line #105).
Regarding claim 2, Eldridge discloses that changing the phase of the chemical further comprises heating the chemical or pressurizing the chemical, or a combination thereof ([0024] of Eldridge, precursor #120 stored in bulk container #115 in solid form converted to vapor by heating).
Regarding claim 3, Eldridge discloses that changing the phase of the chemical further comprises sublimating the chemical at a first temperature below a melting point of the chemical ([0024] of Eldridge, solid precursor #120 converted to vapor in bulk container by sublimation).
Regarding claim 4, Eldridge discloses that transporting the chemical further comprises: receiving the chemical in the delivery vessel at a top portion of the delivery vessel in the second phase ([0025] of Eldridge, run refill chamber #155 receives precursor #120 from vapor supply line #105 in vapor form; any portion of run/refill chamber can be considered a “top portion” since no frame of reference is provided); and heating the chemical to a second temperature or pressurizing the chemical, or a combination thereof, to change the phase of the chemical to a third phase ([0025] of Eldridge, precursor entering run/refill chamber in vapor form deposited within chamber as a solid by cooling).
Regarding claim 5, Eldridge discloses: receiving the chemical on a bottom surface of the delivery vessel in the third phase ([0025] of Eldridge, precursor deposited within chamber as a solid by cooling; any portion of run/refill chamber can be considered a “bottom surface” since no frame of reference is provided); and modifying the temperature of the chemical to change the chemical to a fourth phase ([0025] of Eldridge, deposited solid precursor in run/refill chamber sublimated by heating).
Regarding claim 11, Eldridge discloses a substrate processing system (FIG. 1 of Eldridge, CVD system including deposition chamber #160 for substrate processing), comprising: a delivery vessel having a first inner volume, disposed in a first location on a substrate processing platform (FIG. 1 of Eldridge, run/refill chamber #155 located in fab area; run/refill chamber necessarily has an interior volume); a remote refill vessel in fluid communication with the delivery vessel via a chemical delivery line (FIG. 1 of Eldridge, bulk container #115 coupled to run/refill chamber #155), the remote refill vessel comprising a second inner volume greater than the first inner volume (FIG. 1 of Eldridge, bulk container #115 being for bulk storage of precursor necessarily has larger interior volume than run/refill chamber #155) and disposed in a second location remote from the substrate processing platform (FIG. 1, [0023] of Eldridge, bulk container #115 located in sub-fab area separate from fab area); and a first heating device or a first pressurizing device, or a combination thereof, proximate the remote refill vessel, operable to heat or pressurize, or a combination thereof, a chemical disposed in the remote refill vessel sufficient to change a phase of the chemical from a first phase to a second phase ([0024] of Eldridge, precursor #120 stored in bulk container #115 in solid form converted to vapor by heating; bulk container therefore comprises a heating device).
Regarding claim 12, Eldridge discloses that the chemical delivery line is coupled to a second heating device operable to maintain the chemical delivery line at a transport temperature higher than a phase change temperature of the chemical ([0024] of Eldridge, supply line #105 connecting bulk container and run/refill chamber also heated; supply line #105 therefore necessarily comprises a heating device).
Claim 1, 2 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oosterlaken (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0136772 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Oosterlaken discloses a method, comprising: coupling a delivery vessel disposed at a first location on a substrate processing platform to a remote refill vessel disposed in a second location remote from the substrate processing platform (FIG. 1, [0018]-[0021] of Oosterlaken, solid precursor storage container #130 located remotely from and coupled to evaporator #110 which is coupled to reaction chamber #100 for substrate processing); storing a chemical in the remote refill vessel in a first phase (FIG. 1, [0018] of Oosterlaken, precursor #131 stored in container #130 in solid form); changing a phase of the chemical in the remote refill vessel to a second phase ([0018] of Oosterlaken, solid precursor #131 converted to liquid in bulk container); and transporting the chemical in the second phase, to the delivery vessel ([0018] of Oosterlaken, liquid in container #130 transported to evaporator #110).
Regarding claim 2, Oosterlaken discloses that changing the phase of the chemical further comprises heating the chemical or pressurizing the chemical, or a combination thereof ([0018] of Oosterlaken, solid precursor #131 converted to liquid in bulk container by heating).
Regarding claim 9, Oosterlaken discloses that changing the phase of the chemical further comprises liquifying the chemical at a first temperature above a melting point of the chemical ([0018] of Oosterlaken, solid precursor #131 converted to liquid in bulk container by heating to a temperature above the melting point).
Regarding claim 10, Oosterlaken discloses that transporting the chemical further comprises: increasing a pressure on the chemical subsequent to the liquification by exposing the chemical to a pressurized gas within a volume of the remote refill vessel ([0019] of Oosterlaken, liquid pressurized with gas to drive liquid out of container; FIG. 1 of Oosterlaken, pressurized gas connected to container #130); receiving the chemical in the delivery vessel at a bottom portion of the delivery vessel in the second phase (FIG. 1, [0020] of Oosterlaken, liquid precursor transported to evaporator #110; no frame of reference provided therefore “bottom” portion of evaporator can be either the inlet or outlet end); and heating the chemical to a second temperature above the first temperature (FIG. 1, [0021] of Oosterlaken, liquid converted to vapor by heating in evaporator #110).
Regarding claim 11, Oosterlaken discloses a substrate processing system (FIG. 1, [0018] of Oosterlaken, semiconductor processing system #10), comprising: a delivery vessel having a first inner volume, disposed in a first location on a substrate processing platform (FIG. 1, [0018]-[0021] of Oosterlaken, evaporator #110 which is coupled to reaction chamber #100 for substrate processing; evaporator would necessarily have an interior volume); a remote refill vessel in fluid communication with the delivery vessel via a chemical delivery line (FIG. 1, [0018]-[0021] of Oosterlaken, solid precursor storage container #130 located remotely from and coupled to evaporator #110), the remote refill vessel comprising a second inner volume greater than the first inner volume (FIG. 1 of Oosterlaken, solid precursor storage container #130 being for bulk storage of precursor necessarily has larger interior volume than evaporator #110) and disposed in a second location remote from the substrate processing platform (FIG. 1 of Oosterlaken, bulk container #115 located in an area separate from evaporator #110 and reaction chamber #100); and a first heating device or a first pressurizing device, or a combination thereof, proximate the remote refill vessel, operable to heat or pressurize, or a combination thereof, a chemical disposed in the remote refill vessel sufficient to change a phase of the chemical from a first phase to a second phase ([0018] of Oosterlaken, storage container #130 includes heater #174 to convert solid precursor #131 to liquid).
Regarding claim 12, Oosterlaken discloses that the chemical delivery line is coupled to a second heating device operable to maintain the chemical delivery line at a transport temperature higher than a phase change temperature of the chemical ([0020] of Oosterlaken, feed line #128 feeding liquid precursor to evaporator #110 can be heated; feed line #128 therefore necessarily comprises a heating device).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6-8 are 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.
Regarding claim 6, the closest prior art is to Eldridge. Eldridge discloses a method as set forth in claim 5. Neither Eldridge nor any of the other prior art references of record teach or reasonably suggest a method as recited in claim 6 wherein the third phase is liquid and the fourth phase is solid. Moreover, in Eldridge, the third phase is a solid and the fourth phase is a vapor (see analysis of claim 4 above). Claims 7 and 8 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 5 and are therefore also directed to allowable subject matter for the reasons set forth above with respect to claim 6
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAI YAN ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7181. The examiner can normally be reached on MTTHF.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DAH-WEI YUAN can be reached on 5712721295. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HAI Y ZHANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1717
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