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 .
The preliminary amendment filed on January 08, 2025 has been entered. Claims 16-30 are pending in this application.
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.
Claim(s) 29 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by El Kodadi et al. [US 20160103946 A1, hereafter El Kodadi].
As per Claims 29 and 30, El Kodadi teaches a patterning device (Para 26, the patterning device (mask) is not shown) comprising:
target patterning features 101 configured to form a target, the target patterning features comprising:
isofocal (focus-sensitive patterns) patterning features 120 configured to form a first sub-target such that it comprises an isofocal structure (See fig. 1); and
non-isofocal (focus-insensitive patterns) patterning features 125 configured to form a second sub-target such that it comprises a non-isofocal structure (Para 27).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 16-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bhattacharyya et al. [US 20160061589 A1, hereafter Bhattacharyya] in view of El Kodadi.
As per Claim 16, Bhattacharyya teaches a method (Para 9, a method of measuring a parameter of a lithographic process) comprising:
obtaining a first measurement signal relating to measurement of a first sub-target (a first sub-target 1202) of a target on a substrate;
obtaining a second measurement signal relating to measurement of a second sub-target (a second sub-target 1204) of the target (See fig. 12, Para 139),
obtaining at least one trained relationship (knowledge of the overlay biasis) and/or model that relates at least the second measurement signal to the focus parameter; and determining a value for a focus parameter relating to a focus setting of a lithographic exposure process in which the target was exposed, the determining being based on the first measurement signal, second measurement signal and the at least one trained relationship and/or model (Para 110, wherein the measured asymmetries for a number of periodic structures are used together with, if applicable, knowledge of the overlay biases of those periodic structures to calculate one or more performance parameters of the lithographic process in the vicinity of the target T).
Bhattacharyya further disclosed a user and/or the system may impose one or more constraints on one or more design parameters (e.g., a relationship between pitch and space width, a limit on pitch or space width, a relationship between feature (e.g., line) width (CD) and pitch (e.g., feature width is less than pitch), etc.) either in the same layer or between layers, based on, e.g., the lithographic process for which the target is desired. In an embodiment, the one or more constraints may be on the one or more design parameters for which discrete values or a range has been specified, or on one or more other design parameters (Para 187).
Bhattacharyya does not explicitly teach the first sub-target comprising an isofocal structure; and the second sub-target comprising a non-isofocal structure.
El Kodadi teaches a target design comprising a target design comprising a periodic structure having a plurality of recurring elements characterized by a first pitch in a first direction, wherein the elements are periodic with a second pitch along a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction and are characterized in the second direction by alternating, focus-sensitive 120 (isofocal) and focus-insensitive 125 (non-isofocal) patterns with the second pitch (Para 11 and 27).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate focus-sensitive and focus-insensitive patterns as disclosed by El Kodadi in the measurement system of Bhattacharyya in order to produce an improved parameters of performance and enhance the quality of manufactured device.
As per Claim 17, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 16.
Bhattacharyya further disclosed wherein the determining a value comprises determining the value for the focus parameter corrected for the effect of variation of a dose parameter on the second measurement signal (Para 110, wherein parameters of performance of the lithographic process can be calculated such as focus and/or dose).
As per Claim 18, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 17.
Bhattacharyya further disclosed wherein a correction for the effect of variation of a dose parameter on the second measurement signal is determined from the first measurement signal and the at least one trained relationship and/or model (Para 110, wherein parameters of performance of the lithographic process can be calculated such as focus and/or dose).
As per Claim 19, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 17.
El Kodadi further disclosed wherein the at least one trained relationship and/or model comprises: a first relationship between the second measurement signal and the focus parameter, the first relationship including a dependence on the dose parameter, and a second relationship between the first measurement signal and the dose parameter; or a combination of the first relationship and second relationship (Para 38-40).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate focus-sensitive and focus-insensitive patterns as disclosed by El Kodadi in the measurement system of Bhattacharyya in order to produce an improved parameters of performance and enhance the quality of manufactured device.
As per Claim 20, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 17.
El Kodadi further disclosed wherein the at least one trained relationship and/or model comprises: at least one trained machine learning model operable to infer a value for the focus parameter from the second measurement signal using the first measurement signal to correct the focus inference for the dose parameter (Para 38-40).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate focus-sensitive and focus-insensitive patterns as disclosed by El Kodadi in the measurement system of Bhattacharyya in order to produce an improved parameters of performance and enhance the quality of manufactured device.
As per Claim 21, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 17.
Bhattacharyya further disclosed determining a value for the dose parameter from at least the first measurement signal and the at least one trained relationship and/or model (Para 110, wherein parameters of performance of the lithographic process can be calculated such as focus and/or dose).
As per Claim 22, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 17.
El Kodadi further disclosed an initial calibration phase to train the at least one trained relationship and/or model, the initial calibration phase comprising: exposing multiple repetitions of the target on one or more substrates, the multiple repetitions being exposed with deliberate variation in the focus parameter and dose parameter; measuring the multiple repetitions of the target to obtain calibration measurement signals; and training the at least one trained relationship and/or model using the calibration measurement signals and known focus parameter and dose parameter settings (Para 113).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate focus-sensitive and focus-insensitive patterns as disclosed by El Kodadi in the measurement system of Bhattacharyya in order to produce an improved parameters of performance and enhance the quality of manufactured device.
As per Claim 23, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 223
El Kodadi further disclosed wherein: the calibration measurement signals comprise first calibration measurement signals relating to the first sub-structure of each target and second calibration measurement signals relating to the the second sub-structure of each target; and any variation in the second calibration measurement signals is assumed to be dependent only on the dose parameter (Para 113).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate focus-sensitive and focus-insensitive patterns as disclosed by El Kodadi in the measurement system of Bhattacharyya in order to produce an improved parameters of performance and enhance the quality of manufactured device.
As per Claim 24, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 16.
Bhattacharyya further disclosed wherein the first sub-target and the second sub-target each comprise a different best focus setting and/or a different pitch and/or critical dimension (Para 7).
As per Claim 25, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 16.
Bhattacharyya further disclosed wherein the determining a value for the focus parameter comprises determining a value for the focus parameter directly from the first measurement signal, second measurement signal and the at least one trained relationship and/or model (Para 110).
As per Claim 26, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 16.
Bhattacharyya further disclosed wherein the determining a value for the focus parameter comprises determining a value for critical dimension of at least the second sub-target from the first measurement signal, second measurement signal and the at least one trained relationship and/or model, and determining the focus parameter from the value for critical dimension of at least the second sub-target (Para 84).
As per Claim 27, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches the method of claim 16.
El Kodadi further disclosed performing the lithographic exposure process to expose the target on the substrate using a patterning device; exposing the first sub-target from isofocal patterning features on the patterning device; and exposing the second sub-target from non-isofocal patterning features on the patterning device, wherein the isofocal patterning features and the non-isofocal patterning features differ in terms of one or more of pitch, critical dimension and mask absorber type(Para 11 and 27).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate focus-sensitive and focus-insensitive patterns as disclosed by El Kodadi in the measurement system of Bhattacharyya in order to produce an improved parameters of performance and enhance the quality of manufactured device.
As per Claim 28, Bhattacharyya in view of El Kodadi teaches a metrology device comprising: a processor; and a storage device, the storage device comprising a computer program product, the computer program product comprising instructions operable to perform the method of claim 16 (Bhattacharyya Para 92).
Conclusion
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/MESFIN T ASFAW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882