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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Priority
1. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 04/05/24, 07/01/24, 08/20/25, 10/30/25, have been entered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
3. The drawings filed on 04/05/24. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 of this title, 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.
5. Claim(s) 1, 5-7, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0195621) in view of Kato Ariyoshi et al. (JP 2004329826), further in view of Kostrzewski (U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0101168), further in view of Sugaya et al. (U.S. Pat. No 5,680,200). Hereafter “Ogawa”, “Ariyoshi”, “Kostrzewski”, “Sugaya”. (Please see attached files for Ariyoshi’s reference).
Regarding Claim(s) 1, 6, 7, Ogawa teaches an autofocus support method for a semiconductor device having a substrate and a device pattern formed on one main surface side of the substrate (figure 1, substrate 101 having patterns formed on the substrate; [0024]; [0025], lines 2-5; [0028], lines 7-9), the autofocus support method comprising:
acquiring a first image focused on the substrate ([0024]; [0065], lines 1-6);
generating mask data for masking linear patterns in the same direction on the substrate based on the image ([0031, 0092]. Note: writing data is used when a mask pattern of the exposure mask is exposed and transferred onto the semiconductor substrate is not different from generating mask data for masking linear patterns. Further, generating a reference image based on design pattern data serving as a basis for forming a pattern on the substrate is also not different from generating mask data for masking linear patterns);
However, Ogawa does not teaches acquiring image from the first image by Fourier transform; and filtering the second images using the data; and focusing the imaging device on the device pattern based on the second image after filtering. Ariyoshi teaches acquiring image from the first image by Fourier transform; and filtering the second images using the mask data; and focusing the imaging device on the device pattern based on the second image after filtering ([0092, 0098, 0103, 0105, 0107, 0110, 0112, 0128, 0130, 0131, 0132, 139]. Note: performing two-dimensional Fourier transform on the image data S1810, and lowpass filter 1811 generates images data S1811 by performing filter processing that leaves a linear pattern is not different from filtering the second images using the data). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Ogawa by acquiring image from the image by Fourier transform and filtering the images using the data in order to remove unwanted patterns, ([0092, 0098, 0103, 0105, 0107, 0110, 0112, 0128, 0130, 0131, 0132, 139]).
Moreover, Ogawa does not teach spatial frequency image. Kostrzewski teaches spatial frequency image ([0256]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Ogawa by having spatial frequency image in order to produce by Fourier transforming the input pattern efficiently. ([0256]).
Further, Ogawa does not teach acquiring a plurality of second images captured by using an imaging device while changing a focal position of the imaging device on the other main surface side of the substrate. Sugaya teaches acquiring a plurality of second images captured by using an imaging device while changing a focal position of the imaging device on the other main surface side of the substrate (abstract, lines 1-10; Column 4, lines 35-42). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Ogawa by acquiring a plurality of second images captured by using an imaging device while changing a focal position of the imaging device in order to implement accurate image-forming for inspection (Sugaya, abstract, lines 1-4; Column 4, lines 35-42).
Further, regarding Claim(s) 6, Ogawa, teach a stage on which a semiconductor device having a substrate (figure 1, stage 105, substrate 101).
Regarding Claim(s) 5, Ogawa, Ariyoshi, and Kostrzewski, teach all the limitations of claim 1 as stated above except for acquiring of the first image, the first image focused on the other main surface of the substrate is acquired. Sugaya teaches acquiring of the first image, the first image focused on the other main surface of the substrate is acquired (abstract, lines 1-10; Column 4, lines 35-42). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Ogawa, Ariyoshi, and Kostrzewski by acquiring image focused on the other main surface of the substrate in order to implement accurate image-forming for inspection (Sugaya, abstract, lines 1-4; Column 4, lines 35-42).
6. Claim(s) 2, 3, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0195621) in view of Kato Ariyoshi et al. (JP 2004329826), further in view of Kostrzewski (U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0101168), further in view of Sugaya et al. (U.S. Pat. No 5,680,200), further in view of Swoboda et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0254650). Hereafter “Ogawa”, “Ariyoshi”, “Kostrzewski”, “Sugaya”, “Swoboda”. (Please see attached files for Ariyoshi’s reference).
Regarding Claim(s) 2, Ogawa, Ariyoshi, Kostrzewski, Sugaya teach all the limitations of claim 1 as stated above except for the mask data is generated based on a first spatial frequency domain corresponding to a pattern of polishing scratches formed on the other main surface side of the substrate. Swoboda teaches the mask data is generated based on a first spatial frequency domain corresponding to a pattern of polishing scratches formed on the other main surface side of the substrate, ([0023, 0066]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Ogawa, Ariyoshi, Kostrzewski, Sugaya by corresponding to a pattern of polishing scratches formed on the other main surface side of the substrate in order to implement inspection system with surface roughnesses (Swoboda, [0023, 0066]).
Regarding Claim(s) 3, Ogawa teaches generating of the mask data ([0031, 0092]. Note: writing data is used when a mask pattern of the exposure mask is exposed and transferred onto the semiconductor substrate is not different from generating mask data for masking linear patterns. Further, generating a reference image based on design pattern data serving as a basis for forming a pattern on the substrate is also not different from generating mask data for masking linear patterns).
However, Ogawa does not teach the spatial frequency domain including the device pattern are identified based on the spatial frequency image. Kostrzewski teaches the device pattern are identified based on the spatial frequency image ([0256]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Ogawa by having spatial frequency image in order to produce by Fourier transforming the input pattern efficiently. ([0256]).
7. Claim(s) 4, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0195621) in view of Kato Ariyoshi et al. (JP 2004329826), further in view of Kostrzewski (U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0101168), further in view of Sugaya et al. (U.S. Pat. No 5,680,200), further in view of Swoboda et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0254650), and further in view of Papaioannou (U.S. Pub. 2020/0197661). Hereafter “Ogawa”, “Ariyoshi”, “Kostrzewski”, “Sugaya”, “Swoboda”, “Papaioannou”. (Please see attached files for Ariyoshi’s reference).
Regarding Claim 4, Ogawa, Ariyoshi, Kostrzewski, Sugaya, Swoboda teach all the limitations of claim 1 as stated above except for a sum of frequency components is calculated for each region of a plurality of angles with respect to a central axis of the spatial frequency image, and the spatial frequency domain is identified from among the regions of the plurality of angles based on the sum of frequency components for each region of the plurality of angles. Papaioannou teaches a sum of frequency components is calculated for each region of a plurality of angles with respect to a central axis of the spatial frequency image, and the spatial frequency domain is identified from among the regions of the plurality of angles based on the sum of frequency components for each region of the plurality of angles, ([0049]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Ogawa, Ariyoshi, Kostrzewski, Sugaya, Swoboda by having a sum of frequency components is calculated for each region of a plurality of angles with respect to a central axis of the spatial frequency image, and the spatial frequency domain is identified from among the regions of the plurality of angles based on the sum of frequency components for each region of the plurality of angles, in order to ascertain the spatial frequency of the supporting structure, (Papaioannou, [0049]).
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November 29, 2025
/Tri T Ton/
Primary Examiner Art Unit 2877