CTNF 18/713,127 CTNF 77333 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANT et al., EP 3702839 A1 (‘EP839), in view of Hellweg, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0350312 A1 (‘312) . As per claim 1, ‘EP839 in view of ‘061 discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., See ‘EP839; [0108]) storing computer program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, are configured to cause the one or more processors to at least: receive wavefront data representing a wavefront provided by an optical projection system of a semiconductor processing apparatus (e.g., See ‘EP839; [0046] and [0077], which discloses receiving measured aberrated wavefront data from the lithographic apparatus); determining wavefront drift based on a comparison of the wavefront data and target wavefront data (e.g., See ‘EP839; [0068] and [0073] – [0076], which discloses comparing measured wavefront aberration data with model or target aberration data to identify the wavefront error needing correction); and determine, based on the wavefront drift, one or more process parameters, wherein the one or more process parameters comprises one or more parameters associated with a thermal device, wherein the thermal device is configured to provide thermal energy to the optical projection system during operation (Although ‘EP839 discloses, in [0021], [0047], [0058], [0060] and [0103], using wavefront aberration data to generate and apply a correction, including optical elements and providing heat to them, ‘EP839 does not specifically disclose determining heating power setpoint values or operational settings for a thermal device. ‘312 discloses the missing features by disclosing, in [0012] – [0016], [0045] – [0049], determining heating power setpoint values by simulating how changes in heating affect the wavefront and system performance). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of ‘312 into “EP839 for the purpose of setting heater values that better correct wavefront drift during operation, thereby improving image accuracy. . As per claim 2, ‘EP839’s combined system (‘EP839 in view of ‘312) further discloses that the optical projection system comprises one or more optical elements, wherein each of the one or more optical elements has one or more degrees of freedom, and one or more control devices are configured to adjust an orientation of the one or more optical elements along at least one of the one or more degrees of freedom of at least one of the one or more optical elements, and wherein each of the optical elements is a reflective or transmissive optical element (e.g., See ‘EP839; [0032], [0038] and [0047], which disclose the projection system using reflective or transmissive optical elements, and controllers adjust their position orientation to correct wavefront error). As per claim 3, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the one or more process parameters comprises a set of operational settings of the thermal device, wherein the set of operational settings of the thermal device comprises an amount of irradiance output from the thermal device, and/or a location on an optical element where the irradiance output from the thermal device is to be applied (e.g. See ‘312; [0012], [0041] – [0042], [0045] – [0048], which disclose setting heating power values for a heater that applies heat to an optical element during operation). As per claim 4, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the one or more processors to determine the one or more process parameters are further configured to cause the one or more processors to determine an adjustment to one or more operational settings of the set of operational settings of the thermal device based on the wavefront data, the target wavefront data, and one or more semiconductor processing metrics (e.g., See ‘312; [0014] – [0016], [0046] – [0049], which disclose adjusting heater settings using wavefront data and imaging results to better correct wavefront error). As per claim 5, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to determine, based on the wavefront drift, an adjustment to a configuration of the optical projection system (e.g., See ‘EP839; [0047], [0058] and [0060], which disclose using wavefront error to calculate an adjustment to the projection system so imaging improves. As per claim 6, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the one or more semiconductor processing metrics are computed based on radiation output from an illumination source and a configuration of the optical projection system (e.g., See ‘312; [0038] – [0039], [0045], [0048] – [0049], which disclose computing imaging results from illumination radiation and projection lens parameters). As per claim 7, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to obtain first instructions indicating the adjustment to be made to the one or more operational settings of the thermal device and second instructions indicating the adjustment to be made to the configuration of the optical projection system (e.g., See ‘312; [0014], [0048] – [0049], and ‘EP839; [0047], [0058] and [0060], which collectively disclose determining heater setpoint changes and determining optical system configuration adjustments to compensate wavefront error). As per claim 8, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to provide the first instructions to the thermal device, and provide the second instructions to one or more control devices, the one or more control devices being configured to adjust the configuration of the optical projection system (e.g., See ‘312; [0028], [0041] – [0042] and [0048] and ‘EP839; [0047], which collectively disclose using a control unit to send new heater setpoint values to the heating arrangement and using a controller to adjust optical elements of the projection system). As per claim 9, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the one or more process parameters are determined to compensate for the wavefront drift (e.g., See ‘EP839; [0021], [0058] and [0099], which disclose determining correction settings to compensate for wavefront error and reduce remaining aberration). As per claim 10, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to compensate for the wavefront drift are further configured to cause the one or more processors to determine an adjustment to the one or more process parameters associated with the thermal device, and determine an adjustment to a configuration of the optical projection system, wherein the adjustment to the one or more process parameters associated with the thermal device and the adjustment to the configuration of the optical projection system are determined based on a magnitude of the wavefront drift (e.g., See ‘312; [0014], [0045] – [0049] and [0051], which disclose simulating how heater changes affect wavefront error, then selecting settings that compensate the error). As per claim 11, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to compensate for the wavefront drift are further configured to cause the one or more processors to do so based on an edge placement error (EPE) or a wavefront drift cost function (e.g., See ‘312; [0049], which discloses using a merit function to minimize wavefront error or imaging position error). As per claim 12, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the wavefront data is determined based on a heating state induced to one or more optical elements of the optical projection system by light output by an illumination source of the semiconductor processing apparatus and a heating state induced by the thermal device (e.g., See ‘312; [0005], [0040], [0045] – [0046] and [0048], which discloses modelling wavefront effects from both illumination heating and heater applied heating of optical elements). As per claim 13, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the heating state induced by the thermal device is determined based on the one or more process parameters associated with the thermal device, the one or more process parameters comprising operational settings of the thermal device (e.g., See ‘312; [0012] – [0014], [0045] – [0048], which disclose determining the heater induced thermal state based on current heating power and changed heater setpoint values). As per claim 14, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the operational settings of the thermal device comprise a power level provided to the thermal device to cause the thermal device to output a prescribed amount of irradiance provided by the thermal device to the one or more optical elements of the optical projection system and one or more sections of at least one of the one or more optical elements with which the irradiance is to be applied (e.g., See ‘312; [0008], [0012], [0042], [0045] – [0048], which disclose controlling heating power for a heating arrangement, such as infrared radiators, to introduce heating power into selected optical elements). As per claim 15, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the heating state induced to the one or more optical elements by the light output by the illumination source of the semiconductor processing apparatus is determined based on a wavefront, detected via a wavefront sensor, after a portion of a semiconductor fabrication process executed by the semiconductor processing apparatus has been performed (e.g., See ‘EP839; [0046], [0057] and [[0067], which disclose measuring wavefront error after exposure using a sensor, then using the data from the sensor to determine lens heating effects). As per claim 16, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to determine one or more additional process parameters associated with an additional thermal device, wherein the additional thermal device is configured to output irradiance based on the one or more additional process parameters that are determined, the irradiance output by the additional thermal device being applied to the at least one of the one or more optical elements and/or at least another of the one or more optical elements (e.g., See ‘312; [0042] – [0043], which disclose allowing heater controls for one or plural optical element using one or more heating arrangements). As per claim 17, ‘EP839’s combined system further discloses that the one or more process parameters are application layer specific (e.g., See ‘EP839; [0013], [0101] and [0102], which disclose selecting correction model settings for a specific lithographic application, then reusing them during that application). As per claim 18, the rationale as set forth above with respect to the rejection of claim 1, from above, is incorporated herein. As per claim 19, the rationale as set forth above with respect to the rejection of claim 3, from above, is incorporated herein. As per claim 20, the rationale as set forth above with respect to the rejection of claim 5, from above, is incorporated herein. References Considered but Not Relied Upon The following references were considered but were not relied upon with respect to any prior art rejections: (1) US 8,736,807 B2, which discloses correcting optical wave errors from lens heating using measured aberrations and adjustable projection optics; (2) US 8,570,485 B2, which discloses model based scanner tuning to compensate for lens heating effects in lithography systems; (3) US 9,052,609 B2, which discloses adjusting projection optics during exposure to reduce heat related aberrations; (4) US 5,390,228 A, which discloses measuring optical element temperature and controlling heating to reduce heat strain;’ (5) US 7,453,623 B2, which discloses using a deformable mirror in an exposure apparatus to correct heat related optical aberrations during operations; and (6) US 10,785,394 B2, which discloses measuring lens aberrations during wafer inspection and adjusting optical components to improve imagining. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RONALD D HARTMAN JR whose telephone number is (571)272-3684. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 - 4:30 EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached at (571) 272-4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /RONALD D HARTMAN JR/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2119 May 1, 2026 /RDH/ Application/Control Number: 18/713,127 Page 2 Art Unit: 2119 Application/Control Number: 18/713,127 Page 3 Art Unit: 2119 Application/Control Number: 18/713,127 Page 4 Art Unit: 2119 Application/Control Number: 18/713,127 Page 5 Art Unit: 2119 Application/Control Number: 18/713,127 Page 6 Art Unit: 2119 Application/Control Number: 18/713,127 Page 7 Art Unit: 2119 Application/Control Number: 18/713,127 Page 8 Art Unit: 2119 Application/Control Number: 18/713,127 Page 9 Art Unit: 2119
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