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 .
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 6/26/2024 was filed and the submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
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 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 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 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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) (see IDS) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over by the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) (see IDS) in view of Zhou (US 2018/0374729).
RE claim 1, the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) discloses a wafer transferring device and a method for a Bernoulli manipulator (16) with a gas path for providing gas to the Bernoulli manipulator to transfer thin wafer between a wafer cassette (24) and a processing chamber, comprising the following steps:
identifying the thickness of the wafers in the wafer cassette (24);
The Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) discloses from first to third paragraphs on page 6 in the specification (see the attached Machine Translation)
The control unit 32 monitors the distance A between the probe of the sensor 22 and the wafer 11 in real time by monitoring the electrostatic capacitance of the sensor 22. When the distance A has not reached the predetermined length, the control unit 32 determines that the wafer 11 is not held by suction (NO in S20), and continues to increase the flow rate of air.
In contrast, when the sensor 22 detects that the distance A has reached a predetermined length, the control unit 32 determines that the wafer 11 is sucked and held (YES in S20). In addition, the predetermined length of the distance A varies according to the diameter, thickness, material, and the like of the wafer 11.
For example, if the wafer 11 is a silicon wafer with a diameter of 300 mm, a thickness of the outer peripheral portion corresponding to the remaining area of the outer periphery is 100 μm, and a thickness of the portion corresponding to the device area of 30 μm, the predetermined length of the distance A is 0.5 mm .
providing or obtaining gas flow parameters matched with the wafers' thickness, each gas flow parameter including two gas flow rates as a first gas flow rate and a second gas flow rate, the first gas flow rate being lower than the second gas flow rate;
In addition, when the distance A becomes a predetermined length, the wafer 11 is sucked and held with the smallest attractive force, and there is a possibility that the wafer 11 may fall from the hand 16 for some reason. However, when the air flow rate is increased excessively, there is still a possibility that the wafer 11 may be damaged. (para [006] of page 6)
Next, the input signal to the electric air pressure regulator 30 is controlled so that the flow rate of the air supplied from the electric air pressure regulator 30 to the Bernoulli pads 18a, 18b is gradually increased from zero (air flow increase step S10). (para [10 and 12] of page 6) (also see Fig. 3)
providing the gas with the first gas flow rate matching the thickness of the transferred wafer to the Bernoulli manipulator through the gas path, the Bernoulli manipulator moving the wafer out of the wafer cassette at the first gas flow rate, then,
Next, the flow rate of air is increased, and when the sensor 22 detects that the amplitude becomes a predetermined amount, the control unit 32 determines that the wafer 11 is sucked and held (YES in S20). The predetermined amount of amplitude varies according to the diameter, thickness, material, and the like of the wafer 11. (para [002] of page 7)
For example, when the wafer 11 is a silicon wafer with a diameter of 300 mm, a thickness of an outer peripheral portion corresponding to the remaining outer peripheral area of 100 μm, and a thickness of a portion corresponding to the device area of 30 μm, the amplitude of the predetermined amount is 1.0 μm.
(para [003] of page 7)
When the amplitude of the wafer 11 reaches a predetermined amount, the control unit 32 determines that the wafer 11 is appropriately sucked and held by the Bernoulli pads 18a and 18b, and fixes the air flow rate (air flow rate fixing step S30). (para [004] of page 7)
providing the gas with the second gas flow rate matching the thickness of the transferred wafer to the Bernoulli manipulator through the gas path, the Bernoulli manipulator transferring the wafer to the processing chamber at the second flow rate.
Next, the flow rate of air is increased, and when the sensor 22 detects that the amplitude becomes a predetermined amount, the control unit 32 determines that the wafer 11 is sucked and held (YES in S20). The predetermined amount of amplitude varies according to the diameter, thickness, material, and the like of the wafer 11. (para [002] of page 7)
Exhibit A
PNG
media_image1.png
200
400
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Exhibit B
PNG
media_image2.png
200
400
media_image2.png
Greyscale
RE claims 1 and 9, If the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) does not specifically teach identifying the thickness of the wafers in the wafer cassette,
Zhou (US 2018/0374729) teaches identification marks such as bar codes to identify the thickness of wafer to indicate the processing condition (see paragraph [0002] of specification). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the mechanical engineering art or a semiconductor manufacturing art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide identification marks such as bar codes on the cassettes (24) of by the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) as taught by Zhou (US 2018/0374729) to monitor and execute the processing condition to a user.
RE claim 2, the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) appears to apply the thickness of the wafer as at least 30 µm, but it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the mechanical engineering art or a semiconductor manufacturing art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the user’s preferred wafer thickness on the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) to execute the user’s preference depending on the application of the device.
RE claim 3, the provided Fig. 3 of the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) shows the main gas path is configured with a main flow regulating valve, a main switch value and a main mass flow controller sequentially arranged along the gas flow direction, and the method comprises adjusting the gas flow rate in the main gas path through the main mass controller.
RE claim 5, the provided Fig. 3 of the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) teaches the gas path configured by the Bernoulli manipulator further comprises a branch gas path, one end of which connected to the downstream side of the main switch valve and the other end connected to the upstream side of the main mass flow controller, and the branch gas path is provided with a branch flow regulating valve for regulating the gas flow rate in the branch gas path.
RE claim 10, the provided Fig. 1 of the Chinese Publication (CN 113666089A) discloses
the Bernoulli manipulator (16) flips to make the front side of the wafer facing down and the back side of the wafer facing up; before the Bernoulli manipulator flips, the gas flow rate provided by the gas path to the Bernoulli manipulator increases from the first gas flow rate matching the thickness of the transferred wafer to the second gas flow rate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MARUYAMA; Koji, Sekiya; Kazuma, and Mollenkopf; Kelly C. disclose the devices to identify the thickness of a wafer.
Kakinuma; Yoshinori, Wang; Gang, and Yo; Seikai show a wafer gripping blade or chuck.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL T CHIN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6922. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-4:30 PM.
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, Robert Hodge, can be reached on (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PAUL T CHIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654