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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-13, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO2017/183471 (“Mitsunari”).
Claim 1
Mitsunari discloses a pedestal assembly, comprising: a platen (wafer 112); and a sensor support plate below the platen (sensor support 111), wherein the sensor support plate comprises: a sensor compartment (sensor compartment 18); and a waveguide temperature sensor within the sensor compartment (optical fiber 12), wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a temperature sensor, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a first reflector structure and a second reflector structure (starting end optical fiber 12), and wherein the first reflector structure and the second reflector structure are separated by a gauge length (terminating end optical fiber 12).
Claim 4
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor has a spiral geometry (Figs. 3A and 7, spiral shape).
Claim 5
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a plurality of straight segments, and wherein adjacent straight segments are coupled by folds (Fig. 7, folds 15 and straight portions 14).
Claim 6
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a circular arc (Figs. 3A and 7, spiral shape includes circular arc).
Claim 7
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a first unit and a second unit (sparse parts 14 and dense parts 15).
Claim 8
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor is bonded to a surface of the sensor compartment (page 5, paragraph 13 of submitted translation).
Claim 9
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 8, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor is within a groove in the surface of the sensor compartment (page 5, paragraph 13 of submitted translation).
10. (Original) The pedestal assembly of claim 9, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises an upper edge coupled to an upper frame segment and a lower edge coupled to a lower frame segment, wherein the lower frame segment is mechanically coupled to the surface of the sensor compartment (Figs. 8A-8C).
Claim 11
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 10, wherein the upper frame segment is coupled to the platen (Figs. 8A-8C).
Claim 12
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a helical spiral (Fig. 7).
Claim 13
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a first helical spiral portion and a second helical spiral portion above the first helical spiral portion, and wherein the second helical spiral portion is coaxial with the first helical spiral portion (Fig. 7, outer and inner spirals).
Claim 17
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor is substantially cylindrical (Figs. 8A-8B).
Claims 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Pub. 2019/0006157 (“O’Banion”).
Claim 19
O’Banion discloses a system, comprising: a vacuum chamber (chamber 500, paragraphs [0086-0088]); a showerhead within the vacuum chamber (paragraph [0084], showerhead 530); a pedestal within the vacuum chamber below the showerhead, the pedestal comprising a sensor compartment (pedestal 566 with compartment for sensors 592); a waveguide temperature sensor within the sensor compartment, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises at least one temperature sensor (paragraph [0095], FBG sensors), wherein the at least one temperature sensor comprises a first reflector structure and a second reflector structure, and wherein the first reflector structure and the second reflector structure are separated by a gauge length (paragraph [0034]), wherein the at least one temperature sensor is collocated within the sensor compartment to coincide with one or more measurement locations (Fig. 5-1); and a transducer coupled to a terminal lead of the waveguide temperature sensor (detection system 591).
Claim 20
O’Banion discloses the system of claim 19, wherein the transducer is operable to couple a signal into the waveguide temperature sensor and to receive one or more return signals, and wherein the one or more return signals are reflected from the first reflector structure and the second reflector structure to the transducer (paragraphs [0102-0103]).
Claim 21
O’Banion discloses the system of claim 19, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor is a first waveguide temperature sensor, and wherein the showerhead comprises a second waveguide temperature sensor adjacent to a faceplate of the showerhead (Fig. 5-1, paragraph [0094]).
Claim 22
O’Banion discloses the system of claim 21, wherein a third waveguide temperature sensor is thermally coupled to at least one surface of the vacuum chamber (Fig. 5-1, paragraph [0094]).
Claims 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Pub. 2020/0149980 (“Roth”).
Claim 23
Roth discloses a method for measuring temperatures of a process, comprising: coupling a signal pulse into a waveguide temperature sensor within a pedestal assembly (transducer 14), wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a temperature sensor (paragraph [0091], temperature sensor 10), wherein the temperature sensor comprises a first reflector structure and a second reflector structure, and wherein the first reflector structure and the second reflector structure are separated by a gauge length (paragraph [0091]); receiving a first return signal and a second return signal reflected from the first reflector structure and the second reflector structure, respectively; measuring a first time-of-flight (TOF) of the first return signal and a second TOF of the second return signal; calculating a difference between the second TOF and the first TOF; and correlating the difference with a temperature of one or more surfaces (paragraphs [0091-0093], TOF calculations).
Claim 24
Roth discloses the method of claim 23, wherein measuring the first TOF of the first return signal and the second TOF of the second return signal comprises correlating the first return signal and the second return signal with the first reflector structure and the second reflector structure, respectively, and wherein the first TOF of the first return signal and the second TOF of the second return signal is a function of a local pedestal temperature in a vicinity of the first and second reflector structures (paragraph [0094]).
Claim 25
Roth discloses the method of claim 23, further comprising increasing the temperature of the one or more surfaces of the pedestal assembly to a second temperature, wherein the temperature is a first temperature, and wherein the second temperature is greater than the first temperature, wherein the difference is a first difference, and the method further comprises: receiving a third return signal and a fourth return signal at the second temperature; measuring a third TOF of the third return signal and a fourth TOF of the fourth return signal, wherein the third TOF and the fourth TOF are measured at the second temperature; calculating a second difference between the fourth TOF and the third TOF; calculating a third difference between the first difference from the second difference; and correlating the third difference with the second temperature (paragraphs [0091-0093], TOF calculations for plurality of positions).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2017/183471 (“Mitsunari”).
Claim 2
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a strip having a rectangular cross section, wherein the rectangular cross section has a width and a length (Fig. 3B).
Mitsunari does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the length is at least 10 times the width.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optimized a ratio of length and width, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235. One would have been motivated to optimize the length is at least 10 times the width in order to effectively distribute heat across the entire temperature sensor.
Claim 3
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 2, wherein the width is at least 5 times a wavelength of an acoustic signal to be propagated within the waveguide temperature sensor.
Mitsunari does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the width is at least 5 times a wavelength of an acoustic signal to be propagated within the waveguide temperature sensor.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optimized a width, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235. One would have been motivated to optimize the wherein the width is at least 5 times a wavelength of an acoustic signal to be propagated within the waveguide temperature sensor in order to maintain an appropriate bending radius and improved spatial resolution.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2017/183471 (“Mitsunari”) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2019/0006157 (“O’Banion”).
Claim 18
Mitsunari discloses the pedestal assembly of claim 1.
Mitsunari does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the waveguide temperature sensor is an optical fiber, and wherein the optical fiber comprises a plurality of fiber Bragg grating reflector structures or a coating comprising thermographic phosphors.
O’Banion discloses wherein the waveguide temperature sensor is an optical fiber, and wherein the optical fiber comprises a plurality of fiber Bragg grating reflector structures or a coating comprising thermographic phosphors (paragraph [0102, 0109]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filingdate of the claimed invention to have incorporated wherein the waveguide temperature sensor is an optical fiber, and wherein the optical fiber comprises a plurality of fiber Bragg grating reflector structures or a coating comprising thermographic phosphors, as disclosed by O’Banion, into the device of Mitsunari, for the purpose of providing a non-contact measurement used light source based detection (O’Banion, paragraph [0102]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the present application relates in general to a pedestal assembly including a waveguide temperature sensor. The cited art, WO2017/183471 (“Mitsunari”) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2019/0006157 (“O’Banion”); or U.S. Patent Pub. 2020/0149980 (“Roth”), discloses a similar pedestal assembly also including a waveguide temperature sensor. However, the cited art does not appear to explicitly disclose or suggest the first reflector structure and the second reflector structure comprise a first groove and a second groove, respectively, on a sidewall of the waveguide temperature sensor, wherein the first groove and the second groove have a length that is at least a portion of a first width of the waveguide temperature sensor, and wherein the first groove and the second groove have a second width that is substantially equal to or greater than 1/6 of a wavelength of an acoustic signal to be propagated within the waveguide temperature sensor; or wherein the waveguide temperature sensor comprises a first material, wherein the first reflector structure and the second reflector structure comprise a second material, wherein the first material has a first shear modulus, the second material has a second shear modulus that is different from the first shear modulus. Thus, the specific structure of the pedestal assembly, as required by the claimed invention, is not provided by the cited art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERICA S Y LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7911. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4, TW M,W.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERICA S LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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