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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 31-35 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on March 17, 2026.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In para 0170, “the horizontal section 28c” seems to be a typo.
In para 0183, “the removal front 49” seems to be a typo.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 49 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sogard (2005/0099611).
Regarding claim 49, Sogard discloses mirror (10, Fig. 4, 5B), comprising: a substrate (20) which comprises a channel (30, 32, para 0029), the channel having a seam region (section where the horizontal and the vertical sections merge in Fig. 5B).
Claim(s) 49 and 50 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Laufer (DE 102018202687 in IDS, translation provided with Office Action).
Regarding claim 49, Laufer discloses mirror (50, Fig. 3B), comprising: a substrate (21) which comprises a channel (30, 24, para 0029, 0032), the channel having a seam region (33, section where the horizontal and the vertical sections merge in Fig. 3B).
Regarding claim 50, Laufer discloses wherein the channel has at least one of: an edge contour of a removal front, at least one bulge, a lateral offset and a structural modification other than the edge contour, the bulge or the offset in the seam region (structural modification or changing the diameter, Fig. 3b).
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) 36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sogard (2005/0099611) in view of Erhard (2020/0379281).
Regarding claim 36, Sogard discloses mirror (10, Fig. 4, 5B), comprising: a substrate (20), a radiation-reflective coating (22) applied to a surface of the substrate (para 0028, “an EUV mirror 20 with a front surface 22”, “front surface 22 is where EUV illumination is intended to impinge”), and at least one hollow structure (30, Fig. 4, 5B), extending in the substrate and configured as a flow-passage for a fluid (para 0028, “cooling channels 30 may serve to cause a cooling fluid …to flow therethrough”), wherein the hollow structure has a first section (30, Fig. 5B, vertical section) and a second section (30, Fig. 5B, horizontal section) neighboring the first section, which are aligned with respect to one another at an angle of between 60° and 120° (Fig. 5B), and wherein the hollow structure has section (section where the horizontal section and the vertical section merge in Fig. 5B), at which the first section and the second section merge into one another (Fig. 5B, para 0029). However, Sogard does not disclose that the section wherein the sections of the hollow structure merges is a rounded-off section. Erhad discloses a solid state medium (6, Fig. 2, 6B) comprising a reflective coating (13) and a heat sink (9) and at least one hollow structure or channel (25, 27) comprising a first section (three vertical sections in Fig. 6B) and a second section (two horizontal sections in Fig. 6B) and a rounded-off section, at which the first section and the second section merge (Fig. 6B, shows rounded-off section where the middle vertical section merges with the two horizontal sections). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the rounded-off section as taught by Erhad to the merging section of the first section and the second section of Sogard for a smoother flow of the cooling medium.
Claim(s) 36-48, 51, and 73-75 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laufer (DE 102018202687 in IDS, translation provided with Office Action) in view of Erhard (2020/0379281).
Regarding claim 36, Laufer discloses mirror (50, Fig. 3B), comprising: a substrate (21, para 0029, “the mirror body”), a radiation-reflective coating (23, para 0029, “the mirror surface”) applied to a surface of the substrate (Fig. 3B), and at least one hollow structure (30, 24 Fig. 3B, para 0029, 0032), extending in the substrate and configured as a flow-passage for a fluid (para 0033, “openings 33 can be used as inlet and outlet for the temperature control channel 24, so that a fluid can be supplied to the temperature control channel 24”, “entrances 30 can also be designed in such a way that they become part of the entrance or the exit”), wherein the hollow structure has a first section (30, Fig. 3B, vertical section) and a second section (24, Fig. 3B, horizontal section) neighboring the first section, which are aligned with respect to one another at an angle of between 60° and 120° (Fig. 3B), and wherein the hollow structure has section (33, section where the horizontal section and the vertical section merge in Fig. 3B), at which the first section and the second section merge into one another (Fig. 3B, para 0029). However, Laufer does not disclose that the section wherein the sections of the hollow structure merges is a rounded-off section. Erhad discloses a solid state medium (6, Fig. 2, 6B) comprising a reflective coating (13) and a heat sink (9) and at least one hollow structure or channel (25, 27) comprising a first section (three vertical sections in Fig. 6B) and a second section (two horizontal sections in Fig. 6B) and a rounded-off section, at which the first section and the second section merge (Fig. 6B, shows rounded-off section where the middle vertical section merges with the two horizontal sections). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the rounded-off section as taught by Erhad to the merging section of the first section and the second section of Laufer for a smoother flow of the cooling medium.
Regarding claims 37 and 38, Laufer discloses the claimed invention as discussed above; however, Laufer does not disclose wherein an R/D ratio between a radius of curvature R of the rounded-off section and a diameter D of the rounded-off section is between 2 and 6. Laufer also does not disclose wherein a diameter D of the rounded-off section is between 2 mm and 20 mm. Erhard discloses a rounded-off section as discussed above. Although Erhard does not specifically disclose the diameter of the rounded-off section and the radius of curvature, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the diameter D between 2 mm and 20 mm and provide the radius R so that the ratio R/D is between 2 and 6 for proper pressure and flow of the cooling medium since it has been held that changing sizes and finding optimum value involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 39, Laufer discloses in Fig. 4 (para 0034-0036), a temperature control channels (24) which extend below the surface to which the reflective coating is applied (Fig. 3B) and a fluid distributor (inherent to provide the entering fluid, “IN”) connected to the temperature control channels via distribution channels (30, “IN”) and a fluid collector (inherent to collect the exiting fluid, “OUT”) connected to the temperature control channel via collector channels (30, “OUT”).
Regarding claim 40, Laufer discloses (in Fig. 3B and 4) wherein the first section forms a distribution end section (33) of the temperature control channel (24) adjacent to one of the distributor channels and the second section forms a distributor channel (30, “IN”) +section adjacent to the distribution end section (33) and/or wherein the first section forms a collection end section of the temperature control channel adjacent to one of the collector channels (30, “OUT”) and wherein the second section forms a collector channel section adjacent to the collection end section.
Regarding claim 41, Laufer discloses (Fig. 3B, 4) wherein the fluid distributor forms an inlet channel (30, “IN”), from which the distributor channels branch off, and/or wherein the fluid collector forms an outlet channel (30, “OUT”), from which the collector channels branch off.
Regarding claim 42, Laufer discloses wherein the first section (30) forms a merging section (33) of the distributor channel neighboring the inlet channel and wherein the second section (24) forms a branching section of the inlet channel neighboring the merging section (33), and/or wherein the first section (30) forms a merging section (33) of the collector channel neighboring the outlet channel and wherein the second section (24) forms a branching section of the outlet channel neighboring the merging section (33) of the collector channel.
Regarding claim 43, although Laufer does not disclose discloses wherein the angle between the branching section of the inlet channel and the merging section of the distributor channel is greater than 90°, and/or wherein the angle between the branching section of the outlet channel and the merging section of the collector channel is greater than 90°, Laufer discloses the angle at 90°. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art to provide the angle between the inlet channel and the merging section of the distribution channel to be greater than 90° since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention, such as the inlet channel and the merging section to change the angle, involves only routine skill in that art and determining the optimum value of the angle involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 44, Laufer discloses wherein the substrate consists at least essentially of a material selected from the group consisting of: fused silica and glass ceramic (glass, para 0008).
Regarding claim 45, Laufer discloses wherein the substrate consists at least essentially of a material that has a zero-crossing temperature which is between 0° C. and 100° C (para 0008, the zero-crossing temperature of glass is between 20-30° C).
Regarding claim 46, Laufer discloses wherein the substrate consists at least essentially of a material that has a spatial variation of a zero-crossing temperature which is less than 3 K (para 0008, the zero-crossing temperature of glass is between 20-30° C).
Regarding claim 47, Laufer discloses wherein the hollow structure (30, 24) has a seam region. (33, section where the horizontal and the vertical sections merge in Fig. 3B).
Regarding claim 48, Laufer discloses wherein the hollow structure has at least one of: an edge contour of a removal front, at least one bulge, a lateral offset and a structural modification other than the edge contour, the bulge or the offset in the seam region (structural modification or changing the diameter, Fig. 3b).
Regarding claim 51, Laufer discloses EUV lithography system (Fig. 1, para 0022) comprising: at least one EUV mirror according to claim 36 (see above) and a temperature control device configured as a hollow structure forming a flow-passage for a temperature control fluid (Fig. 3B, para 0029-0032).
Regarding claim 73, Laufer discloses wherein the substrate is a monolithic substrate (mirror body 21), and the reflective coating is configured to reflect extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation (14, Fig. 1, para 0022).
Regarding claim 74, Laufer discloses wherein the temperature control channels (24, 30) are configured as cooling channels (para 0038).
Regarding claim 75, Laufer discloses wherein the substrate is a monolithic substrate (mirror body 21) and that the channel is configured as a flow-passage for a fluid (para 0027, 0032). However, Laufer does not disclose wherein the channel is curved. Erhad discloses a solid state medium (6, Fig. 2, 6B) comprising a reflective coating (13) and a heat sink (9) and at least one hollow structure or channel (25, 27) comprising a first section (three vertical sections in Fig. 6B) and a second section (two horizontal sections in Fig. 6B) and a curved section, at which the first section and the second section merge (Fig. 6B, shows curved section where the middle vertical section merges with the two horizontal sections). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the curved channel as taught by Erhad to the merging section of the first section and the second section of Laufer for a smoother flow of the cooling medium.
Claim(s) 76 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laufer in view of Erhard as applied to claim 44 above, and further in view of Becker (2016/0151880).
Regarding claim 76, the further difference between the modified Laufer is wherein the substrate consists at least essentially of titanium-doped fused silica. Becker discloses a mirror for EUV lithograph comprising the mirror substrate blank made from titanium-doped silica glass (abstract). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the substrate for the mirror consisting at least essentially of titanium-doped fused silica as taught by Becker in order to provide a stable mirror with low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Xalter et al. (2023/0350307) discloses a mirror (M4), hollow structure or channel (31, 40, Fig. 6, para 0078, 0079).
Zaczek et al. (2024/0027730) discloses a mirror (12, Fig. 4), hollow structure of channel (18, 20, 21, para 0079).
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/PETER B KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882 May 2, 2026
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