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 .
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 June 13, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on June 13, 2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Examination Notice
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were effectively filed absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was effectively filed in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 13, 15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lubomirsky (US 11,562,890 B2) in view of Kano (US 2009/0242544 A1) and Ogawa (JP 03131507 A).
With regard to claim 1, Lubomirsky teaches a substrate holding unit (148 – Fig. 1; Fig. 2), comprising:
a core body (150 – Fig. 1) having a first surface (upper surface of 150– Fig. 1) configured to support a substrate (144 – Fig. 1) and a second surface (lower surface of 150 – Fig. 1) opposite to the first surface (upper surface in contact with 150 – Fig. 1);
an electrode layer (155 – Fig. 1) disposed on the first surface (upper surface of 150– Fig. 1) and the second surface (lower surface of 150 – Fig. 1) of the core body (150 – Fig. 1); and
a ceramic insulating layer (col. 5, lines 64-66; “composed of AlN (aluminum nitride), SiC (silicon carbide), or other materials”) covering the electrode layer (155 – Fig. 1) (see Fig. 1) and disposed on the first surface (upper surface of 150– Fig. 1) and the second surface (lower surface of 149 – Fig. 1) of the core body (150 – Fig. 1).
Lubomirsky does not teach wherein a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof.
Kano teaches the ceramic insulating layer uses a composite ceramic heater of pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) and pyrolytic graphite (PG) ([0003] lines 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the ceramic insulating layer Lubomirsky, to use pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) and pyrolytic graphite (PG) for the ceramic insulating layer, as taught by Kano, in order to advantage of the composite ceramic heater properties such as easy mounting and easy use because troubles like thermal deformation, breaks and short-circuits are avoidable; and provided uniform heat distribution (Kano [0003]).
Lubomirsky and Kano do not teach wherein a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof.
Ogawa teaches a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer/pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) includes a cubic crystal structure and includes a hexagonal crystal structure (Abstract, lines 5-10; Machine Translation).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the ceramic insulating layer Lubomirsky and Kano, to have a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof, as taught by Ogawa, in order to improve uniform heat distribution.
With regard to claim 2, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 1, and Kano further teaches wherein the electrode layer (3, 5, – Fig. 3) comprises:
an upper electrode layer (3 – Fig. 3) disposed on the first surface of the core body (see first surface of 5 – Fig. 3) to provide electrostatic force to the substrate ([0020] lines 1-8); and
a lower electrode layer (3 – Fig. 3) disposed on the second surface of the core body (see second surface of 5 – Fig. 3) to provide heat to the substrate as a heating resistor ([0020] lines 1-8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the electrode layer Lubomirsky, Kano and Ogawa, to have an upper electrode layer to provide electrostatic force to the substrate; and a lower electrode layer to provide heat to the substrate as a heating resistor, as taught by Kano, in order to improve the substrate holding unit by control the clamping forces and securing the substrate/wafer and providing thermal management by controlling its temperature.
With regard to claim 3, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 1, and Kano further teaches the ceramic insulating layer includes pyrolytic boron nitride ([0003] lines 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the ceramic insulating layer Lubomirsky, to use pyrolytic boron nitride for the ceramic insulating layer, as taught by Kano, in order to advantage of the composite ceramic heater properties such as easy mounting and easy use because troubles like thermal deformation, breaks and short-circuits are avoidable; and provided uniform heat distribution (Kano [0003]).
With regard to claim 4, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 3, but do not teach wherein on the first surface of the ceramic insulating layer, the cubic crystal structure is disposed in an area of 50% or less of a crystallized region.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the cubic crystal structure is disposed in an area of 50% or less of a crystallized region, in order to prevent loss of thermal anisotropy, flexibility, and non-stick; and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
With regard to claim 5, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 3, but do not teach wherein on the first surface of the ceramic insulating layer, the cubic crystal structure is disposed in an area of 10% to 50% of a crystallized region.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the cubic crystal structure is disposed in an area of 10% to 50% of a crystallized region, in order to prevent loss of thermal anisotropy, flexibility, and non-stick; and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
With regard to claim 6, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 3, but do not teach wherein on the first surface of the ceramic insulating layer, the crystallized region is 40% or more of a total area.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the crystallized region is 40% or more of a total area, in order to prevent loss of thermal anisotropy, flexibility, and non-stick; and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
With regard to claim 7, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 1, and Ogawa teaches a film pyrolytic boron nitride having a turbostratic structure with irregularity in the orientation state (Abstract, lines 5-11; Machine Translation). But do not teach a region having the cubic crystal structure of the ceramic insulating layer is irregularly dispersed.
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a region having the cubic crystal structure of the ceramic insulating layer is irregularly dispersed in order to improve the thermal properties of the ceramic insulating layer by tailoring/controlling the dispersion of the cubic crystal structure; and since doing so is within the ordinary capability of those skilled in the art.
With regard to claim 13, Lubomirsky teaches a substrate holding unit (148 – Fig. 1), comprising:
a core body (150 – Fig. 1) having a first surface (upper surface of 150 – Fig. 1) configured to support a substrate (144 – Fig. 1) and a second surface (lower surface of 150 – Fig. 1) opposite to the first surface (upper surface in contact with 150 – Fig. 1);
an electrode layer (155 – Fig. 1) disposed on the core body (150 – Fig. 1) providing heat to the substrate (144 – Fig. 1) (col. 5, lines 64-67; col. 6, lines 1-3); and
a ceramic insulating layer (col. 5, lines 64-66) covering the electrode layer (155 – Fig. 1) (see Fig. 1) and disposed on the first surface (upper surface of 150 – Fig. 1) and the second surface (lower surface of 149 – Fig. 1) of the core body (150 – Fig. 1).
Lubomirsky does not teach an electrode layer disposed on the core body and including pyrolytic graphite providing heat to the substrate; and
a ceramic insulating layer covering the electrode layer and disposed on the first surface and the second surface of the core body, and including pyrolytic boron nitride,
wherein a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof, and an area of the cubic crystal structure is 0.1 to 0.2 times an area of the hexagonal crystal structure.
Kano teaches an electrode layer (3 – Fig. 1) disposed on the core body (2 – Fig. 1) and including pyrolytic graphite providing heat to the substrate ([0003] lines 1-4); and
a ceramic insulating layer ([0008] lines 1-3) covering the electrode layer (3 – Fig. 1) and disposed on the first surface (upper surface of 1 – Fig. 1) and the second surface (lower surface of 1 – Fig. 1) of the core body (2 – Fig. 1), and including pyrolytic boron nitride ([0003] lines 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the ceramic insulating layer Lubomirsky, to use pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) and pyrolytic graphite (PG) for the ceramic insulating layer, as taught by Kano, in order to advantage of the composite ceramic heater properties such as easy mounting and easy use because troubles like thermal deformation, breaks and short-circuits are avoidable; and provided uniform heat distribution (Kano [0003]).
Lubomirsky and Kano do not teach wherein a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof, and an area of the cubic crystal structure is 0.1 to 0.2 times an area of the hexagonal crystal structure.
Ogawa teaches a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer/pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) includes a cubic crystal structure and includes a hexagonal crystal structure (Abstract, lines 5-10; Machine Translation).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the ceramic insulating layer Lubomirsky and Kano, to have a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof, and an area of the cubic crystal structure is 0.1 to 0.2 times an area of the hexagonal crystal structure, as taught by Ogawa, in order to improve uniform heat distribution of the ceramic insulating layer; and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
With regard to claim 15, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 13, and Lubomirsky further teaches the ceramic body has a first coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and the first protective layer has a second CTE, wherein the second CTE is within 2.5×10−6/° C of the first CTE. But do not teach the first surface of the ceramic insulating layer has a positive thermal expansion coefficient and has a stiffness of 0.2 to 12.5 Gpa.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the first surface of the ceramic insulating layer has a positive thermal expansion coefficient and has a stiffness of 0.2 to 12.5 Gpa, in order to take advantage of the inherent properties of ceramic insulating layer (pyrolytic boron nitride); and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
With regard to claim 18, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 13, and Kano further teaches the electrode layer (3, 5, – Fig. 3) comprises:
an upper electrode layer (3 – Fig. 3) disposed on the first surface of the core body (see first surface of 5 – Fig. 3) to provide electrostatic force to the substrate ([0020] lines 1-8); and
a lower electrode layer (3 – Fig. 3) disposed on the second surface of the core body (see second surface of 5 – Fig. 3) to provide heat to the substrate as a heating resistor ([0020] lines 1-8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the electrode layer Lubomirsky, Kano and Ogawa, to have an upper electrode layer to provide electrostatic force to the substrate; and a lower electrode layer to provide heat to the substrate as a heating resistor, as taught by Kano, in order to improve the substrate holding unit by control the clamping forces and securing the substrate/wafer and providing thermal management by controlling its temperature.
Regarding claim 19, Lubomirsky teaches a substrate processing apparatus (Fig. 1), comprising:
a process chamber (102 – Fig. 1) providing an internal space (see internal space of 102 – Fig. 1) for processing a substrate (144 – Fig. 1);
a support unit (149 – Fig. 1) disposed in the internal space (see internal space of 102 – Fig. 1) and configured to support the substrate (144 – Fig. 1); and
a gas supply unit (158 – Fig. 1) supplying process gas to the internal space (col. 4, lines 12-19),
wherein the support unit (149 – Fig. 1) comprises:
a core body (150 – Fig. 1) having a first surface (upper surface of 150 – Fig. 1) for supporting the substrate (144 – Fig. 1) and a second surface opposite to the first surface (lower surface of 150 – Fig. 1);
an electrode layer (155 – Fig. 1) disposed on the first surface (upper surface of 150 – Fig. 1) and the second surface (lower surface of 150 – Fig. 1) of the core body (150 – Fig. 1); and
a ceramic insulating layer (col. 5, lines 64-66) covering the electrode layer (155 – Fig. 1) (see Fig. 1) and disposed on the first surface (upper surface of 150 – Fig. 1) and the second surface (lower surface of 149 – Fig. 1) of the core body (150 – Fig. 1).
But Lubomirsky does not teach wherein a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof.
Kano teaches the ceramic insulating layer uses a composite ceramic heater of pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) and pyrolytic graphite (PG) ([0003] lines 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the ceramic insulating layer Lubomirsky, to use pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) and pyrolytic graphite (PG) for the ceramic insulating layer, as taught by Kano, in order to advantage of the composite ceramic heater properties such as easy mounting and easy use because troubles like thermal deformation, breaks and short-circuits are avoidable; and provided uniform heat distribution (Kano [0003]).
Lubomirsky and Kano do not teach wherein a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof.
Ogawa teaches a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer/pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) includes a cubic crystal structure and includes a hexagonal crystal structure (Abstract, lines 5-10; Machine Translation).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the ceramic insulating layer Lubomirsky and Kano, to have a first surface of the ceramic insulating layer on the first surface of the core body includes a cubic crystal structure in at least a portion thereof, and includes a hexagonal crystal structure in at least another portion thereof, as taught by Ogawa, in order to improve uniform heat distribution.
With regard to claim 20, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 19, and Kano further teaches wherein the electrode layer includes pyrolytic graphite ([0003] lines 1-4),
wherein the ceramic insulating layer includes pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) ([0003] lines 1-4). But do not teach wherein the ceramic insulating layer includes a crystallized region of 40% or more of the first surface, and includes the cubic crystal structure of 10% to 50% in the crystallized region.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the cubic crystal structure is disposed in an area of 10% to 50% of a crystallized region, in order to prevent loss of thermal anisotropy, flexibility, and non-stick; and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claim(s) 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lubomirsky (US 11,562,890 B2), Kano (US 2009/0242544 A1), Ogawa (JP 03131507 A) and in further view of Takebayashi (CN 113748500 A).
With regard to claim 17, Lubomirsky, Kano, and Ogawa teach all the limitations of claim 13, but do not teach the ceramic insulating layer includes a plurality of protruding structures spaced apart from each other on the first surface.
Takebayashi teaches the ceramic insulating layer includes a plurality of protruding structures spaced apart from each other on the first surface (Claim 4, lines 1-3; Machine Translation).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the ceramic insulating layer Lubomirsky, Kano and Ogawa, to have the ceramic insulating layer includes a plurality of protruding structures spaced apart from each other on the first surface, as taught by Takebayashi, in order to improve thermal control, particle management, reduce substrate/wafer sticking, enhanced clamping uniformity, etc.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 8-12, 14, and 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:
With regard to claim 8, in combination with other limitations of the claim, the prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest “wherein on the first surface of the ceramic insulating layer, a density of the cubic crystal structure in a region on which the substrate is placed is greater than a density of the cubic crystal structure in a region on which the substrate is not placed.”
Claim(s) 9 is allowed by dependence on claim 8.
With regard to claim 10, in combination with other limitations of the claim, the prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest “wherein the ceramic insulating layer comprises: a first insulating layer disposed on the core body to cover the core body; and a second insulating layer disposed on the electrode layer and the first insulating layer, and wherein the cubic crystal structure is included in the second insulating layer of the first surface of the ceramic insulating layer.”
Claim(s) 11 is allowed by dependence on claim 10.
With regard to claim 12, in combination with other limitations of the claim, the prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest “wherein a thermal expansion coefficient of the pyrolytic boron nitride of the ceramic insulating layer has the same sign as a thermal expansion coefficient of the substrate, and a stiffness of the ceramic insulating layer is less than a stiffness of the substrate.”
With regard to claim 14, in combination with other limitations of the claim, the prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest “wherein a thermal expansion coefficient of the pyrolytic boron nitride of the ceramic insulating layer has the same sign as a thermal expansion coefficient of the substrate, and a stiffness of the ceramic insulating layer is less than a stiffness of the substrate.”
Claim(s) 16 is allowed by dependence on claim 14.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see attached PTO-892.
Dalakos (US 2006/0165994 A1) teaches a crack-free protective coating comprising at least one of aluminum nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride or combinations thereof. Disclosed herein too is a method for making an article comprising disposing a protective coating comprising at least one of aluminum nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride or combinations thereof upon a substrate comprising pyrolytic boron nitride, pyrolytic graphite and/or carbon doped boron nitride.
Kimura (JP H08157283 A) teaches a method for producing a pyrolytic boron nitride-coated multi-layer molded article, which comprises depositing a pyrolytic boron nitride layer on the surface of a multi-layer molded article comprising a pyrolytic graphite layer provided on the surface of a substrate made of insulating ceramics. In the method, a groove having the same pattern as the pyrolytic graphite layer is previously formed on the surface of the substrate made of insulating ceramics, the pyrolytic graphite layer is formed on the groove, and then the surface is cut and removed to polish the surface irregularities. A method for producing a pyrolytic boron nitride-coated multi-layer molded article, comprising forming a pyrolytic graphite layer pattern surface having a thickness of 100 μm or less, and then forming a pyrolytic boron nitride layer on the outermost surface by a CVD method.
Byun (US 2025/0022693 A1) teaches an electrostatic chuck may include a body, a body; an internal electrode in the body, wherein the internal electrode is configured to generate an electrostatic force when a voltage is applied to the internal electrode; and a coating layer on an outer surface of the body, wherein the coating layer comprises a film forming material including a silicon-containing material. The internal electrode 13 may be positioned inside the body 12. The internal electrode 13 may generate an electrostatic force to generate a force to suction-fix (adsorb) a substrate, when a voltage is applied to the internal electrode 13. The substrate herein may refer to, for example, a semiconductor wafer to be processed. The internal electrode 13 may include, for example, a conductive material. For example, the internal electrode 13 may include graphite, but is not limited thereto. The internal electrode 13 may include pyrolytic graphite. The internal electrode 13 may be positioned between the inner body 12b and the outer body 12c. The internal electrode 13 may be positioned on an upper side (e.g., an upper surface) of the inner body 12b.
Otaka (US 2007/0181065 A1) teaches a heating element comprising pyrolytic graphite superimposed on the base substrate; a first layer coating the heating element and the base substrate, the layer comprises at least one of a nitride, carbide, carbonitride or oxynitride of elements selected from a group consisting of B, Al, Si, Ga, refractory hard metals, transition metals, and combinations thereof; wherein the first layer coating is coated with the over-coating layer having a thermal conductivity greater than 100 W/m° K; the first outer coating layer comprises at least one of pyrolytic boron nitride, aluminium nitride (AlN), aluminium oxide, aluminium oxynitride, silicon nitride, or complexes thereof; the base substrate comprises graphite, and the over coating layer comprises pyrolytic graphite; and the overcoat layer comprises pyrolytic graphite ("PG").
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nicolas Bellido whose telephone number is (571) 272-5034. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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/N.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2838
/MONICA LEWIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2838