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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 (subsection (a)) specifies “scanning each sub-beam in the direction parallel to the first direction and repeatedly in the direction parallel to the second direction” and then recites processing “one of a plurality of elongate regions on the sample surface with the sub-beam”. Since “each sub-beam” is scanned, it is unclear which of the multi-beam of sub-beams is referenced as “the sub-beam”.
Claim 1 (subsection (e)) recites “…respective elongate regions previously processed by the sub-beam”. However, step (a) recites a step of “scanning each sub-beam in the direction parallel to the first direction and repeatedly in the direction parallel to the second direction” and it is therefore unclear which of the multi-beam of sub-beams is “the sub-beam” recited in step (e).
Claims 2-15 inherit the limitations of claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Muraki et al. U.S. PGPUB No. 2001/0004185 discloses a method of processing a sample (“a charged-particle beam exposure apparatus for drawing a pattern on a substrate with a charged particle beam” [0001]) using a multi-beam of sub-beams of charged particles using a charged particle device for projecting the multi-beam (“the aperture array AA has a plurality of apertures formed in a substrate, and divides an electron beam from the condenser lens 2 into a plurality of electron beams” [0067]) onto a sample surface (“a plurality of electron beams execute exposure of corresponding element exposure fields (EF) again to expose the second subfield (SF2)” [0088]), the method comprising in sequence: (a) move the sample in a direction parallel to a first direction (Y) while using the charged particle device to repeatedly move the multi-beam relative to the sample surface in a direction parallel to a second direction (X) (“the X-Y stage 11 is continuously driven in the Y direction, and a plurality of electron beams are deflected by the deflector 6 so as to follow movement of the X-Y stage 11” [0084]), thereby scanning each sub-beam in the direction parallel to the first direction and repeatedly in the direction parallel to the second direction to process a section EF of one of a plurality of elongate regions SF on the sample surface 5 with the sub-beam (figure 8 illustrates that each beam is rastered within an exposure field EF to scan repeatedly in the X-direction), the distance of movement of the sample in (a) being equal to or less than one half of the pitch at the sample surface of the sub-beams in the multi-beam in the first direction (since figure 8 illustrates that each row of a raster of an individual beam irradiated in an exposure field EF is advanced a distance less than the pitch, where the pitch is the distance between similar points in adjacent exposure fields EF: “each electron beam scans and exposes a corresponding element exposure field (EF) on the substrate 5” [0085]); (b) displace the sample in a direction oblique or perpendicular to the first direction (after exposing an exposure field EF by deflecting in the X-direction and scanning the stage in the Y-direction, the beams are deflected to a different subfield SF until an entire main field MF is exposed, and then the stage is advanced in the Y-direction until main field 8 is exposed, and then the stage is advanced in the X-direction (perpendicular to the Y-direction) to scan a second strip, as illustrated in figure 8: “The sub-controller 120 instructs the stage driving control circuit 118 to move the X-Y stage 11 by one step in the X direction, and executes exposure of the next stripe field (STRIPE2)” [0090]); (c) repeat (a) to process a section of a further elongate region of the plurality of elongate regions with each sub-beam (since figure 8 illustrates that the process of (a), to process a set of exposure fields EF of a sub field SF of a main field MF is repeated after the stage is advanced in the X-direction [0090] to begin exposing STRIPE 2).
However, Muraki only discloses the step (b), advancing the stage in an X-direction to expose a second stripe STRIPE2 once, and does not disclose an additional advancing step (b), as required by the step (d): repeat (b) and (c) multiple times to process sections of further respective elongate regions of the plurality of elongate regions with each sub-beam.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON L MCCORMACK whose telephone number is (571)270-1489. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:00AM-5:00PM EST.
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/JASON L MCCORMACK/Examiner, Art Unit 2881
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