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 § 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 1-4, 7-10 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Chang et al (U.S.Pat. 10,459,352).
With respect to claim 1, 11-12 and 16-18, Chang discloses a system for forming a semiconductor structure comprising: a photomask (100; 200) has a photomask structure/pattern (106); an exposure tool (see col.1, lines 5-20) configured to perform an exposure operation to transfer a pattern (IC) of the photomask to a semiconductive substrate; a cleaning tool (see figure 4A), configured to perform a cleaning operation on the photomask wherein the cleaning tool (220) has a processing chamber (see figure 2B) configured to accommodate the photomask for a cleaning operation and a hydrogen radical producer configured to produce hydrogen radicals into the chamber and having the hydrogen radicals reacting with contaminants attached on the photomask (see col.4, lines 54-64).
As to claims 16-17, Chang further discloses a storing tool (206) configured to store a photomask (100) and the cleaning tool is integrated in one or more of storing tool (see figure 2) and the exposure tool (100), and the photomask (100) is transferred by a robot (see col.5, lines 24-25).
As to claim 18, the cleaning tool is separated from the storing tool (206), the inspection tool and the exposure tool (see figure 2C) and the photomask is transferred by a robot.
As to claim 2, Chang discloses removal of contaminants from photomask/reticle , including organic and inorganic contaminants (see col.2, lines 44-65). Organic contaminants inherently include carbon-containing contaminants and inorganic contaminants formed through oxidation processes inherently include oxygen-based contaminants.
As to claims 3 and 19, wherein the processing chamber (206)) of the cleaning tool has a first hole (see figure 2C) configured to provide gas/hydrogen radicals generated by the hydrogen radical producer to the processing chamber.
As to claims 4 and 20 , wherein the processing chamber (206) has a second hole (see figure 2C) configured to exhaust hydrocarbon gases generated as a result of reactions of the hydrogen radicals.
As to claim 7, a robot (see col.5, lines 24-25) or a machine arm configured to transfer the photomask (100) between the exposure tool and the cleaning tool.
As to claims 8-9, Chang further discloses an integrated reticle inspection system (226).
As to claim 10 the reticle inspection system is disposed adjacent to the cleaning tool (see figure 2).
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 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang (U.S.Pat. 10,459,352) in view of Lin et al (US Pat. 9,658,526).
With respect to claims 5-6, Chang discloses a system for forming a semiconductor structure and comprising substantially all limitations of the instant claims as discussed above. Chang does not expressly disclose a venting hole is formed between the pellicle and the photomask structure to provide the hydrogen radicals, as recited in the claims. These features are well known per se.
PNG
media_image1.png
227
544
media_image1.png
Greyscale
For example, Lin discloses a photomask assembly having a photomask with a substrate, a pellicle (218) attached to a frame (208) and a venting hole (214) formed on the frame (see figure 3) to provide a gas into a space between the photomask substrate and the pellicle. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ the photomask assembly of Lin into the system of Chang for the purpose of protecting the photomask from being contaminated and providing the hydrogen radicals to the space between the photomask and the pellicle through the venting hole for the purpose of cleaning the photomask as intended by Chang.
Claims 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang (U.S.Pat. 10,459,352) in view of Ng et al (U.S.Pat. 10,199,256 B2).
With respect to claims 11-15, Chang discloses a system for forming a semiconductor structure comprising substantially all limitations of the instant claims as demonstrated above. Chang does not expressly disclose a dry clean chamber, as recited in the instant claims. This feature is well known in the art. For example, Ng discloses systems for improved mask processing (see figure 1) and having a cleaning tool with a dry clean chamber (108). In view of such teachings, it would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Chang and Ng to obtain the claimed invention as recited in the claims. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to utilize a drying chamber as taught by Ng into the system of Chang for the purpose of drying the photomask and thereby removing the particles adhered on the photomask and improving the quality of the photomask as intended by Chang.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUNG HENRY NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2124. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:30PM.
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, Toan Minh Ton can be reached at 571-272-2303. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
HUNG HENRY NGUYEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2882
Hvn
1/28/26
/HUNG V NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882