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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, 15 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by D1 WO 2022128284 A1.
Regarding claims 1, 15 D1 teaches
1. An optical apparatus, comprising:
an optical element comprising an optical surface;(301)
an actuator configured to tilt the optical surface; and[0121]
a measuring device configured to sense a tilt of the optical surface from a rest position,(612+614+616)
wherein:
the measuring device comprises a waveguide(614) defining a closed measurement section; (612+614+616)
the waveguide is configured to input couple and allow propagation of a mode of a measurement beam;[0110-0117]
the waveguide is configured so that a tilt of the optical surface influences the measurement beam when the measurement beam propagates through the waveguide; and;[0115-0117]
the measuring device is configured to sense an influence on the measurement beam caused by the tilt of the optical surface. [0110-0119]
8. The optical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the waveguide is configured so that, due to a tilt of the optical surface, the waveguide moves relative to a reference region in direct vicinity to the waveguide so that the reference region influences an evanescent field emerging from the waveguide, and the measuring device is configured to measure the influence.[0117]
12. The optical apparatus of claim 1, comprising a plurality of optical elements, and the optical elements comprise micromirrors.[0076]
13. The optical apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the optical apparatus comprises a mirror selected from the group consisting of a field facet mirror and a pupil facet mirror;[0056]
the mirror comprises a plurality of micromirrors;
an optical surface of each micromirror comprises a reflective plane tiltable about two axes.[0076]
14. A system, comprising:
an illumination system; and
a projection optical unit comprising an optical apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the system is a semiconductor lithography projection exposure apparatus.[0076-0077]
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the actuator comprises a microelectromechanical system, and/or the optical element comprises a micromirror. [0056] [0076-0077]
20. The method of claim 15, wherein:
the waveguide is configured so that, due to a tilt of the optical surface, the waveguide moves relative to a reference region in direct vicinity to the waveguide so that the reference region influences an evanescent field emerging from the waveguide; and
the method comprises measuring the influence to determine the actual tilt of the optical surface. [0110-0119]
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)10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1.
Although D1 does not explicitly teach
10. The optical apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the measuring device comprises a first waveguide comprising a first measurement section and a second waveguide comprising a second measurement section;
each waveguide defines a closed measurement section;
the measurement sections is configured so that an actual tilt of the optical surface about a first axis is able to be sensed via the first measurement section;
an actual tilt of the optical surface about a second axis orthogonal to the first axis is able to be sensed via the second measurement section.
Using multiple sensors in different direction is well known in the art in order to measure different degrees of the freedom of the sensor.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2-7 , 9, 11, 17-19 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Closest available art by D1 US 9863825 B2 teaches the waveguide with beam, affecting the waveguide by force and measuring the response in order to identify the deformation , but does not teach tilt of optical surface, lithography projection apparatus and several other non obvious features of the claim.
Another art by D2 WO 2022128284 A1 teaches lithographic apparatus with mirrors which includes the waveguide and measuring the
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Conclusion
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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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