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
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) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20030043456 A1 (Singh, Mandeep).
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Per claim 1, Singh teaches a reflective optical element for a wavelength in an extreme ultraviolet wavelength range [see paragraph 0001: “The present invention relates to multilayer mirrors for extreme ultraviolet radiation”], comprising: a substrate; and a reflective coating comprising a multilayer system [see paragraph 0083: “Comparative Example 1 is a standard Si-based multilayer stack comprising an unoptimised 50-period Mo/Si system grown on a Zerodur (RTM) glass substrate,”], wherein the multilayer system comprises: alternating layers of a first base material and layers of a second base material, the first base material having a real part of a refractive index at a wavelength in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength range that differs from a real part of a refractive index of the second base material at the wavelength in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength range, in which radiation having the wavelength in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength range reflected by the multilayer system forms a standing wave [inherent to the disclosed structure, see table II and paragraph 0084: “Examples 2 to 23 according to the invention consist of variations on the stack of reference example 1 as detailed in Table 2 below. In Table 2, column 2 gives the materials used in the layers of the stack; column 3 gives the optimisation applied: N indicates none, Y indicates global optimisation and Y(n) indicates needle optimisation (described further below); column 4 gives the capping layer applied; column 5 gives the peak reflectivity R; column 6 gives the R.sup.9peak reflectivity in relative units and column 7 gives the R.sup.9int (integrated) reflectivity in relative units”], a layer arranged at a place of extreme field intensity of the standing wave within the multilayer system comprised of a first further material which at least partially replaces one of the first base material or the second base material in the layer arranged at the place of extreme field intensity [see paragraphs 0013-0015: “[0013] According to the present invention, this and other objects are achieved in a reflector for reflecting radiation in a desired wavelength range, the reflector comprising a stack of alternating layers of a first and a second material, said first material having a lower real refractive index in said desired wavelength range than said second material, characterised by: at least one layer of a third material interposed in said stack, said third material being selected from the group comprising Rb, RbCl, RbBr, Sr, Y, Zr, Ru, Rh, Tc, Pd, Nb and Be as well as alloys and compounds of such materials. In preferred embodiments of the invention, a layer of said third material is interposed between each pair of layers of said first and second materials, and optionally at least one layer of a fourth material may be interposed in said stack, said fourth material being selected from the group comprising Rb, RbCl, RbBr, Sr, Y, Zr, Ru, Rh, Tc, Pd, Nb and Be as well as alloys and compounds of such materials”], and the first further material has a greater absorption at the wavelength in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength range than the first base material or the second base material that has been at least partially replaced by the first further material [see paragraph 0090: “The three component system of examples 8 to 12 is set up initially as a two-component Mo/Si stack with the third material interleaved between the Mo and Si layers with its initial thickness set to zero. The global optimisation process then varies the thicknesses of all the layers until a pre-set reflectivity target is approached. In the case of Mo--Rh/Si and Mo--Ru/Si, Mo is favoured near the surface and Rh or Ru near the substrate whereas, in the Mo--RbCl/Si system, RbCl (which is a single entity) partially substitutes for Si in the centre of the stack, i.e. the sum of the thicknesses of the adjacent RbCl and Si layers approaches the thickness of Si in a standard stack. The layer structure for the Mo--Ru/Si stack is shown in FIG. 3. This stack has 50 Si layers, including the uppermost layer, and therefore has 148 layers in total, plus a 1.5 nm Ru capping layer. In the figure, layer 0 is the substrate surface. A 50% gain in computed throughput is observed for the Mo--Ru/Si system over the standard Mo/Si stack.”]
Per claim 2, Singh teaches the reflective optical element of claim 1, wherein a difference between a real part of the refractive index of the first further material and the real part of the refractive index of the first base material or the second base material which has not been at least partially replaced by the first further material is greater than a difference between the real part of the refractive index of the first base material or the second base material which has not been at least partially replaced by the first further material and the real part of the refractive index of the first base material or the second base material which has been at least partially replaced by the first further material [inherent to Singh as the materials use by Singh match Applicant’s disclose materials, see paragraph [0043] The various materials usable in the invention, in addition to molybdenum (Mo), silicon (Si) and beryllium (Be), are derived mainly from period 5 of the periodic table of elements and include: rubidium (Rb), rubidium chloride (RbCl), rubidium bromide (RbBr), strontium (Sr), yttrium, zirconium (Zr), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), technetium (Tc), phosphorous (P), boron (B) and niobium (Nb). Alloys and compounds of these materials may also be used.”]
Per claim 3, Singh teaches an optical system comprising a reflective optical element as claimed in claim 2 [see paragraph 0001: ‘More particularly, the invention relates to the use of such mirrors in lithographic projection apparatus”].
Per claim 4, Singh teaches the reflective optical element of claim 1, further comprising, at at least one place of maximum field intensity, a second further material that at least partially replaces the first base material or the second base material and has a lower absorption at the wavelength in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength range reflected by the multilayer system than the first base material or the second base material which has been at least partially replaced by the second further material [inherent to Singh as the materials use by Singh match Applicant’s disclose materials, see paragraph [0043] The various materials usable in the invention, in addition to molybdenum (Mo), silicon (Si) and beryllium (Be), are derived mainly from period 5 of the periodic table of elements and include: rubidium (Rb), rubidium chloride (RbCl), rubidium bromide (RbBr), strontium (Sr), yttrium, zirconium (Zr), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), technetium (Tc), phosphorous (P), boron (B) and niobium (Nb). Alloys and compounds of these materials may also be used.”]
Per claim 5, Singh teaches an optical system comprising a reflective optical element as claimed in claim 4 [see paragraph 0001: ‘More particularly, the invention relates to the use of such mirrors in lithographic projection apparatus”].
Per claim 6, Singh teaches the reflective optical element of claim 4, wherein a real part of the refractive index of the second further material differs less from the real part of the refractive index of the first base material or the second base material which has not been at least partially replaced by the second further material than from the real part of the refractive index of the first base material or the second base material which has been at least partially replaced by the second further material [inherent to Singh as the materials use by Singh match Applicant’s disclose materials, see paragraph [0043] The various materials usable in the invention, in addition to molybdenum (Mo), silicon (Si) and beryllium (Be), are derived mainly from period 5 of the periodic table of elements and include: rubidium (Rb), rubidium chloride (RbCl), rubidium bromide (RbBr), strontium (Sr), yttrium, zirconium (Zr), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), technetium (Tc), phosphorous (P), boron (B) and niobium (Nb). Alloys and compounds of these materials may also be used.”]
Per claim 7, Singh teaches the reflective optical element of claim 4, wherein the first further material and the second further material completely replaced the first base material or the second base material in the layer arranged at the place of extreme field intensity of the standing wave [inherent to Singh as the materials use by Singh match Applicant’s disclose materials, see paragraph [0043] The various materials usable in the invention, in addition to molybdenum (Mo), silicon (Si) and beryllium (Be), are derived mainly from period 5 of the periodic table of elements and include: rubidium (Rb), rubidium chloride (RbCl), rubidium bromide (RbBr), strontium (Sr), yttrium, zirconium (Zr), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), technetium (Tc), phosphorous (P), boron (B) and niobium (Nb). Alloys and compounds of these materials may also be used.”]
Per claim 8, Singh teaches the reflective optical element of claim 1, wherein the multilayer system has molybdenum as the first base material and silicon as the second base material [see paragraph 0083: “Comparative Example 1 is a standard Si-based multilayer stack comprising an unoptimised 50-period Mo/Si system grown on a Zerodur (RTM) glass substrate,”].
Per claim 9, Singh teaches an optical system comprising a reflective optical element as claimed in claim 8 [see paragraph 0001: ‘More particularly, the invention relates to the use of such mirrors in lithographic projection apparatus”].
Per claim 10, Singh teaches the reflective optical element of claim 8, wherein the first further material is selected from the group consisting of palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, technetium, niobium, lanthanum, barium, cerium, praseodymium, rubidium, and strontium [see paragraph [0043] The various materials usable in the invention, in addition to molybdenum (Mo), silicon (Si) and beryllium (Be), are derived mainly from period 5 of the periodic table of elements and include: rubidium (Rb), rubidium chloride (RbCl), rubidium bromide (RbBr), strontium (Sr), yttrium, zirconium (Zr), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), technetium (Tc), phosphorous (P), boron (B) and niobium (Nb). Alloys and compounds of these materials may also be used.”]
Per claim 11-12, Singh teaches an optical system comprising a reflective optical element as claimed in claims 1 and 10 [see paragraph 0001: ‘More particularly, the invention relates to the use of such mirrors in lithographic projection apparatus”].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES A DUDEK whose telephone number is (571)272-2290. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:30-4:30 MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Carruth can be reached at 571-272-9791. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES A DUDEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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