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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/17/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the Application on 10/23/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(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) 1-4, 6, and 14-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by NI et al. (US 2020/0321193).
With regards to claim 1:
NI et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 1-2 below) an apparatus (50) comprising:
a showerhead faceplate (100) having N sets of gas distribution passages (110a, 110b, 110c), each gas distribution passage extending from a first side (101) of the showerhead faceplate to a second side (102) of the showerhead faceplate opposite the first side of the showerhead faceplate, wherein:
the second side (102) of the showerhead faceplate is configured to face towards, and be exposed to, a wafer support (40) located within a semiconductor processing chamber (30) when the showerhead faceplate is installed in the semiconductor processing chamber as part of a showerhead (10) of that semiconductor processing chamber,
the N sets of gas distribution passages (110) comprise a first set of gas distribution passages (110) comprising a first subset (110a, or 110c) of gas distribution passages and a second subset (110b) of gas distribution passages,
the gas distribution passages in the first set of gas distribution passages each intersect the first side (101) of the showerhead faceplate (100) at locations nominally equidistant from a center axis of the showerhead faceplate (100),
the gas distribution passages (110a, or 110c) in the first subset of gas distribution passages extend at least partially along axes that are each at a first angle (180o- α, or 90o) relative to the first side (101),
the gas distribution passages (110b) in the second subset of gas distribution passages extend at least partially along axes that are each at a second angle (β) relative to the first side (101), and
the first angle (180o- α, or 90o) is greater than the second angle (β) (the inclined angle (α, β) of the through holes (passages) may be set different (see [0080]).
With regards to claim 2:
NI et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first angles (180o- α) and the second angles (β) are both oblique angles.
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Fig. 1
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Fig. 2
With regards to claim 3:
NI et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 2 above) the apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the gas distribution passages (110a) in the first subset of gas distribution passages intersect the second side (102) of the showerhead faceplate (100) at locations located a first distance from the center axis of the showerhead faceplate,
the gas distribution passages (110b) in the second subset of gas distribution passages intersect the second side (102) of the showerhead faceplate (100) at locations located a second distance from the center axis of the showerhead faceplate, and
the first distance is smaller than the second distance.
With regards to claim 4:
NI et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 2 above) the apparatus of claim 3, wherein:
the locations where the gas distribution passages (110c) in the first set of gas distribution passages intersect the first side (101) of the showerhead faceplate form a first circular pattern extending around the center axis,
the locations where the gas distribution passages (110c) in the first subset of gas distribution passages intersect the second side (102) of the showerhead faceplate form a second circular pattern extending around the center axis and having a diameter substantially equal to a diameter of the first circular pattern (since this passages are parallel to center axis),
the locations where the gas distribution passages in the second subset (110b) of gas distribution passages intersect the second side (102) of the showerhead faceplate form a third circular pattern extending around the center axis and having a diameter larger than the diameter of the first circular pattern and the diameter of the second circular pattern.
With regards to claim 6:
NI et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the gas distribution passages (110a, or 110c) in the first set of gas distribution passages are arranged such that locations where the gas distribution passages in the first set of gas distribution passages intersect the first side (101) of the showerhead faceplate are grouped in a first set of clusters arranged along a first circular path.
With regards to claim 14:
NI et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 3 below) the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a gas distribution plate (15), wherein:
the gas distribution plate comprises a plurality of gas distribution ports exiting a first side of the gas distribution plate,
the first side of the gas distribution plate contacts the first side of the showerhead faceplate,
each gas distribution port is connected with a corresponding gas distribution plate passage located within the gas distribution plate, and
the location where each gas distribution passage intersects the first side of the showerhead faceplate corresponds with a location of one of the gas distribution ports of the gas distribution plate.
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Fig. 3
With regards to claim 15:
NI et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 1 above) the apparatus of claim 14, further comprising the substrate support (40), wherein the showerhead faceplate (100) is positioned with the second side (102) of the showerhead faceplate facing towards the substrate support.
With regards to claim 16:
NI et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 1 above) the apparatus of claim 15, further comprising the semiconductor processing chamber (30), wherein at least the second side of the showerhead faceplate is located within the semiconductor processing chamber.
With regards to claim 17:
NI et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second side (102) of the showerhead faceplate (100) is planar.
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) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NI et al..
With regards to claim 13:
NI et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the showerhead faceplate having N sets of gas distribution passages, except N = 7. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of NI et al. to have the showerhead faceplate having 7 sets of gas distribution passages for a particular processing chamber size wherein this number of sets works best, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NI et al.., and in view of Lee et al. (US 12,136,539).
With regards to claim 18:
NI et al. discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
NI et al. does not disclose the second side of the showerhead faceplate is contoured.
Lee et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 4 below) a showerhead faceplate (220) installed in the semiconductor processing chamber wherein the second side (222) of the showerhead faceplate is contoured to provide generation of overall uniform plasma (Column 21, lines 66-67).
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Fig. 4
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the showerhead faceplate of NI et al. to have the contoured second side as disclosed by Lee et al. to provide overall uniform plasma semiconductor processing chamber as taught by Lee et al..
NI et al., as modified, discloses the apparatus of claim 18.
With regards to claim 19:
NI et al., as modified, discloses the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the second side has an axisymmetric profile about the center axis.
With regards to claim 20:
NI et al., as modified, discloses the apparatus of claim 19, wherein:
the axisymmetric profile has a concave portion between the center axis and an outermost edge of the showerhead faceplate, and
a portion of the second side of the showerhead faceplate that is coincident with the center axis is further from the first side of the showerhead faceplate than a remainder of the second side of the showerhead faceplate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, and 7-12 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Minh Le, whose telephone number is 571-270-3805. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881 or Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MINH Q LE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
/KENNETH RINEHART/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3753