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 11/26/2024 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 § 103
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 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) 1-4, 6, 12-14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PATEL et al. (US 20250062143 A1) in view of ISHII et al. (US 20190252229 A1) and ADERHOLD et al. (US 20200032386 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Patel et al. teaches an apparatus for cooling substrates ([0035]), the apparatus is further configured to transfer a substrate between a first environment (environment of 106) with a first pressure ([0032]; “factory interface 106 is generally maintained at atmospheric pressure.”) and a second environment (environment of 110) with a second pressure ([0032]; “Transfer chamber 110 is generally maintained at vacuum pressure levels”), the apparatus comprising:
a first port (door of load lock 120 connected to 106; [0034]) disposed in the first wall (Fig. 1) configured to be sealable from the first environment ([0034]; [0036]);
a second port (door of load lock 120 connected to 110; [0034]) disposed in the second wall (Fig. 1) configured to be sealable from the second environment ([0034]; [0036]);
a first support (top support of 252; 242) disposed between the top wall and the bottom wall (Fig. 2A);
a second support (bottom support of 252; 242) disposed between the first support and the bottom wall (Fig. 2A);
Patel et al. does not explicitly teach a chamber housing having a first wall, a second wall opposite to the first wall, a third wall, a fourth wall opposite to the third wall, a top wall and a bottom wall defining a chamber volume therebetween, however, one of ordinary skill in the art would have realized that Patel et al. must have equivalent features so the load lock chamber can create a pressure environment.
Ishii et al teaches a chamber (122) housing having a first wall (208), a second wall (210) opposite to the first wall (Fig. 3A), a third wall (242 shown in Fig. 3A), a fourth wall (opposite 242) opposite to the third wall ([0033] Fig. 3A), a top wall (214) and a bottom wall (216) defining a chamber volume therebetween;
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the walls of Ishii et al. with the load lock chamber of Patel et al. so the load lock chamber can create a pressurized environment.
Patel et al. does not teach a first body disposed just below the top wall; and
a second body disposed just above the bottom wall, wherein the first body and the second body can absorb a heat emitted from a first substrate placed on the first support and a second substrate placed on the second support respectively, and
an emissivity of the first body and an emissivity of the second body are equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold
Aderhold et al. teaches a first body (180) disposed just below a top wall (see Fig. 1) wherein the first body can absorb the heat emitted from a first substrate placed on a support ([0033]) first support and a second substrate placed on the second support respectively, and an emissivity of the first body is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold ([0033]).
Aderhold et al. does not teach a second body however this is an obvious duplication of parts (MPEP 2144.04(VI)). It would have bene obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to duplicate the body of Aderhold et al. to perform cooling to multiple substrates.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify the load lock chamber of Patel et al. with the body of Aderhold et al. so the first and second body can absorb heat emitted from substrate placed on a first support and a second substrate placed on the second support respectively, to increase the rate of cooling.
Regarding Claim 2, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to the claim 1, wherein the first environment is an equipment front end module (EFEM) (Patel et al. 106; ([0002], [0032]) for providing the substrates into the apparatus, and wherein the second environment is a processing module (Patel et al. 114) where the substrates are processed (Patel et al. [0032]), and wherein the first pressure and the second pressure are different (Patel et al. [0032], [0033]).
Regarding Claim 3, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the first support and the second support comprising a curved inner portion (Patel et al. inner portion of 492) and a lip (Patel et al. 468, 472, 478, and 482 portions that extend toward the substrate) and wherein the lip is configured to be extending radially inwards from the inner portion (Patel et al. see Fig. 2B).
Regarding Claim 4, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the first support and the second support comprising a curved inner portion (Patel et al. inner portion of 492) and a lip (Patel et al. 468, 472, 478, and 482 portions that extend toward the substrate), and wherein the lip comprises a plurality of pins (Patel et al. 510).
Regarding Claim 6, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a length of the lip is equal to or greater than a predetermined length (the predetermined length is the length that the lip was made).
Regarding Claim 12, Patel et al. teaches A substrate processing assembly, the assembly comprising:
an equipment front end module (106) including an equipment front end module chamber having one or more interface openings (124) and a robot arm (arm of 126) for moving substrates ([0032]);
a plurality of processing chambers (114, 116, 118) configured to process the substrates ([0032]); and
a load lock chamber (120) configured to cool the substrates [(0035)] and to transfer the substrates between the equipment front end module and the plurality of processing chambers (see Fig. 1; [0035]), the load lock chamber comprising:
a first port (door of load lock 120 connected to 106; [0034]) disposed in the first wall (Fig. 1) configured to be sealable from a first environment ([0034], [0036]);
a second port (door of load lock 120 connected to 110; [0034]) disposed in the second wall (Fig. 1) configured to be sealable from a second environment ([0034], [0036]);
a first support (top support of 252; 242) disposed between the top wall and the bottom wall (Fig. 2A);
a second support disposed between the first support and the bottom wall (Fig. 2A);
Patel et al. does not explicitly teach a chamber housing having a first wall, a second wall opposite to the first wall, a third wall, a fourth wall opposite to the third wall, a top wall and a bottom wall defining a chamber volume therebetween;
Ishii et al teaches a chamber (122) housing having a first wall (208), a second wall (210) opposite to the first wall (Fig. 3A), a third wall (242 shown in Fig. 3A), a fourth wall (opposite 242) opposite to the third wall ([0033] Fig. 3A), a top wall (214) and a bottom wall (216) defining a chamber volume therebetween;
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the walls of Ishii et al. with the load lock chamber of Patel et al. so the load lock chamber can create a pressurized environment.
Patel et al. does not teach a first body disposed just below the top wall; and
a second body disposed just above the bottom wall, wherein the first body and the second body can absorb a heat emitted from a first substrate placed on the first support and a second substrate placed on the second support respectively, and
an emissivity of the first body and an emissivity of the second body are equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold
Aderhold et al. teaches a first body (180) disposed just below a top wall (see Fig. 1) wherein the first body can absorb the heat emitted from a first substrate placed on a support ([0033]) first support and a second substrate placed on the second support respectively, and an emissivity of the first body is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold ([0033]).
Aderhold et al. does not teach a second body however this is an obvious duplication of parts (MPEP 2144.04(VI)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to duplicate the body of Aderhold et al. to perform cooling to multiple substrates.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify the load lock chamber of Patel et al. with the body of Aderhold et al. so the first and second body can absorb heat emitted from substrate placed on a first support and a second substrate placed on the second support respectively, to increase the rate of cooling.
Regarding Claim 13, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the assembly according to claim 12, wherein each of the first support and the second support comprising a curved inner portion (Patel et al. inner portion of 492) and a lip (Patel et al. 468, 472, 478, and 482 portions that extend toward the substrate) and the lip is configured to be extending radially inwards from the inner portion (Patel et al. see Fig. 2B).
Regarding Claim 14, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of the first support and the second support comprising a curved inner portion (inner portion of 492) and a lip (468, 472, 478, and 482 portions that extend toward the substrate), and the lip comprises a plurality of pins (510).
Regarding Claim 16, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the assembly according to claim 3, wherein a length of the lip is equal to or greater than a predetermined length (the predetermined length is the length that the lip was made).
Claim(s) 5 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PATEL et al. (US 20250062143 A1) in view of ISHII et al. (US 20190252229 A1) and ADERHOLD et al. (US 20200032386 A1) as applied to claim 1-4, 6, 12-14 and 16 above, and further in view of MIYASHITA (US 5980195 A).
Regarding Claim 5, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to claim 4,
Patel et al. does not teach wherein a shape of each of the plurality of pins is one of cylinder, cone-tipped cylinder, triangular prism, and square prism.
Miyashita teaches a plurality of pins (112) wherein a shape of each of the plurality of pins is one of cylinder, cone-tipped cylinder (see Fig. 9), triangular prism, and square prism.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention substitute of pins of Patel et al. with the cone-tipped cylinder pins of Miyashita for the purpose of reducing the surface area touching the substrate thus reducing the risk of damaging the surface of the substrate.
Regarding Claim 15, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the assembly according to claim 14,
Patel et al. does not teach wherein a shape of each of the plurality of pins is one of cylinder, cone-tipped cylinder, triangular prism, and square prism.
Miyashita teaches a plurality of pins (112) wherein a shape of each of the plurality of pins is one of cylinder, cone-tipped cylinder (see Fig. 9), triangular prism, and square prism.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention substitute of pins of Patel et al. with the cone-tipped cylinder pins of Miyashita for the purpose of reducing the surface area touching the substrate thus reducing the risk of damaging the surface of the substrate.
Claim(s) 7-11 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PATEL et al. (US 20250062143 A1) in view of ISHII et al. (US 20190252229 A1) and ADERHOLD et al. (US 20200032386 A1) as applied to claim 1-4, 6, 12-14 and 16 above, and further in view of OGURA et al. (US 20090142162 A1).
Regarding Claim 7, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to claim 3,
Patel et al. does not teach a first rail and a second rail, wherein the first support and the second support are disposed on the first rail and the second rail and configured to be movable up and down.
Ogura et al. teaches a first and second rail (rails of 51) configured to be movable up and down ([0116]; Fig. 9)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the load lock chamber of Patel et al. with the vertical rails of Ogura et al. so the substrates can be moved up and down individually.
Regarding Claim 8, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to the claim 7, wherein the first rail and the second rail are directly attached to the third wall and the fourth wall (Ogura Fig 4).
Regarding Claim 9, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to the claim 7, wherein the first support and the second support are positioned at a first upper position and a first lower position respectively when receiving the substrates; and wherein the first support and the second support are configured to move to a second upper position and a second lower position respectively when cooling the substrates (Ogura Fig. 9 Fully capable).
Regarding Claim 10, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to the claim 9, wherein a first distance between the first body and the second upper position and a second distance between the second body and the second lower position are equal to or less than a predetermined distance (Fully capable).
Regarding Claim 11, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to the claim 7, further comprising: a controller (Ogura [0144]) electrically coupled to the first support and the second support and configured to control an upward and downward movement of the first support and the second support (Ogura [0144]; Fully capable).
Regarding Claim 17, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to claim 3,
Patel et al. does not teach the load lock chamber further comprising: a first rail and a second rail, wherein the first support and the second support are disposed on the first rail and the second rail and configured to be movable up and down.
Ogura et al. teaches a first and second rail (rails of 51) configured to be movable up and down ([0116]; Fig. 9)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the load lock chamber of Patel et al. with the vertical rails of Ogura et al. so the substrates can be moved up and down individually.
Regarding Claim 18, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the apparatus according to the claim 17, wherein the first support and the second support are positioned at a first upper position and a first lower position respectively when receiving the substrates (Patel et al. Fig 2A); and wherein the first support and the second support are configured to move to a second upper position and a second lower position respectively when cooling the substrates (Ogura Fig. 9 Fully capable).
Regarding Claim 19, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the assembly according to the claim 18, wherein a first distance between the first body and the second upper position and a second distance between the second body and the second lower position are equal to or less than a predetermined distance (Fully capable).
Regarding Claim 20, Patel et al. as modified above teaches the assembly according to the claim 17, further comprising: a controller (Ogura [0144]) electrically coupled to the first support and the second support and configured to control an upward and downward movement of the first support and the second support (Ogura [0144]; Fully capable).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jeong et al. (US 20240287679 A1), Linss et al. (US 2025019832 A1), and Tannous et al. (US 20230230859 A1) teach similar apparatuses for substrate temperature regulation.
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/ERNESTO A SUAREZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3655
/A.N./Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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