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 Objections
Claims 16-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: in claim 16, at the end of line 12 after the word “component” there appears to be missing punctuation, and most likely there should be a semicolon following the word “component”. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-4, 9-12 and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2019/0143481) in view of Knollenberg et al. (US 2020/0072724).
Regarding claim 1, Wang et al. disclose a method comprising: causing, by a processing device 114,116 associated with a particle detection system, a distribution unit (102,104,103,106) of the particle detection system to initiate a particle collection process to dislodge surface particles from a surface of an article (see par. 0014 and 0042) based on a stream comprising CO2 directed toward the article (par. 0044), wherein a portion of the dislodged surface particles are collected by a particle sampling component (108,107) that determines, for collected particles and in real-time, at least one of a particle number concentration, a particle size, or a particle size distribution (par. 0015, counts particles per liter; pars. 0016-0017, particles of different sizes are counted which is size distribution); determining, by the processing device and based on a signal received by the particle sampling component, that the at least one of the particle number concentration, the particle size, or the particle size distribution of the portion of the dislodged surface particles satisfies one or more collection criteria (par. 0017, determines when particle concentration is equal to or smaller than a pre-defined value); and causing, by the processing device, the distribution unit of the particle detection system to terminate the particle collection process (Id., terminates the cleaning process such that a wafer can be unloaded).
Wang et al. do not explicitly disclose that the stream of CO2 comprises at least one of solid carbon dioxide (CO2) particles or CO2 droplets. Knollenberg et al. disclose a method of dislodging particles from an article and collecting them with a sampling component 10 that determines particle size and concentrations (pars. 0011-0013), wherein the dislodging is done with a distribution unit that uses a stream comprising CO2 particles (par. 0021 and 0046, CO2 snow). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used CO2 particles or snow as part of the CO2 dislodging stream, as taught by Knollenberg et al., with the method of Wang et al. because it would have helped ensure more complete dislodging of the particles on the article surface.
Regarding claim 2, Wang et al. disclose that sampling component (108, with attached part of tube 107) is an aerosol sampling component comprising an aerosol sampling probe (see par. 0044, particle detector 108 can be a gas particle counter; particle counter with attached tube part of 107 can be considered a sampling probe).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Wang et al. do not disclose the details the tube inlet portion of 107 that is connected to the aerosol sampling probe part 108. However, short and straight tubular coupling portions at inlets into fluid sampling equipment are known in the art for allowing easy and universal connecting to other sampling or transport conduit of tubing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used any of various known relatively short lengths of tubing coupling elements at the inlet of the particle counting element 108 in Wang et al., including a tubing coupling element that is between 2 and 5 inches long, because it would have provided a convenient way to connect the sampling probe to other components and sampling lines. It would have been further obvious to make the component of metal, because metal is a well-known tubing material that provides durability, thermal resistance, and easy machinability.
Regarding claim 9, Wang et al. disclose system comprising: a memory; and a set of one or more processing devices 114,116 (see pars. 0022, 0056-0059, describing software components implementing the steps of the system) coupled to the memory, wherein the set of one or more processing devices is to: cause a distribution unit (102,104,103,106) of a particle detection system to initiate a particle collection process to dislodge surface particles from a surface of an article (see par. 0014 and 0042) based on a stream comprising CO2 directed toward the article (par. 0044), wherein a portion of the dislodged surface particles are collected by a particle sampling component (108,107) that determines, for collected particles and in real-time, at least one of a particle number concentration, a particle size, or a particle size distribution (par. 0015, counts particles per liter; pars. 0016-0017, particles of different sizes are counted which is size distribution); determine, based on a signal received by the particle sampling component, that the at least one of the particle number concentration, the particle size, or the particle size distribution of the portion of the dislodged surface particles satisfies one or more collection criteria (par. 0017, determines when particle concentration is equal to or smaller than a pre-defined value); and cause the distribution unit of the particle detection system to terminate the particle collection process (Id., terminates the cleaning process such that a wafer can be unloaded).
Wang et al. do not explicitly disclose that the stream of CO2 comprises at least one of solid carbon dioxide (CO2) particles or CO2 droplets. Knollenberg et al. disclose a method of dislodging particles from an article and collecting them with a sampling component 10 that determines particle size and concentrations (pars. 0011-0013), wherein the dislodging is done with a distribution unit that uses a stream comprising CO2 particles (par. 0021 and 0046, CO2 snow). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used CO2 particles or snow as part of the CO2 dislodging stream, as taught by Knollenberg et al., with the method and system of Wang et al. because it would have helped ensure more complete dislodging of the particles on the article surface.
Regarding claim 10, Wang et al. disclose that sampling component (108, with attached part of tube 107) is an aerosol sampling component comprising an aerosol sampling probe (see par. 0044, particle detector 108 can be a gas particle counter; particle counter with attached tube part of 107 can be considered a sampling probe).
Regarding claims 11 and 12, Wang et al. do not disclose the details the tube inlet portion of 107 that is connected to the aerosol sampling probe part 108. However, short and straight tubular coupling portions at inlets into fluid sampling equipment are known in the art for allowing easy and universal connecting to other sampling or transport conduit of tubing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used any of various known relatively short lengths of tubing coupling elements at the inlet of the particle counting element 108 in Wang et al., including a tubing coupling element that is between 2 and 5 inches long, because it would have provided a convenient way to connect the sampling probe to other components and sampling lines. It would have been further obvious to make the component of metal, because metal is a well-known tubing material that provides durability, thermal resistance, and easy machinability.
Regarding claim 16, Wang et al. disclose a particle detection system comprising: a distribution unit (102,104,103,106) configured to direct a stream comprising CO2 directed toward an article (par. 0044); a particle sampling component (108,107) configured to determine, for collected particles and in real-time, at least one of a particle number concentration, a particle size, or a particle size distribution (par. 0015, counts particles per liter; pars. 0016-0017, particles of different sizes are counted which is size distribution); and a set of one or more processing devices (114,116), wherein the set of one or more processing devices is to: cause the distribution unit to initiate a particle collection process to dislodge surface particles from a surface of the article based on the stream comprising CO2 directed toward an article (par. 0044), wherein a portion of the dislodged surface particles are collected by the particle sampling component (108,107)(see par. 0015); determine, based on a signal received by the particle sampling component, that the at least one of the particle number concentration, the particle size, or the particle size distribution of the portion of the dislodged surface particles satisfies one or more collection criteria (par. 0017, determines when particle concentration is equal to or smaller than a pre-defined value); and cause the distribution unit of the particle detection system to terminate the particle collection process (Id., terminates the cleaning process such that a wafer can be unloaded).
Wang et al. do not explicitly disclose that the stream of CO2 comprises at least one of solid carbon dioxide (CO2) particles or CO2 droplets. Knollenberg et al. disclose a method of dislodging particles from an article and collecting them with a sampling component 10 that determines particle size and concentrations (pars. 0011-0013), wherein the dislodging is done with a distribution unit that uses a stream comprising CO2 particles (par. 0021 and 0046, CO2 snow). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used CO2 particles or snow as part of the CO2 dislodging stream, as taught by Knollenberg et al., with the method and system of Wang et al. because it would have helped ensure more complete dislodging of the particles on the article surface.
Regarding claim 17, Wang et al. disclose that sampling component (108, with attached part of tube 107) is an aerosol sampling component comprising an aerosol sampling probe (see par. 0044, particle detector 108 can be a gas particle counter; particle counter with attached tube part of 107 can be considered a sampling probe).
Regarding claims 18 and 19, Wang et al. do not disclose the details the tube inlet portion of 107 that is connected to the aerosol sampling probe part 108. However, short and straight tubular coupling portions at inlets into fluid sampling equipment are known in the art for allowing easy and universal connecting to other sampling or transport conduit of tubing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used any of various known relatively short lengths of tubing coupling elements at the inlet of the particle counting element 108 in Wang et al., including a tubing coupling element that is between 2 and 5 inches long, because it would have provided a convenient way to connect the sampling probe to other components and sampling lines. It would have been further obvious to make the component of metal, because metal is a well-known tubing material that provides durability, thermal resistance, and easy machinability.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2019/0143481) in view of Knollenberg et al. (US 2020/0072724) and in view of Zoell (US 4,751,759).
Regarding claim 8, Wang et al. do not disclose causing a particle charge neutralizer to reduce a charge of the surface particles dislodged from the surface of the article. Zoell discloses an apparatus for dislodging particles from the surface of an article by directing a stream of fluid/gas at the article surface through one nozzle or opening 1 and collecting the dislodged particles through a suction opening 3 (see col. 3 line 50 to col. 4 line 20; and see Fig. 1), and Zoell additionally disclose using a particle charge neutralizer 7 to reduce and neutralize a charge of the particles dislodged from the surface of the article such to facilitate transport to the particle collection location (col. 4 lines 15-20). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the charge neutralizer teachings of Zoell, into the sampling steps of Wang et al., because it would provide the advantage of neutralizing the particles to be collected in order to make collection easier and more efficient.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 13-15 and 20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Neither Wang et al. nor Knollenberg et al. teach or suggest an additional portion of the dislodged surface particles being collected on a surface of a substrate having a pre-determined initial state comprising initial surface particles on the surface of the substrate, and with method steps or system elements configured to: determine a number of particles transported away from the surface of the article based on a measurement indicating the additional portion of the dislodged surface particles collected on the substrate, an initial particle number concentration of the initial surface particles of the pre-determined initial state, and the at least one of the particle number concentration, the particle size, or the particle size distribution of the portion of the dislodged surface particles collected by the particle sampling component. These or similar claim limitations are required by claims 5, 13 and 20.
Conclusion
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/PAUL M. WEST/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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