CTNF 18/979,512 CTNF 81636 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Drawings 06-22-07 AIA The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: Reference character 691 in Figure 6 is not mentioned in the specification . Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA Claim s 1-8 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “ESC” in the preamble, line 1 and “HV ESC” in line 2, without reciting the full form previously. Claim 2-8 depend from Claim 1 . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 Claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 2 recites the limitation " the cylindrical ground plane electrode" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 3-4 depend from rejected Claim 2. 07-34-05 AIA Claim 5 recites the limitation " the conductive material " in line 1 . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 6 recites the limitation "attaching a metal ground tube to the cylindrical ground plane electrode " in line 1. The recited “the cylindrical ground plane electrode” lacks proper antecedent basis and it is indefinite whether the recited “metal ground tube” is being attached to the claimed “ground mesh” or the claimed “cylindrical ground plane RF electrode”. For examination purposes, any ground electrode is considered. Claim 7 depend from rejected Claim 6, and is rejected due to dependency to a rejected claim. 07-34-05 AIA Claim 7 recites the limitation " respective mesh connectors " in line 1 . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. 07-34-05 AIA Claim 8 recites the limitation " the ground tube connectors " in line 1 . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-4, 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Parkhe (US 2016/0148828, IDS Document) in view of Green (US 6,188,563) and Koshimizu et al. (US 2010/0243606, IDS Document) . Regarding Claim 1 , Parkhe discloses a method for forming an ESC (ESC 10, Figures 1-11), the method comprising: printing an HV ESC electrode on a top surface of a first sheet of ceramic (electrostatic electrode 28 on top of 20, Figure 1, Paragraphs 24-25, “…the chucking electrode circuit 28 may include a plurality of interconnected, conductive traces, vias, or the like that may be screen printed …”); printing a cylindrical ground plane electrode on a top surface of a second sheet of ceramic (26 on top of 18, Figure 1, Paragraphs 24-25, “……. the grounding circuit 26, and the chucking electrode circuit 28 may include a plurality of interconnected, conductive traces, vias, or the like that may be screen printed…”); forming second vias in the second sheet of ceramic, the second vias connected to the cylindrical ground plane electrode (Paragraph 25, “…each of the heater circuit 24, the grounding circuit 26, and the chucking electrode circuit 28 may include a plurality of interconnected, conductive traces, vias, or the like that may be screen printed or otherwise formed on the surfaces of the layers 16-22, respectively, prior to bonding the layers 16-22 together to form the chuck body 12”); printing a heater electrode on a top surface of a third sheet of ceramic (24 on top of 16); forming third vias in the third sheet of ceramic (Paragraph 25, “…each of the heater circuit 24, the grounding circuit 26, and the chucking electrode circuit 28 may include a plurality of interconnected, conductive traces, vias, or the like that may be screen printed or otherwise formed on the surfaces of the layers 16-22, respectively, prior to bonding the layers 16-22 together to form the chuck body 12”); and placing a fifth sheet of ceramic on the top surface of the first sheet to form the ESC (22 on top of 20). Parkhe also disclose forming additional ceramic layers (Paragraph 24, “…While the chuck body 12 of the exemplary embodiment includes a total of four layers 16-22, it is contemplated that the chuck body 12 may be formed of a greater or fewer number of layers without departing from the scope of the present disclosure”). Parkhe does not specifically disclose printing a cylindrical ground plane RF electrode on a top surface of a second sheet of ceramic, the third vias vertically aligned with the second vias, printing a ground mesh on a top surface of a fourth sheet of ceramic, and forming fourth vias in the fourth sheet of ceramic, the fourth vias vertically aligned with the second vias. Green discloses a method of forming an ESC (10, Figures 1-6), the method comprising: disposing in a ceramic body (11, Figures 6) of the electrostatic chuck (10, Figures 1-6), an HV ESC electrode (14, Figures 1-6), a cylindrical ground plane RF electrode (15, Figures 1-6), a heater electrode (16, Figures 1-6), a ground plane electrode (17, Figures 1-6) in a ceramic body (11, Figures 1-6) of the ESC, wherein the ground plane electrode including a grounded tube portion connected to a lower portion (24 brazed to 17, Figures 1, 3). Koshimizu discloses a method for forming an ESC (ESC 12, Figures 1-20), the method comprising the steps of disposing: a first and second sheet-shaped or mesh-shaped DC electrodes in the electrostatic chucks (electrostatic electrode 36b, 46b in 38, 46, Figure 2); forming a ring-shaped peripheral dielectric member with an annular ground electrode (44 with annular ground electrode 96, Figures 6-7), along the side surface of a disc-shaped susceptor (44 along a side surface of disc-shaped susceptor 12, Figures 1, 6-7), and DC power supply and RF power supply with respective switches controlled by a controller (DC source 40 via switch 42 to electrodes 38b, 46b, AC source 28, matching unit 32, switch 82 to provide RF power, Figure 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide in the method of Parkhe, a cylindrical ground plane RF electrode as taught by Green and Koshimizu, and to provide additional ceramic layers in the combination, to place the cylindrical ground plane RF electrode in a second ceramic sheet and the ground plane electrode in a fourth ceramic and space vias to facilitate the desired electrical connection to provide the voltage/power to the electrodes and the heater. Regarding Claim 2 , combination of Parkhe, Green and Koshimizu discloses the method of Claim 1, further comprising: filling the vias with a conductive material (Koshimizu, Paragraph 25). Regarding Claim 3 , combination of Parkhe, Green and Koshimizu discloses the method of Claim 2, wherein the cylindrical ground plane electrode is continuous along a radius of the ESC body (Parkhe, 26 continuous along the radius of the ESC body as shown in Figure 3, Green, 17 continuous along the radius of the ESC body as shown in Figure 1). Regarding Claim 4 , combination of Parkhe, Green and Koshimizu discloses the method of Claim 2, wherein the cylindrical ground plane electrode is a vertical cage shape disposed in the ESC (Green, vertical cage shape formed by the ground tube portion 17). Regarding Claim 6 , combination of Parkhe, Green and Koshimizu discloses the method of Claim 1, further comprising: attaching a metal ground tube to the cylindrical ground plane electrode (24 attached to 17, Figures 1, 3), wherein the metal ground tube is disposed in a stem attached to the ESC body (17 disposed in a stem 19, Figures 1, 3). Regarding Claims 7-8 , combination of Parkhe, Green and Koshimizu discloses the method of Claim 6, wherein the metal ground tube is attached to the cylindrical ground plane electrode by brazing (Green, Figures 1, 3, Column 2, lines 34-38). Combination of Parkhe, Green and Koshimizu does not specifically disclose the metal ground tube has a plurality of ground tube connectors connecting with respective mesh connectors attached to the cylindrical ground plane electrode, wherein the ground tube connectors are tabs or protrusions. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select in the combination, respective connectors for attaching in place of brazing, to facilitate easy maintenance and cleaning . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Parkhe (US 2016/0148828) in view of Green (US 6,188,563), Koshimizu et al. (US 2010/0243606, IDS Document) and Takebayashi (US 2017/0280509) . Regarding Claim 5 , combination of Parkhe, Green and Koshimizu discloses the method of Claim 1, further comprising: interconnecting the vias via the conductive material (Parkhe, Paragraph 25). Combination of Parkhe, Green and Koshimizu does not specifically disclose forming a plurality of pads between the first vias and the second vias, wherein the pads are electrically coupled to the conductive material in the first vias and the second vias. Takebayashi discloses a method for forming an ESC (ESC 20, Figures 1-4), the method comprising: disposing an HV ESC electrode in a ceramic sheet (electrostatic electrode 24 on 22, Figure 1), a heater below the ceramic body in second resin sheet (comprising 30, Figures 1-4), and pedestal in a third ceramic sheet (comprising 60, Figure 1), wherein the heater is formed by printing a first heater electrode in a first resin sheet (comprising 34on top surface of 110, Figure 3), printing a jumper wire in a second resin sheet (comprising 36 on top surface 118, Figure 3), printing a ground electrode in a third resin sheet (comprising 50 on top surface of 122, Figure 3), and printing a second heater electrode in a fourth resin sheet (comprising 44 on top surface of 128, Figure 3), forming interconnecting vias filled with conductive materials (V1-V9, Figure 3), and forming pads between the vias (comprising land 116, 124, 126, 46a, 46b, 50, Figure 3, Paragraph 36). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide in the combination, pads as taught by Takebayashi, to facilitate the desired electrical connection between the vias and to external power supply (Takebayashi, Paragraph 12, Figure 4) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhou et al. (US 8,884,524) discloses an electrostatic chuck member (104, Figures 1-5) comprising an RF electrode (130, Figures 1-2) and a heater (138, Figures 1-2), wherein the RF electrode can also serve as an electrostatic electrode (Column 3, lines 15-33, “…can also serve as an electrostatic attraction member to electrostatically hold the substrate 106 on the substrate support 104”) . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCY M THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-6002. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /LUCY M THOMAS/Examiner, Art Unit 2838, 6/11/2026 /CRYSTAL L HAMMOND/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 2 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 3 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 4 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 5 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 6 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 7 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 8 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 9 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 10 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/979,512 Page 11 Art Unit: 2838
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