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 § 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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong al (US 2025/0334888) in view of Moon et al (US 2018/0024054)
As to claim 1, Jeong et al teaches the method of measuring an overlay error of at least one die bonded to a substrate, the method comprising:
capturing a first image ( take target picture, 602, figure 6) , by an imaging device(camera 218, figure 3) , of at least one first metrology mark having a first pattern on an object with a first positional information (capturing an image of an alignment mark, rotating the captured image by a first amount, e.g., 180° to determine a center point of the alignment mark, and establishing a positional relationship between the rotated image and the captured image, paragraph[0029]);
capturing a second image, by the imaging device, of at least one second metrology mark having a second pattern on a surface (a second alignment mark portion, performing self-correlation on the first alignment mark portion, performing self-correlation on the second alignment mark portion, paragraph [0029] of the at least one die with a second positional information (The alignment marks may be positioned on scribe lines between die on the substrate. The lithography system 100 includes a plurality of image projection apparatuses 200 each including a camera 218. In one example, there are 22 image projection apparatuses 200. Thus, there are 22 cameras 218. Each camera 218 may detect a different alignment mark. , paragraph [0081][0089]); and obtaining the overlay error based on alignment marks placement errors of a source substrate, offsets that occurred during the capturing of the first image and the second image, and the determined metrology mark error(During automated overlay measurements, a single measurement may not be enough to accurately determine the location of alignment target. As such, the first part of the process described in FIGS. 4A-4C provides for an automated finding of the exact location of alignment target. The second part of the process described with reference to FIGS. 5A-5E provides for the automated overlay measurement. The combination of the first part and the second part of the process provides for a more accurate overlay measurement calculation. The first part of the process provides for an acceptable approximation of finding the target position. The second part of the process provides for an accurate overlay measurement. The first part of the process involves performing a single self-correlation, whereas the second part of the process involves performing two additional self-correlations. By combining the three self correlations in the two-part overlay measurement process, more accurate target positioning may be obtained, paragraph[0100]). While Jeong teaches the limitation above, Jeong fails to teach “superposing the second image with the first image to form a simulated interference pattern; determining a metrology mark error based on the simulated interference pattern in X, Y and θ directions; “However, Moon et al teaches The interfering predetermined diffraction orders 74A,74B initially diverge from the target structure 91 at a relatively large angle θ1. Subsequent diffraction by the second target structure 92 causes the interfering predetermined diffraction orders 74A,74B to be brought closer together (as depicted by rays 78A and 78B, which diverge at a much smaller angle θ2). Ray 78A is a −1 diffraction order generated from ray 74A and ray 78B is a +1 diffraction order generated from ray 74B. The method uses rays 78A and 78B to form an interference pattern (or region of uniform intensity caused by interference) and uses the interference pattern (or region of uniform intensity caused by interference) to measure an overlay error. The detection of the interference between the predetermined diffraction orders is enabled by the subsequent diffraction from the second target structure 92. This subsequent diffraction brings the predetermined diffraction orders close enough together for them to be received efficiently and simultaneously by an objective lens 16 of a detection system and for the interference pattern (or region of uniform intensity caused by interference) to be sensitive to overlay error ( paragraph [0103]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before filing of the claimed invention to form an interference pattern as taught by Moon et al. in order to improve the robustness or reliability of measurements of a lithographic characteristic such as overlay error(paragraph [008]). Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
As to claim 2, Jeong et al teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: recording the first image to a global coordinate system based on the first positional information (Fitting a 2D Gaussian function to an image allows for the extraction of key parameters such as the center coordinates and the standard deviations in the x and y directions, providing insights into the distribution of intensity or features within the image. When performing Gaussian fitting for image analysis, achieving subpixel resolution becomes crucial for accurately determining the location and size of features, paragraph [0094-0095])and storing the first image in a memory (The rotated image is stored in a memory device, paragraph[0114]); and recording the second image to the global coordinate system based on the second positional information and storing the second image in the memory (The establishment of the positional relationship may also be referred to as self-correlation. Further, the overlay technique involves capturing an image of an alignment mark, separating the alignment mark into a first alignment mark portion and a second alignment mark portion, performing self-correlation on the first alignment mark portion, performing self-correlation on the second alignment mark portion, and computing an overlay error by taking a difference between the position of self-correlation peak on the first alignment mark portion and the position of self-correlation peak on the second alignment mark portion, paragraph[0123])
As to claim 3, Jeong et al teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the object is the substrate (Microlithography techniques are generally employed to create electrical features on a substrate. A light-sensitive photoresist is typically applied to at least one surface of the substrate, paragraph [0003]).
As to claim 4, Jeong et al teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the object is a frame that has a fixed positional relationship with the substrate when the substrate is releasably secured by a chuck(A substrate 140 is supported by the stage 130. A plurality of openings are formed in the stage 130 to allow a plurality of lift pins to extend therethrough. The lift pins raise to an extended position to receive the substrate 140, such as from one or more transfer robots. The one or more transfer robots are used to load and unload substrates, such as the substrate 140, to and from the stage 130, paragraph [0030-0031]).
As to claim 5, Moon et al teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first pattern and the second pattern comprise of a plurality of uniformly or non-uniformly spaced gratings ( figure 5 gratings 32 to 35 and paragraph [0070]).
As to claim 6, Jeong et al teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the overlay error is compared with an acceptable threshold value (he first part of the process provides for an acceptable approximation of finding the target position. The second part of the process provides for an accurate overlay measurement. The first part of the process involves performing a single self-correlation, whereas the second part of the process involves performing two additional self-correlations. By combining the three self-correlations in the two-part overlay measurement process, more accurate target positioning may be obtained, paragraph [0082], [0099-0100]).
As to claim 7, Jeong et al teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the determined overlay error includes error in X, Y and θ directions (figure 9). 20220344192
As to claim 8, Moon et al teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first pattern and the second pattern are complementary patterns that includes one or more of: box in box, bar in bar, cross-in-cross, checkerboard, bullseye, moiré patterns, vernier scale marks, or cross-in-box pattern ( moire pattern paragraph [0129]).
As to claim 9, Jeong et al teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the alignment marks placement error is determined based on offsets between positions of at least one active-side alignment marks on an active side of the source substrate ( In the instant case, the actual center point 422A is offset from the predetermined center point 420. Stated differently, there is a deviation between the actual center point 422A and the predetermined center point 420, paragraph[0055])and positions of at least one first non-active side alignment marks on a non-active side of the source substrate in the X, Y, and θ directions (the overlay technique involves capturing an image of an alignment mark, rotating the captured image by a first amount, e.g., 180° to determine a center point of the alignment mark, and establishing a positional relationship between the rotated image and the captured image. The establishment of the positional relationship may also be referred to as self-correlation. Further, the overlay technique involves capturing an image of an alignment mark, separating the alignment mark into a first alignment mark portion and a second alignment mark portion, performing self-correlation on the first alignment mark portion, performing self-correlation on the second alignment mark portion, and computing an overlay error by taking a difference between the position of self-correlation peak on the first alignment mark portion and the position of self-correlation peak on the second alignment mark portion, paragraph[0123]).
As to claim 10, Moon et al teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the offset occurred during the capturing of the first image and the second image (each separated image (that is, 402C and 402D) is rotated (about the selected center point of rotation) to obtain separate and distinct center point offsets. The first center point offset or deviation results from the first alignment mark portion 412 and the second center point offset or deviation results from the second alignment mark portion 414, paragraph [0073]), when the imaging device and the substrate are moved relative to each other in a Z direction to accommodate for the depth of field (Doff) limitation of the imaging device, and wherein the offset occurred during the capturing of the first image and the second image are obtained by at least one of: measuring positions of the substrate relative to intended positions of the substrate; and measuring positions of the imaging device relative to an intended position of the imaging device (o determine the positions of the two targets separately, self-correlation is applied two times separately, one for the position determination of inner target and the other for the position determination of outer target. This self-correlation is also referred to as establishing a positional relationship between the captured image and the rotated image, paragraph [0079]).
The limitation of claims 11-20 has been addressed above.
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NANCY . BITAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2664
/NANCY BITAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2664
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