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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II in the reply filed on September 1, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-3 and 10-12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Groups I and III, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claims 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lill [DE 102005017742 A1] in view of Suzuki [JP 5058783].
For claim 4, Lill teaches a method for forming an antireflection layer (a multilayer antireflective coating 14, see the figure) on a lens element for a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus designed for operation in a Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) wavelength range (optical components for shortest UV wavelengths of 248 nm, 193 nm or 157 nm or less, see page 5), the method comprising:
providing a lens element substrate (glass lens 13, see the figure); and
forming the antireflective layer (14) on the lens substrate from a first material of relatively lower refractive index and at least one second material of relatively higher refractive index (multilayer dielectric systems as a high refractive or low refractive index component, see page 5).
Lill fails to explicitly teach a mixing ratio between the first material and the second material is varied in a lateral direction and/or in a vertical direction, and wherein the antireflection layer is formed using separate evaporation sources for the first and second materials, wherein the material from these evaporation sources is respectively supplied via an intermittently open shutter.
Suzuki teaches a method for forming an antireflection layer on a lens element, the method comprising:
providing a lens element substrate (substrate 41 in chamber 71, see Figs. 2-4 and 8 and page 6 of the translation); and
forming the antireflective layer (43) on the lens substrate from a first material of relatively lower refractive index and at least one second material of relatively higher refractive index (layer stack, see Figs. 2-4), wherein a mixing ratio (mixing ratio, see pages 5-7) between the first material and the second material is varied in a lateral direction and/or in a vertical direction (layer stack), and wherein the antireflection layer is formed using separate evaporation sources for the first and second materials (72 and 73),
wherein the material from these evaporation sources is respectively supplied via an intermittently open shutter (deposition rate adjusted by shutters 74 and 75).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the multilayer formation using shutter and multiple sources as taught by Suzuki in the evaporative deposition as taught by Lill in order to more quickly apply the antireflective coating at different desired film thicknesses.
For claim 5, Lill teaches the lens element comprises at least one curved lens element surface (curved lens surfaces, see page 6 and the figure).
For claim 6, in the combination, Suzuki teaches the evaporation sources are operated at a constant evaporation rate, wherein the variation of the mixing ratio is achieved by a targeted setting of respective opening durations of the shutters respectively assigned to the evaporation sources (predetermined deposition rate, where the shutters adjust the mixing ratio, see page 6).
For claim 7, in the combination, Suzuki teaches a simultaneous evaporation from the evaporation sources is carried out, wherein an increase in an evaporation rate of the second material compared to an evaporation rate of the first material is synchronized with a variation of a respective currently coated region of the lens element substrate (variation in the deposition rate is based on the opening and closing of the respective shutters and the gradual increase of one material deposition rate and the decrease of the other materials deposition rate, see page 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 9 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:
Komiya [JP H11-106901] teaches a plurality of evaporation sources 11,21 and 12, 22 using shielding elements 15, 25 and 16, 26 and blades 31 to provide uniform coating layers from two sources.
Yamamoto [JP H11-200022] teaches two sources 11a and 11b that provided a specific distances to provide a desired uniformity.
Sudo [JP 2006-089843] teaches in Figs. 1-3 using multiple sources 8 and 9 to provide a plurality of layers to a lens.
The previously cited prior art fails to teach the synchronization with the variation of the respective currently coated region of the lens element substrate comprises increasing, in a direction from a central region of the lens element to an edge region of the lens element, the evaporation rate of the second material compared to the evaporation rate of the first material, wherein the variation of the currently coated region of the lens element substrate is implemented by variation of a relative position of an opening aperture located in a shading stop with respect to the lens element.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Okumura [JP 2001-152336], Komiya [JP H10-280132], Harada et al. [US 2004/0159283], Cangemi et al. [US 2009/0141358], and Tomofuji [JP H11-200017] each teach coating a lens surface.
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/Steven H Whitesell/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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