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
Claims 16-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected method, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7-6-26.
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-15 in the reply filed on 7-6-26 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 1-15 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 1 recites “a first fluid supply configured to supply a fluid to the first surface” and “the circuitry controls ... to perform: a pre-treatment process of supplying...a pre-wetting liquid to the first surface of the substrate and supplying a chemical liquid to the first surface” it is unclear if the first fluid supply is configured to just supply the fluid or is also configured to dispense multiple fluids including the pre-wetting liquid and the chemical liquid. Further, claim 1 recites “a second fluid supply configured to supply a fluid to the second surface ... the circuitry controls ... to perform: supplying a heated fluid to the second surface” it is unclear if these are the same fluid or if a different supply is used for supplying the heated fluid.
Claims 2-15 are rejected as being dependent on an indefinite 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-10 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikeda et al. US 2020/0035516 (US’516) in view of Brown et al. US 2006/0254616 (US’616).
Regarding claim 1, US’516 teaches a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate having a first surface and a second surface in a horizontal posture (substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate on which an irregularity pattern is formed, The substrate holder 10 is configured to hold a substrate 2 horizontally with a top surface 2a of the substrate 2 abstract, para. 25-26 and fig. 1);
a rotational driver configured to rotate the substrate holder and the substrate held by the substrate holder around a vertical axis (As depicted in FIG. 1, a substrate processing apparatus 1 includes, by way of example, a substrate holder 10, a rotation driver 20, para. 25-30, see fig. 1);
a first fluid supply configured to supply a fluid to the first surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder (a liquid supply unit 30, see fig. 1, para. 25-32);
a second fluid supply configured to supply a fluid to the second surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder (heating liquid discharge nozzle 73 configured to discharge a heating liquid L4 to a bottom surface 2b of the substrate 2, see fig. 1, para. 58-66); and
circuitry, wherein the circuitry controls the rotational driver, the first fluid supply, and the second fluid supply to perform (The controller 90 is composed of, by way of example, a computer, and includes a CPU (Central processing unit) 91 and a recording medium 92 such as a memory the controller 90 controls an operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1 by allowing the CPU 91 to execute the program stored in the recording medium 92, para. 70-73, fig. 1):
a pre-treatment process of supplying a pre-wetting liquid to the first surface of the substrate, while rotating the substrate at a first rotation speed (a cleaning liquid and rinse liquid is suppled to surface 2a which the substrate is being rotated along with the substrate holder 10 para. 36-41 and 77); and
a chemical liquid treatment process of performing, after the pre-treatment process is performed, a chemical liquid treatment on the first surface by supplying a chemical liquid to the first surface of the substrate (a drying liquid is supplied to the surface 2a while the heated liquid is supplied to the surface 2b after the rinse liquid, para. 31-43, fig. 3 and 6) and
concurrently supplying the heated fluid to the second surface of the substrate intermittently, while rotating the substrate at a second rotation speed (the substrate is rotated while the drying liquid is dispensed, and the heating liquid is supplied to the back surface intermittently with opening/closing valves, para. 38-41, 74, 136-139, see fig. 6-7, 10 and 13)
US’516 does not teach during the pre-treatment process, supplying a heated fluid to the second surface of the substrate.
However, US’516 further teaches the cleaning liquid L1 may have a temperature higher than the room temperature and lower than a boiling point of the cleaning liquid L1 (para. 34). US’616 teaches embodiments of the invention include providing a semiconductor substrate at a first temperature in a single substrate cleaning tool, applying a first semiconductor substrate processing liquid at a second temperature to the lower surface of the semiconductor substrate to bring the semiconductor substrate to the second temperature. The first semiconductor substrate processing liquid may be applied to the lower surface 42 of the semiconductor substrate 38 at a flow rate sufficient to maintain the semiconductor substrate 38 at the target temperature and to maintain temperature uniformity across the semiconductor substrate 38. By controlling the temperature of the semiconductor substrate 38 in this way the temperature of the semiconductor substrate processing liquid 48 may also be controlled (para. 9-13, para. 25-34)
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 apparatus of US’516 to include supplying a heated fluid to the second surface of the substrate because US’616 teaches it maintains the temperature of the treatment liquid uniformly across the substrate at its target temperature and use of known technique to improve similar methods in the same way is obvious, see MPEP 2141 III (C).
Regarding claim 2, the modified apparatus of US’516 teaches the apparatus of claim 1. US’516 further teaches the rotation number of the substrate holder 10 is in the range from, e.g., 200 rpm to 1000 rpm from t0 to t3 (para. 121-136). Therefore, US’516 teaches overlapping ranges for the RMP’s during the first rotation and second rotation since the RPM of the first process can be selected as any value between 200 rpm to 1000 rpm.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select applicants claimed range of wherein the first rotation speed is equal to or higher than the second rotation speed because US’516 teaches overlapping ranges for the RPMs during the first rotation and second rotation, and in the case where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art a prima facie case of obviousness exists, see MPEP 2144.05.
Regarding claim 3, the modified apparatus of US’516 teaches the apparatus of claim 1. US’516 further teaches wherein the circuitry causes the second fluid supply to perform a discharge of the heated fluid onto the second surface of the substrate and a stop of the discharge of the heated fluid onto the second surface of the substrate at least twice during the chemical liquid treatment process (The opening/closing valve 74A is provided for each corresponding heating liquid discharge nozzle 73A. These multiple number of heating liquid discharge nozzles 73A are connected to different opening/closing valves 74A, and are capable of discharging the heating liquid L4 at different timings, para. 136-139, see fig. 13)
Regarding claim 4, the modified apparatus of US’516 teaches the apparatus of claim 1. US’516 further teaches wherein the first fluid supply includes a nozzle configured to discharge the chemical liquid (discharge nozzle 33, para. 133 see fig. 1), and a nozzle moving structure configured to move the nozzle (revolving mechanism 47/nozzle moving mechanism 45, para. 43-45, see fig. 1), and in a first period during which the heated fluid is not supplied from the second liquid supply to the second surface of the substrate within a period during which the chemical liquid treatment process is being performed (the examiner notes that this recites the intended use of the apparatus and does not positively recites that the circuitry is configured to perform this function), the circuitry controls the nozzle to discharge the chemical liquid to the first surface of the substrate, while moving a landing point of the chemical liquid on the first surface of the substrate from a central portion to an outer peripheral portion of the substrate by using the nozzle moving structure (The liquid discharge nozzle moving mechanism 45 moves the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 31, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 32 and the drying liquid discharge nozzle 33 between a position directly above the central portion of the substrate 2 and a position directly above an edge portion of the substrate 2, para. 43).
Regarding claims 5-8, the modified apparatus of US’516 teaches the apparatus of claim 4.
The modified apparatus does not teach wherein in the first period, the circuitry controls the nozzle to discharge the chemical liquid to the outer peripheral portion of the first surface of the substrate in a state that movement of the nozzle by the nozzle moving structure is stopped for a predetermined time after the landing point of the chemical liquid on the first surface of the substrate reaches the outer peripheral portion, with regard to claim 5,wherein the predetermined time is less than three seconds, with regard to claim 6, wherein in the first period, the circuitry controls a moving speed of the nozzle to be constant when moving the landing point of the chemical liquid from the central portion to the outer peripheral portion of the substrate, or controls the moving speed to be increased as the landing point approaches the outer peripheral portion, with regard to claim 7, and wherein in the first period, the circuitry controls the first fluid supply such that a discharge flow rate of the chemical liquid from the nozzle when the landing point of the chemical liquid is at the outer peripheral portion is larger than a discharge flow rate of the chemical liquid from the nozzle when the landing point of the chemical liquid is at the central portion, with regard to claim 8.
However, US’516 further teaches modifying the liquid flow rate and nozzle moving speed based on the nozzles position so that treatment variation of caused by the variation in the length of the circumference of the substrate can be suppressed (para. 108-110).
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 modified apparatus of US’516 to include wherein in the first period, the circuitry controls the nozzle to discharge the chemical liquid to the outer peripheral portion of the first surface of the substrate in a state that movement of the nozzle by the nozzle moving structure is stopped for a predetermined time after the landing point of the chemical liquid on the first surface of the substrate reaches the outer peripheral portion, with regard to claim 5,wherein the predetermined time is less than three seconds, with regard to claim 6, wherein in the first period, the circuitry controls a moving speed of the nozzle to be constant when moving the landing point of the chemical liquid from the central portion to the outer peripheral portion of the substrate, or controls the moving speed to be increased as the landing point approaches the outer peripheral portion, with regard to claim 7, and wherein in the first period, the circuitry controls the first fluid supply such that a discharge flow rate of the chemical liquid from the nozzle when the landing point of the chemical liquid is at the outer peripheral portion is larger than a discharge flow rate of the chemical liquid from the nozzle when the landing point of the chemical liquid is at the central portion, with regard to claim 8 because US’516 teaches modifying the liquid flow rate and nozzle moving speed based on the nozzles position so that treatment variation of caused by the variation in the length of the circumference of the substrate can be suppressed and it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation, see MPEP 2144.05.
Regarding claim 9, the modified apparatus of US’516 teaches the apparatus of claim 4. US’516 further teaches wherein in the first period, after the landing point of the chemical liquid on the first surface of the substrate reaches the outer peripheral portion (the examiner notes that this recites the intended use of the apparatus and does not positively recites that the circuitry is configured to perform this function), the circuitry controls the nozzle to discharge the chemical liquid to the first surface of the substrate, while moving the landing point of the chemical liquid from the outer peripheral portion to the central portion of the substrate by using the nozzle moving structure (The liquid discharge nozzle moving mechanism 45 moves the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 31, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 32 and the drying liquid discharge nozzle 33 between a position directly above the central portion of the substrate 2 and a position directly above an edge portion of the substrate 2, para. 43).
Regarding claim 10, the modified apparatus of US’516 teaches the apparatus of claim 9. US’516 further teaches wherein in the first period, the circuitry controls a moving speed of the nozzle to be constant when moving the landing point of the chemical liquid from the outer peripheral portion to the central portion of the substrate (as discussed above, the first speed describes the intended use of the circuitry and US’516 teaches that the nozzles can be more as a defined speed, para. 45 and 92).
Regarding claims 12-15, the modified apparatus of US’516 teaches the apparatus of claim 1. US’516 does not explicitly teach wherein the chemical liquid supplied to the first surface of the substrate has a temperature ranging from 30°C to 80°C ,with regard to claim 12, wherein the pre-wetting liquid is de-ionized water or functional water in which ammonia or ozone is dissolved in de-ionized water, with regard to claim 13, wherein the pre-wetting liquid is functional water with an ammonia concentration of 10 ppm or less, or functional water with an ozone concentration of 20 ppm or less, with regard to claim 14 and wherein the chemical liquid is a mixed solution of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and hydrogen peroxide, ammonia, a mixed solution of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide, choline, a mixed solution of choline and hydrogen peroxide, or TMAH, with regard to claim 15, however, it is noted that the applicant claimed configuration of “the apparatus" recites the intended use of the apparatus. And a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. The modified apparatus of US’516 teaches a fluid dispensing nozzle capable of dispensing cleaning fluids that can be at room temperature or an elevated temperature, as discussed above and therefore would be capable of providing the cleaning fluids at the temperatures recited in claims 12-15. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have known that the structural limitations of the apparatus taught by the prior art and the apparatus claimed would have been the same and since the claim is directed towards an apparatus, the apparatus is independent of the intended use.
Claim(s) 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US’516 in view of US’616 as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Kim et al. US 2021/0202280 (US’280).
Regarding claim 11, the modified apparatus of US’516 teaches the apparatus of claim 1. US’516 further teaches wherein the first fluid supply includes a nozzle configured to discharge the chemical liquid, and a nozzle moving structure configured to move the nozzle (as discussed above, the nozzle dispenses the cleaning liquid and the rinse liquid and the moved by the moving mechanism 45/47) based on a temperature measurement result of the temperature measurer (the examiner notes that this recites the intended use of the apparatus and does not positively recites that the circuitry is configured to perform this function) the circuitry moves the nozzle by using the nozzle moving structure to adjust a landing point of the chemical liquid on the first surface of the substrate (the liquid discharge nozzle moving mechanism 45 moves the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 31, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 32 and the drying liquid discharge nozzle 33 between a position directly above the central portion of the substrate 2 and a position directly above an edge portion of the substrate 2, para. 43).
The modified apparatus of US’516 further teaches a temperature measurer configured to measure a surface temperature of at least a central portion and an outer peripheral portion of the first surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder.
US’280 teaches a unit for heating a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, during liquid processing (abstract, para.2-7). A temperature detector measures the substrate temperature distribution in real time. A controller can then switch the beam-shaping condition to help reduce temperature differences across the substrate. The heating beam is delivered through an opening in the substrate support so it reaches the lower surface. The disclosed system aims to reduce temperature deviation and improve uniform heating during processing (para. 4-8, 85-86).
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 modified apparatus of US’516 to include a temperature measurer configured to measure a surface temperature of at least a central portion and an outer peripheral portion of the first surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder because US’280 teaches it reduces temperature deviation and improve uniform heating during processing and use of known technique to improve similar methods in the same way is obvious, see MPEP 2141 III (C).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIN FLANAGAN BERGNER whose telephone number is (571)270-1133. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Allen can be reached at 571-270-3176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIN F BERGNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
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