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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kurosawa [US 20070250290 A1].
As per Claims 1 and 15, Kurosawa teaches an exposure apparatus (See fig. 1) for exposing an exposure region of a substrate by projecting a pattern of an original to the exposure region by a projection optical system (Para 14), comprising:
a measurement system (the focus detector 14) configured to measure a height of the substrate at each of a plurality of measurement points in the exposure region (Para 53);
a user interface configured to prompt a user to make a setting concerning use of each of the plurality of measurement points (Para 87); and
a controller configured to control a focus operation of the exposure region with respect to an image plane of the projection optical system by using a measurement result of the measurement system based on the setting (Para 14).
As per Claim 2, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user interface prompts the user to set whether to use each of the plurality of measurement points (See fig. 18, Para 87).
As per Claim 3, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user interface prompts the user to set a weight for the measurement result at each of the plurality of measurement points, and the controller controls the focus operation based on the weight set for the measurement result at each of the plurality of measurement points (Para 83).
As per Claim 4, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user interface displays information representing an arrangement of the plurality of measurement points (Para 87-88).
As per Claim 5, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the user interface further displays information representing a height map in the exposure region (Para 87-88).
As per Claim 6, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the user interface further displays information representing an arrangement of a plurality of dies in the exposure region (See fig. 18, Para 87-88).
As per Claim 7, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the user interface further displays information representing an evaluation result of repeatability of the measurement result at each of the plurality of measurement points (Para 84, wherein differences from the global tilt plane are averaged among a plurality of sample shots).
As per Claim 8, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the repeatability indicates repeatability among a plurality of exposure regions of the substrate (Para 83-84).
As per Claim 9, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the repeatability is an index indicating variations among a plurality of exposure regions of the substrate (Para 90, wherein the influence of variations in shot surface shape).
As per Claim 10, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user interface displays at least two of information representing an arrangement of the plurality of measurement points, information representing a height map in the exposure region, information representing an arrangement of a plurality of dies in the exposure region, and information representing an evaluation result of repeatability of the measurement result at each of the plurality of measurement points (Para 15).
As per Claim 11, Kurosawa teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user interface superimposes and displays at least two of information representing an arrangement of the plurality of measurement points, information representing a height map in the exposure region, information representing an arrangement of a plurality of dies in the exposure region, and information representing an evaluation result of repeatability of the measurement result at each of the plurality of measurement points (Para 15).
As per Claim 12, Kurosawa teaches an information processing apparatus for controlling a focus operation in an exposure apparatus including a measurement system capable of measuring a height of a substrate at each of a plurality of measurement points (in the direction of the optical axis) in an exposure region of the substrate, comprising: a user interface configured to prompt a user to make a setting concerning use of each of the plurality of measurement points in the exposure region, wherein the setting designates that the exposure apparatus performs the focus operation by using a measurement result of the measurement system based on the setting (Para 15).
As per Claim 13, Kurosawa teaches a control method for an exposure apparatus including a measurement system capable of measuring a height of a substrate at each of a plurality of measurement points in an exposure region of the substrate, comprising: prompting a user to make a setting concerning use of each of the plurality of measurement points in the exposure region; and exposing the exposure region by controlling a focus operation of the exposure region with respect to an image plane of a projection optical system of the exposure apparatus by using a measurement result of the measurement system based on the setting (Para 62).
As per Claim 14, Kurosawa teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium storing program for causing a computer to execute a control method for an exposure apparatus defined in claim 13 (See fig. 9, Para 16).
As per Claim 16, Kurosawa teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium storing program for causing a computer to execute an information processing method defined in claim 15 (See fig. 9, Para 16).
As per Claim 17, Kurosawa teaches an article manufacturing method comprising: exposing a substrate using an exposure apparatus defined in claim 1; developing the substrate having undergone the exposing; and obtaining an article by processing the substrate having undergone the developing (Para 18).
As per Claim 18, Kurosawa teaches an article manufacturing method comprising: exposing a substrate by controlling an exposure apparatus in accordance with a control method for the exposure apparatus defined in claim 13; developing the substrate having undergone the exposing; and obtaining an article by processing the substrate having undergone the developing (Para 18).
Additional Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The reference to Nishimura [US 20160306284 A1] listed in the attached form PTO-892 teach other prior art apparatus/method of an exposure method of exposing a plurality of exposure regions on a substrate includes the steps of acquiring first reference information indicating a reference height of the substrate, measuring heights of some exposure regions among the plurality of exposure regions, acquiring temporary height information indicating a temporary height of the substrate on the basis of a measurement result in the measuring step that may anticipate or obviate the claims of the applicant's invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MESFIN ASFAW whose telephone number is (571)270-5247. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 4 pm.
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/MESFIN T ASFAW/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882
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