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 I, claims 1-10, in the reply filed on July 17, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 11 and 12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haspeslagh et al. [WO 2022/112037] in view of Waldis et al. [US 2014/0055767].
For claim 1, Haspeslagh teaches a microelectromechanical device (see Fig. 4 and [00092]-[0095]) comprising
MEMS module (400) comprises an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) layer (control wafer 413) having an ASIC layer front side and an ASIC layer rear side,
a baseplate (MEMS wafer 402) having a baseplate front side and a baseplate rear side, and
a plurality of microelectromechanical components (403) each having a component rear side,
wherein the baseplate is arranged on the ASIC layer front side and the baseplate rear side is cohesively connected to the ASIC layer front side with electrical contacts (412) and the plurality of microelectromechanical components are arranged on the baseplate front side and the component rear sides are connected to the baseplate front side (connected by post 404),
wherein the electrical contacts are at least partly encompassed by at least one protective frame (409) arranged between the baseplate and the ASIC layer, wherein the ASIC layer has at least one ASIC (416) for controlling the plurality of microelectromechanical components, and
wherein the at least one ASIC is electrically connected to the microelectromechanical components using at least one portion of the electrical contacts (TSVs 412 connects to TSVs 415).
Haspeslagh fails to explicitly teach a carrier substrate having a substrate surface, and a plurality of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) modules, wherein the plurality of MEMS modules are arranged on the substrate surface and the ASIC layer rear sides of the plurality of MEMS modules are connected to the substrate surface.
Waldis teaches a carrier substrate (59, see Fig. 16) having a substrate surface, and
a plurality of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) modules (40),
wherein the plurality of MEMS modules are arranged on the substrate surface (see Fig. 16) and the ASIC layer rear sides of the plurality of MEMS modules are connected to the substrate surface (ASIC 52a connected by electrical interface 55 to baseplate 59, see Fig. 8 and [0158]).
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 plurality of MEMS module on a carrier substrate as taught by Waldis in the component as taught by Haspeslagh in order to provide a larger array of MEMS components to build a facet mirror array for providing complex light sources of a lithographic apparatus.
For claim 2, Haspeslagh teaches each of the plurality of microelectromechanical components comprises a mirror element (403) having a reflection surface, and a displacement unit (408) for displacing the mirror element of the respective microelectromechanical component, wherein the at least one ASIC is configured to control the displacement unit (control circuit 416 controls the array of MEMS elements 401 with data signals passed between the control circuit 416 and the local control unit 406, see [0094]).
For claim 3, in the combination, Waldis teaches each of the plurality of MEMS modules has exactly 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 36, 42, 49, 56, 64, 72 or 81 of the plurality of microelectromechanical components (16 and 64, see [0114]).
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 number of mirrors as taught by Waldis in the mirror array as taught by Haspeslagh in order to control the illumination field shape and size.
For claim 4, in the combination, Waldis teaches the plurality of MEMS modules (see Fig. 16), and Haspeslagh teaches each of the plurality of microelectromechanical components of the MEMS module has a substantially rectangular base surface (mirror 20 is typically rectangular, see [00078]) or a substantially hexagonal base surface (hexagonal, see [00078]).
For claim 5, in the combination, Waldis teaches the plurality of MEMS modules (see Fig. 16), and Haspeslagh teaches each of the plurality of microelectromechanical components of the MEMS module has a square base surface (see [00078]).
For claim 6, in the combination, Waldis teaches the plurality of MEMS modules (see Fig. 16), and Haspeslagh teaches the at least one protective frame of the MEMS module is a part of the cohesive connection of the baseplate rear side to the ASIC layer front side of the MEMS module (by TSV 12 and 15, see Fig. 4).
For claims 7-10, Haspeslagh teaches an Illumination optical unit (IL, see Fig. 1) for a projection exposure apparatus for guiding illumination radiation to an object field, comprising at least one microelectromechanical device (programmable illuminator, see [0052] and claim 31) according to claim 2, the Illumination system for a projection exposure apparatus (LA, see Fig. 1), comprising an illumination optical unit (IL) according to claim 7 and a radiation source, wherein the radiation source is an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation source and a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus (LA), comprising an illumination optical unit (IL) according to claim 7 and a projection optical unit (PS) for projecting a reticle (MA) arranged in an object field into an image field (W).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Bhattarai et al. [US 2003/0122206] and Chen et al. [US 2021/0061647] teach MEMS devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steven H Whitesell whose telephone number is (571)270-3942. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM (MST).
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/Steven H Whitesell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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