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 .
The preliminary amendment filed on April 29, 2025 has been entered. Claims 21-40 are pending in this application.
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) 21-29, 32-38 and 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sogard [US 20070079525 A1] in view of Umstadter [US 20130313423 A1].
As per Claims 21 and 32, Sogard teaches a lithographic patterning device 900 (See fig. 5, Para 69) contamination control assembly (See fig. 3) comprising:
a support structure (a reticle stage 910 and a reticle chuck 914) configured to support a patterning device (An EUV reticle 916), the patterning device floating with respect to ground (See fig. 5);
a masking apparatus (The barrier wall 920 ) configured to selectively mask the lithographic patterning device, the masking apparatus being connected to ground (See fig. 5, Para 70);
a gas supply (the nozzle manifolds 52a, 52b see fig. 3).
Sogard does not explicitly teach an ionizer, wherein the gas supply is configured to supply gas to the ionizer, and wherein the ionizer is configured to convert the gas to a quasi-neutral plasma which is located in a region between the masking apparatus and the lithographic patterning device.
Umstadtera teaches low energy ionizer 132 to ionize neutral particles in the debris 122. Particularly in discharge-produced plasma sources, a significant number of neutral particles which would otherwise be unaffected by the pulsed DC fields are generated in the plasma production process. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the ionizer 132 may be an electron trap, e.g., a hollow cathode emitter. The ionizer 132 may use electrons generated in the discharge system 108 to generate an ionization field in the EUV optical path. The ionization field generated by ionizer 130 charges neutral particles in debris 122 and enables their deflection via the pulsed electric field E (See fig. 1A, Para 47).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate ionizer as claimed in order to eliminate neutral contaminating particles.
As per Claim 22, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the lithographic patterning device contamination control assembly of claim 21.
Sogard further disclosed a housing (a vacuum chamber 902) within which the support structure and the masking apparatus are located; and a gas removal system (the vacuum pump 906a) configured to remove gas from the housing (See fig. 5).
As per Claim 23, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the lithographic patterning device contamination control assembly of claim 22.
Sogard further disclosed wherein the gas removal system is located on an opposite side of an EUV radiation exposure zone from the gas supply (See fig. 5).
As per Claims 24 and 34, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the lithographic patterning device contamination control assembly of claim 21.
Sogard further disclosed wherein the masking apparatus comprises a blade (See fig. 5, Para 70, barrier wall 920).
As per Claim 25, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the lithographic patterning device contamination control assembly of claim 24.
Sogard further disclosed wherein the gas supply is located between the blade and the support structure (See fig. 3, gas-discharge nozzle openings 54a, 54b).
As per Claims 26-28 and 35-37, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the lithographic patterning device contamination control assembly of claim 24.
Sogard in view of Umstadter does not explicitly teach wherein the ionizer is located between the blade and the support structure.
However, Sogard further disclosed the thermophoresis device is situated relative to and spaced from the surface and is configured to produce a thermophoretic force, in a gas flowing past and contacting the surface, sufficient to inhibit particles in the gas from contacting the surface. The electrophoresis device is situated relative to a region of the surface contacted by the gas and is configured to deflect particles, having an electrostatic charge, in the gas away from the region as the gas flows past the region (Para 19).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate ionizer at any particular location as claimed in order to effectively eliminate neutral contaminating particles.
As per Claim 29, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the lithographic patterning device contamination control assembly of claim 21.
Umstadter further disclosed wherein the ionizer comprises a filament, an electron beam source, or an RF system (Para 47).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate ionizer as claimed in order to eliminate neutral contaminating particles.
As per Claim 31, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches a lithographic apparatus comprising: the lithographic patterning device contamination control assembly of claim 21 (See Sogard fig. 5).
As per Claim 33, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the method of claim 32.
Sogard further disclosed removing gas (the vacuum pump 906a) from the region between the masking apparatus and the lithographic patterning device (See fig. 5, Para 69).
As per Claim 38, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the method of claim 32.
Sogard in view of Umstadter further disclosed wherein: the quasi-neutral plasma is at least partially generated by an ionizer which is not located between the masking apparatus and the patterning device, and gas flow within an environment in which the patterning device is provided moves the quasi-neutral plasma to between the masking apparatus and the patterning device (See Sogard fig. 4 and 5, See the location of electrodes 68a, 68b relative to the nozzle manifolds 52a, 52b and nozzle openings 54a, 54b).
As per Claim 40, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the method of claim 32.
Sogard further disclosed wherein there is a continuous flow of gas and quasi-neutral plasma through an environment in which the patterning device is provided (See fig. 5, Para 69).
Claim(s) 30 and 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sogard in view of Umstadter as applied above, further in view of Bai et al. [US 20200348599 A1, hereafter Bai].
As per Claims 30 and 39, Sogard in view of Umstadter teaches the lithographic patterning device contamination control assembly of claim 21.
Sogard in view of Umstadter does not explicitly teach one or more additional ionizers.
Bai teaches the masking blades 146 may include first masking blades 145 (also referred to herein as first and second masking blades) and second masking blades 147 (also referred to herein as third and fourth masking blades). The first masking blades 145 (or the first and second masking blades) may be disposed to face each other in the first direction X. The first masking blades 145 may be moved toward or away from each other in the first direction X to adjust the exposure region of the EUV beam 102 in the first direction X. The second masking blades 147 (or the third and fourth masking blades) may be disposed to face each other in the second direction Y. The second masking blades 147 may be moved toward or away from each other in the second direction Y to adjust the exposure region of the EUV beam 102 in the second direction Y (See fig. 7, Para 53, wherein use of additional ionizers is just a Duplication of Parts).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at time the invention was made to incorporate more additional ionizer as claimed in order to eliminate neutral contaminating particles more effectively.
Additional Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The reference EP 3809204 A1 listed in the IDS filed on 05/16/2025 teach other prior art apparatus/method of a system for supporting a patterning device (within a lithographic apparatus) and is arranged to reduce the chance that particles will be incident on the patterning device while it is so supported, that may anticipate or obviate the claims of the applicant's invention.
Conclusion
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/MESFIN T ASFAW/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882
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