Ex Parte Paik et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jun 14, 2018

12631557 (P.T.A.B. Jun. 14, 2018)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
12/631,557 12/04/2009 Young J. Paik
26185 7590 06/18/2018
FISH & RICHARDSON P.C. (APPLIED MATERIALS)
P.O. BOX 1022
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
013919/AGS/22558-0048001 1996
EXAMINER
MACARTHUR, SYLVIA
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1716
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
06/18/2018 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address(es):
P ATDOCTC@fr.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte YOUNG J. PAIK, ASHISH BHATNAGAR, and
KADTHALA RAMA YA NARENDRNATH
Appeal2017-008368
Application 12/631,557
Technology Center 1700
Before ADRIENE LEPIANE HANLON, TERRY J. OWENS, and
RAEL YNN P. GUEST, Administrative Patent Judges.
OWENS, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner's
rejection of claims 1-20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
The Invention
The Appellants claim a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and
method. Claim 1 is illustrative:
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a flexible membrane for use with a carrier head of a
substrate chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and
configured to press a substrate against a polishing pad, the
membrane comprising:
an outer surface providing a substrate receiving surface,
wherein the substrate receiving surface of the outer surface has
Appeal2017-008368
Application 12/631,557
Chen
Oh
a central portion and an edge portion surrounding the central
portion with both the central portion and the edge portion
configured to contact the substrate, wherein the central portion
has a first surface roughness and the edge portion has a second
surface roughness, the first surface roughness being greater than
the second surface roughness and being in the order of
microinches, and the second surface roughness being less than
about 10 microinches.
The References
US 2004/0175951 Al
US 2007 /0202785 Al
The Rejections
Sept. 9, 2004
Aug.30,2007
Claims 1-20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Chen in view
of Oh.
OPINION
We reverse the rejections. We need address only the independent
claims (1, 10, and 17). Those claims require a chemical mechanical
polishing apparatus comprising a flexible membrane having a
substrate-receiving outer surface with a central portion surface roughness in
the order of microinches 1 and an edge portion surface roughness less than
about 10 microinches. 2
1 The Appellants' Specification states that "[i]n some embodiments, the
central portion's surface roughness is greater than about 15 microinches,
such as greater than 20 microinches" (Spec. 5: 14--15), but the Specification
does not indicate the upper limit of "in the order of microinches."
2 The Appellants' Specification states that "relative motion causes polishing
of the substrate[,] and the second [ edge portion] surface roughness causes an
edge of the substrate to be polished at a rate greater than polishing the
substrate with a carrier head having a membrane having the first [ central
portion] roughness across an entirety of the outer surface" (Spec. 2:27-30).
2
Appeal2017-008368
Application 12/631,557
Chen discloses a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus comprising
a flexible membrane (118) having a central portion (130) with a substrate
mounting surface (120) having a textured region (150) surrounded by a
nontextured smooth region (152) generally corresponding to a portion of an
inflatable lip (136) (i1i131, 36, 38; Figs. 1, 2A). The textured region (150)
can have bumps with uniform or different heights (i1 42). "[T]he features
that form the texture should be sufficiently large to permit effective fluid
flow between the features so that any trapped air is released when the lip is
inflated" (i1 43), but "should be small and sufficiently uniform that the
resulting pressure on the front face of the wafer [being polished on its front
side while its backside is held against the substrate mounting surface (120)]
is substantially uniform" (id.). "[T]he bumps can be about 0.005 inches
(5 mils) [5,000 microinches] high" (id.).
Oh discloses a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus comprising a
flexible membrane (108) having a front side with a central portion (120)
having a substrate mounting surface (124) which is textured to reduce its
adhesion to a substrate's backside held against the substrate mounting
surface (124) while the substrate's front side is being polished, and having a
backside with flaps (150, 152, 154) forming pressurizable chambers (160,
162, 164, 166) (i1i121, 23, 26, 38; Fig. 1). "The texturing can be locatedjust
on the side of the membrane that provides the mounting surface, or on both
sides of the membrane" (i126). Protrusions on the flexible
membrane (108)' s backside can form channels for fluid to enter or exit the
chambers (160, 162, 164, 166) to controllably pressurize or depressurize
them, and when the flexible membrane ( 108) is collapsed, prevent air pocket
formation and make the flexible membrane ( 108) less likely to seal to itself
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Appeal2017-008368
Application 12/631,557
or other surfaces (i1i133, 37, 38). The backside protrusions "should be
sufficiently large that, in the uncompressed state, the flaps cannot achieve
100% surface area contact with other parts of the carrier head" (i1 30), and
"when released from compression, they provide sufficient resilient force that
the flap will disengage from the surface that it is contacting" (id.). The
texturing protrusions can have heights that are the same or different and can
be as small as 10 microinches or as large as 0.1 inch (i1i1 31, 32).
The Examiner finds that "Chen fails to teach the roughness of either
portion of the membrane is in the order of magnitude of microinches"
(Ans. 4). Thus, the Examiner does not find that Chen's 5,000 microinch
bump height is in the order of microinches or that Chen's flexible
membrane (118)' s smooth region (152) has a surface roughness less than
about 10 microinches.
The Examiner finds that "[t]he surface roughness between the
substrate and the areas contacted by [Oh's] flexible membrane are [sic]
optimized so that the adhesion of the surface of the flexible membrane and
substrate are [sic] reduced while ensure [sic] that the roughness does not
damage of [sic] the substrate during contact" (Ans. 12), "Oh notes the
importance of roughness ensure [sic] a desired fluid flow between channels
formed by the protrusions (textured portions) see [0011] and [0038] of Oh"
(id.), and "Oh also teaches texturing ensure [sic] improve [sic] fluid flow see
para [0037]" (Ans. 11 ). The Examiner concludes that "it would have been
obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to ensure that the roughness of the
central portion is at least 10 microinches to ensure that the problem adhesion
of the membrane to the wafer is prevented as would result from the
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Appeal2017-008368
Application 12/631,557
modification of the apparatus of Chen with the teachings of Oh et al."
(Ans. 6).
Those portions of Oh disclose texturing the backside of the flexible
membrane (108) to enable the chambers (160, 162, 164, 166) to be
controllably pressurized or depressurized, enable air or other fluid to escape
when the chambers (160, 162, 164, 166) are evacuated, prevent air pockets
from forming when the flexible membrane ( 108) is collapsed, and prevent
the flexible membrane ( 108) from sealing to itself or to parts of the carrier
head (100) when the flexible membrane (108) is collapsed.
One of those portions also discloses texturing the flexible
membrane (108)' s outer substrate-mounting surface, but that texturing is to
prevent the flexible membrane (108) from adhering to the substrate, thereby
improving the reliability of the unloading procedure (i138). The Examiner
does not establish that Oh would have indicated to one of ordinary skill in
the art that protrusion heights on Chen's flexible membrane (118)'s substrate
mounting surface (120)'s textured region (150) that are "in the order of
microinches" as required by the Appellants' claims would enable achieving
Chen's goal of permitting sufficient fluid flow between the flexible
membrane (118) and the substrate that any air trapped between them is
released when the flexible membrane (118)'s lip (136) is inflated (i1i142, 43).
Thus, the Examiner has not set forth a factual basis that is sufficient to
support a conclusion of obviousness of the Appellants' claimed invention.
See In re Warner, 379 F.2d 1011, 1017 (CCPA 1967) ("A rejection based on
section 103 clearly must rest on a factual basis, and these facts must be
interpreted without hindsight reconstruction of the invention from the prior
art"). Accordingly, we reverse the rejection.
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Appeal2017-008368
Application 12/631,557
DECISION
The rejection of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Chen in
view of Oh is reversed.
The Examiner's decision is reversed.
REVERSED
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