Appeal No. 2001-1633
Application 09/092,543
With respect to independent claim 1, this particular
argument of appellants is not convincing. Lin teaches that a
plurality of resist film dispensers can be independently
controlled to control the application of photoresist to the
surface of a wafer. Lin does not describe, however, what
parameters and conditions are used to determine the amount of
fluid flow from each dispenser. Ushijima teaches that the amount
of photoresist fluid which is spread to the surface of a wafer is
controlled in response to the thickness of the film measured at a
particular location where a light is projected on the wafer.
Thus, the examiner proposes to control the plurality of fluid
dispensers as taught by Lin by measuring the thickness of the
film at a particular location of the silicon wafer as taught by
Ushijima. We agree with the examiner that it would have been
obvious to the artisan to use the sensor of Ushijima to monitor
the thickness of the film in Lin at some location on the wafer as
the basis to control the plurality of fluid dispensers in Lin.
When the dispensers of Lin are controlled by thickness sensors as
taught by Ushijima, the control of fluid flow from the Lin
dispensers would be based on determinations that the fluid has
reached some location on the surface of the wafer as detected by
the Ushijima sensors. This operation would meet the invention as
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