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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/3/26 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 3: Claim 3 depends from claim 1 which recites “the think film is a multilayer stack…wherein the thin film includes one or more layers of…” whereas claim 3 recites “the thin film is high refractive index thin film” which changes the scope of claimed structure and does not include all of the limitations of claim one by redefining the thin film as a single layer instead of a multilayer stack. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2, 4-8, 11, & 13-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pauliac (US PG Pub 2014/0109785; hereafter ‘785) in view of Caprari (US Patent 4,575,636; hereafter ‘636), Gates et al. (US PG Pub 2002/0117737; hereafter ‘737), and Dhima (Khalid Dhima, Hybrid lithography- The combination of T-NIL & UV-L, Dissertation, 3/25/15; hereafter Dhima). As evidenced by AZ Electronic Materials (AZ Developer 400K, and 421K Inorganic Developers, AZ Electronic Materials, found at https://www.microchemicals.com/dokumente/datenblaetter/info/info_en/info_az_400k_Developer.pdf; hereafter AZ Electronic Materials).
Claims 1 & 2: ‘785 is directed towards a method (title), comprising:
providing a multilayer structure including a substrate, a thin film, and a positive tone photoresist (¶ 14, the substrate comprises multiple layers – i.e. a substrate with a thin film; the photoresist can be a positive photoresist, ¶ 101; Fig. 1a, a substrate with a thin film and a layer of photoresist; see also ¶s 72-80);
providing a mold having a microstructure pattern (Fig. 1b, ¶ 35; see also ¶s 72-80);
applying the mold to the multilayer structure under pressure and temperature (¶s 72-80), wherein the microstructure pattern of the mold is replicated onto the positive tone photoresist of the multilayer structure (¶s 72-80);
removing the mold from the multilayer structure (¶s 72-80), the positive tone photoresist having the replicated microstructure pattern further including a base portion of the positive tone photoresist that does not have the replicated microstructure (a base portion and side walls which read on the microstructured patterns), the replicated microstructure pattern including a first microstructured region and a second microstructured region, the first and second microstructured regions being separated by the base portion, the base portion having an initial thickness (see Fig. 1d; The Examiner notes that the terms “replicated microstructure pattern” and “base portion” are not art recognize terms nor has either term been defined in the specification (see applicant’s specification and Figs. 1A-1B wherein #22 (defined as base portions, ¶ 25, Specification) are a portion of the stamped/molded structure similar to #20b (termed the replicated microstructure pattern, ¶ 24, Specification). The Examiner further notes that the features of the stamped and etched structure of ‘785 can be interpreted to read on the claimed base portions, replicated microstructure pattern, and etched diffuser structures as depicted in the annotated figures below:
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wherein each sidewall is termed a microstructure pattern with a base portion between the first and second microstructure region such that the base portion has an initial thickness.);
applying an exposure to the positive tone photoresist by exposure to a replicated microstructure pattern and a base portion (see ¶ 85 & Fig. 1d); and
developing a base portion of the positive photoresist to remove or reduce the first thickness of the entire base portion between the first and second microstructured region (the base portion is completely removed between the walls and a step is produced, see Fig. 1f & ¶ 92; see schematic above);
etching the thin film to transfer a morphology of the replicated microstructure pattern into the thin film (see Fig. 1f & ¶ 92).
‘785 discloses applying irradiation of the resist through a mask to expose the replicated microstructure pattern and the base portion of the positive tone photoresist (see ¶ 85 & Fig. 1d).
The positive tone photoresist after the removing step and before the developing step having the replicated microstructure pattern includes a base portion of the positive tone photoresist that does not have the replicated microstructure pattern (¶s 84-92).
‘785 does not provide details of the exposure apparatus.
However, ‘636, which is directed towards a flood exposure system (title) for exposing photoresists which is substantially collimated (see abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use the collimated flood exposure apparatus of ‘636 during the process of ‘785 such that the replicated microstructure pattern and the base portion of the positive tone photoresist are exposed by flood exposure with a collimated light source because the exposure source of ‘636 is an art recognized exposure source for photolithography and would have predictably been suitable in the process of ‘785.
‘785 teaches that the substrate can comprise a preprocessed semiconductor with multiple layers and patterns already present (¶ 74) and that the patterns formed can be later filled to form interconnect between layers (¶s 75, 90-91, 93, & 113).
‘785 is silent regarding the specific layer structure present or what layers the interconnects are formed through.
’737, however, is directed towards interconnect structure (title) in the semiconductor field (¶ 45) and discloses an interconnect structure formed through 3 layers comprised of two dielectric material layers with an intervening layer (see #s 14’, 16’, 18’, & 34, Figs. 1F & G; Figs. 1A-1G; ¶s 42-68) wherein the two dielectric layers can be the same material (claim 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use a semiconductor with the taught structure of ‘737 in which the substrate comprises at least two dielectric layers of which an interconnect is to be formed through as the particular preprocessed semiconductor wafer during the process of ‘785 because the interconnect structure of ‘737 is an art recognized semiconductor structure that would have predictably been suitable during the process of ‘785.
Thus, the combination teaches a thin multilayer stack comprised of two dielectric layers with an intervening layer wherein the dielectric layers are the same materials (i.e. have the same refractive index).
Therefor it is apparent that the multilayer stack has a periodic refractive index profile.
‘785 is directed towards hybrid lithography using a combination of lithography processes and positive tone photoresist (see ¶s 104 & 101) but does not teach a specific positive tone photoresist or developer to use with the positive tone photoresist.
However, Dhima, which is also directed towards hybrid lithography using the combination of imprint lithography and photolithography (title) notes that AZ 1505 is a known positive tone photoresist comprised of a novolak resin and diazonaphthoquinone which can be used for hybrid T-NIL & UV-L processes (see §5.4, pgs 126-138) and that AZ 400K can be used as the developer when using AZ 1505 (Figure 2.1, pg 10).
As evidenced by AZ Electronic Materials, AZ 400K is an aqueous-alkaline based developer (See Description, pg 1, AZ Electronic Materials).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use AZ 1505 which is comprised of a novolak resin and diazonaphthoquinone as the specific positive tone photoresist and AZ 400K as the developer during the process of ‘785 because as taught by Dhima, AZ 1505 & AZ 400K is an art recognized positive tone photoresist/developer combination which is suitable in hybrid lithography processes and thus would have predictably been suitable as the positive tone photoresist and developer in ‘785.
‘785 does not teach that the mold is coated with a release agent.
However, Dhima teaches that it is recognized in the art to treat the mold with anti-sticking layers (i.e. release agents) such as fluorooctotrichlorosilane because it facilitates mold and substrate separation (§ 2.2.1, pg 21).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to apply a release agent to the mold of ‘785 because it is recognized in the art to apply a release agent to the molds to facilitate separation between the mold and substrate and would have predictably improved the mold of ‘785.
Claim 5: ‘785 does not teach what the mold is made of.
However, Dhima teaches that the mold can be made of Si with a SiO2 layer (i.e. a semiconductor material with a dielectric material layer; §2.2.1, pg 21).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use a Si substrate with a SiO2 layer as the material for forming the mold of ‘785 because it is an art recognized material for forming the molds in imprint lithography and would have predictably been suitable as the material for the imprint mold in ‘785.
Claim 6: The microstructure pattern of the mold is a grayscale pattern (see #120, Fig. 1a), ‘785).
Claim 7: ‘785 does not teach the specific pattern of the mold.
However, it is prima facie obvious to use a random pattern because changes in shape, size and, aesthetics are prima facie obvious.
Claim 8: The step of applying the mold to the multilayer structure is an embossing process (¶s 72-80).
Claim 11: As discussed above, ‘785 discloses that the positive tone photoresist having the replicated microstructure pattern includes a base portion of the positive tone photoresist that does not have the replicated microstructure pattern.
‘785 does not teach the thickness of the base portion.
However, Dhima teaches that the thickness of a photoresist layer for use in a hybrid imprint and photolithography process can have a thickness of 200 nm (i.e. 0.2 µm; pg 33).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use an initial layer thickness of 0.2 µm during the process of ‘785 because it is an art recognized suitable thickness in the field for the initial non-patterned photoresist and would have predictably been suitable for the process of ‘785.
Thus it is apparent that combination teaches that the base portion of the positive tone photoresist that does not have the replicated pattern has a thickness of 0.2 µm.
Claim 13: Dhima discloses that development rates control desired results (see § 3.5, pgs 64-67, Dhima).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to optimize the rate of speed of developing the photoresist because it is a result effective variable and it is prima facie obvious to optimize the rate of speed of developing the photoresist to obtain the desired results. "Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." See MPEP 2144.05(II)(B).
Claim 14: ‘785 teaches that the development step reduces a thickness of the base portion of the positive photoresist so that a surface portion of the thin film is exposed (see Fig. 1f & ¶ 92).
Claim 15: The process further comprises developing a base portion of the positive photoresist so that a surface portion of the film is exposed (‘785 teaches that the development step reduces a thickness of the base portion of the positive photoresist so that a surface portion of the thin film is exposed. see Fig. 1f & ¶ 92).
Claim 16: The step of etching the thin film is performed by reactive ion etching (¶ 92).
Claim 17: ‘785 teaches that the etching process removes both the photoresist and etches the thin film (claim 33) but does not teach that the etching removes any remaining positive tone photoresist from the multilayer structure.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use the etch process to remove the remaining photoresist from the multilayer structure because it is an art recognized means for removing the remaining photoresist which would have predictably cleaned and prepared the multilayer structure for further processing.
Claim 18: The etched microstructure pattern in the thin film is opposite in phase to the microstructure pattern of the mold (see Figs. 1a-1f, ‘785).
Claim 19: The replicated microstructure pattern in the positive tone photoresist is the same as the microstructure pattern of the mold and is opposite in phase/polarity (¶s 84-92 & Figs. 1a-g).
Claim 20: The etched microstructure pattern in the thin film is the same in terms of phase/polarity as the replicated microstructure pattern in the positive tone photoresist (see Figs. 1a-1f, ‘785).
‘785 teaches that the etching can have different selectivity for the thin film layer and the positive tone photoresist such that different aspect ratios are obtained (i.e. the etched microstructure pattern and replicated microstructure pattern have different aspect ratios; ¶ 28).
Claim 21: ‘785 is directed towards a method (title), comprising:
providing a multilayer structure including a substrate, a thin film, and a positive tone photoresist having a first thickness (¶ 14, the substrate comprises multiple layers – i.e. a substrate with a thin film; the photoresist can be a positive photoresist, ¶ 101; Fig. 1a, a substrate with a thin film and a layer of photoresist; see also ¶s 72-80);
providing a mold having a microstructure pattern (Fig. 1b, ¶ 35; see also ¶s 72-80);
applying the mold to the multilayer structure under pressure and temperature (¶s 72-80), wherein the microstructure pattern of the mold is replicated onto the positive tone photoresist of the multilayer structure (¶s 72-80, Fig. 1a);
removing the mold from the multilayer structure (¶s 72-80), the positive tone photoresist having the replicated microstructure pattern further including a base portion of the positive tone photoresist that does not have the replicated microstructure pattern, the base portion having a second thickness that is less than the first thickness (¶s 72-80, Fig. 1b and annotated Fig 1b);
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applying an exposure to the positive tone photoresist by exposure to a replicated microstructure pattern and a base portion (see ¶ 85 & Fig. 1d);
developing a base portion of the positive photoresist so that a surface portion of the film is exposed (‘785 teaches that the development step reduces a thickness of the base portion of the positive photoresist so that a surface portion of the thin film is exposed. see Fig. 1f & ¶ 92);
wherein the replicated microstructure pattern includes a first microstructured region and a second microstructured region, the first microstructured region and the second microstructured region being separated by the base portion, the base portion being disposed on opposing sides of both the first microstructured region and the second microstructured region, the entire replicated microstructure pattern and the portion being replicated microstructure pattern and base portion being exposed by the flood exposure (the process depicted in Figs. 1a-1f is a portion of the entire imprint process as discussed in Fig. 2 and ¶ 78 and therefore when considering the structure of the entire wafer and the locations disclosed in Fig. 2 for features 116 it is apparent that the base portion is disposed on opposing sides of 2 microstructure regions and the entire surface is exposed to the exposure); and
etching the thin film to transfer a morphology of the replicated microstructure pattern into the thin film (see Fig. 1f & ¶ 92).
‘785 discloses applying irradiation of the resist through a mask to expose the replicated microstructure pattern and the base portion of the positive tone photoresist (see ¶ 85 & Fig. 1d).
The positive tone photoresist after the removing step and before the developing step having the replicated microstructure pattern includes a base portion of the positive tone photoresist that does not have the replicated microstructure pattern (¶s 84-92).
The Examiner notes that the terms “replicated microstructure pattern” and “base portion” are not art recognize terms nor has either term been defined in the specification (see applicant’s specification and Figs. 1A-1B wherein #22 (defined as base portions, ¶ 25, Specification.) are a portion of the stamped/molded structure similar to #20b (termed the replicated microstructure pattern, ¶ 24, Specification).
The Examiner further notes that the features of the stamped structure of ‘785 can be interpreted to read on the claimed base portions and replicated microstructure pattern as depicted in the annotated figures below:
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‘785 does not provide details of the exposure apparatus.
However, ‘636, which is directed towards a flood exposure system (title) for exposing photoresists which is substantially collimated (see abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use the collimated flood exposure apparatus of ‘636 during the process of ‘785 such that the replicated microstructure pattern and the base portion of the positive tone photoresist are exposed by flood exposure with a collimated light source because the exposure source of ‘636 is an art recognized exposure source for photolithography and would have predictably been suitable in the process of ‘785.
‘785 teaches that the substrate can comprise a preprocessed semiconductor with multiple layers and patterns already present (¶ 74) and that the patterns formed can be later filled to form interconnect between layers (¶s 75, 90-91, 93, & 113).
‘785 is silent regarding the specific layer structure present or what layers the interconnects are formed through.
’737, however, is directed towards interconnect structure (title) in the semiconductor field (¶ 45) and discloses an interconnect structure formed through 3 layers comprised of two dielectric material layers with an intervening layer (see #s 14’, 16’, 18’, & 34, Figs. 1F & G; Figs. 1A-1G; ¶s 42-68) wherein the two dielectric layers can be the same material (claim 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use a semiconductor with the taught structure of ‘737 in which the substrate comprises at least two dielectric layers of which an interconnect is to be formed through as the particular preprocessed semiconductor wafer during the process of ‘785 because the interconnect structure of ‘737 is an art recognized semiconductor structure that would have predictably been suitable during the process of ‘785.
Thus, the combination teaches a thin multilayer stack comprised of two dielectric layers with an intervening layer wherein the dielectric layers are the same materials (i.e. have the same refractive index).
Therefor it is apparent that the multilayer stack has a periodic refractive index profile.
‘785 is directed towards hybrid lithography using a combination of lithography processes and positive tone photoresist (see ¶s 104 & 101) but does not teach a specific positive tone photoresist or developer to use with the positive tone photoresist.
However, Dhima, which is also directed towards hybrid lithography using the combination of imprint lithography and photolithography (title) notes that AZ 1505 is a known positive tone photoresist comprised of a novolak resin and diazonaphthoquinone which can be used for hybrid T-NIL & UV-L processes (see §5.4, pgs 126-138) and that AZ 400K can be used as the developer when using AZ 1505 (Figure 2.1, pg 10).
As evidenced by AZ Electronic Materials, AZ 400K is an aqueous-alkaline based developer (See Description, pg 1, AZ Electronic Materials).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use AZ 1505 which is comprised of a novolak resin and diazonaphthoquinone as the specific positive tone photoresist and AZ 400K as the developer during the process of ‘785 because as taught by Dhima, AZ 1505 & AZ 400K is an art recognized positive tone photoresist/developer combination which is suitable in hybrid lithography processes and thus would have predictably been suitable as the positive tone photoresist and developer in ‘785.
‘785 does not teach that the mold is coated with a release agent.
However, Dhima teaches that it is recognized in the art to treat the mold with anti-sticking layers (i.e. release agents) such as fluorooctotrichlorosilane because it facilitates mold and substrate separation (§ 2.2.1, pg 21).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to apply a release agent to the mold of ‘785 because it is recognized in the art to apply a release agent to the molds to facilitate separation between the mold and substrate and would have predictably improved the mold of ‘785.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘785 in view of ‘636, 737, and Dhima as applied above, and further in view of Hotta et al. (US PG Pub 2007/0020829; hereafter ‘829).
Claim 3: As discussed above, ’785 discloses the presence of multiple thin films between the substrate and the photoresist layer but does not teach specific layers or that one is a high refractive index thin film.
‘829 is directed towards a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device (title) using a photoresist to pattern underlying layers (¶ 66) and teaches using a BARC which is a high refractive index film below the photoresist to prevent deterioration in the resolution during the process (¶ 66).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use a BARC high refractive index film as one of the thin films in the process because it is recognized in the art that the use of a BARC film doing photoresist processing prevents deterioration in resolution and thus would have predictably improved the process.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/3/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In regards to applicant’s argument that ‘785 does not teach or suggest a thin film comprised of a multilayer stack as defined by now amended claim 1; the Office agrees that ‘785 does not provide the specifically recited film stack. However, as discussed above, ‘737 teaches that a known structure for interconnects (which ‘785 teaches the pattern produced can be used as an interconnect) reads on the newly claimed structure and it would have been obvious to use a film stack as taught by ‘737 as the underlying film stack of ‘785 because ‘785 teaches using a preprocessed semiconductor wafter with any layer configuration.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES M MELLOTT whose telephone number is (571)270-3593. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-4:30PM CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Curtis Mayes can be reached at 571-272-1234. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James M Mellott/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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