DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 9-11, 16, 19, and 24-27 are pending. Claims 1, 24, and 25 have been amended and claims 3, 4, 7, 8, 12-15, 17, 18, and 20-23 were previously canceled.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 9-11, 16, 19, and 24-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwato et al. (U.S. 2013/0084438) as evidenced by Aqad et al. (U.S. 10,495,968).
Iwato et al. teaches the composition for use in the present invention contains (A) a resin that contains a repeating unit having a partial structure represented by formula (A0) and can decrease the solubility for a developer containing an organic solvent by the action of an acid (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as "resin (A)"), and (B) a compound capable of generating an acid upon irradiation with an electron beam or an extreme ultraviolet ray [0166] (claim 9) wherein the resin (A) for use in the present invention contains a repeating unit having a partial structure represented by formula (A0) [0167], specifically, the repeating unit having a partial structure represented by formula (A0) is preferably a repeating unit represented by the following formula (A1) [0198]:
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[0198] wherein each of R1, R2 and R3 independently represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, a halogen atom, a cyano group or an alkoxycarbonyl group, R3 may combine with L1 or Ar1 to form a ring, and in this case, R3 represents an alkylene group. L1 represents a single bond or a divalent linking group. Ar1 represents a (p+1)-valent aromatic ring group and in the case of combining with R3 to form a ring, Ar1 represents a (p+2)-valent aromatic ring group. Ra represents a hydrogen atom or a group capable of leaving by the action of an acid. p represents an integer of 1 to 4, and when a plurality of Ra's are present, each Ra may be the same as or different from every other Ra [0199-0203], with respect to the (p+1)-valent aromatic ring group Ar1, the divalent aromatic ring group when p is 1 may have a substituent, and preferred examples of the aromatic ring group include an arylene group having a carbon number of 6 to 18, such as phenylene group [0213], examples of the substituent which the (p+1)-valent aromatic ring group above may have include a halogen atom [0217] in which the halogen atom includes a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom, a bromine atom and an iodine atom [0207], and examples of the group capable of leaving by the action of an acid include --C(R01)(R02)--C(=O)--O--C(R36)(R37)(R38) [0171] where each of R36 to R38 independently represents an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, a monovalent aromatic ring group, a group formed by combining an alkylene group and a monovalent aromatic ring group, or an alkenyl group. R36 and R37 may combine with each other to form a ring. Each of R01 and R02 independently represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, a monovalent aromatic ring group, a group formed by combining an alkylene group and a monovalent aromatic ring group, or an alkenyl group [0172-0173] such that when R1-R3 are hydrogen atoms, L1 is a single bond, Ar1 is halogen substituted phenylene, p is 1, and Ra is --C(R01)(R02)--C(=O)--O--C(R36)(R37)(R38) where R01 and R02 are hydrogen atoms and R36-R38 are alkyl groups it is equivalent to a polymer consisting of a first repeating unit derived from a compound of Formula (1) of instant claims 1, 2, 5, 16, 19, 24, and 25 when X is acrylic polymerizable group and does not contain an acid-labile group, L1 is a single bond, k is 1, m is 1, n is 1, Ar1 is C6 aryl, L2 is -C(O)OC(X1X2)- where X1 and X2 are hydrogen, and R1 is represented by Formula (2) where R2-R4 are unsubstituted C1-20 alkyl. Iwato et al. also teaches specific examples of the repeating unit having a partial structure represented by formula (A0) and the repeating unit represented by formula (A1), where Ra is a group capable of leaving by the action of an acid, are illustrated below, but the present invention is not limited thereto [0223] and an object of the present invention is to solve the technical problem of enhancing the performance in the semiconductor microfabrication using an electron beam or an extreme ultraviolet ray (EUV light) and provide an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition ensuring that in the negative pattern formation by organic solvent development, the sensitivity is high, generation of pattern collapse after development is suppressed, and the residual film ratio is large, as well as providing a resist film using the same, a pattern forming method, a manufacturing method of an electronic device, and an electronic device [0114]. Furthermore, as evidenced by Aqad et al., the iodine atom has remarkably higher absorption cross-section at EUV. Iodine-containing resins and corresponding resist compositions with improved photoresist sensitivity at EUV. The sensitivity improvement was achieved by incorporating iodine atoms onto the resist resin, while extending chain of the iodine-containing monomers improved their incorporation in the resin [col 5 lines 57-65].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the specific teachings of Iwato et al. to include additional structural units which include an iodine substituent through routine experimentation of selecting suitable variables for the sought invention in order to improve sensitivity and suppress pattern collapse.
Iwato et al. also teaches from the standpoint of imparting a function capable of decreasing the solubility for an organic solvent-containing developer by the action of an acid to the resin (A), when Ra in formula (A0) or formula (A1) is a hydrogen atom, the resin (A) contains (a) an acid-decomposable repeating unit. Also, when Ra in formula (A0) or formula (A1) is a group capable of leaving by the action of an acid, the repeating unit represented by formula (A0) or formula (A1) functions by itself as an acid-decomposable repeating unit and therefore, the resin may or may not contain the acid-decomposable repeating unit (a) [0225-0226] and examples include the following formula 15:
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[0254] wherein Rx represents a hydrogen atom, CH3, CF3 or CH2OH [0254] which is equivalent to a second repeating unit having a tertiary alkyl ester acid-labile group of instant claims 1, 26, and 27. Iwato et al. further teaches the resin (A) preferably contains (b) a repeating unit having a polar group. By containing the repeating unit (b), for example, the sensitivity of the composition containing the resin can be enhanced [0359] in which the "polar group" which can be contained in the repeating unit (b) is preferably, for example, at least one selected from the group consisting of (I) a hydroxy group, (II) a cyano group, (III) a lactone group, (IV) a carboxylic acid group or a sulfonic acid group, (V) an amide group, a sulfonamide group or a group corresponding to a derivative thereof, (VI) an ammonium salt or a sulfonium salt, and a group formed by combining two or more thereof [0370] and it is also a particularly preferred embodiment that the polar group which can be contained in the repeating unit (b) is an acidic group. Preferred acidic groups include a fluorinated alcohol group (such as hexafluoroisopropanol group) [0400] which is equivalent to a third repeating unit comprising a polar group pendant to the polymer backbone which is a fluoroalcohol group of instant claim 1. Iwato et al. also teaches the resin (A) may or may not contain the repeating unit (c) [0443]. Thus, the resin of Iwato et al. does not require a repeating unit other than repeating units (a) and (b) and therefore meets the “consisting of” claim language of instant claim 1. Iwato et al. further teaches the present invention is described in greater detail below by referring to Examples, but the present invention should not be construed as being limited to these Examples [0714].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the specific teachings of Iwato et al. to include additional resins consisting of the above described repeating units through routine experimentation of selecting suitable components for the sought invention in order to improve sensitivity and suppress pattern collapse.
With regard to claim 6, Iwato et al. teaches the content of the repeating unit having a partial structure represented by formula (A0) or the repeating unit represented by formula (A1) (in the case of containing a plurality of kinds of compounds, the total content) is preferably from 10 to 80 mol %, based on all repeating units in the resin (A) [0222]. A prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close. Titanium Metals Corp. of America v. Banner, 778 F.2d 775, 783, 227 USPQ 773, 779 (Fed. Cir. 1985). Iwato et al. also teaches in the resin (A) for use in the composition of the present invention, the molar ratio of respective repeating structural units contained is appropriately set to control the dry etching resistance of resist, suitability for standard developer, adherence to substrate, resist profile and performances generally required of a resist, such as resolution, heat resistance and sensitivity [0455]. Generally, differences in concentration or temperature will not support the patentability of subject matter encompassed by the prior art unless there is evidence indicating such concentration or temperature is critical. "[W]here 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." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the molar ratio of the repeating (a) of Iwato et al. to be within the claimed range of 0.1 to 10 mol% through routine optimization in order to achieve optimum resolution, heat resistance and sensitivity.
With regard to claim 10, Iwato et al. teaches the electron beam-sensitive or extreme ultraviolet-sensitive resin composition of the present invention preferably contains a basic compound. The basic compound is preferably a nitrogen-containing organic basic compound [0645-0646] which is equivalent to a basic quencher.
With regard to claim 11, Iwato et al. teaches a pattern forming method comprising: (1) a step of forming a film by using an electron beam-sensitive or extreme ultraviolet-sensitive resin composition containing (A) a resin that contains a repeating unit having a partial structure represented by the following formula (A0) and can decrease the solubility for a developer containing an organic solvent by the action of an acid, and (B) a compound capable of generating an acid upon irradiation with an electron beam or an extreme ultraviolet ray, (2) a step of exposing the film by using an electron beam or an extreme ultraviolet ray, and (4) a step of developing the exposed film by using an organic solvent-containing developer to form a negative pattern [0016-0019].
Response to Arguments
Due to the amendment filed June 17, 2026 of instant claim 1, the 103 rejection over Kita (as evidenced by Aqad) has been withdrawn. Applicant’s arguments with regard to this rejection have been considered but are moot due to the amendment of instant claim 1.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNA E MALLOY whose telephone number is (571)270-5849. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30-3:00 EST M-F.
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/Anna Malloy/Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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