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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/20/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6-8, 10-11, 13-15, 17, 19 and 20, 21-22, 23-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK (Pub. No.: US 2019/0292207) in view of Wrench (Pub. No.: US 2020/0373318).
PNG
media_image1.png
604
822
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Re claim 1, PARK, FIG. 12C [as shown above] teaches a method of forming a buried word line, the method comprising:
conformally depositing a metal nitride layer on a substrate [S], the metal nitride layer (324+326A) comprising lanthanum nitride (324, FIG. 12C, ¶¶ [0024]-[0245], note that this lanthanum-containing film 324 could be lanthanum nitride film, [0180]) and the substrate [S] comprising at least one feature having a bottom [B] and at least one sidewall [OS], the metal nitride layer (324+326A) being deposited on the bottom and on the at least one sidewall; and
depositing a molybdenum conductor layer (326B, [0250]) by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process [0246] directly on the metal nitride layer (324+326A) to fill the at least one feature.
Re claim 15, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches a method of forming a buried word line, the method comprising:
conformally depositing a first metal nitride layer (324) on a substrate [S], the first metal nitride layer comprising lanthanum nitride (324) and the substrate comprising at least one feature having a bottom [B] and at least one sidewall [S], the metal nitride layer (324) being deposited on the bottom [B] and on the least one sidewall [OS];
depositing a second metal nitride layer (326A) directly on the first metal nitride layer (324); and
depositing a molybdenum conductor layer (326B) by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process directly on the first metal nitride layer.
In re claims 1 and 15, PARK fails to teach the molybdenum conductor layer having a thickness in a range of from 10 Å to 200 Å.
Wrench teaches the molybdenum conductor layer having a thickness in a range of from 10 A to 200 Å (“followed by deposition of bulk tungsten (W) at thicknesses of about 100 Å to about 300 Å, ¶ [0064], note that “The metal layer can comprise any suitable metal. In some embodiments, the metal layer comprises one or more of tungsten or molybdenum”, [0058]).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to include the above said teaching for the purpose of reducing stack resistivity while providing good barrier performance as taught by Wrench, [0003].
Re claim 6, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the ALD process is a thermal process [0226].
Re claim 7, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the molybdenum conductor layer (326B, [0250]) is deposited selectively on the metal nitride layer (326A+324).
Re claim 8, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the ALD process comprises exposing the substrate sequentially to a reactant and a molybdenum precursor (326B, [0250]).
Re claim 10, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the ALD process occurs at a temperature in a range of 350 °C to 550 °C [0226].
Re claim 11/21, in the combination, Wrench, FIG. 7 teaches the method of claim 1/15, wherein the buried word line has a resistance less than or equal to 20 µΩ-cm (note that “The electrical resistivity of molybdenum is approximately 5.7×10-8 Ω-m at room temperature”) at a total thickness of 100 Å (“deposition of bulk tungsten (W) at thicknesses of about 100 Å to about 300 Å”, [0064]).
Re claim 13, in the combination, Wrench, FIG. 7 teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the at least one feature has a width in a range of 10 nm to 12 nm (“deposition of bulk tungsten (W) at thicknesses of about 100 Å to about 300 Å”, [0064]).
Re claim 14, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the at least one feature is filled with the molybdenum conductor layer (326B in Y-Y’ view) in a bottom-up manner.
Re claim 17, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the second metal nitride layer comprises one or more of titanium nitride (TiN), tantalum nitride (TaN), yttrium nitride (YN), zirconium nitride (ZrN), hafnium nitride (HfN), and barium nitride (BaN) (326A, [0245]).
Re claim 19, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the ALD process is a thermal process [0226].
Re claim 20, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the molybdenum conductor layer (326B) is deposited selectively on the second metal nitride layer (326A).
Re claim 22, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the at least one feature is filled with the molybdenum conductor layer (326B in Y-Y’ view) in a bottom-up manner.
Re claim 23, PARK, FIG. 12C teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the molybdenum conductor layer (326B) is in contact with the metal nitride layer (324/326A) with no intervening layers between the molybdenum conductor layer and the metal nitride layer.
Re claim 24, in the combination, Wrench, FIG. 6A teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the metal nitride layer consists of lanthanum nitride (120, [0049]).
Re claim 25, in the combination, Wrench, FIG. 6A teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the first metal nitride layer consists of lanthanum nitride.
Claim(s) 2, 16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK/Wrench in view of CHANG (Pub. No.: US 2024/0249948).
Re claim 2/16/18, PARK/Wrench teaches all the limitation of claim 1/15.
PARK/Wrench fails to teach the limitation of claim 2/16/18.
CHANG teaches wherein the metal nitride layer has a thickness of less than 20 Å (claim 2); wherein the first metal nitride layer has a thickness of less than 20 Å (119’, FIG. 5/6, [0056]) (claim 2/16).
wherein the first metal nitride layer and the second metal nitride layer have a combined thickness in a range of from 15 Å to 30 Å (119’/122=123, FIG. 5/6, [0056]) (claim 18).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to include the above said teaching in order to increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs as taught by CHANG, [0002].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-2, 6-8, 10-11 and 13-22 on the remarks filed on 02/20/2026 have been considered but they are not persuasive because Applicant is using the broad language such as: the metal nitride layer comprising lanthanum nitride, therefore, PARK, FIG. 12C [as shown above] still reads on:
conformally depositing a metal nitride layer on a substrate [S], the metal nitride layer (324+326A) comprising lanthanum nitride (324, FIG. 12C, ¶¶ [0024]-[0245], note that this lanthanum-containing film 324 could be lanthanum nitride film, [0180]) and the substrate [S] comprising at least one feature having a bottom [B] and at least one sidewall [OS], the metal nitride layer (324+326A) being deposited on the bottom and on the at least one sidewall; and
depositing a molybdenum conductor layer (326B, [0250]) by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process [0246] directly on the metal nitride layer (324+326A) to fill the at least one feature.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TONY TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1749. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8AM-5PM, EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Britt Hanley can be reached at 571-270-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TONY TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893