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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ma et al (2020/0096870).
Ma et al disclose a device stack comprising a substrate 234 having a resist underlayer 250 and an EUV resist layer coated thereon, wherein the resist is implanted with a to increase EUV sensitivity (figure 1, [0036]) which the element implanted is uniformly dispersed throughout the resist layer (instant claims 1 and 2). The element is preferably Xe, and while the reference is silent with respect to the isotope, those listed in claim 3 are common for ion implantation, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use any common Xe isotope used in ion implantation (instant claims 1-3). The resist preferably comprises an organometallic resist comprising SN, C, H, and O ([0029]-[0031]).
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Maes et al (2019/0163056 US equivalent of JP2019-095794 as cited by applicant).
Maes et al disclose a resist stack comprising a substrate and a EUV resist sensitized by first and second precursor materials. The precursor is permeated into the resist (throughout the resist uniformly to increase the sensitivity of the unexposed resist layer, [0020]-[0024]), and the precursor includes a tin iodide or stannous iodide ([0045]; instant claims 1-3). The material further includes an organometallic material such as a metal alkylamide ([0046]-[0048]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
As amended, the claim requires the organometallic material to have an iodine-substituted alkyl group. Neither of the references fairly teach or suggest an additive in addition to the sensitizer to have a iodine substituent.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/5/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant has amended the claims to include the limitation of claim 6 wherein the resist material comprises organometallic material, and further limited claim 6 to now require that the material includes an iodo-substituted alkyl group to limit the amended claim 1.
In response, the rejections over Shiobara have been withdrawn upon reconsideration of the teachings of the reference.
Applicant argues that the Ma et al reference fails to fairly teach an organometallic material, and argues that an organometallic material must have a carbon-metal (M-R) bond. However, the claims and specification broad, and organometallic material in the art is broad enough to include material comprising both organic and metallic components, not limited to an organometallic compound having a M-R bond.
It is known in the art for metal complexes having M(-OR) bonds are also referred to broadly as organometallic, wherein the compounds include elements such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and a metal, but wherein there is no carbon-metal bond. For example, 2022/0317572 includes compounds wherein the metal is bonded to R groups, wherein at least one R group is a polymerizable group, which includes methacrylate and methacrylamide, wherein the bond would include O-M or N-M, and further teaches that the R groups are separated from the metal by an -O-, -S-, -C-, -CO-, -SO, thus teaching that organometallic resists are broad and do not specifically require an M-R bond. Additional references including organotin compounds include 2017/0146909, 2022/0299877, 2024/0045332, KR20220155111, and 2021/0063871, as examples which broadly demonstrate that organometallic is used broadly in the art for resists comprising metal and organic components.
That said, with respect to Ma et al, the reference teaches a metal-based photoresist comprising metal-oxides (which are known in the art and as seen in examples above) to comprise M-OR groups, thus including carbon groups as one of ordinary skill in the art would have understood, with the further teaching of implanting carbon into the resist, further leading to a resist comprising metal and organic components ([0003]-[0006], [0023], [0029]), an detaches wherein tin can be implanted into a CAR resist. Both are be resist comprising organic and metallic components, and would comprise a stack having a resist layer comprising a sensitizer and a resist comprising organometallic components.
Regarding Maes et al, applicant has argued that the reference only teaches thew tin iodide, but as noted above, the reference clearly teaches an organomeallic resist material ([0048]) such as triethylaluminum, tetraethyltin, and more which clearyl comprises a M-R bond. Therefore the rejections are maintained.
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 AMANDA C WALKE whose telephone number is (571)272-1337. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 5:30am to 4pm.
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/AMANDA C. WALKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722