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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/1/25 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/17/25.
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.
Claim(s) 11-13, 15-17, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0307290 to Abel (relying on PCT filing date 6/28/21 for priority) in view of van de Ven (Advantages of Dual Frequency PECVD for Deposition of ILD and Passivation Films).
Claim 11:
Abel teaches a method for forming air gaps in semiconductor substrates [0002-0003]. The method (Fig. 1c) includes providing a substrate having a trench structure defined by upper, lower, and sidewall surfaces (Fig. 2a, step 131), uniformly providing an inhibiting layer onto the structure (step 135), removing part of the inhibiting layer located at the top of the structure (step 137), and performing ALD/CVD to selectively deposit material at the top of the structure (step 139) while the inhibiting material remains on the sidewall to prevent material formation (Fig. 2e). See also Fig. 2a-2f. These steps are repeated until the trench is capped (step 141).
The main embodiment here is to deposit silicon oxide as the material layer [0069]. In both ALD and CVD, the process for depositing the silicon oxide includes supplying a silicon precursor and supplying an ionized oxygen (plasma) after supplying the silicon precursor [0036; 0067; 0078]. Abel states this includes continuously flowing reactant gases with intermittent plasma ignitions [0068].
Although Abel does teach both a high and low frequency RF power source that are controlled independently of each other [0091], Abel does not explicitly teach they are used together.
However, van de Ven teaches the combination of high and low frequency (i.e., dual frequency) provides a solution to plasma processing including a stable discharge combined with ion bombardment/implantation as well as improved control over the process (pg. 196).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to practice the method of Abel and use the high and low frequency RF power sources together. Van de Ven establishes the combined use of high and low frequency has the above identified advantages in plasma assisted deposition.
Claim 12:
The inhibitor can be removed during material deposition [0032; 0042; 0046].
Claim 13:
The inhibiting is the same across the different embodiments [0045]. The inhibiting is an inhibition species that has been ionized into a plasma [0030].
Claim 15:
The inhibitor can be removed in a separate step by using a plasma to directionally impinge only at the top of the structure (i.e., perpendicular to the substrate) [0031] and is repeated as necessary (Fig. 1a, step 111). The plasma is a reactant [0042] and purging between steps in an ALD, or even CVD, process is inherent.
Claim 16:
The reactants are an oxygen precursor plasma or a nitrogen precursor plasma [0067].
Claim 17:
The material layer is formed from a silicon precursor [0069-0072].
Claim 20:
The power sources are operated at any suitable power to form a plasma having a desired ion energy in order to provide the desired surface reactions described above [0091].
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0307290 to Abel in view of van de Ven (Advantages of Dual Frequency PECVD for Deposition of ILD and Passivation Films) in view of US 2018/0151346 to Blanquart.
Abel/van de Ven is discussed above but does not teach depositing other materials beyond SiO and SiN. However, Blanquart teaches a similar process that involves inhibiting deposition inside a trench [0049] and further includes deposition of a wide range of materials including SiN and TiN, TaN, and W precursor [0069-0074]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to practice the method of Abel and substitute SiN for TiN, TaN, or WN because Blanquart establishes that this type of process is not limited to silicon precursors and includes metal precursors [0069].
Claim(s) 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0307290 to Abel in view of van de Ven (Advantages of Dual Frequency PECVD for Deposition of ILD and Passivation Films) in view of Suzuki (US 2019/0035605).
Abel/van de Ven is discussed above but does not explicitly teach continuous carrier gas throughout deposition cycles. However, Suzuki teaches a PEALD process where the carrier gas is provided in a continuous manner across the deposition cycles (Table 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to practice the method of Abel/van de Ven where the carrier gas is provided in a continuous manner throughout the plurality of deposition cycles. Suzuki establishes it is suitable to do so in a PEALD process that includes can include dual frequency [0043].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 10/17/25, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) under 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive in light of co-filed claim amendments. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of further search.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX A ROLLAND whose telephone number is (571)270-5355. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6:30.
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, Curtis Mayes can be reached on 5712721234. 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.
/ALEX A ROLLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759