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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 May 8, 2026 has been entered.
The amendment filed with the RCE submission of May 8, 2026 has been received and entered. With the entry of the amendment, claim 20 is canceled, claims 10-11 are withdrawn and claims 1-9 and 12-19 are pending for examination.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of the species of irradiation performed during soaking, claims 1-9 and 12-20, in the reply filed on June 30, 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 10-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on June 130, 2025.
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 1-9, 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2008/020403 (hereinafter ‘403) in view of Johnson et al (US 2010/0267238), Nakagawa et al (US 4719501), Miyata et al (US 2007/0102823), CN 105196409 (hereinafter ‘409) and EITHER (1) WO 2013/029278 (hereinafter ‘278) OR (2) Petit, et al “Microwave Effects on Chemical Functionalization of Hydrogen-Terminated Porous Silicon Nanostructures” (hereinafter Petit article) OR (3) Moon et al (US 2023/0349050).
Claims 1, 2, 6, 9: ‘403 teaches a substrate processing method comprising providing a silicon substrate which would have a silicon surface of a semiconductor wafer, where the substrate with a silicon surface is soaked (dipped, immersed) in a solution with liquid heavy water (D2O) for a period of time in order to passivate the silicon surface with deuterium or a mixture of deuterium and hydrogen (note page 5, lines 5-22, page 6, line 30 to page 67, line 10, page 9, lines 20-30). It is indicated to provide the treatment at temperatures less than 90 degrees C, which would therefore include the range of up to but less than 90 degrees C (note page 9, lines 20-30). It is further described that the treatment is not limited to specifically illustrated embodiments and can be provided to various Si technology, including in SiO2 layers (note page 17, line 25 to page 18, line 5).
(A) As to specifically providing the silicon as a silicon film formed on a surface, ‘403 describes using a wafer made of silicon (note page 5, lines 5-10). However, Johnson describes that for semiconductor substrates it is conventionally known to provide a semiconductor substrate of silicon (bulk silicon wafer) or also that the substrate can be formed of a layer/film of silicon on an insulating layer, and generally have one or more layers, including polycrystalline silicon (note 0015), where overlayers can includes silicon oxide, etc. (note 0017, 0018).
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 ‘403 to use as the substrate, one with a silicon film formed on the substrate with an exposed silicon surface for treatment as suggested by Johnson with an expectation of predictably acceptable results, as ‘403 teaches that the substate can be a semiconductor silicon wafer with an exposed silicon surface, and Johnson would indicate that semiconductor substates can be bulk silicon wafers or also a base substrate with a layer of silicon, that would therefore have the exposed silicon surface treated by ‘403. Furthermore, as to claim 2, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the silicon film would also acceptably be a polycrystalline silicon film as desired by claim 2, with an expectation of predictably acceptable results, because Johnson indicates that polycrystalline silicon can be used as a silicon layer material on the substrate.
(B) Furthermore, as to the irradiating of the silicon film with microwaves while the substrate soaks in the liquid heavy water, where the irradiating is configured to replace S-H bonds in the silicon film with Si-D bonds in the silicon film, as noted above,’403 indicates that the treatment temperature can be in a range of up to but less than 90 degrees C (363.15 K).
Nakagawa describes how polycrystalline Si layers can be provided for making semiconductor elements (note column 1, lines 10-20), where the polycrystalline layer is provided with a hydrogen content (note column 2, lines 15-50), where the hydrogen in the silicon film can include being in the form of S-H bonds (note column 5, lines 1-30).
Miyata describes SiO2 layers as also having Si-OH and Si-H structures (note 0066—0067), and that it is desirable to replace hydrogen atoms with deuterium atoms to improve resistance to dielectric breakdown (note 0078), where a semiconductor device is being formed (note abstract). The replacement of the hydrogen atoms can be by contacting with D2, D2O with heat, thermal oxidation, for example (note 0106).
‘409 teaches how temperature can be controlled for a liquid/water containing test specimen (note the water/concrete slurry) in a container/box, where the specimen in the container is placed in a casing/container/chamber 10 and then irradiated with microwaves from generator 20 to heat the liquid/slurry/water to a controlled temperature, such as 75 degrees C (348.15 K) (note figure 1, pages 2-4, translation), where the heating is provided by intermittent generation of the microwaves (note page 3, translation).
Furthermore (1) ‘278 describes how a silicon substrate material (silicon particles) can be put in a liquid/soaked (described alcohol, reactant), and microwave irradiation of the substrate provided giving heating, and where it is indicated that the microwave heating causes a silicon hydrogen scission and production of a surface radical, allowing reaction with the reactant liquid, where this is described as giving passivation of the silicon (note page 3, lines 10-30, page 4, lines 1-20, page 5, lines 25-30, page 6, lines 10-25, and page 8, lines 10-25).
(2) Petit article describes how a silicon substrate material (porous silicon, PSi) can be provided with a surface with Si-H bonds (PSi-H), can be provided with a liquid reagent and in a vessel and irradiated/heated using microwaves, where this derivatizes the hydrogen terminated Psi surfaces and allows reaction with various reagents, allowing different functional groups introduced on the surface (note the abstract, page 16623-16625, 16628). It is indicated that the use of microwaves gives more efficient chemical grafting than simply thermal heating without microwaves (note page 16624, second column). It is indicated that the microwave heating can be to different temperatures, based on the material used, and it is noted that the reaction can take place at temperatures below 100 degrees C (note page 16625, 16627).
(3) Moon further describes how treatment of a sample wafer (which can be silicon) can be provided (note 0038, 0067), where the wafer can have an initial surface with S-H bonds, and by immersing the wafer in a solution with heavy water and irradiating with microwaves, the S-H peak/amount was decreased and S-D provided (note 0067), indicating replacement of S-H bonds with S-D bonds when microwave irradiating a silicon substrate surface in heavy water.
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 ‘403 in view of Johnson to provide heating the soaking substrate to the desired temperature in the claimed range of claim 6 by irradiating the silicon film with microwaves while the substrate soaks in the liquid heavy water and also to control/configure the irradiation treatment to replace Si-H bonds in the silicon film with Si-D bonds in the silicon film as suggested by Nakagawa, Miyata, ‘409 and EITHER ‘278 OR Petit article OR Moon with an expectation of predictably acceptable results since ‘403 would suggest how there can be a range of temperatures during treatment which would include heating during the treatment, and Johnson would suggest providing a polycrystalline Si film, where further layers can be provided including silicon oxide, and where Nakagawa would suggest the conventional presence of Si-H bonds in the polycrystalline Si film for a desirable Si film for semiconductor use, where Miyata would indicate the desirable Si-H bond replacement with Si-D bonds when forming a semiconductor structure, which can reduce resistance to dielectric breakdown, where the H can be replaced using D2O (heavy water) and heat, and notes use of silicon oxide films, and ‘409 would indicate how controlled heating of a water containing material (also including the concrete material acting like the substrate in the present claims of also being in the water) can be provided by putting a container of the material in a chamber and exposing to microwaves which would expose the water and substrate/silicon in the bath/water and provide heating to temperature in the claimed range, where it would be suggested to provide the irradiating during the soaking so that the controlled temperature can be provided during the heating, where additionally (1) ‘278 would specifically indicate that microwave irradiation/heating of Si in a liquid would be expected also provide the benefit of allowing the S-H bond to break, leaving a reactive radical, which here with the presence of the D of the heavy water would give a material to react with, giving Si-D bonds as desired, and so further would suggest the use of the microwave irradiation/heating to passivate the surface to give Si-D bonds; OR (2) Petit article would further indicate that microwave irradiation with heating of an Si article and liquid would be expected to also provide the benefit of allowing Si-H bonds to break to allow further replacing Si-H bonds with other bonds, which here would be Si-D bonds from the D of the heavy water, giving Si-D bonds, with the microwave heating indicated as better than thermal heating alone, OR (3) Moon would further indicate that microwave irradiation of silicon with Si-H bonds on the surface in heavy water would replace Si-H bonds with Si-D bonds, indicating how microwave irradiation would be desirable. It would have been obvious to optimize from temperature range of ‘403 during the soaking to provide the desirable Si-H bond replacement with Si-D bonds, since Miyata indicates how heating with D2O can help desirably replace S-H bonds with Si-D bonds, with the optimizing giving temperatures within the claimed range of 320-375 K of claim 6. Note In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976). The process would also provide the features of claim 9, where the irradiating of the silicon film can occur during the soaking.
Claims 3, 4, 5, 12, 13: As to providing the irradiation by irradiating the silicon film with microwaves for a first period of time, and then stop the irradiation for a second period of time, and then again irradiating the silicon film with microwaves, as in claims 3 and 12, this would be suggested by ‘409, which describes intermittent microwave use, with a temperature sensor such that when heating temperature becomes too high after a first period of microwaving the heating is stopped, and then after a second period of being stopped, when the temperature becomes too low, the microwaves are started again (note page 3, translation). The exact number and timing of repeats/cycles of heating and stopping, for claims 4, 5 and 13, as well, would be a matter of routine experimentation for the specific articles being treated and specific solutions, and such optimization would provide the cyclic irradiation between 2 and 15 times, and claimed first periods of time and second periods of time (note "[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)).
Claims 7, 8: Further as to performing the silicon film in a first processing chamber, and the soaking including placing the substrate on which the film is formed in a bath containing the liquid heavy water and then transferring the bath into a second processing chamber different form the first processing chamber,
Johnson suggests providing the silicon film as discussed for claim 1 above. Johnson further describes how silicon films can be provided by processes such as PECVD, LPCVD, CVD (note 0017). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘403 in view of Johnson, Nakagawa, Miyata, ‘409 and EITHER (1) ‘278 or (2) Petit article OR (3) Moon to provide the silicon film by at least one of these methods as suggested by Johnson with an expectation of predictably acceptable results as a known method for forming the desired silicon film, and additionally, when providing the silicon film by such as method, the Examiner would take Official Notice that such processes would be provided in first processing chambers to hold the gas in place, maintain pressure, etc. (as applicant has not traversed this position since the Office Action of July 25, 2025, it is understood to be agreed to). ‘409 further describes the microwave processing in a second processing chamber (as desired by claim 8) as discussed for claim 1 above, where it would be understood that these chambers would be different as providing different processing features. Furthermore, ‘409 would indicate the providing of the liquid containing material occurs outside the second chamber (the box of material is then placed in the chamber) (note page 3, translation), and therefore, it would at least have been obvious to place the substrate in a bath of the liquid (which would be indicted by ‘403 at page 6, line 30 to page 7, line 5), and then place in the second chamber for heating with an expectation of predictably acceptable results.
As to the rejection using the optional use of Moon et al Z(US 2023/0349050), note ‘403 in view of Johnson, Nakagawa, Miyata, ‘409 and (3) Moon above:
The applied reference has a common inventor with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). Note the earlier effective date of April 28, 2022 which is before the US filing date. It is after the KR filing date of the foreign priority document, however,
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might additionally be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Claims 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2008/020403 (hereinafter ‘403) in view of Johnson et al (US 2010/0267238), CN 105196409 (hereinafter ‘409), Japan 2022-039009 (hereinafter ‘009), Miyata et al (US 2007/0102823), and EITHER (1) WO 2013/029278 (hereinafter ‘278) OR (2) Petit, et al “Microwave Effects on Chemical Functionalization of Hydrogen-Terminated Porous Silicon Nanostructures” (hereinafter Petit article) OR (3) Moon et al (US 2023/0349050).
Claim 14: ‘403 teaches a substrate processing method comprising providing a silicon substrate which would have a silicon surface of a semiconductor wafer, where the substrate with a silicon surface is soaked (dipped, immersed) in a solution with liquid heavy water (D2O) for a period of time in order to passivate the silicon surface with deuterium or a mixture of deuterium and hydrogen (note page 5, lines 5-22, page 6, line 30 to page 67, line 10, page 9, lines 20-30). It is indicated to provide the treatment at temperatures less than 90 degrees C, which would therefore include the range of up to but less than 90 degrees C (note page 9, lines 20-30). It is further described that the treatment is not limited to specifically illustrated embodiments and can be provided to various Si technology, including in SiO2 layers (note page 17, line 25 to page 18, line 5).
(A) As to specifically providing the silicon as a silicon film formed on a surface (first material layer), ‘403 describes using a wafer made of silicon (note page 5, lines 5-10). However, Johnson describes that for semiconductor substrates it is conventionally known to provide a semiconductor substrate of silicon (bulk silicon wafer) or also that the substrate can be formed of a layer/film of silicon on an insulating layer, and generally have one or more layers, including polycrystalline silicon (note 0015).
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 ‘403 to use as the substrate, one with a silicon film formed on the substrate with an exposed silicon surface for treatment as suggested by Johnson with an expectation of predictably acceptable results, as ‘403 teaches that the substate can be a semiconductor silicon wafer with an exposed silicon surface, and Johnson would indicate that semiconductor substates can be bulk silicon wafers or also a base substrate with a layer of silicon, that would therefore have the exposed silicon surface treated by ‘403. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the silicon film would also acceptably be a polycrystalline silicon film, with an expectation of predictably acceptable results, because Johnson indicates that polycrystalline silicon can be used as a silicon layer material on the substrate.
(B) Furthermore, as to the irradiating of the silicon film with microwaves while the substrate soaks in the liquid heavy water, and forming a second material layer from the first material layer by the irradiating, as noted above,’403 indicates that the treatment temperature can be in a range of up to but less than 90 degrees C (363.15 K). It would have been obvious to optimize from this range, giving temperatures within the range of 320-375 K (note claim 6). Note In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976).
‘409 teaches how temperature can be controlled for a liquid/water containing test specimen (note the water/concrete slurry) in a container/box, where the specimen in the container is placed in a casing/container/chamber 10 and then irradiated with microwaves from generator 20 to heat the liquid/slurry/water to a controlled temperature, such as 75 degrees C (348.15 K) (note figure 1, pages 2-4, translation), where the heating is provided by intermittent generation of the microwaves (note page 3, translation).
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 ‘403 in view of Johnson to provide heating the soaking substrate to the desired optimized temperature by irradiating the silicon film with microwaves while the substrate soaks in the liquid heavy water as suggested by ‘409 with an expectation of predictably acceptable results since ‘403 would suggesting heating during the treatment, and ‘409 would indicate how controlled heating of a water containing material (also including the concrete material acting like the substrate in the present claims of also being in the water) can be provided by putting a container of the material in an chamber and exposing to microwaves which would expose the water and substrate/silicon in the bath/water and provide heating to temperature in the claimed range, where it would be suggested to provide the irradiating during the soaking so that the controlled temperature can be provided during the heating. As to forming a second material layer from the soaking/irradiation and the first and second materials, ‘403 indicates D and optionally H passivation of the surface, giving a second material layer (note page 5, line5-25).
(C) As to the compounds in the first and second material layers.
‘009 indicates that formed polycrystalline silicon can conventionally have Si-OH groups formed on the surface that are desired to be removed (note page 3, translation).
Miyata describes SiO2 layers as also having Si-OH and Si-H structures (note 0066—0067), and that it is desirable to replace hydrogen atoms with deuterium atoms to improve resistance to dielectric breakdown (note 0078), where a semiconductor device is being formed (note abstract). The replacement of the hydrogen atoms can be by contacting with D2, D2O with heat, thermal oxidation, for example (note 0106).
Furthermore (1) ‘278 describes how a silicon substrate material (silicon particles) can be put in a liquid/soaked (described alcohol, reactant), and microwave irradiation of the substrate provided giving heating, and where it is indicated that the microwave heating causes a silicon hydrogen scission and production of a surface radical, allowing reaction with the reactant liquid, where this is described as giving passivation of the silicon (note page 3, lines 10-30, page 4, lines 1-20, page 5, lines 25-30, page 6, lines 10-25, and page 8, lines 10-25).
(2) Petit article describes how a silicon substrate material (porous silicon, PSi) can be provided with a surface with Si-H bonds (PSi-H), can be provided with a liquid reagent and in a vessel and irradiated/heated using microwaves, where this derivatizes the hydrogen terminated Psi surfaces and allows reactions with various reagents, allowing different functional groups introduced on the surface (note the abstract, page 16623-16625, 16628). It is indicated that the use of microwaves gives more efficient chemical grafting than simply thermal heating without microwaves (note page 16624, second column). It is indicated that the microwave heating can be to different temperatures, based on the material used, and it is noted that the reaction can take place at temperatures below 100 degrees C (note page 16625, 16627). Petit article also indicates oxygen present on the Si surface (note page 16224, column 1).
(3) Moon further describes how treatment of a sample wafer (which can be silicon) can be provided (note 0038, 0067), where the wafer can have an initial surface with S-H bonds, and by immersing the wafer in a solution with heavy water and irradiating with microwaves, the S-H peak/amount was decreased and S-D provided (note 0067), indicating replacement of S-H bonds with S-D bonds when microwave irradiating a silicon substrate surface in heavy water.
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 ‘403 in view of Johnson and ‘409 to provide that the first crystalline polysilicon material has a first compound of SixOyHz as claimed and the treatment with the soaking provide the SiaObHcDd as claimed as suggested by ‘009, Miyata and EITHER (1) ‘278 OR (2) Petit article OR (3) Moon with an expectation of predictably acceptable results since ‘403 is providing the treatment of Si with the heavy water, and Johnson suggests the Si can be a layer of polycrystalline silicon which ‘009 indicates would conventionally have a first compound of SiOH material as claimed (where x y and z understood to meet the claimed requirements as Si, O and H would all be present, and where it would be at least predictably acceptable for the y to have a value of above zero and less than 1 with Si, O and H all present to provide a balanced stoichiometric formula) and Miyata would indicate that such material can have H groups replaced with D using D2O (heavy water), and ‘409 indicating how heating with microwaves can be provided, where additionally (1) ‘278 would specifically indicate that microwave irradiation/heating of Si in a liquid would be expected also provide the benefit of allowing the S-H bond to break, leaving a reactive radical, which here with the presence of the D of the heavy water would give a material to react with, giving Si-D bonds as desired, and so further would suggest the use of the microwave irradiation/heating to passivate the surface to give Si-D bonds; OR (2) Petit article would further indicate that microwave irradiation with heating of an Si article and liquid would be expected to also provide the benefit of allowing Si-H bonds to break to allow further replacing Si-H bonds with other bonds, which here would be Si-D bonds from the D of the heavy water, giving Si-D bonds, with the microwave heating indicated as better than thermal heating alone, where some oxygen would also be present OR (3) Moon would further indicate that microwave irradiation of silicon with Si-H bonds on the surface in heavy water would replace Si-H bonds with Si-D bonds, indicating how microwave irradiation would be desirable, and since the combination of references is providing the same microwave/heavy water soaking as claimed, the same H replacement with D is understood to occur, giving the resulting second material layer of SiaObHcDd, where since ‘403 indicates both D and H can be present, the a, b, c and d understood to meet the claimed requirements, and where it would be at least predictably acceptable for the b to have a value of above zero and less than 1 with Si, O, H and D all present to provide a balanced stoichiometric formula,
Claim 15: it further would be suggested that z>c, since the H would be lowered by the replacement with D as discussed for claim 14 above.
Claim 16: it further would be understood that z=(c+d), x=a and y=b acceptably as the replacement is of H atoms, which would leave O and Si the same.
Claim 17: as to the Si-H and Si-OH groups, Miyata indicates that with Si-OH structures there are also Si-H structures (note 0066-0067), and this would be understood to at least predictably and acceptably also be the case with polycrystalline silicon as it also has Si-OH groups, that would thus also acceptably have at least some Si-H groups. The second layer would have Si-D groups, as H replaced with D, and at least some OH groups, acceptably if not all groups replaced. Also note the same process to give such replacement is present.
Claim 18: during the forming of the second material layer from the first material layer (that is during the soaking/irradiating), the first material layer would be irradiated with microwaves while the first material layer soaks in the liquid heavy water, since as noted for claim 14 above, microwaves would be applied to substrate/article (here including first material layer) during the soaking.
Claim 19: As to providing the irradiation by irradiating the silicon film with microwaves for a number of irradiation cycles, this would be suggested by ‘409, which describes intermittent microwave use, with a temperature sensor such that when heating temperature becomes too high after a first period of microwaving the heating is stopped, and then after a second period of being stopped, when the temperature becomes too low, the microwaves are started again (note page 3, translation). The exact number and timing of repeats/cycles of heating and stopping, as well, would be a matter of routine experimentation for the specific articles being treated and specific solutions, and such optimization would provide the cyclic irradiation according to a number of irradiation cycles (note "[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)).
As to the rejection using the optional use of Moon et al Z(US 2023/0349050), note ‘403 in view of Johnson, ‘409, ‘009, Miyata, and (3) Moon above:
The applied reference has a common inventor with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). Note the earlier effective date of April 28, 2022 which is before the US filing date. It is after the KR filing date of the foreign priority document, however,
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might additionally be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on October 27, 2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of any patent granted on Application Number 18/301,347 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Double Patenting
The provisional rejection of claims 1-2 on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of copending Application No. 18/301,347 (hereinafter ‘347) (reference application) is withdrawn due to the terminal disclaimer filed October 27, 2025 (note the Terminal Disclaimer section above).
The US PG Publication of ‘347 is US 2023/0349050.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed May 8, 2026 have been fully considered.
Note the adjustment to the rejections, including the new reference to WO ‘278, Petit article and Moon. Please note that Moon was previously cited on the PTO-891 of July 25, 2025.
As to the 35 USC 103 rejections, it is argued that a POSITA would not have had reasonable expectation of success with the use of ‘409/Ma’s microwaves for ‘403/Nenyei’s semiconductor processing. It is argued that they have cited articles indicting that microwaves were not previously considered for silicon chemical passivation, and thus the use of microwaves would have been an unusual, unsupported, and risky approach that a POSITA would not have had a reasonable expectation of success in implementing and would have lacked the teachings of the present application as to the surprising efficiency of using microwaves. Furthermore, as to claim 14, it is argued that ‘409 would exclude oxygen containing layers from its teachings, and thus the combination of ‘403 and Miyata would not have been obvious.
The Examiner has reviewed these arguments, however, the rejections above are maintained. As to microwaves not being previously considered for silicon chemical passivation, while the cited references discuss other uses for microwave treatment, the Examiner notes that WO ‘278 (used as option (1) in the rejections above), provides the clear discussion as to how microwave irradiation and heating in a liquid was known prior to the present application to be usable for silicon chemical passivation (note page 3, lines 20-25, specifically using word passivation, and the use of microwave heating/irradiation of a silicon substrate in liquid to break the Si-H bond and produce a surface silicon radical for reaction, note page 4, lines 1-025, page 5, lines 25-30, page 8, lines 10-25). Thus, there is reason to believe that microwave heating is acceptable for removing an Si-H bond, leaving an Si radical that can bond with other material, such as the D from heavy water. Note the use of Miyata as to the known replacement of Si-H with Si-D as well. Furthermore, the option (2) reference to Petit article further indicates that similarly microwave irradiation of Si surfaces with Si-H bonds allows replacement of Si-H bonds with other reactive material, an indicates more efficient chemical grafting than heating without the microwaves (note page 16624), further suggesting expected beneficial use of microwave irradiation/heating for the Si-D formation. Furthermore, the option (3) reference to Moon would specifically indicate how Si-H groups can be replaced by Si-D groups by irradiating silicon immersed in heavy water with microwaves. Thus, the cited art would actually suggest that microwave heating is a known approach for breaking Si-H bonds on a silicon surface and allowing replacement with other reactive material (which in this case would be the D from the heavy water), and there would be a reasonable success in using this process.
As to any benefits indicated by the specification as to indicating that microwave heating gives desirable results of the Si-D bonding, the disclosure does not provide comparative results or indicate how the process actually would have better results than other heating. Additionally, the cited additional references to “278 OR Petit article OR Moon would indicate the known use of microwave irradiation for allowing replacement of Si-H bonds with other bonds with (1) ‘278 indicating beneficial results and increased rate of reaction with the microwave heating (note page 3, lines 10-25), (2) Petit article also indicating more efficiency from using microwave irradiation over thermal heating (page 16624),and (3) Moon indicates the known use of microwave irradiation of silicon in heavy water to replace Si-H bonds with Si-D (note 0067).
As to claim 14, as to ‘403 teaching away from using surfaces with oxygen, the Examiner has reviewed these arguments, however, the rejections above are maintained. ‘403 teaches that the substrate can be “free surfaces of semiconductor wafers made of for example germanium, SiGe, silicon or silicon carbide are passivated with deuterium and/or a mixture of deuterium and hydrogen” (page 5, lines 5-7). ‘403 does not exclude oxygen containing layers since at the least even if a “substantially pure” surface needed, this would allow some other bonds such as Si-H and Si-OH on the surface, since “substantially pure” would not require “completely pure”. For claim 14, ‘009 is cited as showing how it is conventional even for cleaned polycrystalline surfaces used for semiconductors to from oxide and Si-OH groups on the surface. Thus, the presence of some oxide/oxygen would not be prevented. Although ‘403 describes possible removal of an oxide layer, with “substantially pure” it does not prevent all oxide/oxygen from being present. Miyata’s citation is to how Si-OH and Si-H groups on a surface would desirably have H replaced by D. Furthermore, ‘403 specifically describes that deuterium passivation may also advantageously be applied in the production of high quality SiO2 layers, suggesting that the present of SiO2/oxygen would be acceptable (note page 17, line 25 to page 18, line 5). Therefore, the claims remain rejected.
Conclusion
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/KATHERINE A BAREFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718
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