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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/17/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1-8, 13-16, and 18- 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Ishikawa (US 2017/0316940) in view of Xiao (US 2013/0323435).
Regarding claim 1, Ishikawa discloses a method for producing a layer covering first surfaces of a front face of a structure and leaving second surfaces of the front face uncovered, the first surfaces and the second surfaces having different inclinations (Figs. 10, 11; [0005], [0114]-[0116]), the method comprising at least one sequence of forming an initial layer by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) on the front face of the structure , the sequence comprising a plurality of cycles, each cycle comprising at least ([0070]; Table 1): one injection of a first precursor in a reaction chamber of a reactor containing the structure ([0065]; Tables 1 and 8), one injection of a second precursor in the reaction chamber and the formation in the reaction chamber of a plasma, called deposition plasms ([0065]; note: N2; NH3) , so as to form at each cycle, on said first and second surfaces of the structure, a film forming a portion of said initial layer ([0114]-[0116]; Fig. 1; note: (53)) , wherein: the at least one injection of the first precursor and the at least one injection of the second precursor are carried out at a deposition temperature Tcycle (Table 1) ; the method comprises at least one step of exposing the initial layer, formed or undergoing formation by PEALD, to a plasma, called densification plasma, during which a non-zero polarization is applied to the structure so as to give a favored direction to an ion flow generated by the densification plasma, this favored direction being oriented such that at least one superficial portion of the initial layer, deposited or undergoing formation by PEALD, ([0046], [0061], [0116]) has: first regions, covering the first surfaces of the structure, the first regions being exposed to the ion flow of the densification plasma, second regions, covering the second surfaces of the structure the second regions being not exposed to the ion flow of the densification plasma ([0116]; note: 53a), the densification plasma, at least the polarization, being configured such that the exposure to the ion flow of the densification plasma makes the material of the first regions more resistant to etching than the material of the second regions ([0046]-[0051]; [0116]) , the method also comprises, coming from the at least one step of exposing to the densification plasma of the initial layer, formed or undergoing formation by PEALD, at least one selective etching step of the second regions vis- a-vis the first regions, such that after etching, the initial layer covers the first surfaces of the front face of the structure by leaving the second surfaces uncovered ([0116]).
Ishikawa does not disclose that Tcycle being less than 80 °C.
Xiao however discloses Tcycle being less than 80 °C ([0053]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Ishikawa with Xiao to have Tcycle being less than 80 °C for the purpose of deposit high density materials (Xiao, [0053]).
Regarding claim 2, Ishikawa discloses wherein the step of exposing the initial layer to the densification plasma is carried out at each cycle of the sequence of forming the initial layer by PEALD, the deposition plasma being the densification plasma ([0061]; [0114]- [0116]).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Ishikawa does not disclose herein the at least one step of exposing the initial layer to the densification plasma is only carried out during last NB cycles of the sequence of forming the initial layer by PEALD, during the last NB cycles, the deposition plasma being the densification plasma, the total number of cycles of the sequence being equal to NA+NB, NA and NB =1.
Ishikawa however discloses that the plasma can be applied during or after deposition of the film ([0046]). Ishikawa further discloses that plasma can be adjusted to obtain a desired layer structure ([0048]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to adjust the deposition parameters to be in the claimed range for the purpose of obtaining a desired layer structure (Ishikawa, [0048]).
Regarding claim 5, Ishikawa does not disclose wherein the at least one step of exposing the initial layer to the densification plasma is carried out only after the sequence of forming the initial layer by PEALD.
Ishikawa however discloses that the plasma can be applied during or after deposition of the film ([0046]). Ishikawa further discloses that plasma can be adjusted to obtain a desired layer structure ([0048]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to adjust the deposition parameters to have the at least one step of exposing the initial layer to the densification plasma is carried out only after the sequence of forming the initial layer by PEALD for the purpose of obtaining a desired layer structure (Ishikawa, [0048]).
Regarding claim 6, Ishikawa discloses a plurality of sequences, each sequence comprising NB steps of exposing the initial layer to the densification plasma, NB being a non-zero integer ([0114]-[0116]).
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Xiao a discloses wherein the at least one injection of the first precursor and said at least one injection of the second precursor out at a temperature Tcycle equal to ambient temperature ([0053]).
Regarding claim 13, Ishikawa discloses wherein during the formation of the densification plasma, pressure is less than or equal to 80 mTorr (Table 4).
Regarding claim 14, Ishikawa discloses wherein the polarization is applied with a polarization power Pbias less than or equal to 150 Watts ([0070] Table 1).
Regarding claim 15, Ishikawa discloses wherein the first regions exposed to the densification plasma and the second regions not exposed to the densification plasma differ by at least one of the following parameters: a density of the film or an impurity rate ([0046]-[0051]; Fig. 14).
Regarding claim 16, Ishikawa discloses wherein the initial layer is made or is nitride- or oxide-based ([0114]-[0116]).
Regarding claim 18, Ishikawa discloses wherein the first precursor comprises one of the following materials: aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta), silicon (Si), hafnium (Hf), zirconium (Zr), copper (Cu), ruthenium (Ru), lanthanum (La), yttrium (Y) ([0114]-[0116]).
Regarding claim 19, Ishikawa discloses wherein at least certain first and second surfaces together form a right angle ([0114]-[0116]; Fig.11).
Regarding claim 20, Ishikawa does not disclose wherein at least certain first and second surfaces do not together form a right angle and wherein a rear face of the structure extends into a plane, a perpendicular to this plane being inclined, with respect to the favored direction of the ion flow.
Ishikawa however discloses that the direction of surfaces can be varied (Figs. 8 and 9; [0048]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have at least certain first and second surfaces do not together form a right angle and wherein a rear face of the structure extends into a plane, a perpendicular to this plane being inclined, with respect to the favored direction of the ion flow for the purpose of fabrication a film with directionality of film properties (Ishikawa, [0050]).
Regarding claim 21, Ishikawa discloses wherein the total number N of cycles of said sequence is greater or equal to 15 ([0114]-[0116]).
Claim 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa in view of Xiao as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Jia (US 2018/0350587).
Regarding claim 17, Ishikawa does not disclose wherein the initial layer comprises sulfide.
Jia however discloses wherein the initial layer comprises sulfide ([0058]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Ishikawa with Jia to have the initial layer comprising sulfide for the purpose of depositing metal oxide thin films (Jia, Abstract).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-8, 13-21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIA SLUTSKER whose telephone number is (571)270-3849. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9 am-6 pm.
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/JULIA SLUTSKER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2891
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