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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicants’ submission filed on 08/27/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(2) as being anticipated by MA (Pub. No.: US 2007/0054487).
Re claim 10, MA, FIGS. 1A-1C teaches a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device that includes forming a ruthenium film including boron on a conductive film formed on a substrate for manufacture of the semiconductor device,
wherein the conductive film includes a metal that increases an electrical resistance between the conductive film (106) and the ruthenium film (108) by interfacial diffusion between the conductive film and the ruthenium film, and
wherein the method comprises forming the ruthenium film including boron on the conductive film by alternately repeating a plurality of times (to reach a desired thickness, [0057]):
forming a ruthenium thin film by supplying a ruthenium raw material gas (“an ampoule containing methylcyclopentadienyl pyrrolyl ruthenium ((MeCp)(Py)Ru)”, ¶ [0027]) to the substrate on which the conductive film (106, FIG. 1A, [0056], note that the ruthenium form is 108, [0057]) is formed; and then forming the ruthenium film including boron by supplying a boron compound gas to the ruthenium thin film while preventing contact between the conductive film and the boron compound gas (“Thereafter, the flow of the reagent gas….. a variety of reactants may be used to form ruthenium materials having a wide range of compositions. In another example, a boron-containing reactant compound (e.g., diborane) is used to form a ruthenium material containing boride”, [0029], note that because the ruthenium precursor formed first therefore it is preventing contact between the conductive film and the boron compound gas).
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) 10-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shinriki (Patent No.: US 2008/0318417) and further in view of MA (Pub. No.: US 2007/0054487).
Re claim 10, Shinriki, Figs. 7(a)-(f) teaches method for manufacturing a semiconductor device that includes forming a ruthenium film on a conductive film formed on a substrate for manufacture of the semiconductor device,
wherein the conductive film (209, Fig. 7(c)) includes a metal that increases an electrical resistance between the conductive film and the ruthenium film by interfacial diffusion between the conductive film and the ruthenium film, and
wherein the method comprises forming the ruthenium film (210, Fig. 7(d), ¶ [0170]) on the conductive film (209, [0167]) by alternately repeating a plurality of times (to reach certain thickness, for example, “repeated for a specified number of cycles (such as 10 cycles, 20 cycles, 30 cycles, 40 cycles, 50 cycles”, [0142]);
forming a ruthenium thin film by supplying a ruthenium raw material gas ((Ru(EtCp)2), [0141]) to the substrate (201) on which the conductive film (209) is formed; and
supplying a boron compound gas (B2H6, [0167]) to the ruthenium thin film.
Shinriki fails to teach forming a ruthenium thin film by supplying a ruthenium raw material gas to the substrate on which the conductive film is formed; and then forming the ruthenium film including boron by supplying a boron compound gas to the ruthenium thin film while preventing contact between the conductive film and the boron compound gas.
MA teaches forming a ruthenium thin film by supplying a ruthenium raw material gas (“an ampoule containing methylcyclopentadienyl pyrrolyl ruthenium ((MeCp)(Py)Ru)”, ¶ [0027]) to the substrate on which the conductive film (106, FIG. 1A, [0056], note that the ruthenium form is 108, [0057]) is formed; and then forming the ruthenium film including boron by supplying a boron compound gas to the ruthenium thin film while preventing contact between the conductive film and the boron compound gas (“Thereafter, the flow of the reagent gas….. a variety of reactants may be used to form ruthenium materials having a wide range of compositions. In another example, a boron-containing reactant compound (e.g., diborane) is used to form a ruthenium material containing boride”, [0029], note that because the ruthenium precursor formed first therefore it is preventing contact between the conductive film and the boron compound gas).
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 providing a variety of reactants of forming ruthenium materials as taught by MA, [0029].
Re claim 11, Shinriki, Figs. 7(a)-(f) teaches the method of Claim 10, wherein the conductive film is a cobalt film including cobalt [0212].
Re claim 12, Shinriki, Figs. 7(a)-(f) teaches the method of Claim 11, wherein the boron compound gas is a diborane gas (B2H6, [0167]).
Re claim 13 and 15, Shinriki teaches the method of Claim 12, wherein the ruthenium raw material gas is a derivative ruthenium precursor gas (Figs. 2(a)-2(c), [015])).
Shinriki differs from the invention by not showing a dodecacarbonium triruthenium gas.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to include the above said teaching since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416.
Re claim 14, Shinriki teaches the method of Claim 13, wherein the ruthenium thin film has a film thickness of 0.268 nm or more and 2 nm or less (“approx. 1 nm, [0150]).
Re claim 15, Shinriki teaches the method of Claim 10, wherein the boron compound gas is a diborane gas (B2H6, [0167]).
Re claim 17, Shinriki teaches the method of Claim 10, wherein the ruthenium thin film has a film thickness of 0.268 nm or more and 2 nm or less (“approx. 1 nm, [0150]).
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments with respect to claims 10-17 on the remarks filed on 08/27/2026 have been considered but are not persuasive because MA teaches forming a ruthenium thin film by supplying a ruthenium raw material gas (“an ampoule containing methylcyclopentadienyl pyrrolyl ruthenium ((MeCp)(Py)Ru)”, ¶ [0027]) to the substrate on which the conductive film (106, FIG. 1A, [0056], note that the ruthenium form is 108, [0057]) is formed; and then forming the ruthenium film including boron by supplying a boron compound gas to the ruthenium thin film while preventing contact between the conductive film and the boron compound gas (“Thereafter, the flow of the reagent gas….. a variety of reactants may be used to form ruthenium materials having a wide range of compositions. In another example, a boron-containing reactant compound (e.g., diborane) is used to form a ruthenium material containing boride”, [0029], note that because the ruthenium precursor formed first therefore it is preventing contact between the conductive film and the boron compound gas).
Conclusion
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/TONY TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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