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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/1/26 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-3, 10, 12, 14-19, 22, 25-30, 32, 34-40, 43 are pending. Claims 1-3, 10, 12, 14-16 are withdrawn. Claims 17-19, 22, 25-30, 39, 40 are rejected. Claim 32 is allowed. Claims 28, 34-38, 43 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 17-19, 22, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 39, 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Goto et al. (US 2007/0034601A1).
With respect to claims 17, 18, 27, 29, 30 Goto describes a surface treating method comprising irradiating the surface of a semiconductor device with a plasma while supplying a liquid to the surface to provide chemical/electric actions (abs.; para 12) or claimed activating a photolithography liquid with a plasma and treating a device component with the activated photolithography liquid. The liquid includes alkaline liquid of organic alkaline solution, NH4, KOH; acidic liquid of HCl, HF, H2SO4, HCl+H2O2, H2SO4+H2O2, or claimed photolithography liquid including a non-aqueous developer liquid or cleaning solution liquid because the terms “a photoresist liquid”, “a cleaning solution liquid” and “a developer liquid” for a photolithography liquid, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, see MPEP 2111, describe a property of the liquid, the claimed liquid doesn’t require any specific compounds according to claim 17 and the liquid above would be able to use as cleaning or developer process in a photoresist process (please see Komatsu cited below for the description of the uses for dilute HF and buffered HF as a cleaning agents or a photoresist developer and a photoresist stripper); therefore, it reads on claimed “photoresist liquid”, “a cleaning solution liquid”, or “a developer liquid”.
With respect to claim 19, it is expected that the plasma would weakening at least one covalent bond in one or more molecules of the liquid, such as the covalent bonds of the NH4 or KOH in the alkaline liquid (please also see Wikipedia description of ammonium or NH4 having polar covalent bonds and Studyaround for description of covalent bond in the KOH).
With respect to claims 22, 25, 26, they depend on claim 19 in which these limitation are listed as optional according to claim 19; therefore, they are also optional and not necessary contribute or part of the claimed method.
With respect to claim 39, the plasma is an atmospheric pressure plasma (para 38).
With respect to claim 40, the activation occurs in a chamber or control gas environment (para 54; claim 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 32 is allowed because Goto doesn’t teach that the photolithography liquid comprises a positive photoresist or a negative photoresist. He teaches treating a liquid including water and/or HF acid.
Claims 34-38 are 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.
With respect to claim 34 and its dependent claims 35-38, Goto doesn’t teach hardening the photoresist liquid into a solid layer of photoresist on the device component; wherein the activating step comprises creating free radicals, solvated electrons, or both in the photolithography liquid; and wherein after the hardening step, the free radicals and/or solvated electrons produced via the activating step are trapped in the solid layer of photoresist. He teaches treating a liquid including water or HF acid before used on a semiconductor substrate.
With respect to claim 28, Goto doesn’t teach the step of irradiating the liquid with a plasma or claimed activating step occurs prior to the treating step. He teaches irradiating a plasma while supplying the liquid (abs.)
With respect to claim 43, Goto doesn’t teach at least one of activating the photoresist liquid or a component of the photoresist liquid with a plasma; activating the developer liquid or a component of the developer liquid with a plasma; activating the cleaning solution liquid or a component of the cleaning solution liquid with a plasma in combination with other steps of claim 43 during the process of forming the photoresist pattern and cleaning the wafer after the etching. Goto teaches irradiating the substrate with a plasma while suppling the liquid during the etching step.
Wikipedia is cited for the description of ammonium or NH4 having polar covalent bonds.
Studyaround is cited for description of covalent bond in the KOH.
Komatsu et al. US 20070007196A1 is cited to show the uses of dilute HF and buffer HF or water with HF as a photoresist developer and stripper (para 3).
Response to Arguments
The rejections under Yoshimizu are withdrawn because Yoshimizu doesn’t teach a non-aqueous developer or cleaning solution. He teaches the solution contains water that generates hydroxy radicals when irradiated with a plasma.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUY VU NGUYEN DEO whose telephone number is (571)272-1462. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5 M-F.
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/DUY VU N DEO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
6/29/2026
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