DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, claims 1-19, in the reply filed on April 1, 2026, is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that dependent claims recite formulas that include Sn-O bonds and that classification of G03F7/0042 includes inorganic or organometallic light sensitive compounds. This is not found persuasive because Claim 20 is an inorganic photoresist material that requires a Sn-oxygen bond, and Claim 1 and Claim 12 do not require a photoresist composition with a Sn-O bond and the photoresist components recited in claim 12, include organic component such as R bonded to the M, wherein M includes Cr, Si, Mn etc., and is different from that recited in claim 20. Claim 20 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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)(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) 1-10, and 12-19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0244645 (hereinafter referred to as Tan).
Tan, in the abstract, in [0037], [0039], [0042], [0044], discloses disposing a photoresist material that comprises a metal oxide mixed with organic components to form a EUV-sensitive metal-oxide containing film (claimed layer of inorganic photoresist) on a semiconductor substrate, exposing the metal-oxide containing EUV film selectively to EUV light ([0068]) followed by post-exposure bake of the EUV exposed metal-containing film, and developing the exposed and baked metal-containing EUV sensitive photoresist film to form a pattern (photoresist pattern) ([0075]). Tan, in [0077], and [0082], and [0096], discloses that the developed photoresist (claimed first inorganic photoresist pattern) is subjected to dry processing such as exposure to plasma resulting in the claimed second inorganic photoresist pattern. Tan, in [0085], discloses that the plasma exposure includes exposure to process gases such as hydrogen gas and fluorinated carbon or fluorine containing hydrocarbon gases i.e., the process gases will inherently produce hydrogen ions and fluorine ions. Tan, in [0089], discloses that the substrate layer is etched using resist mask to produce the structure in the substrate layer (processing the substrate) . Tan, in figure 3, and in [0090], discloses that the EUV photoresist includes Sn that is tetrahedrally coordinated that are crosslinkable and that the portions in the film include Sn-O-Sn bond and in figure 3, Tan discloses Sn-O-Sn in a hexacoordinate 6-member ring formation and is the same structure recited as formula I (claims 1, 10, and 12-13). Tan , in [0085], discloses that the process gas, used in the plasma process performed on the developed resist pattern, includes hydrogen and fluorine containing gases that can be of the formula CxHyFz, wherein x, y, and z can be equal to or greater than zero, and includes fluorinated gases such as CF4, C2F6, and the process gas can include fluorinated hydrocarbon such as CH3F, CH2F2 etc., and is the same as the gases recited in claims 2-5, and 16-18. Tan, in [0082], lines 7-10, and in [0082], lines 5-7, discloses that the photoresist pattern can be subjected to a thermal development after an exposure to plasma (prior to transferring the resist pattern to the underlying substrate layer) wherein the thermal development includes heating the resist pattern (claim 6). Tan, in [0084, last five lines, discloses that the plasma exposure can be for a duration as low as 3-10 seconds (claim 7). Tan, in [0084], [0096]-[0097], discloses that the chamber pressure during the plasma process is at least as low as 10mTorr while the gas flow of the process gas (reactant flow into the chamber) can be as low as 50 sccm (claims 8-9). Tan, in [0036], [0041], [0046], [0078], [0089], [0106], discloses that the substrate layer, upon which the photoresist pattern is formed, includes a hardmask layer and further underlying layers to constitute a layer stack formed on the substrate, and that the photoresist pattern is used as a mask to etch the underlying hardmask and the pattern in the hardmask is transferred to the underlying layer by transfer etch and the resist pattern formed (after exposure to plasma, the claimed second inorganic pattern) is a line and space pattern (claims 14-15). Tan, in [0064], [0076], [0081], [0090], discloses that the patterned photoresist is exposed to a plasma of halide containing gases and that will result in the fluorine/halogen attaching to the Sn in the claimed manner (claim 19).
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) 11, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0244645 (hereinafter referred to as Tan) in view of U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0365428 (hereinafter referred to as (Weng).
Tan is discussed in paragraph no. 4, above.
The difference between the claim and Tan is that Tan does not disclose the claimed structure of formula 2 in the photoresist composition as recited in claim 11.
Weng, in [0040], [0044], and in figure 4A, discloses the photoresist material that include the claimed tin oxide cluster that include a halide element.
Therefore, it would be obvious to a skilled artisan to modify Tan by using the claimed tin cluster disclosed by Weng in the photoresist composition, because Tan, in [0075], discloses that the organotin precursor used as the photoresist film composition includes tin clusters and Tan, in [0094], discloses that the tin clusters includes clusters of tin oxide and Weng, in [0024], discloses that using the claimed tin clusters in the photoresist material prevents the crystallization of the photoresist material and thereby increase coating performance of the photoresist material and decrease the surface roughness of the photoresist layer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Daborah Chacko-Davis whose telephone number is (571) 272-1380. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:30AM-6:00PM EST Mon-Fri. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark F. Huff can be reached on (571) 272-1385. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-272-8300. 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.
/DABORAH CHACKO-DAVIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 May 16, 2026.
Prosecution Insights