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 .
Claim Status
Claims 7-20 are under consideration
Claims 1-6 are withdrawn
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-6 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/10/2025
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.
(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.
Claims 7-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tamada (US20200333707A1, published 2020).
Regarding claims 7-20,
Tamada teaches a resist pattern-forming method includes applying a radiation-sensitive composition directly or indirectly on a substrate (lower layer) to form a resist film (photoresist layer), where the resist film is exposed to an extreme ultraviolet ray or an electron beam [abstract], reading on instant claim 11. Tamada teaches their method and composition can be suitably used for manufacture of semiconductor devices [0159].
Tamada teaches their composition comprises of a first complex (A1) comprising of a metal atom and a first ligand [claim 1, 0034] and a compound (B) that gives a second ligand that differs from the first ligand (excess ligand) [claim 1, 0086], where when the first complex (A1) and the compound (B) are mixed together to form a radiation sensitive composition, a ligand exchange results in the second ligand bonding to the metal atom [0126], reading on instant claim 7-9 and 13.
Tamada teaches the pka of the acid that gives the second ligand is preferably smaller than a pka of an acid that gives the first ligand [0091], thus first and second ligands differ, as well as teaching a desire to control the type and ratio of the second ligand (excess ligand), reading on instant claims 10 and 18.
Tamada teaches a post exposure baking step [0022], a development step [0023], as well as a negative tone resist pattern formation [0150], where exposed portions (first portion) remain while unexposed portions (second portion) are removed, reading on instant claims 14 and 20.
Tamada teaches their second ligand preferably has a polymerizable group, where generation of bonds between the polymerizable groups is believed to appropriately occur by an exposure, and as a result, resolution and LWR can be further improved [0088], where a metal atom would be crosslinked with another metal atom, reading on instant claims 12 and 19.
Tamada teaches their metal may be metal elements from groups 3 to 16 in the periodic table, particularly preferably the metal atom (M) from period 4 to period 6 in group 4 (Ti, Zr, Hf) [0035-0050], reading on instant claim 15.
Tamada teaches an example of a first ligand given from propionic acid (a carboxylate) and a second ligand given from methacrylic acid (a carboxylate) [0133], reading on instant claims 16-17.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US20160116839A1 teaches organometallic radiation resist compositions comprising of tin ions with alkyl ligands and further teaches the use of a mixture of alkyl ligands provides for further potential improvement through the engineering of several features of the resulting coatings facilitating patterning.
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/A.N.L./Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/JONATHAN JOHNSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1734