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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/03/2026 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 11, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu (US 2017/0345644) in view of Okada (US 2015/0101532) and Hasebe (US 2015/0037970).
Regarding claim 1, Shimizu discloses a deposition method comprising: forming a seed layer on a substrate (Fig.3B, numeral 4); and forming a carbon film (Fig.3C, numeral 5) on the seed layer (4), wherein the forming the seed layer includes: supplying a boron-containing gas to the substrate to form a B-H bond ([0049]).
Shimizu does not disclose (1) supplying an aminosilane-based gas to the substrate to form a Si-H bond on a surface of the substrate and that a B-H bond is formed on the surface on which the Si-H bond is formed, wherein the supplying the aminosilane-based gas to form the Si-H bond and the supplying the boron-containing gas to form the B-H bond are continuously performed in a same processing chamber; (2) wherein the supplying the aminosilane-based gas to form the Si-H bond is performed with the substrate maintained at a temperature of 2000C or more and 3000C or less.
Regarding elements (1), Okada however discloses supplying an aminosilane-based gas to the substrate to form a Si-H bond on a surface of the substrate and that a B-H bond is formed on the surface on which the Si-H bond is formed (Fig. 1; Fig.2B; [0031]; [0072]-[0073]; [0080]), wherein the supplying the aminosilane-based gas to form the Si-H bond and the supplying the boron-containing gas to form the B-H bond are continuously performed in a same processing chamber ([0014]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Shimizu with Okada to supply an aminosilane-based gas to the substrate to form a Si-H bond on a surface of the substrate and that a B-H bond is formed on the surface on which the Si-H bond wherein the supplying the aminosilane-based gas to form the Si-H bond and the supplying the boron-containing gas to form the B-H bond are continuously performed in a same processing chamber is formed for the purpose of forming a seed layer with improved uniformity (Okada, [0013]).
Regarding element (2), Hasebe discloses wherein the supplying the aminosilane-based gas to form the Si-H bond is performed with the substrate maintained at a temperature of 2000C or more and 3000C or less ([0010]; Fig. 7).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Shimizu with Hasebe to perform supplying the aminosilane-based gas to form the Si-H bond with the substrate maintained at a temperature of 2000C or more and 3000C or less for the purpose of improving the accuracy of surface roughness (Hasebe, [0266]).
Regarding claim 2, Shimizu discloses wherein the forming the carbon film (5) includes supplying a carbon-containing gas and a halogen gas to the substrate to form the carbon film on the seed layer ([0054]).
Regarding claim 11, Shimizu discloses wherein the forming the carbon film is performed under a same temperature environment as in the forming the seed layer or under a higher temperature environment compared to the forming the seed layer (claims 5 and 7).
Regarding claim 12, Shimizu discloses wherein the forming the seed layer and the forming the carbon film are performed in the same processing chamber (Fig.2).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu in view of Okada and Hasebe as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Shimizu’548 (Shimizu US 2017/0342548).
Regarding claim 3, Shimizu does not disclose wherein the forming the carbon film includes supplying a gas that reacts with a halogen and reducing a halogen amount in the carbon film.
Shimizu’548 however discloses wherein the forming the carbon film includes supplying a gas that reacts with a halogen and reducing a halogen amount in the carbon film ([0113]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Shimizy with Shimizu’548 to supply a gas that reacts with a halogen and reducing a halogen amount in the carbon film for the purpose of suppressing damage to an underlying film and form a carbon film with good adhesivity (Shimizu’548, [0113]).
Regarding claim 4, Shimizu’548 discloses wherein the forming the carbon film includes repeating a cycle including forming the carbon film and reducing the halogen amount a plurality of times ([0066]; note: plurality of wafers).
Regarding claims 5 and 8, Shimizu’548 does not disclose wherein the reducing the halogen amount is performed under a higher-pressure environment compared to the forming the carbon film.
Shimizy’548 however discloses that process condition could be optimized for the purpose of forming carbon film with minimal impurities ([0078]- [0085]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was field to adjust the pressure environment wherein the reducing the halogen amount is performed to be in the claimed range for the purpose of effectively reducing number of impurities in the carbon film.
Regarding claims 6 and 9, Shimizu discloses wherein the forming the carbon film is performed under a same temperature environment as in the forming the seed layer or under a higher temperature environment compared to the forming the seed layer (claims 5 and 7).
Regarding claims 7 and 10, Shimizu discloses wherein the forming the seed layer and the forming the carbon film are performed in a same processing chamber (Fig.2).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-12 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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