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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-18 and 21-22 are pending. Claims 1, 7, 12, 15, and 17 are amended. Claims 19-20 are cancelled and claims 21-22 are newly added. Claims 1-6, 15-18, 21, and 22 are rejected. Claims 7-14 are allowed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 3-4, 15-18, 21, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 3, the claim states that pulsing the second precursor is performed such that an oxide is formed on the substrate and then a recovery step is performed, however, claim 1 has been amended to require that a conductive via is formed. The specification describes forming dielectrics that are oxides but it does not describe forming conductive oxides or using a surface recovery step when a conductive material is deposited. Therefore, claim 3 is considered to include new matter. Since claim 4 does not remedy the issues of claim 3, it is also considered to include new matter.
Regarding claim 15, the claim has been amended to indicate that a first metal-containing precursor is provided and a second metal-containing precursor is provided, however, there is insufficient support in the specification for providing a second metal-containing precursor. The specification describes a first metal-metal containing precursor and then describes at paragraph 0049 that when forming oxides, the second precursor can be H2O vapor, O3, O2, or a combination thereof, when forming a nitride is can be N2 plasma, a mixture of N2 and H2 plasma, or NH3 plasma, and that in some embodiments the second precursor can be H2 plasma. Therefore, the specification does not indicate that the second precursor can be a second metal-containing precursor. Further, the specification also does not describe a second metal-containing precursor reacting with a second dielectric layer to form a second material.
Therefore, claim 15 and its dependent claims are considered to include new matter. Appropriate action is required without adding new matter.
Regarding claim 17, as discussed above for claim 15, the specification does not describe a second metal-containing precursor reacting with a second dielectric layer to form a second material such that it also does not describe removing the second material using a plasma. Therefore, claim 17 and its dependent claim are also considered to include new matter. Appropriate action is required without adding new matter.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the claim has been amended such that the first plurality of precursor molecules adsorb to the metal capping layer and the second plurality of precursor molecules adsorb on the dielectric layer, however, it later states that the first plurality of precursor molecules are removed from the dielectric layer while leaving the second plurality of precursor molecules on the metal capping layer, where a second precursor reacts with the second plurality of precursor molecules. Therefore, it is unclear on which surface the precursor molecules are removed from. For the purposes of examination, since the process is done to form a conductive via in the via opening, where the via opening exposes the metal capping layer, the claim is interpreted as though the plasma removal procedure removes the second plurality of precursor molecules from the dielectric layer while leaving the first plurality of precursor molecules on the metal capping layer, where the second precursor react with the first plurality of precursor molecules. Since none of the dependent claims remedy the clarity of claim 1, they are also rendered indefinite. Appropriate action is required without adding new matter.
Regarding claim 3, the claim indicates that pulsing the second precursor is performed such that an oxide is formed on the substrate, however, claim 1 requires that a conductive via is formed, where oxides are generally insulating or dielectric materials. Therefore, it is unclear whether an oxide is intended to be formed or whether the claim is intended to indicate a metal is formed. For the purposes of examination, the claim is interpreted as requiring an oxide to be formed. Since claim 4 does not remedy the issues of claim 3, it is also considered to be indefinite. Appropriate action is required without adding new matter.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-14 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The closest prior art does not teach or suggest the features of independent claim 7, wherein a conductive via is formed by placing the substrate in a chamber, introducing a first precursor to the chamber, wherein the first precursor comprises a first plurality of precursor molecules binding to the metal capping layer with first bonds and a second plurality of precursor molecules binding to the dielectric layer with second bonds; purging the chamber with an inert gas; breaking the second bonds that bind the second plurality of precursor molecules and the dielectric layer, while leaving the first bonds that bind the first plurality of precursor molecules and the metal capping layer intact; introducing a second precursor to the chamber, and purging the second precursor.
The closest prior art is Chou, “Atomic Layer Nucleation Engineering: Inhibitor-Free Area-Selective Atomic Layer Deposition of Oxide and Nitride”, 2021, Han, US 2019/0259650 A1, and Haukka, US 2015/0299848 A1
Chou teaches a method of selective deposition where the substrate includes a growth area (GA), i.e., SiO2, and a non-growth area (NGA), i.e., Pt, (abstract and pg. 5588, Results and Discussion, pg. 5588, Methods, and Fig. 1). They teach pulsing TMA so that the precursor is adsorbed over the growth area (GA), i.e., SiO2, and the non-growth area (NGA), i.e., Pt, where the TMA forms O-Al bond with a high BE of 7.28 eV on the SiO2 surface and the TMA adsorbed on Pt has a BE of 1.96 eV, indicating that first bonds will be formed in the first region and second bonds are formed in the second region (pg. 5588, Results and Discussion, pg. 5588, Methods, and Fig. 1). They teach purging with argon (pg. 5588, Methods and Fig. 1). They then teach applying an RF substrate bias to form a plasma that selectively removes the precursors on the metal or NGA, where the plasma removes the weaker-adsorbed surface species so as to eliminate the TMA on the Pt surface, such that the precursor molecules will remain on the GA, indicating that the second bonds with Pt will be broken while the first bonds remain intact (abstract, pg. 5588, Methods, and Fig. 1). They pulse a second precursor such as water to react with TMA and form the aluminum oxide monolayer, where the reactants are introduced into the reaction chamber (pg. 5588, Methods and Fig. 1) and purge after the co-reactant pulse (pg. 5588, Methods and Fig. 1). Therefore, Chou teaches selectively depositing a dielectric film on a dielectric surface over a metallic surface, where the bond energy between the precursor and the dielectric surface are higher than the bond energy between the precursor and the metallic surface so that when the bias is applied to the substrate, it removes the precursor from the metal surface while leaving the precursor on the dielectric surface.
Han teaches methods for protecting cobalt metal plugs used in making electrical connections within a semiconductor device (abstract), where a Co metal plug is formed in a substrate containing a first dielectric layer that provides an electrical connection through the first dielectric layer to a conductive layer underlying the first dielectric layer (0013 and Fig. 1A).They teach selectively forming a Ru metal cap layer on the exposed surface of the Co metal plug (0014 and Fig. 1B), forming a second dielectric layer on the substrate, where the second dielectric layer may be selected from the group consisting of SiO2, SiON, SiN, a high-k material, a low-k material, and an ultra-low-k material (0018 and Fig. 1C), and forming a recessed feature in the second dielectric using etching methods so as to expose the metal capping layer (0019 and Fig. 1D-E). They teach filling the recessed feature with a metallization layer, e.g., Ru metal, Co metal, or Cu metal (0020 and Fig. 1F).
Haukka teaches methods for selective deposition of a first material on a first surface of a substrate, where the selectively deposited materials may be metals (abstract). They teach selectively depositing a metal on a first surface of a substrate relative to a second, different surface, such as a dielectric surface of the same substrate (0076). They teach that the first surface is a noble metal surface such as Al, Cu, Ru, Ni, Co, or other noble metal surface (0076). They teach that the second, non-metal surface is SiO2, GeO2, or low-k material (0077). They teach that the second surface may be deactivated by increasing the amount of OH-groups on the second, non-metal surface (0078). They teach depositing Ru and other noble metals on metal, where the first metal surface may be Cu, Ni, Co, Al, W, Ru, or other noble metal (0195). They teach that the second surface may be hydrophilic and comprise OH groups, where the hydrophilic surface may comprise SiO2, a low k material, or GeO2 (0198). They teach that Ru bis(cyclopentadienyl) compounds can be highly non-reactive toward hydrophilic oxide surfaces (0199). They teach selectively depositing the noble metal by an ALD process by alternately and sequentially contacting the substrate with a first noble metal precursor and a second reactant (0203). They teach that the deposition comprises multiple cycles, each cycle comprising contacting the surface of a substrate with a vaporized first noble metal precursor, removing excess noble metal precursor and reaction byproducts, contacting the surface of the substrate with a second vaporized reactant, removing from the surface excess second reactant and any gaseous byproducts, and repeating the contacting and removing steps until a noble metal thin film of the desired thickness has been formed (0204-0209). They teach that in some embodiments, an etch may be used subsequent to or in the course of deposition to remove material that is non-selectively deposited (0046).
Therefore, Han provides forming a conductive feature over a substrate, forming a metal capping layer over the conductive feature, forming a dielectric layer over the conductive feature, etching the dielectric layer to form a via opening extending through the dielectric layer to expose the metal capping layer, and forming a conductive via in the via opening. Haukka teaches selectively depositing metals such as ruthenium on metal surfaces over dielectric surfaces by ALD. Chou teaches using the claimed method of removing a precursor from a metallic surface while leaving the precursor on a dielectric surface. Therefore, there is no teaching or suggestion that the binding energy of the precursors will be compatible with the metal and dielectric surfaces so that the precursor forms bonds on both surfaces with binding energies that will allow for breaking the bonds between the precursor and the dielectric surface while maintaining the bonds between the precursor and the metallic surface.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTINA D MCCLURE whose telephone number is (571)272-9761. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:00 EST.
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/CHRISTINA D MCCLURE/Examiner, Art Unit 1718
/GORDON BALDWIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1718