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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention II [process of use] claims 7-20 in the reply filed on 03/25/2026 is acknowledged.
After additional consideration of the elected invention II the restriction requirement between invention I [product] and II [process of use] as set forth in the Office action mailed on 01/26/2026 is hereby withdrawn. In view of the withdrawal of the restriction requirement as to the rejoined inventions, applicant(s) are advised that if any claim presented in a divisional application is anticipated by, or includes all the limitations of, a claim that is allowable in the present application, such claim may be subject to provisional statutory and/or nonstatutory double patenting rejections over the claims of the instant application.
Once the restriction requirement is withdrawn, the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 121 are no longer applicable. See In re Ziegler, 443 F.2d 1211, 1215, 170 USPQ 129, 131-32 (CCPA 1971). See also MPEP § 804.01.
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)(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 1-4, and 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20140256124 A1 Hsu et al hereafter “Hsu”.
Claim 1 Hsu teaches an etching composition for etching a titanium aluminum nitride layer [sufficiently disclosed by the gate structure being etched as disclosed paragraph 0021 “titanium aluminum nitride”], the etching composition comprising:
about 15 wt% to about 30 wt% of an oxidizing agent [disclosed with sufficient specificity paragraph 0020 “10-40 mass % hydrogen peroxide” see MPEP 2112 and 2131.03 II.];
about 1 wt% to about 10 wt% of a pH adjusting agent, the pH adjusting agent including an inorganic acid or an organic acid [disclosed with sufficient specificity paragraph 0020 “0.1-15 mass % of an organic acid salt” see MPEP 2112 and 2131.03 II.];
about 0.001 wt% to about 1 wt% of an etching booster [disclosed with sufficient specificity paragraph 0020 “the etching solution can also include 0.005-4.5 mass % ammonia to increase the etching rate” see MPEP 2112 and 2131.03 II.]; and
a solvent [Paragraph 0020 “water”], all wt% being based on a total weight of the etching composition [sufficiently disclosed paragraph 0020].
Claim 2 Hsu teaches as shown above the etching composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the etching composition has a pH that is greater than 0 and less than or equal to 3 [Met under MPEP 2112.01 II. as the composition is physically the same as disclosed and/or claimed].
Claim 3 Hsu teaches as shown above the etching composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the oxidizing agent includes hydrogen peroxide [sufficiently disclosed as shown above “hydrogen peroxide” paragraph 0020].
Claim 4 Hsu teaches as shown above the etching composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pH adjusting agent includes phosphoric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, methanesulfonic acid, ethanesulfonic acid, benzenesulfonic acid, sulfamic acid, sulfanilic acid, malonic acid, glycolic acid, formic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid, propionic acid, acrylic acid, lactic acid, or butyric acid [disclosed with sufficient specificity Paragraph 0020 “salts of citric acid, formic acid, oxalic acid, acetic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, malic acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid. D-glucanic acid, itaconic acid, citraconic acid, mesaconic acid, 2-oxoglutaric acid, trimellitic acid, endothall, glutamic acid, methylsuccinic acid, citramalic acid or the like”].
Claim 6 Hsu teaches as shown above The etching composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the etching composition has a first etching rate for titanium aluminum nitride under a predetermined etching condition, and the etching composition has a second etching rate for a hafnium oxide, a zirconium oxide, or an aluminum oxide under the predetermined etching condition, the second etching rate being less than the first etching rate [The limitation functional and/or property limitation as claimed above is met under MPEP 2112.01 as the composition is materially the same as disclosed and/or claimed].
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 20210125877 A1 Hsu et al here after “Hsu 2021”.
Claim 5 Hsu teaches as shown above the etching composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the etching booster includes ammonia.
Hsu does not explicitly teach the etching booster includes monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, ammonium triphosphate, ammonium sulfate, ammonium bisulfate, ammonium persulfate, ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrite, ammonium fluoride, methyl methanesulfonate, ethanesulfonate, benzenesulfonate, ammonium sulfamate, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, iminodiacetic acid, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, aminotrismethylenephosphonic acid, phosphorous acid, glycine, phenylphosphonic acid, sulfamic acid nitrotrismethylenephosphonic acid, 1 -hydroxyethene- 1,1 - diphosphonic acid, dopamine, or adrenaline.
Hsu 2021 teaches the use of ammonium fluoride in combination with a hydrogen peroxide etchant solution [Paragraph 0080] for a work function layer (305 fig. 11) comprising TiAlN [Paragraph 0040, etching illustrated fig. 11-13].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select the known material of ammonium fluoride as an etchant material and/or booster such that “the etching booster includes monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, ammonium triphosphate, ammonium sulfate, ammonium bisulfate, ammonium persulfate, ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrite, ammonium fluoride, methyl methanesulfonate, ethanesulfonate, benzenesulfonate, ammonium sulfamate, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, iminodiacetic acid, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, aminotrismethylenephosphonic acid, phosphorous acid, glycine, phenylphosphonic acid, sulfamic acid nitrotrismethylenephosphonic acid, 1 -hydroxyethene- 1,1 - diphosphonic acid, dopamine, or adrenaline” as the selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination [See MPEP 2144.07] in this case it is known suitability for selectively etching TiAlN relative to other materials.
Claims 7-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20200083326 A1 Ok et al hereafter Ok, and further in view of Hsu as applied to claim 1 above.
Claim 7 Ok teaches a method of manufacturing an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
forming a semiconductor pattern (112 and/or 103 fig. 1) on a substrate (102 fig. 1);
forming a gate insulating layer (108 fig. 1) on the semiconductor pattern;
forming a titanium aluminum nitride layer (106 fig. 1, “TiAlN” disclosed paragraph 0033) on the gate insulating layer; and
performing an etching process (illustrated fig. 6 disclosed paragraph 0041) using a composition on the titanium aluminum nitride layer to remove the titanium aluminum nitride layer (sufficiently disclosed paragraph 0041 “an etching process with room temperature SC1 (NH.sub.4OH:H.sub.2O.sub.2:H.sub.2O) (RT SC1), the exposed WFM layers 106 are selectively removed” ),
wherein the composition includes the etching composition of an oxidizing agent [“H2O2” paragraph 0041];
an etching booster [“NH4OH” ammonia water ]
a solvent [“H20” Paragraph 0041];
Ok does not teach wherein the composition includes the etching composition of claim 1.
Hsu as shown above in claim 1 teaches the etching composition of claim 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the method Ok teaches and substitute and/or select the etchant Hsu teaches such that “the composition includes the etching composition of claim 1” to “provide more uniform etching” [paragraph 0020 Hsu], and/or selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intend use is prima facie type obviousness [see MPEP 2144.07] in this case it is selectively etching TiAlN gate material.
Claim 8 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the gate insulating layer is not removed and remains after the etching process [sufficiently illustrated fig. 6].
Claim 9 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the gate insulating layer includes a metal oxide, the metal oxide including a hafnium oxide, a zirconium oxide, or an aluminum oxide [sufficiently disclosed paragraph 0034 “hafnium oxide”, “zirconium oxide”, “aluminum oxide”].
Claim 10 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 9, wherein:
the composition has a first etching rate for a titanium aluminum nitride under a predetermined etching condition, and
the composition has a second etching rate for the metal oxide under the predetermined etching condition, the second etching rate being less than the first etching rate.
[disclosed with sufficient specificity to one of ordinary skill in the art as the etching conditions have been selected and/or predetermined to etch titanium aluminum nitride faster than metal oxide in paragraph “an etching process with room temperature SC1 (NH.sub.4OH:H.sub.2O.sub.2:H.sub.2O) (RT SC1), the exposed WFM layers 106 are selectively removed from the nFET region with respect to the high-k dielectric layers 108”, Under the Broadest Reasonable Interpretation, the ‘predetermined etching condition’ reads on the room temperature SC1 etching process taught by Ok].
Claim 11 Ok in view of HSU teaches the method as claimed in claim 7, wherein:
the composition has a pH that is greater than 0 and less than or equal to 3 [met under MPEP 2112.01 II. as the composition is physically the same as claimed and/or disclosed], and
the oxidizing agent includes hydrogen peroxide [sufficiently disclosed as shown above H202].
Claim 12 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the pH adjusting agent includes phosphoric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, methanesulfonic acid, ethanesulfonic acid, benzenesulfonic acid, sulfamic acid, sulfanilic acid, malonic acid, glycolic acid, formic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid, propionic acid, acrylic acid, lactic acid, or butyric acid [disclosed with sufficient specificity in view of Hsu “salts of citric acid, formic acid, oxalic acid, acetic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, malic acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid. D-glucanic acid, itaconic acid, citraconic acid, mesaconic acid, 2-oxoglutaric acid, trimellitic acid, endothall, glutamic acid, methylsuccinic acid, citramalic acid or the like” paragraph 0020].
Claim 13 Ok teaches a method of manufacturing an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
forming a first semiconductor pattern structure (112 in pFET fig. 1) on a first region (pfet fig. 1) of a substrate (102 fig. 1) such that the first semiconductor pattern structure includes a plurality of first semiconductor patterns separated from each other [sufficiently illustrated fig. 1];
forming a second semiconductor pattern (112 in nFET fig. 1) structure on a second region (nFET fig. 1) of the substrate such that the second semiconductor pattern structure includes a plurality of second semiconductor patterns separated from each other [sufficiently illustrated fig. 1];
forming a gate insulating layer (108 fig. 1) on the first semiconductor pattern structure and the second semiconductor pattern structure;
forming a metal-containing layer (106 fig. 1) on the gate insulating layer such that the metal- containing layer includes a titanium aluminum nitride [sufficiently disclosed “TiAlN” paragraph 0033];
forming a mask pattern (130 fig. 5) that covers a first portion (a pFET portion fig. 5) of the metal-containing layer on the first region and does not cover a second portion (a nFET portion fig. 5) of the metal-containing layer on the second region; and
performing an etching process (illustrated fig. 6) using a composition (“etchant” paragraph 0040) on the second portion of the metal-containing layer to remove the second portion of the metal-containing layer,
wherein the composition includes the etching composition of an oxidizing agent [“H2O2” paragraph 0041];
an etching booster [“NH4OH” ammonia water ]
a solvent [“H20” Paragraph 0041];
Ok does not teach wherein the composition includes the etching composition of claim 1.
Hsu as shown above in claim 1 teaches the etching composition of claim 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the method Ok teaches and substitute and/or select the etchant Hsu teaches such that “the composition includes the etching composition of claim 1” to “provide more uniform etching” [paragraph 0020 Hsu], and/or selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intend use is prima facie type obviousness [see MPEP 2144.07] in this case it is selectively etching TiAlN gate material.
Claim 14 Ok as shown above teaches the method as claimed in claim 13, wherein:
the metal-containing layer not covered by the mask pattern is removed at a first etching rate during the etching process [sufficiently illustrated fig. 6],
the gate insulating layer under the metal-containing layer is removed at a second etching rate that is less than the first etching rate during the etching process [sufficiently illustrated fig. 6, as the gate insulating layer is not and/or minimally removed, further sufficiently disclosed paragraph 0041 in “an etching process with room temperature SC1 (NH.sub.4OH:H.sub.2O.sub.2:H.sub.2O) (RT SC1), the exposed WFM layers 106 are selectively removed from the nFET region with respect to the high-k dielectric layers 108”], and
the mask pattern is removed at a third etching rate that is less than the first etching rate during the etching process [sufficiently illustrated fig. 6, as the mask pattern is not and/or minimally removed by this etching step].
Claim 15 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second etching rate is about 0.1 % to about 10 % of the first etching rate. [etching rate is a material property of the etchant used and the material being etched, in addition as shown above Ok teaches the same material/chemical compositions as claimed thus this limitation is met under MPEP 2112.01 II. ]
Claim 16 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the gate insulating layer includes a metal oxide, the metal oxide including a hafnium oxide, a zirconium oxide, or an aluminum oxide [sufficiently disclosed paragraph 0034 “hafnium oxide”, “zirconium oxide”, “aluminum oxide”].
Claim 17 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 13, wherein:
the composition has a pH that is greater than 0 and less than or equal to 3 [Met under MPEP 2112.01 II. as the composition is physically the same as disclosed and/or claimed], and
the oxidizing agent includes hydrogen peroxide [sufficiently disclosed as shown above H2O2].
Claim 18 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the pH adjusting agent includes phosphoric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, methanesulfonic acid, ethanesulfonic acid, benzenesulfonic acid, sulfamic acid, sulfanilic acid, malonic acid, glycolic acid, formic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid, propionic acid, acrylic acid, lactic acid, or butyric acid [disclosed with sufficient specificity in view of Hsu Paragraph 0020 “salts of citric acid, formic acid, oxalic acid, acetic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, malic acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid. D-glucanic acid, itaconic acid, citraconic acid, mesaconic acid, 2-oxoglutaric acid, trimellitic acid, endothall, glutamic acid, methylsuccinic acid, citramalic acid or the like”].
Claim 19 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 13, wherein:
the gate insulating layer surrounds each of the plurality of first semiconductor patterns and each of the plurality of second semiconductor patterns [sufficiently illustrated fig. 1],
the first portion of the metal-containing layer fills first sub-gate spaces between the plurality of first semiconductor patterns [sufficiently illustrated fig. 1], and
the second portion of the metal-containing layer fills second sub-gate spaces between the plurality of second semiconductor patterns [sufficiently illustrated fig. 1].
Claim 20 Ok in view of Hsu teaches as shown above the method as claimed in claim 19, wherein, after the second portion of the metal-containing layer is removed, the gate insulating layer is exposed in the second sub-gate spaces between the plurality of first semiconductor patterns [sufficiently illustrated fig. 6].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William C Trice whose telephone number is (703)756-1875. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-5:00pm.
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/WCT/Examiner, Art Unit 2893
/Britt Hanley/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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