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 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) 1-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Komuro et al (JP 2022-050325 and its machine translation).
Komuro et al disclose a resist composition comprising a salt having a structure similar to that of the instant formula (1) as an acid generator (instant claims 6 and 7), a resin, and a method of forming a pattern.
The composition comprises the salt, the resin, a solvent (instant claim 12; [0234], [0254]), a quencher (C) (instant claim 13; [0235], Table 2), an acid generator (B) ([0240]; instant claim 14), and an additive including a surfactant (F) ([0239], [0240]; instant claim 15).
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In the formula, each of Q1 and Q2 (instant Q3 and Q4) are trifluoroalkyyl or fluorine, Z (instant n5) is 0 or 1, R11 and R12 (when present, instant Q1 and Q2) are H, fluorine, perfluoroalkyl ([0009]), wherein X0 equates to the instant LA-XL-LB, and comprises an ester group or ether bond instant n1 is 0, R2 may be halogen, alkyl, and fluorinated alkyl (instant RF and/or R1), and instant -O-RAL, is -O-L1-C(=O)O-R1, wherein - L1-C(=O)O-R1, equates to the instant -RAL, and instant n2 is 1. Z is an onium cation. T
The reference examples include compounds including:
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Wherein the instant n3 is 2 or 4, and the RAL group includes a methyladamantyl group. The RAL group meets the limitations of each of (AL-1) (instant claims 1 and 2), wherein R2 and R3 form a ring, and R4 is methyl (instant claim 2). The structures meet the limitations of the instant claims 3 and 4, for (1A) and (1B), wherein for (1B) R11 and R12 (instant Q1 and Q2) are H (instant claims 3 and 4).
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The onium cation Z (instant Z) is preferably a cation having a structure of the instant (cation-1) and (cation 2), well known and commonly used onium cation structures (instant claim 5).
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The resist polymer includes a (meth)acrylate unit having an acid-labile group. Such units includes preferred units such as (a1-0) and (a1-4) ([0104]-[0115]; instant claims 8 and 9).
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As taught by the instant specification, acid labile groups AL1 and AL2 include the following groups as also disclose by the reference units and well known and conventional in the art:
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The units of the reference include exemplified units having acid labile groups such as
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The reference teaches that the units are preferably used in combination with (a1) (also instant (a1)) being preferably 20 to 70 mol % of the total (A) units ([0107]), and (a4) (instant (a2)) units being 10 to 60 mol % of the total (A) units ([0117]). Therefore, the reference teaches the limitations of the instant claims 8 for (a1) and claim 9 for wherein the resin further comprises (a2).
With respect to the instant claim 10, the resin further preferably comprises units meeting the limitations of the instant (b1) and (b2), including those preferred in exemplified polymers wherein (b1) is an adamantyl group having -OH groups or a group having a lactone ring, and of (b2) wherein the unit is a phenolic hydroxyl (B2) (wherein instant c is 0 and Y1 is a single bond.
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Broader formulas ((for (b2) see (a2-A, [0126]), wherein the instant Y1 may be ester, and c may be 2 or more with instant R22 being halogen, hydroxy, alkoxy, alkyl.
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The reference teaches additional units havign groups as set forth by the instat (b1) for the instant R21, including sultone rings ([0195], and those having various groups such as esters and ether (for example [0169] [0182] [0184]-[0187]).
The reference further teaches a unit comprisng a structure of formulas (c1), (c2), (c3), and (c4), wherein (II-2-A-2) is (c2) ([0220], [0221]), (II-1-1) is (C1) ([0222], [0223]), with broader structres (II-1-A’) falling within (c3) wherein AX1 include H, and (c4) wherein X113-Ax1 is Z51 with reference Z5 being -C(=O)O-Z51.
Reference examples include units inlcude those of (a1) or (a2) with (b1) and (B2), and as noted above, teaches that the units equating to the (a1) and (a2) units may be used in combination. The reference further teaches that the polymers may include an unit comprisng a salt falling within the instant formulas (c1) to (c4) in combination with the other preferred units, thus meeting the limitations of the instant claims 8-11 for the resist polymer.
The reference further teaches that the method of patterning includes the steps as claimed, wherein the resist is applied to a substrate, baked/ dried to remove solvent and form a film, exposed to light, post-exposure baked, and developed ([0241], [0242]; instant claim 16). The radiation used in the exposure step is preferably ebeam or EUV (instant claim 17).
Given the teachings of the reference, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to prepare the resist compositon and perform the method of patterning, wherein the PAG salt of formula (I), wherein the salt comprises groups as dicscussed above. Specifially wherein R2 is fluorine or perfluoroalkyl, R1 is a leaving group and X0 has a structure meeting the instant -LA-X1-LB- which also fall within the scope of the instant formula (1). The resultant salt, material, and method would also meet the limitations of the instant claims 1-17.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMANDA C WALKE whose telephone number is (571)272-1337. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 5:30am to 4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Niki Bakhtiari can be reached at 571-272-3433. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AMANDA C. WALKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722