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
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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 101579852 B1 (hereby referred to as KR ‘852).
Regarding Claims 1-2, KR ‘852 teaches a mask blank for EUV lithography and a photomask formed from the same. The mask blank comprises a transparent substrate (302), a multilayer reflective film (304), and an absorbing film (312) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0029 of the English translation and Fig. 3). The reflective multilayer film is formed by alternatively stacking layers of molybdenum (Mo) and silicon (Si) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0033 of the English translation). The thickness of the absorption film is between 30 nm and 70 nm, in order to obtain satisfactory reflectivity for the exposure light and critical dimension uniformity (KR ‘852, paragraph 0048). The absorption film is formed of a high extinction coefficient (k) material, such as a material including a metal material selected from indium (In), palladium (Pd), tantalum (Ta), tellurium (Te), and iridium (Ir) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0038-0039 of the English translation). It is preferable that the absorption film is made with indium (In) as a main component and includes one additional metal selected from the group mentioned above (KR ‘852, paragraph 0042 of the English translation). The absorption film may further include one or might light elements, such as nitrogen (N) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0043 of the English translation). The composition ratio of the metal material (M) with respect to the indium (In) (the ratio being M:In) is 95%:5% to 5%:95%, wherein the percentages represent atomic% (KR ‘852, paragraph 0042 of the English translation). Further, the light element has a content ratio of 9:1 to 2:8 relative to the metal (KR ‘852, paragraph 0043 of the English translation). In one embodiment, a two-layer absorption film having a lower layer formed of InTaN and an upper layer formed of InTaON is utilized (KR ‘852, paragraph 0085 of the English translation).
However, KR ‘852 does not explicitly disclose an absorption film comprising indium and nitrogen in an amount of 50 atomic% or more, wherein the ratio of N/In is between 0.5 and 1.5. However, KR ‘852 discloses an absorption layer comprising indium, tantalum, and nitrogen (see KR ‘852, paragraph 0085 of the English translation). KR ‘852 further teaches that the Ta:In ratio can be within 95at%:5at% to 5at%:95at% (KR ‘852, paragraph 0042 of the English translation) and the nitrogen content ratio with respect to the metal is 9:1 to 2:8 (KR ‘852, paragraph 0043 of the English translation). The ranges of the contents of the different elements in the absorption film taught by KR ‘852 overlap with the elemental contents recited by the instant application’s claims, and thus present a prima facie case of obviousness, per MPEP 2144.05 I. For instance, the ranges taught in paragraphs 0042 and 0043 of the English translation of KR ‘852 allow for a InTaN film comprising equal parts indium, tantalum, and nitrogen (33.3 atomic% each), which would satisfy the limitations of instant claims 1-2, as the total content of indium and nitrogen would be over 50 atomic% and the N/In ratio would be 1.0. Furthermore, one having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to include materials such as tantalum, palladium, and/or tellurium in the indium-based absorption film and adjust the content of these additional metals through routine optimization in order to find a desirable chemical resistance property of the absorption film (see KR ‘582, paragraph 0042 of the English translation). Refer to MPEP 2144.05 II. Therefore, the invention of claims 1-2 of the instant application is prima facie obvious in view of KR ‘852.
Regarding Claims 3 and 6, KR ‘852 discloses that the mask blank may further include a capping film (306) provided between the multilayer reflective film (304) and the absorbing film (312) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0029 of the English translation and Fig. 3). The capping film is preferably formed of ruthenium, niobium, or compounds containing one or both of these metals (KR ‘852, paragraph 0035 of the English translation).
Regarding Claims 4-5, KR ‘852 teaches a mask blank for EUV lithography and a photomask formed from the same. The mask blank comprises a transparent substrate (302), a multilayer reflective film (304), and an absorbing film (312) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0029 of the English translation and Fig. 3). The reflective multilayer film is formed by alternatively stacking layers of molybdenum (Mo) and silicon (Si) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0033 of the English translation). The thickness of the absorption film is between 30 nm and 70 nm, in order to obtain satisfactory reflectivity for the exposure light and critical dimension uniformity (KR ‘852, paragraph 0048). The absorption film is formed of a high extinction coefficient (k) material, such as a material including a metal material selected from indium (In), palladium (Pd), tantalum (Ta), tellurium (Te), and iridium (Ir) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0038-0039 of the English translation). It is preferable that the absorption film is made with indium (In) as a main component and includes one additional metal selected from the group mentioned above (KR ‘852, paragraph 0042 of the English translation). The absorption film may further include one or might light elements, such as nitrogen (N) (KR ‘852, paragraph 0043 of the English translation). The composition ratio of the metal material (M) with respect to the indium (In) (the ratio being M:In) is 95%:5% to 5%:95%, wherein the percentages represent atomic% (KR ‘852, paragraph 0042 of the English translation). Further, the light element has a content ratio of 9:1 to 2:8 relative to the metal (KR ‘852, paragraph 0043 of the English translation). In one embodiment, a two-layer absorption film having a lower layer formed of InTaN and an upper layer formed of InTaON is utilized (KR ‘852, paragraph 0085 of the English translation). The specification of KR ‘852 teaches that the mask blank described above can be made into an EUV photomask (KR ‘852, paragraph 0023 of the English translation), which is done by patterning the absorption film layer (KR ‘852, paragraphs 0036, 0052, and 0058 of the English translation and Fig. 1, which shows a patterned absorber layer).
However, KR ‘852 does not explicitly disclose an absorption film comprising indium and nitrogen in an amount of 50 atomic% or more, wherein the ratio of N/In is between 0.5 and 1.5. However, KR ‘852 discloses an absorption layer comprising indium, tantalum, and nitrogen (see KR ‘852, paragraph 0085 of the English translation). KR ‘852 further teaches that the Ta:In ratio can be within 95at%:5at% to 5at%:95at% (KR ‘852, paragraph 0042 of the English translation) and the nitrogen content ratio with respect to the metal is 9:1 to 2:8 (KR ‘852, paragraph 0043 of the English translation). The ranges of the contents of the different elements in the absorption film taught by KR ‘852 overlap with the elemental contents recited by the instant application’s claims, and thus present a prima facie case of obviousness, per MPEP 2144.05 I. For instance, the ranges taught in paragraphs 0042 and 0043 of the English translation of KR ‘852 allow for a InTaN film comprising equal parts indium, tantalum, and nitrogen (33.3 atomic% each), which would satisfy the limitations of instant claims 4-5, as the total content of indium and nitrogen would be over 50 atomic% and the N/In ratio would be 1.0. Furthermore, one having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to include materials such as tantalum, palladium, and/or tellurium in the indium-based absorption film and adjust the content of these additional metals through routine optimization in order to find a desirable chemical resistance property of the absorption film (see KR ‘582, paragraph 0042 of the English translation). Refer to MPEP 2144.05 II. Therefore, the invention of claims 4-5 of the instant application is prima facie obvious in view of KR ‘852.
Conclusion
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/JAYSON D COSGROVE/Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/JONATHAN JOHNSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1734