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(s) 1-6, 22, 24 and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chandrashekar (Pub. No.: US 2015/0024592) in view of Ho (Pub. No.: US 2023/0290674).
Re claim 1, Chandrashekar, FIG. 4 teaches a method of forming a structure on a substrate, comprising:
exposing at least one opening formed in a multi-tier portion of the substrate to a tungsten-containing gas at a precursor gas flow rate;
exposing the at least one opening of the substrate to a reducing agent comprising boron at a reducing agent flow rate (deposit a bulk tungsten in first group of step 401, note that in the deposition of the bulk tungsten is including tungsten-containing gases including, but not limited to, WF6, WCl6, ….. and reducing gas such as diborane, ¶¶ [0092]-[0094]), wherein the tungsten-containing gas and the reducing agent are alternated cyclically to form a nucleation layer within the at least one opening of the substrate;
exposing the at least one opening of the substrate to a nitrogen trifluoride ([etch tungsten] step 403, [0100]) containing gas to inhibit growth of the nucleation layer at narrow portions within the at least one opening;
exposing the at least one opening to the tungsten-containing precursor gas (step 405) to form a fill layer over the nucleation layer within the at least one opening; and
exposing the at least one opening of the substrate to the nitrogen trifluoride containing gas or a non-halogen nitrogen-containing plasma ([etch tungsten] step 407, [0100], note that NF3 is a nitrogen trifluoride) to inhibit growth of portions of the fill layer along the at least one opening.
Chandrashekar fails to teach wherein each tier is tapered such that a width of an uppermost portion of a tier is greater than a width of a lowermost portion of the tier.
Ho teaches wherein each tier is tapered such that a width of an uppermost portion of a tier is greater than a width of a lowermost portion of the tier (165A/165C, Fig. 5B, [0033]).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to include the above said teaching for the purpose of enhancing the interconnects of ICs as taught by Ho, [0002].
Re claim 2, in the combination, Chandrashekar, FIG. 4 teaches the method of claim 1, wherein exposing the at least one opening to the tungsten-containing precursor gas comprises a chemical vapor deposition process [0095].
Re claim 3, in the combination, Chandrashekar, FIG. 4 teaches the method of claim 1, wherein exposing the at least one opening to the nitrogen trifluoride containing gas and the non-halogen nitrogen-containing plasma, comprises alternating the nitrogen trifluoride containing gas and the non-halogen nitrogen-containing plasma (remote plasma 403/407, [0100]).
Re claim 4, in the combination, Chandrashekar, FIG. 4 teaches the method of claim 3, wherein exposing the at least one opening to the nitrogen trifluoride containing gas and the non-halogen nitrogen-containing plasma, comprises exposing the substrate to the non-halogen nitrogen-containing plasma (remote plasma of step 403 using ammonia (NH3) of Ho, [0039]) prior to the nitrogen trifluoride containing gas (NF3 of step 407)
Re claim 5, in the combination, Chandrashekar, FIG. 4 teaches the method of claim 3, wherein exposing the at least one opening of the substrate to the nitrogen trifluoride containing gas and the non-halogen nitrogen-containing plasma, comprises exposing the substrate to the nitrogen trifluoride containing gas (NF3 of step 403) prior to the non-halogen nitrogen-containing plasma (remote plasma of step 407 using ammonia (NH3) of Ho, [0039]).
PNG
media_image1.png
200
400
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Re claim 6, Chandrashekar teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising determining a first interval of exposing the at least one opening of the substrate to the nitrogen trifluoride and a second interval of exposing the substrate to the non-halogen nitrogen-containing plasma based on:
an interface location of a first and second tier ([FT]/[ST], FIG. 8 [as shown above]) of the multi-tier portion along a length of the at least one opening;
a width of the at least one opening at an interface of two adjacent tiers of the multi-tier portion;
a width of the at least one opening at a surface of the opening;
a ratio between a smallest width along the at least one opening [Sw] to the largest width along the opening [LW];
an aspect ratio of the at least one opening (proportional relationship between the width and height); or combinations thereof.
Re claim 22, Chandrashekar, FIG. 4 teaches the method of claim 1, wherein exposing the at least one opening of the substrate to a nitrogen trifluoride-containing gas includes heating the substrate to a temperature of about 200 ºC to about 600 ºC [0095].
Re claim 24, Chandrashekar, FIG. 8 [as shown above] teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the multi-tier portion of the substrate comprises lower portion and an upper portion, wherein the upper portion [SW] comprises a width smaller than a width of the lower portion [LW].
Re claim 25, Chandrashekar, FIG. 8 [as shown above] teaches the method of claim 24, wherein the multi-tier portion of the substrate comprises a middle portion between the upper portion and the lower portion, wherein the middle portion [MW} comprises a width smaller than the width of the upper portion [SW] and the width of the lower portion [LW].
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(s) 21 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chandrashekar in view of another Chandrashekar (Pub. No.: US 9240347) (hereinafter `347).
Chandrashekar teaches all the limitation of claim 1.
Chandrashekar fails to teach the limitation of claim 21/23.
`347 teaches wherein exposing the at least one opening of the substrate to a nitrogen trifluoride-containing gas includes flowing the nitrogen trifluoride-containing gas to the substrate for about 1 seconds to about 30 seconds (FIG. 13C, col. 25, lines 20-30) (claim 21).
wherein exposing the at least one opening of the substrate to a nitrogen trifluoride-containing gas includes flowing the nitrogen trifluoride-containing gas to the substrate at a rate of about 0.5 sccm to about 500 sccm (col. 16, lines 20-23) (claim 23).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to include the above said teaching for the purpose of preventing “Depositing tungsten-containing materials into small and high aspect ratio features may cause formation of seams and voids inside the filled features” as taught by `347, BACKGROUND, col 1. Lines 30-40.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 32 and 42 on the remarks filed on 03/082/026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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 TONY TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1749. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8AM-5PM, EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Britt Hanley can be reached at 571-270-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TONY TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
Prosecution Insights