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 .
This is the initial office action for US Patent Application No. 18/328395 by Oh et al.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Oh et al. (US 2022/0113619 A1), herein referred to as Oh, provided in Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement filed 6/2/2023, in view of Park et al. (US 2022/0283512 A1), herein referred to as Park.
The applied references have common joint inventors with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the references, the applied references constitute prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
Regarding claims 1, 11, 15 and 20, Oh teaches [0007] a method of manufacturing a photomask comprising the steps of forming a plurality of pattern elements having a target critical dimension from a light absorbing layer of the photomask, wherein the plurality of pattern elements include a correction target pattern element to be corrected and the correction target pattern element has a critical dimension different from the target critical dimension; identifying a correction target area of the photomask in which the correction target pattern element is disposed; applying an etchant to the photomask; and irradiating a laser beam to the correction target area while the etchant is provided on the photomask such that the irradiating of the laser beam performs critical dimension correction on the photomask.
With further regard to claims 11, 15 and 20, Oh teaches [0027-0032] forming a mask blank comprising a mask substrate, a reflective layer on the mask substrate and a light absorbing layer formed on the mask substrate and reflective layer. The reflective layer may be configured to reflect EUV light. Oh further teaches [0040] etching the light absorbing layer to form the plurality of pattern elements.
With further regard to claim 20, Oh, teaches (Figure 13, [0011] and [0099-0102]) manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising the steps of forming a photoresist film on a feature layer; preparing a photomask including a substrate, a reflective layer disposed on the substrate for reflecting extreme ultraviolet light, and a plurality of pattern elements formed of a light absorber, wherein the plurality of pattern elements include a correction target pattern element which has a pattern width different from a target pattern width; correcting a critical dimension of the correction target pattern element by irradiating a laser beam to a correction target area of the photomask corresponding to the correction target pattern element while a chemical liquid is provided on the photomask; exposing the photoresist film using the photomask; forming a photoresist pattern by developing the photoresist film; and processing the feature layer using the photoresist pattern.
Oh does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations of claims 1, 15 and 20 directed to focusing a laser beam to a mirror array of a digital micromirror device (DMD), wherein the mirror array has mirrors arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns; converting the laser beam into a beam pattern array corresponding to the mirror array by controlling on/off switching of each of the mirrors based on the local CD correction information, wherein the beam pattern array has a beam pattern arranged in a position corresponding to on-state mirrors in the mirror array; and forming a linear beam by focusing the beam pattern array through an optical system.
However, from the same field of technology, Park discloses a correcting apparatus and correcting method for EUV photomasks.
In view of claims 1, 15 and 20, Park teaches (Figures 1-3, [0028-0032] and [0042-0044]) a photomask correcting apparatus and a photomask correction method that includes a digital micromirror device (DMD). The apparatus taught by Park (Figure 3) includes a control unit 340c with a beam splitting portion 345, configured to split a laser beam LB into a plurality of laser beams (LB1, LB2, LB3, and LB4), and a light modulating portion 346 configured to irradiate the plurality of laser beams toward an entire surface of a main area MA of the photomask. The control unit 340c may control a dose of laser beam, irradiated to each portion of the main area MA of the photomask, by adjusting on/off times of each of the plurality of laser beams (converting the laser beam into a beam pattern array corresponding to the mirrors of the DMD) and condensing two or more laser beams on a single spot (effectively forming a linear beam to focus on a specific position of the photomask to perform the critical dimension correction process).
At the time of the filing date of the instant application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the methods of manufacturing photomasks and the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device taught by Oh to include the teachings of Park, directed to utilizing a photomask correction apparatus and photomask correction method involving employing a digital micromirror array to a perform critical dimension correction process on a photomask, in order to improve critical dimension uniformity of pattern features on a photomask. By combining the teachings of Oh and Park, one of ordinary skill in the art would achieve improved manufacturing of a photomask and semiconductor device with a reasonable expectation of success.
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
In view of claims 2 and 3, the combination of Oh and Park teaches (Park [0033-0034] and [0042-0043]) changing the beam pattern array by controlling on/off switching of the mirrors in the mirror array according to local CD correction information for the area during the movement of the linear beam and during the movement of the linear beam, laser output distribution in a longitudinal direction of the linear beam is changed according to local CD correction information for the area.
In view of claim 4, the combination of Oh and Park teaches (Park [0035]) the movement of the linear beam is a scanning movement or a stepping movement.
In view of claims 5-10 and 17-19, the combination of Oh and Park teaches (Park [0033-0035], [0042-0043] and [0063-0065]) a plurality of laser beams may be condensed on a single spot (forming a linear beam). The control unit 340a may control the light source unit in a scanning manner and/or a stepper manner. In the case of the scanning manner, the control unit 340a may adjust the dosage of the laser beam LB irradiated to the main area MA by changing a moving speed of the light source unit 360 while continuously moving the light source unit 360. In the case of the stepper manner, the control unit 340a may adjust the dosage of the laser beam LB by adjusting the number of times of processing in a specific region while discontinuously moving the light source unit 360. In addition, the dosage of the laser beam LB may be independently adjusted by adjusting the intensity of the laser beam LB. Claims 5-10 and 17-19 are therefore considered to be obvious in view of the combination of Oh and Park.
In view of claims 12 and 13, the combination of Oh and Park teaches (Park [0030]) the chemical etchant is not configured to absorb a wavelength of the laser beam and the laser beam may have a wavelength in the range of 200 to 700 nm.
In view of claim 14, the combination of Oh and Park teaches (Park [0029]) the chemical etchant is selected to be aqueous ammonia or tetramethylammonium hydroxide.
In view of claim 16, the combination of Oh and Park teaches (Park [0031]) the laser beam heats the chemical liquid and an etching rate may subsequently be adjusted to etch the pattern elements, thereby performing critical dimension correction of the specified pattern elements.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEWART A FRASER whose telephone number is (571)270-5126. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7am-4pm, EST.
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/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724