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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Applicant’s IDS submitted on 6/12/23 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has/have been considered by the examiner and made of record.
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 1-8, 12, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Izawa et al. US 20180224740 A1, hereafter Izawa in view of Atasoy et al., US 20150079351 A1, hereafter Atasoy.
Regarding claim 1, Izawa discloses :
A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, the manufacturing method comprising:
forming a stack including first material layers and second material layers that are alternately stacked (Izawa, Figure 1A, stacked body TA, formed of insulation layers 2 of silicon nitride film and layers 3 of silicon oxide film);
forming, on the stack, an polymer mask including a first stepped structure (Izawa, Figure 1C, and [0019] discloses that the imprint pattern 5 is cured while the template TP is pressed against the imprint pattern 5, [0016] discloses that imprint material 4 is a ultraviolet curable resin or a thermoset resin, and [0013] discloses that the template includes steps); and
forming a second stepped structure in the stack by etching the stack using the polymer mask as an etching barrier (Izawa, Figure 2A-2B, and [0021]-[0022] discloses that the imprint pattern is used to etch the steps into the stack).
Izawa fails to disclose:
inorganic material-containing
wherein an etching selectivity between the polymer mask and the stack is adjusted based on a content of the inorganic material contained in the polymer mask
Atasoy discloses:
inorganic material-containing (Atasoy, [0092] discloses a resist compound containing dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate (monomers), . . . or blends thereof, the resist also comprises nanoparticles of ZnO, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2, AlO, and the resist is disclosed as useable for an etch mask [0091])
wherein an etching selectivity between the polymer mask and the stack is adjusted based on a content of the inorganic material contained in the polymer mask (Atasoy, [0093] discloses that the etch selectivity can be increased by adding more monomers or other inorganic materials. The addition of more organic material decreases the concentration (percentage) of inorganic material contained in the polymer mask)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have applied the teachings of Atasoy to the process of Izawa and to therefore have used the resist of Atasoy in the process of Izawa because Atasoy discloses that the use of a resist containing oxide nanoparticles as an etch mask [0091] and when used as a mask it has an increased etch resistance over a mask without such particles, such resistance would increase the etch resistance of the mask, the composition also facilitates the demolding and reduces defects in the nanoscale [0037], and [0064]-[0065]. It would have further been obvious to have changed the etch selectivity of the mask by adding organic material (decreasing the inorganic material percentage in the mask) because Atasoy discloses that the etch selectivity can be changed in such a manner and do so would allow the etch rate to be selected to match the required etching rates to achieve the desired etched shape.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy as applied to claim 1 disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the forming of the polymer mask comprises:
applying inorganic material-containing resist on the stack (Izawa, Figures 1A and [0016] discloses putting imprint material 4 on the stack, Atasoy, [0092] discloses a resist compound containing dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate (monomers), . . . or blends thereof, the resist also comprises nanoparticles of ZnO, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2, AlO, and the resist is disclosed as useable for an etch mask [0091]);
pressing the resist with a mold including a reversed stepped structure (Izawa, Figure 1C, and [0019] discloses the use of a template TP to shape the imprint material 4); and
curing the resist (Izawa, Figure 1C, and [0019] discloses curing the imprint pattern).
The combination of Izawa and Atasoy as applied to claim 1 fail to disclose the following composition for the mold:
polymer
Atasoy discloses:
polymer (Atasoy, [0102] discloses the use their resist composition, a polymer when crosslinked, for a mold)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have applied the teachings of Atasoy to use a polymer to mold the resin because Atasoy discloses that such a mold does not require the use of an anti-sticking layer to facilitate de-molding, and since an anti-sticking layer is a high cost factor in mass production [0009] not using one will reduce the cost of fabrication.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 2, wherein the curing of the resist comprises:
forming a polymer by polymerizing monomers and inorganic nanoparticles (Atasoy, [0077] discloses the curing to cross link the material of the resist).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 3, wherein the monomer includes dipentaerythritol penta/hexaacrylate (DPHA) (Atasoy, [0092] discloses a resist containing dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate or blends thereof).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the inorganic material includes at least one of TiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2, Cr2O3, WO3, ZnO, SnO2, and Fe2O3 (Atasoy, [0097] discloses the resin contains suitable non-conductive nanoparticles and/or nanocrystals, preferably selected from the group consisting of oxides, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2);
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the polymer mask includes a material having a lower etching rate than the first material layers and the second material layers (Atasoy, [0145 discloses an etch rate of 1:10 with respect to the substrate, also since the composition of the mask in Atasoy is the same as the claimed composition the mask of Atasoy must have the same properties as the claimed mask. See MPEP 2112.01 II.).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 6, wherein the first material layers each include silicon nitride, the second material layers each include silicon oxide, and the inorganic material includes at least one of TiO2, Al2O3, and ZrO2 (Izawa, [0016] discloses material for the insulation layers 2 may be a silicon nitride film, for example. The material for the insulation layers 3 may be a silicon oxide film, and Atasoy, [00907] discloses the resin contains suitable non-conductive nanoparticles and/or nanocrystals, preferably selected from the group consisting of oxides, TiO2, ZrO2).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the polymer mask includes metal (Atasoy, [0097] discloses the resin contains suitable non-conductive nanoparticles and/or nanocrystals, preferably selected from the group consisting of oxides, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2 these compounds contain metals, Atasoy further discloses that the resist, which when crosslinked is a polymer, can include metals [0096]).
Regarding claim 12:
The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein a first step height of the first stepped structure and a second step height of the second stepped structure are identical to each other or different from each other (when you have two items with heights the heights can either be equal to or not equal to each other), and
a first width of the first stepped structure and a second width of the second stepped structure are substantially identical to each other (Atasoy, [0021] and [0022] and Figure 2A-2B show that imprint pattern is used as a mask to etch the steps, therefore the mask determines the width of the etched step, and the step of the first step structure and of the second step structure would inherently be substantially the same).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose the following limitations:
The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein an etching rate of the polymer mask is adjusted based on an etching rate of a first polymer mask having a first inorganic material content that is lower than an etching rate of a second polymer mask having a second inorganic material content lower than the first inorganic material content (Atasoy, [0093] discloses that the etch selectivity of a mask (a first mask, having a first inorganic material content) can be increased by adding more monomers or other inorganic materials. The first mask has an etch rate is 1:1 as compared to silicon. The addition of more organic material decreases the concentration (percentage) of inorganic material contained in the resulting polymer mask (the second mask)) and increases the etch selectivity compared to silicon to 1:10. The change in the etch selectivity from 1:1 to 1:10 means that as the etch rate first mask is the same as that of silicon and the etch rate of the second mask is 1/10 of the rate of silicon.
Claims 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Izawa and Atasoy as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Koh et al., US 20150093897 A1, hereafter Koh.
Regarding claim 9, Izawa and Atasoy fail to disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 1,
the first stepped structure is reproduced in the stack to form the second stepped structure (Izawa, Figure 2A-2B, and [0021]-[0022] discloses that the imprint pattern is used to etch the steps into the stack)
Izawa and Atasoy fail to disclose:
wherein, the polymer mask is etched when the stack is etched
Koh discloses the following:
wherein, the polymer mask is etched when the stack is etched (Koh, Figures 10-11, and [0057] discloses that the stair patterns are simultaneously formed on the substrate by dry etching, in this interpretation “when” is interpreted as simultaneously)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to have etched the polymer mask and the stack at the same time, doing so would decrease the time and complexity by reducing the number of etchants and etch steps when fabricating the devices.
Regarding claim 10, Izawa and Atasoy fail to disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein a first step height of the first stepped structure and a second step height of the second stepped structure are substantially identical to each other.
Koh discloses :
Koh, Figures 10-11, and [0057] discloses that the stair patterns are simultaneously formed on the substrate by dry etching.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to have etched the polymer mask and the stack at the same time, doing so would decrease the time and complexity by reducing the number of etchants and etch steps when fabricating the devices.
In the method of Izawa, Atasoy, and Koh the ratio of the etch rate of the polymer of first stepped structure to the material of the stack will determine the height of the steps of first stepped structure necessary to form the desired height of the second stepped structure. In the instant claims having a first stepped structure height and the second step structure height being substantially the same is equivalent to have a ration ratio of the etch rate of the polymer of first stepped structure to the material of the stack equal to one. Atasoy discloses that the etch rate of the mask to the material being etched can be 1:1 or extended to 1:10 (Atasoy, [0093]). When the etch rate of the polymer of first stepped structure is equal to the etch rate of the material of the stack the steps of the first stepped structure will be the same as the steps of the second stepped structure.
Regarding claim 11, Izawa and Atasoy fail to disclose:
The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein a first step height of the first stepped structure and a second step height of the second stepped structure are different from each other.
Koh discloses :
Koh, Figures 10-11, and [0057] discloses that the stair patterns are simultaneously formed on the substrate by dry etching.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to have etched the polymer mask and the stack at the same time, doing so would decrease the time and complexity by reducing the number of etchants and etch steps when fabricating the devices.
In the method of Izawa, Atasoy, and Koh the ratio of the etch rate of the polymer of first stepped structure to the material of the stack will determine the height of the steps of first stepped structure necessary to form the desired height of the second stepped structure. In the instant claims having a first stepped structure height and the second step structure height being substantially the same is equivalent to have a ration ratio of the etch rate of the polymer of first stepped structure to the material of the stack equal to one. Atasoy discloses that the etch rate of the mask to the material being etched can be 1:1 or extended to 1:10 (Atasoy, [0093]). When the etch rate of the polymer of first stepped structure is one tenth of the etch rate of the material of the stack the steps of the first stepped structure will be less than the thickness of the steps of the second stepped structure.
Claim 13-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Izawa et al. US 20180224740 A1, hereafter Izawa in view Atasoy et al., US 20150079351 A1, hereafter Atasoy.
Regarding claim 13, Izawa discloses the following limitations:
A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, the manufacturing method comprising:
forming a stack (Figure 1A, stacked body TA, formed of insulation layers 2 of silicon nitride film and layers 3 of silicon oxide film);
applying, on the stack, resist (Figure 1A, imprint material 4);
pressing the resist with a mold including a reversed target structure (Figure 1B-1D, template TP, is pressed onto the imprint material 4 to form imprint pattern 5, which has a reversed structure as compared to template TP);
forming a mask including a first target structure (Figure 1C, and [0019] discloses that the imprint pattern 5 is cured while the template TP is pressed against the imprint pattern 5, and [0016] discloses that imprint material 4 is a ultraviolet curable resin or a thermoset resin, and [0021] show the imprint pattern used as a mask);
removing the mold (Figure 1D, template TP is removed from imprint pattern 5); and
etching the mask and the stack to form a second target structure in the stack (Figure 2A-2B, and [0022] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, the processes illustrated in FIGS. 1D and 2A are repeatedly performed on the individual stairs to form the steps C1 corresponding in numbers to the steps B1 in the imprint pattern 5 on the stacked body TA), wherein
the first target structure is substantially reproduced to form the second target structure in the stack (Shown in Figure 2A and 2B, where steps C1 are substantially similar to those of the imprint pattern 5).
Izawa fails to disclose the following limitations:
(resist) including monomers and inorganic nanoparticles
Polymer (mold)
an inorganic material-containing polymer (mask)
by polymerizing the monomers and the inorganic nanoparticles
wherein an etching selectivity between the polymer mask and the stack is adjusted based on a content of the inorganic material contained in the polymer mask
Atasoy discloses the following limitations:
(resist) including monomers and inorganic nanoparticles (Atasoy, [0092] discloses a resist compound containing dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate (monomers), . . . or blends thereof, the resist also comprises nanoparticles of ZnO, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2, AlO, and the resist is disclosed as useable for an etch mask [0091])
polymer (mold) (Atasoy, [0102] discloses the use their resist composition, a polymer when crosslinked, for a mold)
an inorganic material-containing polymer (mask) (Atasoy, [0092] discloses a resist compound containing dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate, . . . or blends thereof, the resist also comprises nanoparticles of ZnO, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2, AlO, [0129] discloses that the resist is cross linked (and therefore forms a polymer), and the resist is disclosed as useable for an etch mask [0091])
by polymerizing the monomers and the inorganic nanoparticles (Atasoy, [0077] discloses the curing to cross link the material of the resist)
wherein an etching selectivity between the polymer mask and the stack is adjusted based on a content of the inorganic material contained in the polymer mask (Atasoy, [0093] discloses that the etch selectivity can be increased by adding more monomers or other inorganic materials. The addition of more organic material decreases the concentration (percentage) of inorganic material contained in the polymer mask)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to have applied the teachings of Atasoy to the method of Izawa and to therefore use a resist containing monomers and inorganic nanoparticles, which when cured cross link to form a polymer because Atasoy discloses Atasoy discloses that the use of a resist containing oxide nanoparticles as an etch mask [0091] and when used as a mask it has an increased scratch resistance over a mask without such particles, such resistance would increase the etch resistance of the mask, the composition also facilitates the demolding and reduces defects in the nanoscale [0037], and [0064]-[0065].
It would have further been obvious to have used a polymer mold to shape the resist because Atasoy discloses that his composition can be used to mold the resin because and that such a mold does not require the use of an anti-sticking layer to facilitate de-molding, and since an anti-sticking layer is a high cost factor in mass production [0009] not using one will reduce the cost of fabrication.
It would have further been obvious to have changed the etch selectivity of the mask by adding organic material (decreasing the inorganic material percentage in the mask) because Atasoy discloses that the etch selectivity can be changed in such a manner and do so would allow the etch rate to be selected to match the required etching rates to achieve the desired etched shape.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose the following limitations:
The manufacturing method of claim 13, wherein
the stack includes first material layers and second material layers that are alternately stacked (Izawa, Figure 1A, [0016] stacked body TA, formed of insulation layers 2 of silicon nitride film and layers 3 of silicon oxide film),
the first material layers each include silicon nitride ([0016] insulation layers 2, of silicon nitride), the second material layers each include silicon oxide ([0016] insulation layers 3, of silicon oxide), and
the inorganic material includes at least one of TiO2, Al2O3, and ZrO2 (Atasoy, [0092] discloses nanoparticles of ZnO, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2, AlO [0091]).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose the following limitations:
The manufacturing method of claim 13, wherein the polymer mask includes metal (Atasoy, [0097] discloses the resin contains suitable non-conductive nanoparticles and/or nanocrystals, preferably selected from the group consisting of oxides, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2 these compounds contain metals, Atasoy further discloses that the resist, which when crosslinked is a polymer, can include metals [0096]).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose the following limitations:
The manufacturing method of claim 13, wherein
the inorganic material includes at least one of TiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2, Cr2O3, WO3, ZnO, SnO2, and Fe2O3 (Atasoy, [0097] discloses the resin contains suitable non-conductive nanoparticles and/or nanocrystals, preferably selected from the group consisting of oxides, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose the following limitations:
The manufacturing method of claim 13, wherein a first height of the first target structure and a second height of the second target structure are identical to each other or different from each other (when you have two items with heights the heights can either be equal to or not equal to each other), and
a first width of the first target structure and a second width of the second target structure are substantially identical to each other (Atasoy, [0021] and [0022] and Figure 2A-2B show that imprint pattern is used as a mask to etch the steps, therefore the mask determines the width of the etched step, and the step of the first step structure and of the second step structure would inherently be substantially the same).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose the following limitations:
The manufacturing method of claim 13, wherein an etching rate of the polymer mask is adjusted based on an etching rate of a first polymer mask having a first inorganic material content that is lower than an etching rate of a second polymer mask having a second inorganic material content lower than the first inorganic material content. (Atasoy, [0093] discloses that the etch selectivity of a mask (a first mask, having a first inorganic material content) can be increased by adding more monomers or other inorganic materials. The first mask has an etch rate is 1:1 as compared to silicon. The addition of more organic material decreases the concentration (percentage) of inorganic material contained in the resulting polymer mask (the second mask)) and increases the etch selectivity compared to silicon to 1:10. The change in the etch selectivity from 1:1 to 1:10 means that as the etch rate first mask is the same as that of silicon and the etch rate of the second mask is 1/10 of the rate of silicon.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Izawa and Atasoy disclose the following limitations:
The manufacturing method of claim 13, wherein a first height of the first target structure and a second height of the second target structure are different from each other (Atasoy, Figure 6B1-6B3, and [0040] discloses that the height of the first steps B1 is 100 nm and the height of the second steps B2 is 200 nm, and [0045]-[0046] discloses that B1 are the imprint pattern (the first target structure) and B2 are the etched steps (the second target structure)).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 13, filed 4/27/26, with respect to the objection to the specification have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection to the specification has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amended title is sufficient to overcome the objection to the specification.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Regarding independent claims 1 and 13. The amendments require that the etch selectivity be adjustable based on the inorganic content of the mask. This concept is taught by the combination of Izawa and Atasoy as detailed in the amended rejections above. These claims as amended do not require the use of two masks, nor do they require that the composition of the polymer mask changes within the mask. Atasoy discloses that the etch selectivity can be changed between masks by changing the composition of the mask. Such a composition must be selected prior to using the mask, and therefore the etch selectivity is adjusted when the polymer mask composition is selected. The claims do not require the use of two mask having different selectivity. This issue is also present in claims 18 and 19 where the etch selectivity is between a first and second polymer mask, but the claim from which they depend does not use the claimed first polymer mask or second polymer mask.
Dependent claims 2-12 and 18 depend from claim 1 and claims 14-17 and 19-20, depend from claim 13, have been included because they depend from and therefore include the limitations of one of these independent claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ye, et al., US 20150187590 A1, discloses changing the concentration of silicon in an organic imprint lithography mask to change the etch selectivity.
Sreenivasan, et al., US 20040211754 A1, Figure 6, discloses the use of organic polymerizable material and an etch selectivity layer from a silicon containing layer.
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 LINDA J FLECK whose telephone number is (703)756-1253. The examiner can normally be reached 10-2 ET.
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/LINDA J. FLECK/ Examiner, Art Unit 2812
/William B Partridge/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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