DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1, 4-6, and 8-20 are pending. Claims 1, 6, 8-10, 12-16, and 18 have been amended and claims 2, 3, and 7 have been canceled.
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 Objections
Claims 1 and 8 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “m1 is an integer from 1 to 4”. However, neither Chemical Formula 1 or 2 recite “m1”. Claim 8 recites “The photoresist topcoat composition of claim 1, where the third structural unit further includes…” such that “further” should be omitted. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1, 4-6, and 8-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 1 recites the following Chemical Formula 2:
PNG
media_image1.png
273
128
media_image1.png
Greyscale
. However, the specification does not recite such formula as previous Chemical Formula 2 required a substituent R2 which was not defined. Thus, Chemical Formula 2 is considered new matter. The Examiner suggests omitting Chemical Formula 2 from the instant claims entirely.
Claims 4-6 and 8-20 are rejected because they depend from rejected based claim 1.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 4-6, 9, 11-13, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (U.S. 2013/0252170) in view of Iwato (U.S. 2015/0338743).
Han et al. teaches a polymer compound for a resist protective film composition for an immersion lithography process including: 100 parts by mole of a repeating unit represented by Formula 1 below; 10 to 900 parts by mole of a repeating unit represented by Formula 2 below; and 10 to 900 parts by mole of a repeating unit represented by Formula 3 below, wherein the polymer compound has a weight average molecular weight of 1,000 to 100,000 [0008-0011] and the polymer compound may further include at least one of 10 to 900 parts by mole of a repeating unit represented by Formula 4 and 1 to 100 parts by mole of a repeating unit represented by Formula 5 [0016] in which examples of the polymer include the following Formula 17:
PNG
media_image2.png
263
604
media_image2.png
Greyscale
[page 12] in which the right repeating unit is equivalent to a first structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 1 of instant claim 1 when Ra is a methyl group and R1 is an acid generating group derived from CF3SO3H; and the left repeating unit is equivalent to a second structural unit having at least one fluorine of instant claim 4. Han et al. also teaches according to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a resist protective film composition for an immersion lithography process which includes the polymer compound described above and a solvent [0065] and in particular, the solvent may be a monovalent alcohol, ether, cyclic ether, alkyl ether of polyol, alkyl ether acetate of polyol, and higher hydrocarbon. More particularly, the solvent may be a C9-C11 monovalent alcohol or alkyl ether having a C4-C10 alkyl chain. The solvent may be used alone or in combination of at least two of these compounds [0074] and examples of the alkyl ether acetates of polyols include propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (claims 1 and 15). Han et al. further teaches the resist protective film composition for an immersion lithography process may further include at least one of a radiation-sensitive acid-generating compound and an acid compound to improve the performance of lithography [0075] and examples of the acid compound includes perfluorobutanesulfonic acid [0077] which is equivalent to the thermal acid generator of instant claims 1 and 11.
Han et al. does not teach a third structural unit including at least one element selected from those instantly claimed.
However, Iwato teaches a pattern forming method comprising: a step of forming a resist film from an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition containing a resin capable of increasing the polarity by an action of an acid to decrease the solubility in an organic solvent-containing developer and a compound capable of decomposing upon irradiation with an actinic ray or radiation to generate an acid, a step of forming, on the resist film, a protective film from a protective film composition, a step of exposing the resist film having a protective film to an electron beam or an extreme-ultraviolet ray, and a step of developing the resist film by using the organic solvent-containing developer [0018-0022] wherein the protective film composition for use in the pattern forming method of the present invention is preferably used by dissolving a resin in a solvent so as to uniformly form the protective film composition on the resist film [0115]. Iwato also teaches the resin is preferably a resin (X) containing a repeating unit derived from a monomer having at least one fluorine atom and/or at least one silicon atom, more preferably a water-insoluble resin (X′) containing a repeating unit derived from a monomer containing at least one fluorine atom and/or at least one silicon atom. By containing a repeating unit derived from a monomer having at least one fluorine atom and/or at least one silicon atom, good solubility in an organic solvent-containing developer is obtained, and the effects of the present invention are sufficiently exerted [0135] and the resin (X) includes a resin containing at least one repeating unit selected from the group consisting of the repeating units represented by General Formulae (C-I) to (C-V) [0150] and specific examples of the repeating unit represented by General Formula (C-I) include the following [0167]:
PNG
media_image3.png
157
153
media_image3.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image4.png
166
162
media_image4.png
Greyscale
[0167] in which X represents a hydrogen atom, —CH3, —F, or —CF3 [0167] wherein the right repeating unit is equivalent to a third structural unit including Si of instant claim 1, specifically Chemical Formula 6 of instant claim 9 when Rd is hydrogen or a methyl group, La6 is a single bond, L7 is a unsubstituted C1 alkylene, and R10 is a substituted C3 alkyl group substituted by Si; and the left repeating unit is equivalent to a second structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 3 of instant claim 5, specifically formula A2 of instant claim 6 when Rc is hydrogen or a methyl group.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Han et al. to include the fluorine and silicon-containing repeating units taught by Iwato and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of combining equally suitable components for the sought invention in order to achieve good solubility in a developer.
With regard to claim 12, Han et al. teaches the polymer compound has a weight average molecular weight of 1,000 to 100,000, for example, 3,000 to 50,000, and, for example, 5,000 to 20,000 [0038] which overlaps the instantly claimed range of about 10,000 to about 100,000.
With regard to claim 13, Han et al. teaches the amount of each of the acid-generating compound and the acid compound may be 0.001 to 10 parts by weight, for example, 0.003 to 5 parts by weight, for example, 0.005 to 3 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the polymer compound [0079] and the amount of the polymer compound may be 1 to 20 parts by weight, for example, 1 to 15 parts by weight, for example, 1 to 10 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the solvent [0066] which overlaps the instantly claimed range of about 1 weight percent to about 30 weight percent based on a total solid content.
With regard to claims 16 and 17, Han et al. teaches there is provided a method of forming a photoresist pattern, the method including coating a photoresist composition on a substrate to form a photoresist film; coating the resist protective film composition for an immersion lithography process on the photoresist film to form a resist protective film; arranging an immersion medium between the resist protective film and a lens; and irradiating radiation to the photoresist film and the resist protective film via the immersion medium and a mask with a predetermined pattern and developing the irradiated films to form a resist pattern [0080]. Han et al. also teaches he photoresist film is formed by dissolving a resin for forming a photoresist film in an appropriate solvent to form a solution, filtering the solution to prepare a resist solution, coating the resist solution on a substrate by using an appropriate coating method, and pre-sintering (soft baking) the coated substrate to volatilize the solvent. The coating of the resist protective film composition on the photoresist film to form a resist protective film includes coating the resist protective film composition on the photoresist film and generally sintering (soft baking) the coated photoresist film [0082-0083]. Han et al. further teaches as the thickness of the resist protective film comes close to an odd multiple of λ/4n (λ is the wavelength of radiation and n is a refractive index of the resist protective film), an inhibiting effect of reflection at an upper interface of a resist film increases. Thus, the thickness of the resist protective film may approximate this value [0084] and in Examples 16-34 the resist protective film had a thickness of 50 nm [0117].
Claims 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (U.S. 2013/0252170) in view of Iwato (U.S. 2015/0338743) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Aqad et al. (U.S. 2018/0362752).
With regard to claims 8 and 10, Han in view of Iwato teach the above topcoat resins comprising a third structural unit including Si.
Han in view of Iwato do not teach a third structural unit including at least one element selected from Sn, I, In, or Hf, specifically those listed in Group 3.
However, Aqad et al. teaches a monomer having formula (I) [0005] and a copolymer including a polymerized product of the monomer and an acid-deprotectable monomer [0015] and a specific example of formula (I) includes the following:
PNG
media_image5.png
94
211
media_image5.png
Greyscale
[page 5] which is the monomeric form of a third structural unit including I of instant claim 8, specifically B1 of instant claim 10 when Rd is a methyl group. Aqad et al. also teach iodine has remarkably high absorption cross-section at EUV radiation. Recent patent application JP 2015-161823 discloses iodine-containing monomers and corresponding polymers useful for lithographic processing. However none of these monomers contemplated an extended chain to improve the incorporation of iodine-containing monomers. There is still a need for iodine-rich monomers and corresponding polymers that possess good solubility and that imparts improved sensitivity under EUV exposure [0004]. Further, it should be noted that the selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination in Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 65 USPQ 297 (1945). See MPEP 2144.07. In the instant case, it is well known in the resist art to use structural units in either/both resist layers and protective layers.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Han in view of Iwato to include additional structural units such as the iodine-containing structural unit of Aqad et al. and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of combining equally suitable components for the sought invention in order to achieve optimum sensitivity under EUV exposure.
Response to Arguments
Due to the amendment filed June 17, 2026 of instant claim 1, the 103 rejections over Kaur, Kaur further in view of Aqad, Hatakeyama in view of Kaur, and Hatakeyama and Kaur further in view of Aqad have been withdrawn. Applicant’s arguments with regard to these rejections have been considered but are moot due to the amendment of instant claim 1. However, Aqad is still being used as prior art because it continues to teach Chemical Formula B1.
Due to the amendment of the abstract, the objection to the specification has been withdrawn.
Due to the amendments of instant claims 1, 6, 12, 15, 16, and 18, the objections have been withdrawn.
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 ANNA E MALLOY whose telephone number is (571)270-5849. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30-3:00 EST M-F.
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, Keith Walker can be reached at 571-272-3458. 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.
/Anna Malloy/Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
Prosecution Insights