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. 18/355053 by Kato et al.
Claims 1-17 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on 1/22/2021. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP2021-009169 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5-9, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kamimura et al. (US 2019/0258168 A1), herein referred to as Kamimura.
Regarding claim 1, Kamimura teaches [0013-0017] a pattern forming method comprising forming a resist film (a film using an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition) including at least a resin whose polarity increases by the action of an acid (a resin A which is decomposed by action of acid to increase polarity), a photoacid generator (a compound B which generates an acid by irradiation with an actinic ray or a radiation), exposing the resist film and treating the exposed resist film with a treatment liquid to form a pattern (subjecting the exposed film to at least one of development or rinsing with an organic treatment liquid) wherein the treatment liquid includes two or more organic solvents. The treatment liquid taught by Kamimura may include [0129] a combination of an ester-based solvent [0131], such as butyl acetate, and a hydrocarbon-based solvent with 11 or more carbons, such as undecane (C11H24) or dodecane (C12H26) [0136]. Kamimura further teaches (Table 8, Treatment liquid SA-2) a mixture of butyl acetate and dodecane may employed as the treatment liquid wherein the butyl acetate is present in an amount of 90 weight percent and the dodecane is present in an amount of 10 weight percent. The weight percent of dodecane taught by Kamimura falls within the claimed range of 1 percent by mass or more and 35 percent by mass or less and therefore anticipates the claimed range recited in claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, Kamimura teaches [0440-0442] the resin that exhibits increased polarity, resin (A), may include an acid-decomposable group that includes a polar group that is protected with a group that decomposes by the action of an acid to leave. Examples of the polar group include an acidic group such as a phenolic hydroxyl group and a carboxyl group.
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Kamimura teaches [0477-0483] resin (A) may include a repeating unit having the general formula (AI) and may include substituents that satisfy the claimed groups:
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Regarding claim 5, Kamimura teaches resin (A) may be configured to include a lactone group [0497] or a cyclic group having a hydroxyl group [0510-0511].
Regarding claim 6, Kamimura teaches [0467-0471] resin (A) may include a repeating unit having the general formula (p1) and may include substituents that satisfy the claimed groups:
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Regarding claims 7-9, Kamimura teaches [0601-0607] a photoacid generator which may include a compound represented by general formula (ZI) or (ZII) and may include substituents that satisfy the claimed groups:
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Regarding claim 13, Kamimura teaches [0003] the pattern forming method is used in a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device.
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, 2, 14, 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamimura et al. (US 2019/0258168 A1), herein referred to as Kamimura.
Regarding claims 1 and 2, Kamimura teaches [0013-0017] a pattern forming method comprising forming a resist film (a film using an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition) including at least a resin whose polarity increases by the action of an acid (a resin A which is decomposed by action of acid to increase polarity), a photoacid generator (a compound B which generates an acid by irradiation with an actinic ray or a radiation), exposing the resist film and treating the exposed resist film with a treatment liquid to form a pattern (subjecting the exposed film to at least one of development or rinsing with an organic treatment liquid) wherein the treatment liquid includes two or more organic solvents. The treatment liquid taught by Kamimura may include [0129] a combination of an ester-based solvent [0131], such as butyl acetate, and a hydrocarbon-based solvent with 11 or more carbons, such as undecane (C11H24) [0136].
Kamimura does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations of claims 1 and 2 wherein a content of the treatment liquid includes butyl acetate and a hydrocarbon having 11 or more carbons in the treatment liquid is 1 percent by mass or more and 35 percent by mass or less; and further including the hydrocarbon is selected to be undecane.
However, 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 select a known hydrocarbon such as undecane for the treatment liquid because [0179-0183] swelling of the resist layer can be suppressed and patterns formed in the resist layer can be developed with fewer pattern defects. Therefore, claims 1 and 2 would have been obvious at the time of the filing date of the instant application.
Regarding claim 14, Kamimura teaches [0440-0442] the resin that exhibits increased polarity, resin (A), may include an acid-decomposable group that includes a polar group that is protected with a group that decomposes by the action of an acid to leave. Examples of the polar group include an acidic group such as a phenolic hydroxyl group and a carboxyl group.
Regarding claims 15 and 17, Kamimura teaches [0477-0483] resin (A) may include a repeating unit having the general formula (AI) and may include substituents that satisfy the claimed groups:
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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 select known repeating unit compositions for a resist layer so that swelling in the resist layer can be suppressed and patterns formed in the resist layer can be developed with fewer pattern defects. Therefore, claims 14, 15 and 17 would have been obvious at the time of the filing date of the instant application.
Claims 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamimura et al. (US 2019/0258168 A1), herein referred to as Kamimura, in view of Goto et al. (US 2017/0184970 A1), herein referred to as Goto.
Kamimura does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations of claims 10 and 11. However, from the same field of technology, Goto recites a pattern forming method.
In view of claim 10, Goto teaches [0317] the molecular weight of acid generated from an acid generator compound used in a pre-rinsing liquid may preferable be 600 or less, which overlaps the claimed range of 250 or more.
In view of claim 11, Goto teaches [0406] the content of an acid generator in a resist composition may be between 0.1 to 30 percent by mass.
The ranges taught by Goto overlap the claimed ranges recited in claims 10 and 11. In view of MPEP Chapter 2144.05, Section I, a prima facie case of obviousness exists. Therefore, claims 10 and 11 are considered to be obvious based on Kamimura in view of Goto.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724