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 .
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) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin(USPATENT: 5554889, hereinafter Shin) in view of Toyoda (USPATENT: 5709958, hereinafter Toyoda) and Kikuta (USPATENT: 6818991, hereinafter Kikuta).
Re claim 1 Shin discloses a material for a metal line in a semiconductor device, comprising an alloy[col1,lines45-60] including aluminum as a main material, copper, and a material having an element X, wherein the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)[col2, lines 5-15] and 3) electronegativity (since the alloy comprises aluminum this may be interpreted as the alloy having electronegativity)
Shin does not disclose a material wherein the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)[col2, lines 5-15] of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2, the element X present at grain boundaries of the aluminum.
Toyoda disclose a material wherein the element X has a melting point (MP)[col3, lines 30-45] [col14,lines10-30],
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Toyoda to the teachings of Shin in order to have metal wiring having higher reliability [col 1 lines 10-20, Toyoda].
Shin and Toyoda does not disclose a material wherein the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)[col2, lines 5-15] of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2, the element X present at grain boundaries of the aluminum.
Kikuta disclose the element X present at grain boundaries(Tungsten)[col 7, lines 40-60 of Kikuta].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Kikuta to the teachings of Shin in order to improve in functions of electronic devices and for scaling down and reduction in weight as well as improvement in high speed performance [col 1 lines 10-20, Kikuta]. In doing so, the element X present at grain boundaries(Tungsten)[col 7, lines 40-60 of Kikuta] of the aluminum[col1,lines45-60 of Shin].
Shin, Toyoda and Kikuta does not disclose a material wherein the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)[col2, lines 5-15] of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2,
Although the combination of Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta does not disclose a material wherein the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to disclose a material wherein the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2 as the result effective variable meet the claims as varied through routine experimentation in order to optimize the functionality of the device and when the prior art discloses the general conditions of the claimed invention, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only ordinary skill in the art to optimize the metal wiring having higher reliability [col 1 lines 10-20, Toyoda]. See MPEP 2144.05.
Further, the specification contains no disclosure of either the critical nature of the claimed invention or any unexpected results arising therefrom. The law is replete with cases in which the difference between the claimed invention and the prior art is some range or other variable within the claims. In such a situation, the applicant must show that the particular range is critical, generally by showing that the claimed range achieves unexpected results relative to the prior art range. In reWoodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990)
Re claim 2 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the material of claim 1, wherein a structure of the element X is one or more of a hexagonal close packed (HCP) or body-centered cubic (BCC) [col5, lines 30-65 of Toyoda].
Re claim 3 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the material of claim 2, wherein the element X has a body-centered cubic (BCC) structure[col5, lines 30-65 of Toyoda].
Re claim 4 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the material of claim 1, wherein the element X includes tungste[col5, lines 30-65 of Toyoda]n.
Re claim 5 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the material of claim 4, wherein the alloy[col1,lines45-60] is composed of aluminum, copper, and tungsten.
Re claim 6 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the material of claim 5, wherein the aluminum is included at about 99.0 wt% to about 99.8 wt% based on a total amount of the alloy[col1,lines45-60].
Re claim 7 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the material of claim 6, wherein the copper and the tungsten are included in an amount of about 0.1 wt % to about 0.5 wt %, respectively, based on the total amount of the alloy[col1,lines45-60].
Re claim 8 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the material of claim 5, wherein the copper and the tungsten are included in a same weight[col5, lines 30-65 of Toyoda].
Re claim 9 Shin discloses a metal line in a semiconductor device, comprising: a barrier layer[col1,lines25-35] on a portion of a surface of the oxide layer including the lower metal layer; an alloy[col1,lines45-60] having an alloy[col1,lines45-60] material on the barrier layer[col1,lines25-35]; a reflectance reducing layer (Aluminum) on the alloy[col1,lines45-60]; and the barrier layer[col1,lines25-35], the alloy[col1,lines45-60], and the reflectance reducing layer, wherein the alloy[col1,lines45-60] material includes an alloy[col1,lines45-60] having aluminum as a main material, and copper and an element X, and the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) [col2, lines 5-15] and 3) electronegativity (since the alloy comprises aluminum this may be interpreted as the alloy having electronegativity)
Shin does not disclose an oxide layer and a lower metal layer buried in the oxide layer; and a passivation layer surrounding the barrier layer; and the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) [col2, lines 5-15] of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2, the element X present at grain boundaries of the aluminum.
Toyoda disclose an oxide layer and a lower metal layer buried in the oxide layer[col3 lines 60-col4, lines10]; and a passivation layer(205) surrounding the barrier layer (in Fig 34); a material wherein the element X has a melting point (MP)[col3, lines 30-45] [col14,lines10-30],
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Toyoda to the teachings of Shin in order to metal wiring having higher reliability [col 1 lines 10-20, Toyoda].
Shin and Toyoda does not disclose the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) [col2, lines 5-15] of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2, the element X present at grain boundaries of the aluminum.
Kikuta disclose the element X present at grain boundaries(Tungsten)[col 7, lines 40-60 of Kikuta].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Kikuta to the teachings of Shin in order to improve in functions of electronic devices and for scaling down and reduction in weight as well as improvement in high speed performance [col 1 lines 10-20, Kikuta]. In doing so, the element X present at grain boundaries(Tungsten)[col 7, lines 40-60 of Kikuta] of the aluminum[col1,lines45-60 of Shin].
Shin, Toyoda and Kikuta does not disclose the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) [col2, lines 5-15] of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2,
Although the combination of Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta does not disclose the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to disclose a material wherein the element X has 1) a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of greater than about 0.55 ppm/K and less than about 5 ppm/K, 2) a melting point (MP) of greater than about 3000 °C, and 3) electronegativity of greater than about 2.2 as the result effective variable meet the claims as varied through routine experimentation in order to optimize the functionality of the device and when the prior art discloses the general conditions of the claimed invention, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only ordinary skill in the art to optimize the metal wiring having higher reliability [col 1 lines 10-20, Toyoda]. See MPEP 2144.05.
Further, the specification contains no disclosure of either the critical nature of the claimed invention or any unexpected results arising therefromRe claim Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the law is replete with cases in which the difference between the claimed invention and the prior art is some range or other variable within the claims. In such a situation, the applicant must show that the particular range is critical, generally by showing that the claimed range achieves unexpected results relative to the prior art range. In reWoodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990)
Re claim 10 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the metal line of claim 9, wherein the oxide layer[col3 lines 60-col4, lines10 of Toyoda] includes silica.
Re claim 11 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the metal line of claim 9, wherein the lower metal layer includes tungsten[col5, lines 30-65 of Toyoda].
Re claim 12 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the metal line of claim 9, wherein the barrier layer[col1,lines25-35] includes TiAl, TiN, TiSiN, WN, TaN, Ta, Ti, Ru, or a combination thereof.
Re claim 13 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the metal line of claim 9, wherein the reflectance reducing layer includes TiN, Al , or a combination thereof[col5, lines 30-65 of Toyoda].
Re claim 14 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the metal line of claim 9, wherein the passivation layer includes silica, a silicon nitride, or a combination thereof[col5, lines 30-65 of Toyoda].
Re claim 15 Shin and Toyoda and Kikuta disclose the metal line of claim 9, wherein the passivation layer on the oxide layer[col3 lines 60-col4, lines10 of Toyoda] surrounding an etched barrier layer[col1,lines25-35], an etched alloy[col1,lines45-60], and an etched reflectance reducing layer.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-15 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current 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.
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/PATRICIA D VALENZUELA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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