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 Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 25 be found allowable, claim 7 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-10 and 21-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki ’409 (US 2025/0154409 A1) in view of Yokohama et al (US 2022/0157610 A1) and Xu et al (US 2020/0058585 A1).
Suzuki ’409 discloses an etching gas comprising:
a halogen gas (chlorine gas [0044], bromine or iodine as impurities [0061], [0071]-[0072]);
a first gas that includes a phosphorus atom (phosphorus trifluoride [0036]);
a second gas that includes a carbon atom and two or more halogen atoms that are different from each other (e.g., chlorinated hydrocarbons that include chlorine and fluorine [0045], [0046]; or bromine and fluorine [0048] [0049]; or iodine and fluorine [0050]).
Suzuki ’409 discloses that the etching compounds may be used alone or in combination of two or more types thereof. [0051]. Thus, a combination of the halogen gas, first gas and second gas may be used. More specifically, a fluorine-containing gas may be combined with a gas that includes chlorine, bromine, or iodine, including those that include chlorine and fluorine [0045], [0046]; or bromine and fluorine [0048] [0049]; or iodine and fluorine [0050].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a second gas as cited in the composition of Suzuki ’409 because Suzuki ’409 teaches that the etching compounds may be used alone or in combination of two or more types thereof including those that contain chlorine, chlorine and fluorine, bromine and fluorine, or iodine and fluorine.
Yokohama teaches the obviousness of choosing a phosphorus-containing gas as the fluorine gas, in combination with other halogens (e.g., chlorine as in claim 1, or HBr as in claims 10, 23) or hydrofluorocarbon gases (e.g., as in claims 9 and 22).
Both Yokohama (etching silicon-containing films, abstract, [0056]) and Suzuki ’409 (etching silicon-containing films [0028], [0083]) teach an etching composition for etching silicon-containing films. Yokohama teaches that the etching composition may comprise
a phosphorus gas component,
a fluorine gas component,
a hydrogen gas component,
a hydrofluorocarbon gas component, and
a halogen component other than the fluorine component [0093].
Yokohama teaches that the phosphorous component may include PF3, as in Suzuki ’409, but also other phosphorus- and fluorine-containing compounds [0090].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to pick a phosphorus-containing compound as the fluorine-containing compound to combine with halogen compounds in the composition of Suzuki ’409 because Yokohama teaches that to do so is known and useful for etching silicon-containing films.
Suzuki ’409 fails to disclose to include hydrogen gas. Suzuki ’409 discloses that the composition includes a dilution gas [0057]. Suzuki ’409 discloses that the type of dilution gas is not limited, but includes argon or nitrogen gas [0057]. Xu et al (US 2020/0058585 A1) teaches that a dilution gas may comprise argon, nitrogen or hydrogen [0053].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include hydrogen gas in the etching gas of Suzuki ’409 because Xu teaches that it is a functionally equivalent dilution gas to include in the composition for argon and nitrogen.
As to claim 2, Suzuki ’409 discloses to include a halogen atom, see the rejection of claim 1.
As to claim 3, Yokohama teaches that phosphorus pentafluoride is a useful alternative for phosphorus trifluoride in the etching composition. [0090]. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include phosphorus pentafluoride in the composition of Suzuki ’409 because Yokohama teaches that it is a useful alternative for phosphorus trifluoride and such is expected to give the predictable result of a useful etching composition.
As to claims 4-6, see the rejection of claim 1.
As to claims 7 and 25, Suzuki ’409 discloses that the chlorine-containing gas may comprise chlorotrifluoroethylene C2ClF3 [0046]. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include chlorotrifluoroethylene as the chlorine-type gas in the composition of Suzuki ’409 because Suzuki ’409 teaches that the gases may be used in combination and specifically lists chlorotrifluoroethylene as a useful example of a chlorine-type gas to include, and the combination is expected to give the predictable result of an etching composition for etching silicon-containing films.
As to claim 8, Yokohama teaches that phosphorus oxychloride is a useful alternative for phosphorus trifluoride in the etching composition. [0090]. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include phosphorus oxychloride in the composition of Suzuki ’409 because Yokohama teaches that it is a useful alternative for phosphorus trifluoride and such is expected to give the predictable result of a useful etching composition.
As to claims 9-10, Suzuki ’409 discloses to include an etching gas with carbon and one type of halogen atom (chain saturated perfluorocarbon, [0037], cyclic perfluorocarbon [0041], chain saturated brominated hydrocarbons [0048], trifluoroiodomethane [0050]) or a halogenated hydrogen gas (e.g. HCl, [0044], HBr [0047], HI [0050]). Suzuki ‘409 teaches two or more types of compounds may be combined [0055]. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include an etching gas with carbon and one type of halogen atom or a halogenated hydrogen gas as cited in the composition of Suzuki ’409 because Suzuki ’409 teaches that the etching compounds may be used alone or in combination of two or more types thereof, including those that contain carbon and one type of halogen or hydrogen, as cited.
As to claim 21, see the rejection of claim 1.
As to claims 22-23, Suzuki ’409 discloses the species cited, CH2F2 [0038] and HBr [0047]. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include CH2F2 or HBr in the composition of Suzuki ’409 because Suzuki ’409 teaches that they are useful species to include in the composition and such are expected to give the predictable result of an etching solution.
As to claim 24, Yokohama teaches that the phosphorous component may include PF3, as in Suzuki ’409, but also teaches that other phosphorus- and fluorine-containing compounds are useful to include [0090]. Examples include phosphorus halides such as phosphorus pentafluoride PCl5, phosphorus pentachloride PCl5, phosphorus pentabromide PBr5, and phosphoryl halides, such as phosphoryl fluoride POF3, phosphorus oxychloride POCl3 and phosphoryl bromide POBr3 [0090]. Yokohama thus teaches the cited PX5 or P(=O)X3. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the cited PX5 or P(=O)X3 in the composition of Suzuki ’409 because Yokohama teaches that they are useful phosphorus containing gases to include and functionally equivalent to the PF3 of Suzuki ’409, and such is expected to give the predictable result of an etching composition.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-8, filed December 23, 2026, with respect to the prior art rejections over Suzuki ’441/’794 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 102, 103 rejections over Suzuki ’441/’794 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s point is well taken that Suzuki ’441/’794 fails to disclose claim 1 as amended, including that the halogen gas includes Cl2, Br2 or I2. Suzuki ’441/’794 discloses fluorine [0022], and teaches to use other fluorine-containing compounds, not other halogens such as Cl2, Br2 or I2.
The rejection over Suzuki ’409 has been changed. Reliance upon Suzuki ’441 and Suda is withdrawn. Claims 1-10 and 22-25 are now rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki ’409 (US 2025/0154409 A1) in view of Yokohama et al (US 2022/0157610 A1) and Xu et al (US 2020/0058585 A1).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 23, 2025, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive, to the extent they still apply.
Applicant argues that Suzuki ’409 fails to teach hydrogen gas, and that one would not pick and choose elements from the references to arrive at the present claims. In response, hydrogen gas is a known diluent, and obvious to include as explained above in the rejection. Yokohama is now applied to teach the obviousness of including a phosphorus-containing compound as the fluorine compound. Moreover, Suzuki ’409 specifically discloses to combine types of compounds, and lists the compounds both generically and as species, which read on the claims as broadly cited in claim 1, and the individual species of the dependent claims. While the list in Suzuki ’409 seems long, generally, one of ordinary skill in the art is familiar with halogenated gases, and Suzuki ’409 merely details the halogen species of each type of halogen atom (F, Cl, Br, I) that are known and useful in etching compositions. Applicant also has no showing of unexpected results described in the specification.
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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/ANITA K ALANKO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713