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. 18/417128 by Tsai et al.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 20, Line 1 contains the word “Is” and there’s an extra space after the word “layer”. It appears the word “Is” should be lower case and the extra space should be deleted.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the hardmask". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, claim 5 will be considered to depend from claim 4.
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 1-3, 8 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nasalevich et al. (US 2024/0004283 A1), herein referred to as Nasalevich.
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 17, Nasalevich teaches (Figure 3 and [0091-0092]) a membrane 40 for an EUV pellicle and its method of manufacturing comprising a base layer 60 (core layer), a first capping layer 70 and a second capping layer 80.
PNG
media_image1.png
174
490
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Nasalevich further teaches (Claims 21 and 22) the base layer may be configured to include molybdenum silicide compounds with stable stoichiometries, such as MoSi2, Mo3Si and Mo5Si3.
Nasalevich does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations of claim 1 directed to the core layer comprises about 30 atomic percent or more of Mo3Si or the limitations of claim 17 of the core layer also including silicon nitride (SiN).
In view of claim 1, Nasalevich however does teach (Claim 22) the base layer may comprise one compound such as Mo3Si which can be considered to include at least 30 atomic percent or more. In view of claim 17, Nasalevich appears to suggest [0137] that incorporating molybdenum silicide compounds with stable stoichiometries, such as MoSi2, Mo3Si and Mo5Si3, with traditional pellicle membrane materials such as SiN is advantageous because a pellicle membrane with high EUV transparency and improved mechanical strength can be formed.
At the time of filing date of the present application, it would have been obvious to modify the pellicle membrane taught by in order to optimize the light transmittance and durability of an EUV pellicle. Therefore, claims 1, 8 and 17 are considered to be obvious in view of Nasalevich.
Regarding claims 15, 16 and 18, Nasalevich teaches [0093] the thicknesses of the base layer and the capping layers can be adjusted. For example, Nasalevich teaches the base layer may be configured to have a thickness of 10 nm and the first and second capping layers may be configured to have thicknesses of 4 nm each. The combined thickness of the base layer, first capping layer and second capping layer therefore would be 18 nm and would fall within the range of about 10 nm to about 30 nm recited in claim 18. At the time of filing date of the present application, it would have been obvious to modify the pellicle membrane layer thicknesses taught by Nasalevich in order to optimize the light transmittance and durability of an EUV pellicle. Therefore, claims 15, 16 and 18 are considered to be obvious in view of Nasalevich.
Regarding claims 2 and 3, Nasalevich teaches [0214] annealing of the base layer is performed at temperatures of greater than 700 degrees Celsius and performing chemical vapor deposition for the base and capping layers which are techniques known in the art. Therefore, claims 2 and 3 are considered to be obvious in view of Nasalevich.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 and 9-14 are 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.
The prior art of record Nasalevich does not teach or suggest the limitations of claims 4-7 and 9-14.
Claims 19 and 20 are considered to be allowable. The prior art of record Nasalevich does not teach or suggest a method of making a pellicle membrane comprising forming a first capping layer upon a substrate; forming a core layer upon the first capping layer; annealing the core layer; forming a second capping layer upon the core layer to obtain the pellicle membrane; applying a hardmask to a backside of the substrate; patterning the hardmask; etching through the patterned hardmask to obtain the pellicle membrane attached to a subframe; and attaching the subframe to a mounting frame to obtain the pellicle assembly; wherein the first capping layer and the second capping layer comprise SiCx, SiOxCy, or SiCxNy, where 0<x, y≤1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
- Nam et al. (US 2021/0096458 A1) disclose a pellicle for extreme ultraviolet lithography, with a core layer formed on a pellicle frame, the core layer comprising: a first layer comprising silicon; and a second layer formed on at least one of an upper side and a lower side of the first layer, and comprising one among a metal silicide that has silicon with metal, a silicon compound that has silicon with a light element, and a metal silicide compound that has silicon with metal and a light element.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEWART A FRASER whose telephone number is (571)270-5126. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7am-4pm, EST.
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, Miriam Stagg can be reached at 571-270-5256. 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.
/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724
Prosecution Insights