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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN’772 (CN 106205772, cited in IDS, Machine Translation is provided) in view of Yamaguchi (US 2023/0041521), CN’030 (CN 10311030, cited in IDS, Machine Translation is provided), Balucani US 2022/0010449), Hayata (US 2023/0178510), Hartmann (US 2020/0294956), and Maeda (US 2010/0089980).
Regarding claims 1 and 8, CN’772 discloses an ultrafine-pitch all-copper interconnect structure, wherein the ultrafine-pitch all-copper interconnect structure is produced a method for forming an ultrafine-pitch all-copper interconnect structure, comprising: step (1) mixing nano-copper particles with a solvent, a dispersant and a viscosity modifier to prepare a nano-copper paste (page 1, paragraph 8; Fig. 1a-1C); selecting a chip and a substrate (3) wherein the chip has copper pillars (Fig.1A), and performing bonding at a preset pressure and a preset temperature under ultrasonication (Embodiment 2; Fig.1C); performing cooling at room temperature to obtain the ultrafine-pitch all-copper interconnect structure (Embodiment 2; Fig.1C)
CN’772 does not disclose (1) cleaning a chip and a substrate followed by pretreatment and the pretreatment is acid treatment, plasma treatment, self-assembled monolayer (SAM) or a combination thereof; (2) wherein the chip has 4-500 copper pillars with input/output (I/O) ports; the copper pillars each have a diameter of 5-50 μm; the chip has a pitch of 10-100 μm;; (3) loading the substrate into a bonding machine, , the chip and flipping the chip, such that the copper pillars face outward; to dip the copper pillars in the nano-copper paste; (4) that substrate is loaded in a bonding machine, sucking the chip by a suction nozzle of the bonding machine; (5) feeding a protective gas, (6) aligning the copper pillars respectively with copper pads on the substrate through an optical system of the bonding machine.
Regarding element (1), Yamaguchi discloses cleaning a chip and a substrate followed by pretreatment and the pretreatment is acid treatment, plasma treatment, self-assembled monolayer (SAM) or a combination thereof ([0024]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was field to perform cleaning a chip and a substrate followed by pretreatment and the pretreatment is acid treatment, plasma treatment, self-assembled monolayer (SAM) or a combination thereof for the purpose of effective application of the conductive paste.
Regarding element (2), Balucani discloses wherein the chip has 4-500 copper pillars with input/output (I/O) ports; the copper pillars each have a diameter of 5-50 μm; the chip has a pitch of 10-100 μm ([0036]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify CN’772 with Balucani to have the chip has 4-500 copper pillars with input/output (I/O) ports; the copper pillars each have a diameter of 5-50 μm; the chip has a pitch of 10-100 μm for the purpose of making multi-component structures (Balucani, [0036]).
Regarding element (3), CN’030 however discloses loading the substrate, the chip and flipping the chip (Figs. 3, 4), such that the copper pillars face outward; to dip the copper pillars in the nano-copper paste (Fig. 2; S102, S103).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was field to modify CN’772 with CN’030 to perform loading the substrate, the chip and flipping the chip, such that the copper pillars face outward; to dip the copper pillars in the nano-copper paste; for the purpose of manufacturing a copper interconnect structure at reduced cost (CN’030, page 4, paragraph 14).
Regarding element (4), Maeda discloses that substrate is loaded in a bonding machine (Fig.1; [0051]), sucking the chip by a suction nozzle of the bonding machine ([0047]; [0053]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify CN’772 with Maeda to have substrate is loaded in a bonding machine, sucking the chip by a suction nozzle of the bonding machine for the purpose of performing efficient bonding (Maeda, Abstract).
Regarding element (5), Hartmann discloses feeding a protective gas [0035]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify CN’772 with Hartmann to feed a protective gas for the purpose of preventing joining members oxidation (Hartmann, [0035]).
Regarding element (6), Hayata discloses aligning the copper pillars respectively with copper pads on the substrate through an optical system of the bonding machine ([0094]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify CN’772 with Hayata to perform alignment of the copper pillars respectively with copper pads on the substrate through an optical system of the bonding machine for the purpose of improving bonding process.
Regarding claim 2, CN’772 discloses the nano-copper particles have a particle size of 100 nm or less; and a mass percentage concentration of the nano-copper particles in the nano-copper paste is 80% or more (“Summary of Invention”, paragraphs 2, 3).
Regarding claim 3, CN’772 discloses the solvent is selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, terpineol, polyethylene glycol, rosin, acetone, chloroform, cyclohexane, epichlorohydrin, epoxy resin, primary amine, tertiary amine, and a combination thereof; the dispersant is selected from the group consisting of gum arabic, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, gelatin, polyvinyl imidazolidinone, 1-methylimidazole, 2-methylimidazole, 4-methylimidazole, phenylimidazole, 2-ethylimidazole, and a combination thereof; and the viscosity modifier is selected from the group consisting of methylcellulose, ethylcellulose, hydroxycellulose, primary amine, tertiary amine, acid anhydride and a combination thereof (page 1, paragraph 8).
Regarding claim 5, CN’772 does not disclose the suction nozzle of the bonding machine is operated in a closed environment in the presence of the protective gas.
Hartmann however discloses that protective gas preventing join members oxidation.
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have the suction nozzle of the bonding machine is operated in a closed environment in the presence of the protective gas for the purpose of preventing joining members oxidation (Hartmann, [0035]).
Regarding claim 6, Hartman discloses the protective gas is an inert gas; the inert gas is nitrogen ([0035]).
Regarding claim 7, CN’772 discloses the bonding is performed at 150-300°C and 0-50 MPa under an ultrasonic frequency of 0-100 kHz (“Embodiment 1”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the search of the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest after step (2), subjecting the chip to nitrogen purging in a vacuum dry box and cold argon plasma treatment at room temperature; wherein a flow rate of the cold argon plasma treatment is 300 sccm as required by claim 4.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIA SLUTSKER whose telephone number is (571)270-3849. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9 am-6 pm.
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/JULIA SLUTSKER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2891
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