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 .
The response of the applicant has been read and given careful consideration. The amendments to the specification and drawings are approved. The rejections of the previous office action are withdrawn based upon the arguments and amendment of the applicant. Responses to the arguments of the applicant are presented after the first rejection they are directed to.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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 1-4,6,7,9,10,12,13,15,17 and 19-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043, in view of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960.
Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 exemplifies the following resist polymer
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Resist 1-19 combines polymer 1-19 with a PAG, a quencher and solvents. The resist was coated upon a silicon wafer, dried/prebaked at 110 degrees C, exposed, post baked at 100 degrees C and developed in TMAH to form a positive tone image [0141]. The acid labile containing repeating units are bounded by the formulae
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wherein R.sup.6, R.sup.9, and R.sup.13 each are hydrogen or methyl, X.sup.1, X.sup.2, and X.sup.3 each are a single bond or --C(.dbd.O)--O--, X.sup.2 may also be --C(.dbd.O)--NH--, R.sup.7, R.sup.10, and R.sup.14 each are a single bond or a straight or branched C.sub.1-C.sub.6 alkylene group, which may contain an ether group, ester group or lactone ring, R.sup.8, R.sup.11, and R.sup.15 each are an acid labile group, R.sup.12 is hydrogen, fluorine or a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.6 alkyl group, p and s are 1 or 2, q is an integer of 0 to 4, r.sup.1 and r.sup.2 are an integer of 0 to 2, b2, c1, and c2 are numbers in the range: 0.ltoreq.b2<1.0, 0.ltoreq.c1<1.0, 0.ltoreq.c2<1.0, 0<b2+c1+c2.ltoreq.1.0. [0052] Exemplified monomers on pages 5-8 include
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In the case of the prior art crosslinking BARC, after resist development to form a resist pattern, the substrate is processed by dry etching through the resist pattern serving as a mask. There is a problem that the resist pattern is reduced in film thickness when the BARC film is opened. Thus a BARC having a high etching rate is required. Since the BARC film is almost unexpectable to have etch resistance, an improvement in etch resistance to enable substrate processing is assigned to the resist film. As the resist film is made thinner, the etching resistance becomes lower. An attempt to provide BARC with etching resistance to enable substrate processing encounters a dilemma that the resist pattern is more damaged when the BARC film is opened [0007]. In a preferred embodiment, the process further comprises, after the developing step, the step of processing the substrate by dry etching through the resist pattern, or the step of processing the substrate by ion implantation through the resist pattern [0025] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a pattern forming process according one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1A shows a processable layer and a first resist film deposited on a substrate, FIG. 1B shows a second resist film deposited thereon, FIG. 1C shows exposure, FIG. 1D shows development, and FIG. 1E shows the processable layer etched using the resist pattern as a mask [0029].Useful acid labile groups are bounded by
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In formula (A-1), e is a tertiary alkyl group of 4 to 20 carbon atoms, preferably 4 to 15 carbon atoms, a trialkylsilyl group in which each alkyl moiety has 1 to 6 carbon atoms, an oxoalkyl group of 4 to 20 carbon atoms, or a group of formula (A-3). Exemplary tertiary alkyl groups are tert-butyl, tert-amyl, 1,1-diethylpropyl, 1-ethylcyclopentyl, 1-butylcyclopentyl, 1-ethylcyclohexyl, 1-butylcyclohexyl, 1-ethyl-2-cyclopentenyl, 1-ethyl-2-cyclohexenyl, and 2-methyl-2-adamantyl. Exemplary trialkylsilyl groups are trimethylsilyl, triethylsilyl, and dimethyl-tert-butylsilyl. Exemplary oxoalkyl groups are 3-oxocyclohexyl, 4-methyl-2-oxooxan-4-yl, and 5-methyl-2-oxooxolan-5-yl. Letter a1 is an integer of 0 to 6. In formula (A-2), R.sup.31 and R.sup.32 are hydrogen or straight, branched or cyclic alkyl groups of 1 to 18 carbon atoms, preferably 1 to 10 carbon atoms. Exemplary alkyl groups include methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, 2-ethylhexyl, and n-octyl. R.sup.33 is a monovalent hydrocarbon group of 1 to 18 carbon atoms, preferably 1 to 10 carbon atoms, which may contain a heteroatom such as oxygen, examples of which include straight, branched or cyclic alkyl groups and substituted forms of such alkyl groups in which some hydrogen atoms are replaced by hydroxyl, alkoxy, oxo, amino, alkylamino or the like [0071-0079]. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a pattern forming process according one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1A shows a processable layer and a first resist film deposited on a substrate, FIG. 1B shows a second resist film deposited thereon, FIG. 1C shows exposure, FIG. 1D shows development, and FIG. 1E shows the processable layer etched using the resist pattern as a mask [0029]. Exposure is preferably performed in an exposure dose of about 1 to 200 mJ/cm.sup.2, more preferably about 10 to 100 mJ/cm.sup.2. This is followed by baking (PEB) on a hot plate at 60 to 150.degree. C. for 1 to 5 minutes, preferably at 80 to 120.degree. C. for 1 to 3 minutes [0125]. The disclosure of polymer bound PAGs is found at [0095]. Thew disclosure of benzene rings as absorbers is found at [0051].
Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 exemplifies resist polymer 15 having the structure (page 63).
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. This resist polymer is combined with photoacid generator PAG1, quencher 1, water repellent polymer 1 and solvents to form resist 15 (table 1, page 67). This was evaluated by coating upon a wafer previously coated with an spin on carbon layer, a silicon hardmask, drying the resist, exposing using an ArF laser, post balking and developing [0168-0170]. The process that now draws attention under the above-discussed circumstances is a double patterning process involving a first set of exposure and development to form a first pattern and a second set of exposure and development to form a pattern between the first pattern features. A number of double patterning processes are proposed. One exemplary process involves a first set of exposure and development to form a photoresist pattern having lines and spaces at intervals of 1:3, processing the underlying layer of hard mask by dry etching, applying another layer of hard mask thereon, a second set of exposure and development of a photoresist film to form a line pattern in the spaces of the first exposure, and processing the hard mask by dry etching, thereby forming a line-and-space pattern at a half pitch of the first pattern. An alternative process involves a first set of exposure and development to form a photoresist pattern having spaces and lines at intervals of 1:3, processing the underlying layer of hard mask by dry etching, applying a photoresist layer thereon, a second set of exposure and development to form a second space pattern on the remaining hard mask portion, and processing the hard mask by dry etching. In either process, the hard mask is processed by two dry etchings [0007] The substrate 10 used herein is generally a silicon substrate. The processable substrate (or target film) 20 used herein includes SiO.sub.2, SiN, SiON, SiOC, p-Si, .alpha.-Si, TiN, WSi, BPSG, SOG, Cr, CrO, CrON, MoSi, low dielectric film, and etch stopper film. The intermediate intervening layer 30 includes hard masks of SiO.sub.2, SiN, SiON or p-Si, an undercoat in the form of carbon film, a silicon-containing intermediate film, and an organic antireflective coating [0128]. Examples of useful monomers include those bounded by formula Mb,
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, where R.sup.15 is hydrogen or methyl. R.sup.15 is an acid labile group and Z is a different groups given below
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[0082-0084]. Formula Mb is bounded by the formula
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where R.sup.1 is hydrogen or methyl. R.sup.2 is a di- to pentavalent, straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.16 aliphatic hydrocarbon group which may contain an ether or ester radical and R.sup.3 is an acid labile group [0077]. Useful acid labile groups are disclosed including those bounded by
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as well as the acetals and ketals [0084- 0089]. Disclosed norbornane lactones include
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Pages 26-43.
Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 does not exemplify a resist composition bounded by the claims including a resist polymer with
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as a moiety linking an acid labile group to the polymer backbone or processes using such as resist composition.
With respect to claims 1-4,7,9,15,19,20,21 and 25, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the resist 1-19 of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 1-19 having the structure resist 2-15 of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 15 having the structure
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. , a quencher and solvents taught in table 2 (page 41) by using a similar resist polymer where the norbornane lactone linking group is replaced with another known norbornane lactone moiety such as
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taught as part of the monomer
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on page 28 of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 together with
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(page 26) and
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(page 33) with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist composition based upon their disclosed equivalence and the disclosure of with respect to formula
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where R.sup.1 is hydrogen or methyl. R.sup.2 is a di- to pentavalent, straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.16 aliphatic hydrocarbon group which may contain an ether or ester radical and R.sup.3 is an acid labile group at [0077] of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960. Further it would have been obvious to expose and develop the resulting resist as in the example 1-19. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety is a crosslinking group and benzene rings are absorbers. The polymer backbone is a methacrylate.
With respect to claims 1-4,6,7,9,15,17,19,20,21 and 25, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the resist 1-19 of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 1-19 having the structure resist 2-15 of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 15 having the structure
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.
, a quencher and solvents taught in table 2 (page 41) by using a similar resist polymer where the norbornane lactone linking group is replaced with another known norbornane lactone moiety such as
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taught as part of the monomer
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on page 28 of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 together with
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(page 26) and
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(page 33) and replacing the acid labile groups used in these polymers with others within the scope ofA-1 to A-3 as taught at [0071-0079]
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such as (A-1)-1 where R37 is isopropyl, A-1-3 where R37 is ethyl or isopropyl or (A-1)-10 where R37 is isopropyl with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist composition based upon their disclosed equivalence and the disclosure of with respect to formula
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where R.sup.1 is hydrogen or methyl. R.sup.2 is a di- to pentavalent, straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.16 aliphatic hydrocarbon group which may contain an ether or ester radical and R.sup.3 is an acid labile group at [0077] of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and the disclosed equivalence of acid labile groups. Further it would have been obvious to expose and develop the resulting resist as in the example 1-19. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety is a crosslinking group and benzene rings are absorbers. The polymer backbone is a methacrylate
With respect to claims 1-4,7,9,10,12,15 and 19-25, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the resist 1-19 of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 1-19 having the structure resist 2-15 of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 15 having the structure
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.
, a quencher and solvents taught in table 2 (page 41) by using a similar resist polymer where the norbornane lactone linking group is replaced with another known norbornane lactone moiety such as
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taught as part of the monomer
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on page 28 of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 together with
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(page 26) and
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(page 33) with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist composition based upon their disclosed equivalence and the disclosure of with respect to formula
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where R.sup.1 is hydrogen or methyl. R.sup.2 is a di- to pentavalent, straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.16 aliphatic hydrocarbon group which may contain an ether or ester radical and R.sup.3 is an acid labile group at [0077] of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and to expose, post bake at 120-150 degrees as taught at [0125] of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043, develop the resulting resist as in example 1-19, and then etching the underlying substrate as taught at [0029] of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 where the underlying substrate is SiO2 or SiOC as taught at [0121] with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful etched substrate. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety is a crosslinking group and benzene rings are absorbers. The polymer backbone is a methacrylate.
With respect to claims 1-4,6,7,9,10,12,13,15,17 and 19-25, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the resist 1-19 of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 1-19 having the structure
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, a quencher and solvents taught in table 1(page 48) by using a similar resist polymer where the norbornane lactone linking group is replaced with another known norbornane lactone moiety such as
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taught as part of the monomer
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on page 28 of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 together with
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(page 26) and
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(page 33) and replacing the acid labile groups used in these polymers with others within the scope ofA-1 to A-3 as taught at [0071-0079]
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such as (A-1)-1 where R37 is isopropyl, A-1-3 where R37 is ethyl or isopropyl or (A-1)-10 where R37 is isopropyl with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist composition based upon their disclosed equivalence and the disclosure of with respect to formula
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where R.sup.1 is hydrogen or methyl. R.sup.2 is a di- to pentavalent, straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.16 aliphatic hydrocarbon group which may contain an ether or ester radical and R.sup.3 is an acid labile group at [0077] of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and the disclosed equivalence of the acid labile groups and to expose, post bake at 120-150 degrees as taught at [0125] of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043, develop the resulting resist as in example 1-19, and then etching the underlying substrate as taught at [0029] of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 where the underlying substrate is SiO2 or SiOC as taught at [0121] with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful etch substrate. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety is a crosslinking group and benzene rings are absorbers. The polymer backbone is a methacrylate
Further, with respect to claim 21, in addition to the basis above it would have been obvious to modify the resist composition and processes of using them by replacing the PAGs with polymer bound PAGs disclosed at [0095] or a fluorinated repeating unit such as those disclosed at [0069] which acts as a surfactant with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist, resist pattern and etched substrate.
Claims 1-4,6-8,10,12,13,15,17 and 19-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462, in view of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960
Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 exemplifies polymer
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These are combined with photoacid generators, quenchers and solvents to form resists 2-14 (table 2, page 41). These are coated on a silicon substrate having a spin on carbon layer and a silicon hardmask formed on it, dried at 100 degrees C, overcoated with a topcoat, exposed, post baked at 95 degrees C, developed in butyl acetate and rinsed with diisoamyl ether [0160-0162]. One exemplary process involves a first set of exposure and development to form a photoresist pattern having lines and spaces at intervals of 1:3, processing the underlying layer of hard mask by dry etching, applying another layer of hard mask thereon, a second set of exposure and development of a photoresist film to form a line pattern in the spaces of the first exposure, and processing the hard mask by dry etching, thereby forming a line-and-space pattern at a half pitch of the first pattern. An alternative process involves a first set of exposure and development to form a photoresist pattern having spaces and lines at intervals of 1:3, processing the underlying layer of hard mask by dry etching, applying a photoresist layer thereon, a second set of exposure and development to form a second space pattern on the remaining hard mask portion, and processing the hard mask by dry etching. In either process, the hard mask is processed by two dry etchings [0007]. Useful repeating units with leaving groups include
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useful leaving groups are bounded by formulae AL-10 to AL-12
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In formulae (AL-10) and (AL-11), R.sup.51 and R.sup.54 each are a monovalent hydrocarbon group, typically straight, branched or cyclic alkyl group, of 1 to 40 carbon atoms, more specifically 1 to 20 carbon atoms, which may contain a heteroatom such as oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen or fluorine. The subscript "a5" is an integer of 0 to 10, and especially 1 to 5. R.sup.52 and R.sup.53 each are hydrogen or a monovalent hydrocarbon group, typically straight, branched or cyclic alkyl group, of 1 to 20 carbon atoms which may contain a heteroatom such as oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen or fluorine. Alternatively, a pair of R.sup.52 and R.sup.53, R.sup.52 and R.sup.54, or R.sup.53 and R.sup.54 may bond together to form a ring, specifically aliphatic ring, with the carbon atom or the carbon and oxygen atoms to which they are attached, the ring having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, especially 4 to 16 carbon atoms. In formula (AL-12), R.sup.55, R.sup.56 and R.sup.57 each are a monovalent hydrocarbon group, typically straight, branched or cyclic alkyl group, of 1 to 20 carbon atoms which may contain a heteroatom such as oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen or fluorine. Alternatively, a pair of R.sup.55 and R.sup.56, R.sup.55 and R.sup.57, or R.sup.56 and R.sup.57 may bond together to form a ring, specifically aliphatic ring, with the carbon atom to which they are attached, the ring having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, especially 4 to 16 carbon atoms. Illustrative examples of the groups of formula (AL-10) include tert-butoxycarbonyl, tert-butoxycarbonylmethyl, tert-amyloxycarbonyl, tert-amyloxycarbonylmethyl, 1-ethoxyethoxycarbonylmethyl, 2-tetrahydropyranyloxycarbonylmethyl and 2-tetrahydrofuranyloxycarbonylmethyl as well as substituent groups of the following formulae (AL-10)-1 to (AL-10)-10 [0089-0093]
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In formulae (AL-10)-1 to (AL-10)-10, R.sup.58 is each independently a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl group, C.sub.6-C.sub.20 aryl group or C.sub.7-C.sub.20 aralkyl group; R.sup.59 is hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.20 alkyl group; R.sup.60 is a C.sub.6-C.sub.20 aryl group or C.sub.7-C.sub.20 aralkyl group; and "a5" is an integer of 0 to 10 [0089-0093] In a preferred embodiment, the developer comprises at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of 2-octanone, 2-nonanone, 2-heptanone, 3-heptanone, 4-heptanone, 2-hexanone, 3-hexanone, diisobutyl ketone, methylcyclohexanone, acetophenone, methylacetophenone, propyl acetate, butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, amyl acetate, butenyl acetate, isoamyl acetate, phenyl acetate, propyl formate, butyl formate, isobutyl formate, amyl formate, isoamyl formate, methyl valerate, methyl pentenoate, methyl crotonate, ethyl crotonate, methyl lactate, ethyl lactate, propyl lactate, butyl lactate, isobutyl lactate, amyl lactate, isoamyl lactate, methyl 2-hydroxyisobutyrate, ethyl 2-hydroxyisobutyrate, methyl benzoate, ethyl benzoate, phenyl acetate, benzyl acetate, methyl phenylacetate, benzyl formate, phenylethyl formate, methyl 3-phenylpropionate, benzyl propionate, ethyl phenylacetate, and 2-phenylethyl acetate [0037]. As compared with the positive resist system which becomes dissolvable in alkaline developer as a result of acidic carboxyl or analogous groups generating through deprotection reaction, the organic solvent development provides a low dissolution contrast. The alkaline developer provides an alkaline dissolution rate that differs by a factor of 1,000 or more between the unexposed and exposed regions whereas the organic solvent development provides a dissolution rate difference of only about 10 times. While Patent Documents 1 to 6 describe conventional photoresist compositions of the alkaline aqueous solution development type, there is a demand for a novel material which can offer a significant dissolution contrast upon organic solvent development [0028] The substrate 10 used herein is generally a silicon substrate. The processable substrate (or target film) 20 used herein includes SiO.sub.2, SiN, SiON, SiOC, p-Si, a-Si, TiN, WSi, BPSG, SOG, Cr, CrO, CrON, MoSi, low dielectric film, and etch stopper film. The intermediate intervening layer 30 includes hard masks of SiO.sub.2, SiN, SiON or p-Si, an undercoat in the form of carbon film, a silicon-containing intermediate film, and an organic antireflective coating [0127]. Exposure is preferably performed in an exposure dose of about 1 to 200 mJ/cm.sup.2, more preferably about 10 to 100 mJ/cm.sup.2. This is followed by baking (PEB) on a hot plate at 60 to 150.degree. C. for 1 to 5 minutes, preferably at 80 to 120.degree. C. for 1 to 3 minutes [0132]
Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 does not exemplify a resist composition bounded by the claims including a resist polymer with
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as a moiety linking an acid labile group to the polymer backbone or processes using such as resist composition.
With respect to claims 1-4,7,8,15,19,20,21 and 25, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the resist 2-14 of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 14 having the structure
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, a quencher and solvents taught in table 2 (page 41) by using a similar resist polymer where the norbornane lactone linking group is replaced with another known norbornane lactone moiety such as
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taught as part of the monomer
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on page 28 of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 together with
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(page 26) and
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(page 33) with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist composition based upon their disclosed equivalence and the disclosure of with respect to formula
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Herein R.sup.4 is hydrogen or methyl, R.sup.5 is an acid labile group, Z is a single bond or --C(.dbd.O)--O--R.sup.6--, R.sup.6 is a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.10 alkylene group which may contain an ether, ester, lactone or hydroxyl radical, or a naphthylene group [0084] of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462. Further it would have been obvious to expose and develop the resulting resist as in the example 2-14. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety in a crosslinking group and the naphthylene moiety is an absorber. The polymer backbone is a methacrylate
With respect to claims 1-4,6-8,15,17,19,20,21 and 25, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the resist 2-14 of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 14 having the structure
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, a quencher and solvents taught in table 2 (page 41) by using a similar resist polymer where the norbornane lactone linking group is replaced with another known norbornane lactone moiety such as
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taught as part of the monomer
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on page 28 of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 together with
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(page 26) and
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(page 33) and replacing the acid labile groups used in these polymers with others within the scope ofA-1 to A-3 as taught at [0089-0093]
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such as (A-1)-1 where R37 is isopropyl, A-1-3 where R37 is ethyl or isopropyl or (A-1)-10 where R37 is isopropyl with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist composition based upon their disclosed equivalence and the disclosure of with respect to formula
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Herein R.sup.4 is hydrogen or methyl, R.sup.5 is an acid labile group, Z is a single bond or --C(.dbd.O)--O--R.sup.6--, R.sup.6 is a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.10 alkylene group which may contain an ether, ester, lactone or hydroxyl radical, or a naphthylene group [0084] of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 and the disclosed equivalence of the acid labile groups. Further it would have been obvious to expose and develop the resulting resist as in the example 2-14. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety in a crosslinking group and the naphthylene moiety is an absorber. The polymer backbone is a methacrylate
With respect to claims 1-4,7,9,15 and 19-25 it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the resist 2-14 of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 14 having the structure
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, a quencher and solvents taught in table 2 (page 41) by using a similar resist polymer where the norbornane lactone linking group is replaced with another known norbornane lactone moiety such as
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taught as part of the monomer
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on page 28 of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 together with
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(page 26) and
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(page 33) with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist composition based upon their disclosed equivalence and the disclosure of with respect to formula
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Herein R.sup.4 is hydrogen or methyl, R.sup.5 is an acid labile group, Z is a single bond or --C(.dbd.O)--O--R.sup.6--, R.sup.6 is a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.10 alkylene group which may contain an ether, ester, lactone or hydroxyl radical, or a naphthylene group [0084] of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 and the disclosed equivalence of acid labile groups, and to coat, expose, post bake at 120-150 degrees as taught at [0132], develop the resulting resist as in example 2-14, and then etching the silicon hard mask (SiO or a SiOC substrate as taught at [0127] with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful etched substrate. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety in a crosslinking group and the naphthylene moiety is an absorber. The polymer backbone is a methacrylate.
With respect to claims 1-4,6,7,9,13,15,17 and 19-25, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the resist 2-14 of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 which combines a photoacid generator with polymer 14 having the structure
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, a quencher and solvents taught in table 2 (page 41) by using a similar resist polymer where the norbornane lactone linking group is replaced with another known norbornane lactone moiety such as
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taught as part of the monomer
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on page 28 of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 together with
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(page 26) and
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(page 33) and replacing the acid labile groups used in these polymers with others within the scope ofA-1 to A-3 as taught at [0089-0093]
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such as (A-1)-1 where R37 is isopropyl, A-1-3 where R37 is ethyl or isopropyl or (A-1)-10 where R37 is isopropylwith a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist composition based upon their disclosed equivalence and the disclosure of with respect to formula
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Herein R.sup.4 is hydrogen or methyl, R.sup.5 is an acid labile group, Z is a single bond or --C(.dbd.O)--O--R.sup.6--, R.sup.6 is a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.10 alkylene group which may contain an ether, ester, lactone or hydroxyl radical, or a naphthylene group [0084] of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462. and the disclosed equivalence of acid labile groups, and to coat, expose, post bake at 120-150 degrees as taught at [0132], develop the resulting resist as in example 2-14, and then etching the silicon hard mask (SiO or a SiOC substrate as taught at [0127] with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful etched substrate. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety is a crosslinking group. With respect to claim 21, the hydroxy moiety in a crosslinking group and the naphthylene moiety is an absorber. The polymer backbone is a methacrylate.
Further, with respect to claim 21, in addition to the basis above it would have been obvious to modify the resist composition and processes of using them by replacing the PAGs with polymer bound PAGs disclosed at [0109] or a fluorinated repeating unit such as those disclosed at pages 24-27 which act as a surfactant with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist, resist pattern and etched substrate.
Claims 1-4,6,7,9,10,12,13,15,17 and 19-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043, in view of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960, further in view of Chang et al. 20070077516.
Chang et al. 20070077516 teaches the attachment of the quencher to the resist polymer to reduce its mobility [0008,0019,0020,0032,0033]
In addition to the basis above, it would have been obvious to modify the resist composition rendered obvious by the combination of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043 and Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 by replacing the quencher used with a polymer bound quencher to reduce its mobility as taught by Chang et al. 20070077516 with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist, resist pattern and etched substrate.
Claims 1-4,6-8,10,12,13,15,17 and 19-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462, in view of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960, further in view of Chang et al. 20070077516.
In addition to the basis above, it would have been obvious to modify the resist composition rendered obvious by the combination of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462 and Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 by replacing the quencher used with a polymer bound quencher to reduce its mobility as taught by Chang et al. 20070077516 with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist, resist pattern and etched substrate.
Claims 1-4,6,7,9,10,12,13,15,17 and 19-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043, in view of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and Chang et al. 20070077516 , further in view of Weng et al. 20190004430.
Weng et al. 20190004430 teaches photoresists with acid labile groups and (other) resist components attached to the polymer backbone (figure 1 and 3)
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Useful acid labile groups disclosed include acrylates (figures 5A and 5B). Polymer 12 includes any number of carbons coupled in a carbon chain, thereby forming a carbon backbone chain. In some implementations, polymer 12 includes a poly(norbornene)-co-maleic anhydride (COMA) polymer, a poly(4-hydroxystyrene) (PHS) polymer, a phenol-formaldehyde (hakelite) polymer, a polyethylene (PE) polymer, a polypropylene (PP) polymer, a polycarbonate polymer, a polyester polymer, or an acrylate-based polymer, such as a poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer [0020].
The combination of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043, in view of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and Chang et al. 20070077516 does not teach the full range of polymer backbones useful in resists.
In addition to the basis above, it would have been obvious to modify the resist composition rendered obvious by the combination of Hatakeyama et al. 20120108043, Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and Chang et al. 20070077516 by replacing the methacrylate backbone with other known resist backbones such as a poly(norbornene)-co-maleic anhydride (COMA) polymer, a poly(4-hydroxystyrene) (PHS) polymer, a phenol-formaldehyde (hakelite) polymer, a polyethylene (PE) polymer, a polypropylene (PP) polymer, a polycarbonate polymer, a polyester polymer which are taught as functional equivalents at [0020] of Weng et al. 20190004430 with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist, resist pattern and etched substrate.
Claims 1-4,6-8,10,12,13,15,17 and 19-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462, in view of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and Chang et al. 20070077516, further in view of Weng et al. 20190004430.
The combination of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462, in view of Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and Chang et al. 20070077516 does not teach the full range of polymer backbones useful in resists.
In addition to the basis above, it would have been obvious to modify the resist composition rendered obvious by the combination of Hatakeyama et al. 20110177462, Hatakeyama et al. 20130108960 and Chang et al. 20070077516 by replacing the methacrylate backbone with other known resist backbones such as a poly(norbornene)-co-maleic anhydride (COMA) polymer, a poly(4-hydroxystyrene) (PHS) polymer, a phenol-formaldehyde (hakelite) polymer, a polyethylene (PE) polymer, a polypropylene (PP) polymer, a polycarbonate polymer, a polyester polymer which are taught as functional equivalents at [0020] of Weng et al. 20190004430 with a reasonable expectation of forming a useful resist, resist pattern and etched substrate.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Martin J Angebranndt whose telephone number is (571)272-1378. The examiner can normally be reached 7-3:30 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark F Huff can be reached at 571-272-1385. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MARTIN J. ANGEBRANNDT
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1737
/MARTIN J ANGEBRANNDT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 August 27, 2026
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