DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.
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.
Claims 1, 2 and 4-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 10,269,574 to Yang et al. in view of US Patent 11,107,693 to Diao et al.
Regarding Claim 1, Yang et al. teaches a method for processing a workpiece (114), the workpiece comprising photoresist material (52) and a semiconductor material (53), the method comprising performing an organic radical treatment process on the workpiece, the organic radical treatment process comprising: generating one or more species by a plasma induced in a process gas in a first chamber (125); flowing a hydrocarbon containing gas having one or more hydrocarbon molecules into the one or more species to create a mixture (Fig 5 and 6), the mixture comprising one or more organic radicals (e.g. CH3); and exposing the workpiece to the mixture in a second chamber (110), wherein the mixture etches the photoresist material at an etch rate that is greater than an etch rate of the semiconductor material (Col. 2, Lines 61-65).
Yang et al. does not expressly teach flowing a hydrocarbon containing gas having one or more hydrocarbon molecules into the one or more species at a flow rate of about 100 sccm to about 15000 sccm. However, Diao et al. teaches a reactant gas may be introduced at a flow rate of 100-15,000 sccm (Col. 5, Lines 30-49) for resist removal for 300mm substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a flow rate in the broadly recited range in the method of Yang et al. with predictable results.
Regarding Claim 2, Yang et al. teaches (Col. 3, Lines 5-10) the semiconductor material comprises silicon, silicon germanium, or combinations thereof.
Regarding Claim 4, Yang et al. teaches (Col. 6, Lines 21-23) the one or more organic radicals are generated by dissociating the one or more hydrocarbon molecules in the first chamber.
Regarding Claims 5 and 6, Yang et al. teaches (Col. 7, Lines 4-10) the one or more hydrocarbon molecules have a chemical formula of CnH2n+2, where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 10 or the one or more hydrocarbon molecules have a chemical formula of CnH2n, where n is greater than or equal to 2 and n is less than or equal to 10.
Regarding Claim 7, Yang et al. teaches (Col. 4, Lines 31-38) in the one or more organic radicals are generated by reaction of the one or more hydrocarbon molecules with the species.
Regarding Claim 8, Yang et al. teaches the organic radical treatment process results in methylation (See at least Col. 3, Lines 43-49; Col. 4, Lines 5-11) on at least a portion of the semiconductor material.
Regarding Claim 9, Yang et al. teaches (Col. 3, Lines 50-60) the process gas comprises an inert gas.
Regarding Claim 10, Yang et al. teaches (Col. 3, Lines 50-60) the process gas is substantially free from hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Regarding Claim 11, Yang et al. teaches (Col. 3, Lines 27-29) the first chamber is separated from the second chamber by a separation grid (200).
Regarding Claim 12, Yang et al. teaches (Fig 5-6) flowing the one or more hydrocarbon molecules between a first grid plate and a second grid plate of the separation grid.
Regarding Claim 13, Yang et al. teaches (Col. 3, Line 64 – Col. 4, Line 4) the method comprises filtering one or more ions using the separation grid.
Regarding Claim 14, Yang et al. teaches (Fig 5 and 6 and related discussion) prior to flowing the hydrocarbon containing gas, filtering the one or more species with one or more grid plates of the separation grid; and subsequent to flowing the hydrocarbon containing gas, filtering the mixture with one or more grid plates of the separation grid.
Regarding Claims 15-18, Yang et al. does not expressly teach source power, pressure temperature and exposure time. However, the process variables are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, Diao et al. teaches (Col. 6, Lines 17-53) a source power ranging from about 500W to about 5000W, a pressure ranging from about 100 mT to about 6000 mT , a temperature of ranging from about 100°C to about 600°C, and a time period ranging from about 100 seconds to about 500 seconds. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the treatment conditions of Diao et al. known for photoresist removal in the method of Yang et al. with predictable results.
Claims 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 10,269,574 to Yang et al. in view of US Patent 11,107,693 to Diao et al. and US Publication 2010/0043821 to Li et al.
Regarding Claim 3, as applied above, Yang et al. in view of Diao et al. teaches the method of the invention substantially as claimed, and Yang et al. further teaches (Col. 3, Lines 5-10) the semiconductor material comprises silicon, silicon germanium SiN, dielectric such as SiO2, etc, but does not expressly teach the semiconductor material comprises a low-k dielectric material.
However, low-k dielectric is a well-known material for semiconductor applications having patterned photoresist to be removed. For example, Li et al. teaches removing photoresist (214) from low-k dielectric (208) using reactive radical species. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a low k dielectric material in the method of Yang et al. in view of Diao et al. in order to produce an interconnect structure in the well-known manner with predictable results.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Roberts P Culbert whose telephone number is (571)272-1433. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday 7:30 AM-6 PM 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, Parviz Hassanzadeh can be reached at 571-272-1435. 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.
/ROBERTS P CULBERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716
Prosecution Insights