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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8-12, 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon (Us 20080057198) in view of Gung (US 7686926) and Likhanskii (US 20160079042).
As to claim 1, Yoon discloses a deposition method comprising:
a deposition tool comprising first and second deposition chambers (figure 3b: deposition system with plurality of deposition chambers including sputtering chamber 371 and ALD chamber 373);
providing a nitrogen containing precursor to the first chamber (paragraph 20: pvd deposition of TaN, necessarily requiring nitrogen [either gas or already in TaN form]);
depositing a first barrier material in the first chamber (paragraph 20: barrier layer deposition by pvd chamber);
a first and second precursor provided to the second deposition chamber (paragraph 37: barrier layer formation by ALD with both CO2 and metallic precursor);
deposition a second barrier layer in the second chamber (paragraphs 13-14: deposition of first and second barrier layers by first and second PVD and ALD deposition processes; figure 3b: separate deposition chambers 371 [pvd] and 373[ald]).
Yoon, while disclosing deposition of barrier layers by a pvd sputtering process necessarily involving a pvd target, is silent as to the details of the reactor structure and a movable coil.
Gung disclose a method of depositing a barrier layer, including TaN, by sputter deposition in a chamber with a target facing a substrate on a support (abstract; figure 8) in which electromagnetic coils are located in the region between the target and support (figure 8: coils 72) to control the plasma flux distribution during deposition and increase the deposition uniformity obtained on sidewalls and via bottoms during deposition (col 5 lines 24-30).
Likhanskii discloses knowledge in the art of providing a conductive coil antenna/electromagnet to control the plasma density within a chamber (abstract) and knowledge in the art of providing a movement mechanism for the coil, including a motor, to adjust the plasma uniformity (paragraph 7: movement to control plasma uniformity; paragraph 48: use of motor to obtain coil movement).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a magnetic coil with a motor for movement, as disclosed by Likhanskii, with a coil for sputter deposition, as taught by Gung, in the method of Yoon, because this allows for control over plasma characteristics during deposition to increase and otherwise control deposition characteristics and uniformity.
As to claim 2, Gung discloses knowledge in the art of using electromagnetic coils to obtain desired uniformity during deposition and Likhanskii discloses knowledge in the art of using an electromagnetic coil for controlling plasma in a chamber, the coil having a stepper motor for changing its position, as discussed above.
Although not explicitly stated, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the coil of Likhanskii would either be operated to make adjustments between processing steps or during processing steps. Additionally, controlling parameters, such as those identified as directly impacting deposition properties and uniformity, is generally known within the art when depositing thin films in semiconductor processing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to operate the adjustment motor of Likhanskii during a deposition step, and thus have a different first and second position during deposition as required by the instant claim, in the barrier deposition of Yoon, because this would allow in-situ control of deposition characteristics and uniformity of the formed layer.
As to claim 3, Yoon discloses deposition of the first and second barrier layers as 5-300 and 5-20 Angstroms (paragraph 43).
As to claim 8, Gung discloses separate first, second and third coils [and fourth] (figure 9: coils 74-80 with power supplies 82-86) with operation of the coils with independent power supplies to allow for deposition with pairs of coils powered (figures 9-11) or all coils powered (figure 12)with polarities as desired to control the plasma profile as desired (abstract). This operation, with all four coils powered, during the deposition of a barrier layer (abstract), would read upon the requisite claim language of a first portion with a first coil powered and a second portion with a second and third coil powered and therefore be taught by Gung.
As to claim 9, Yoon discloses a deposition method comprising:
a deposition tool comprising first and second deposition chambers (figure 3b: deposition system with plurality of deposition chambers including sputtering chamber 371 and ALD chamber 373);
depositing a first and second layer of a first barrier material in the first chamber (paragraph 20: barrier layer deposition by pvd chamber);
deposition a third barrier layer in the second chamber (paragraphs 13-14: deposition of first and second barrier layers by first and second PVD and ALD deposition processes; figure 3b: separate deposition chambers 371 [pvd] and 373[ald]).
Yoon, while disclosing deposition of barrier layers by a pvd sputtering process necessarily involving a pvd target, is silent as to the details of the reactor structure and a movable coil.
Gung disclose a method of depositing a barrier layer, including TaN, by sputter deposition in a chamber with a target facing a substrate on a support (abstract; figure 8) in which electromagnetic coils are located in the region between the target and support (figure 8: coils 72) to control the plasma flux distribution during deposition and increase the deposition uniformity obtained on sidewalls and via bottoms during deposition (col 5 lines 24-30).
Likhanskii discloses knowledge in the art of providing a conductive coil antenna/electromagnet to control the plasma density within a chamber (abstract) and knowledge in the art of providing a movement mechanism for the coil, including a motor, to adjust the plasma uniformity (paragraph 7: movement to control plasma uniformity; paragraph 48: use of motor to obtain coil movement).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a magnetic coil with a motor for movement, as disclosed by Likhanskii, with a coil for sputter deposition, as taught by Gung, in the method of Yoon, because this allows for control over plasma characteristics during deposition to increase and otherwise control deposition characteristics and uniformity.
As to claim 10-11, Yoon discloses the ALD deposition in an ALD chamber before a PVD deposition of the barrier layer (claims 13-14: ALD and sputtering processes for barrier layer; figure 13b: cluster tool with ALD and sputtering chambers).
As to claim 12, Yoon discloses a dielectric layer on the substrate (paragraph 20: dielectric layers with barrier layer) and providing a precursor for the ALD deposition in the ALD chamber (paragraph 37: barrier layer formation by ALD with both CO2 and metallic precursor).
As to claim 14, Yoon discloses the barrier layer material is TaN (paragraph 24).
As to claim 15, Yoon discloses filling an opening lined by the barrier with copper (figure 3a: gap fill copper layer step 308, figure 5e) and further planarizing the structure (paragraph 20, paragraph 32: deposition and planarization of copper).
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon in view of Gung and Likhanskii, as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Liou (US 20030186541).
As to claims 4-5, Yoon discloses deposition of TaN barrier layers for a semiconductor component with functional copper connections (abstract), but is silent as to the specific Ta:N ratios in the barrier layers.
Liou discloses a method of depositing a barrier layer of TaN in which the layer is a gradient layer of plurality of Ta and TaN containing sublayers, the ratio of Ta:N starting at high values (figure 5a/5b: pure Ta starting region 1 – near infinite ratio) and lower down to a Ta:N ratio of 1 (figure 5a/5b: central region 2 with equal Ta:N ratio) and then raising the ratio back upwards (figure 5a/5b: region three with raising ratio Ta:N value back towards pure Ta). Liou discloses the gradient TaN barrier layer having improved properties, increased adhesion, and increased step coverage of substrate features (abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to vary the Ta:N from high values to 1 back to high values, as disclosed by Liou (and therefore obtaining values overlapping the claimed ranges of 0.3 to 1 and 0.8 to 2 and 0.5 to 5), in the method of Yoon in view of Gung and Likhanskii, because this allows for a barrier layer for copper connects with improved properties, adhesion, and step coverage.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon in view of Gung, Likhanskii and Liou, as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Hosoya (US 20100266938).
As to claim 6, Yoon and Liou discloses deposition of a TaN barrier layer, as discussed above, but are silent as to the layer’s density.
Hosoya discloses deposition of a TaN buffer layer by pvd sputtering and control of the ratio of Ta:N in the formed film (paragraph 100). Hosoya discloses the resulting TaN film has a density of 14.2 g/cm3 (paragraph 103).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the density of a TaN film would be over 13g/cm3, as disclosed by Hosoya, in the method of Yoon in view of Gung, Likhanskii and Liou, because this is a known obtained value of the density of a sputter deposited TaN layer.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon in view of Gung, Likhanskii and Liou, as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Chiang (US 6139699).
As to claim 7 Yoon and Liou discloses deposition of a TaN barrier layer, as discussed above, but are silent as to the layer’s resistivity.
Chiang discloses deposition of a TaN layer by pvd sputtering and control of the ratio of Ta:N in the formed film and the resulting resistivity values corresponding to the TaN film’s nitrogen content, the resistivity ranging from 100-400 µΩ-cm (abstract; figure 4-5: resistivity [µΩ-cm] vs film nitrogen content for two sputter deposition techniques)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to obtain TaN resistivity between 200 and 700 µΩ-cm, as disclosed by the overlapping range of Chiang, in the method of Yoon in view of Gung, Likhanskii and Liou, because this allows for desired composition and properties of the TaN layer.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon in view of Gung and Likhanskii, as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Hsueh (US 20140103284).
As to claim 13, Yoon discloses deposition of TaN by ALD, but is silent as to using tris(diethylamido) (tert-butylimido) tantalum.
Hsueh disclose a method of depositing tantalum nitride (paragraph 11) for barrier layers (paragraph 54) in which an ALD process with tris(diethylamido) (tert-butylimido) tantalum is used as a precursor to form the layer (paragraph 74).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the precursor of Hsueh, in the method of Yoon in view of Gung and Likhanskii, because his allows a known effective technique of depositing thin films of TaN by ALD with known effective precursors.
Claim(s) 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon in view of Gung.
As to claim 16, Yoon discloses a deposition method comprising:
a deposition tool comprising first and second deposition chambers (figure 3b: deposition system with plurality of deposition chambers including sputtering chamber 371 and ALD chamber 373);
depositing a first and second layer of a first barrier material in the first chamber (paragraph 20: barrier layer deposition by pvd chamber);
deposition into an opening of a dielectric layer (figure 1a-b: barrier deposition into dielectric ‘via’);
deposition a third barrier layer in the second chamber (paragraphs 13-14: deposition of first and second barrier layers by first and second PVD deposition processes; figure 3b: separate deposition chambers for different layers).
Yoon, while disclosing deposition of barrier layers by a pvd sputtering process, is silent as to the details of the reactor structure with a plurality of coils
Gung disclose a method of depositing a barrier layer, including TaN, by sputter deposition in a chamber with a target facing a substrate on a support (abstract; figure 8) in which electromagnetic coils are located in the region between the target and support (figure 8: coils 72) to control the plasma flux distribution during deposition and increase the deposition uniformity obtained on sidewalls and via bottoms during deposition (col 5 lines 24-30). Gung discloses separate first, second and third coils [and fourth] (figure 9: coils 74-80 with power supplies 82-86) with operation of the coils with independent power supplies to allow for deposition with pairs of coils powered (figures 9-11) or all coils powered (figure 12)with polarities as desired to control the plasma profile as desired (abstract). This operation, with all four coils powered, during the deposition of a barrier layer (abstract), would read upon the requisite claim language of a first portion with a first coil powered and a second portion with a second and third coil powered and therefore be taught by Gung.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use multiple powered coils, as disclosed by Gung, in the method of Yoon, because this allows for control over deposition uniformity.
As to claim 17, Yoon discloses deposition of the barrier layers with an ALD chamber and PVD chamber (claims 13-14; figure 3b: ALD chamber 373, pvd chamber 371).
As to claim 18, Yoon discloses formation of the barrier layer by ALD with a reactive precursor supply (paragraph 37 metal and CO2 precursors).
As to claim 19, Yoon discloses filling the opening with copper after the barrier layer is formed (figure 3a: gapfill copper deposition 308).
As to claim 20, Yoon discloses planarizing the deposited copper structure (paragraph 20, paragraph 32: deposition and planarization of copper and dielectric; figure 1a: planarized barrier 120 and copper 122).
Correspondence Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON BERMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5265. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday 8-4.
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/JASON BERMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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