DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to communication received on 7/29/26.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The text of those sections of AIA 35 U.S.C. code not present in this action can be found in previous office actions dated 2/16/26 and 5/12/26.
Claim Objections
The claim objection(s) on claim 1 have been withdrawn because it has been amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The claim rejection(s) under 35. U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tang et al. US PGPub 2016/0372365 hereinafter TANG on claims 1, 9 and 10 are withdrawn because the independent claim 1 has been amended and claim 9 has been cancelled.
Claim(s) 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Swaminathan et al. US PGPub2014/0120737 hereinafter SWAMINATHAN.
As for claim 1, SWAMINATHAN teaches “Methods and apparatus for depositing continuous thin films using plasma-activated sub-saturated atomic layer deposition are provided herein” (abstract, lines 1-3) and “In other cases, the deposited film contains metal. Examples of metal-containing films that may be formed include oxides and nitrides” (paragraph 58, lines 1-3), i.e. a method of forming a nitride film using a chemical purge material.
SWAMINATHAN teaches “providing a substrate in a reaction chamber; introducing a first reactant in vapor phase into the reaction chamber under conditions allowing the first reactant to adsorb onto the substrate surface; introducing a dose of a second reactant in vapor phase into the reaction chamber for a dose time wherein the dose of the second reactant is a sub-saturated dose” (claim 1, lines 3-9), “Appropriate metal-containing precursors will include the metal that is desired to be incorporated into the film” (paragraph 58, lines 8-10) and “In some embodiments, the deposited film contains nitrogen, and a nitrogen-containing reactant is used. A nitrogen-containing reactant contains at least one nitrogen, for example, ammonia, hydrazine” (paragraph 59, lines 1-4), i.e. supplying a metal precursor to the inside of a chamber in which a substrate is placed… supplying a reactant to the inside of the chamber so that the reactant reacts with the metal precursor to form the nitride film, wherein the reactant is selected from NH3, hydrazine, NO2, and N2.
Examiner notes here that the claim language is removed by an interaction. Interactions between materials are not required to be chemical reactions but could be any number of interactions including physical (i.e. force, momentum, pressure, mass transfer, vapor pressure, etc.).
SWAMINATHAN teaches “Typically, the sweep serves to remove any residual vapor phase reactant in the chamber after the reactant is adsorbed on the substrate surface to the desired level. A sweep phase may also remove weakly adsorbed species ( e.g., certain precursor ligands or reaction byproducts) from the substrate surface. In general, and unless otherwise specified herein, a sweep/purge phase may be accomplished by (i) evacuating a reaction chamber, and/or (ii) flowing gas not containing the species to be swept out through the reaction chamber. In the case of (ii), such gas may be, for example, an inert gas or an auxiliary reactant such as a continuously flowing auxiliary reactant” (paragraph 68, lines 9-20), and “Example inert gases include, but are not limited to, nitrogen, argon and helium” (paragraph 40, liens 2-4) i.e. wherein the weakly adsorbed species are over-adsorbed such that supplying a chemical purge material different from the reactant to the inside of the chamber so that the portion of the reactant over-adsorbed on the substrate is removed by an interaction between the chemical purge material and the over-adsorbed portion of the reactant.
As for claim 10, SWAMINATHAN teaches “Examples of metal-containing films that may be formed include oxides and nitrides of aluminum, titanium” (paragraph 58, lines 1-3), i.e. wherein the metal precursor is a compound is at least one of a tetravalent metal including Ti.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The claim rejection(s) under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Tang et al. US PGPub 2016/0372365 hereinafter TANG on claim 2 and 8 are withdrawn because the claims have been cancelled.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Swaminathan et al. US PGPub2014/0120737 hereinafter SWAMINATHAN.
As for claim 8, SWAMINATHAN teaches “Generally, the SS-ALD temperature may be between about 20° C. and about 400° C” (paragraph 78, lines 3-5), i.e. a range that overlaps with wherein the method proceeds at 50 to 700° C. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990); In re Geisler, 116 F.3d 1465, 1469-71, 43 USPQ2d, 1362, 1365-66 (Fed. Cir. 1997). See MPEP 2144.05.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 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: SWAMINATHAN is silent on the chemical formula of the claim 2 for the purge material.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2 and 9-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISTEN A DAGENAIS whose telephone number is (571)270-1114. The examiner can normally be reached 8-12 and 1-5.
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, Dah Wei Yuan can be reached at 571-272-1295. 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.
/KRISTEN A DAGENAIS/Examiner, Art Unit 1717
/Dah-Wei D. Yuan/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1717
Prosecution Insights