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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II in the reply filed on 6/2/26 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 7, 8, 11, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang et al US 9419001.
Pertaining to claim 7, Yang teaches a method of forming a memory device DRAM, comprising:
forming a line contact 500 on and contacting an access line 230 for an array of memory cells (see Title) and elements 21/22, using a two stage removal procedure of different removal processes Col 5 lines 1-5 including:
removing a portion of processing layers 50 above an insulating protective layer 260 positioned on the access line See Figures 7 & 8;
selectively removing the insulating protective layer 260, exposing a portion of the access line 230, without removing material of the access line See Figure 9; and
forming the line contact 500 on and contacting the exposed portion of the access line 230 see Figure 10.
Pertaining to claim 8, Yang teaches the method of claim 7, wherein the insulating protective layer 260 includes silicon nitride. Col 4 line 3.
Pertaining to claim 11, Yang teaches the method of claim 7, wherein removing the portion of processing layers above the insulating protective layer includes stopping the removal on the insulating protective layer 260 see Figure 8 element 64.
Pertaining to claim 13, Yang teaches the method of claim 7, wherein selectively removing the insulating protective layer without removing the material of the access line includes using one or more chemicals for removal that are resistant by the material of the access line for removal. This describes the physical properties of etch selectivity and is what is described in Col 4 lines 62-67, element 260 is removed but element 230 remains as shown in Figure 9.
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.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Tseng US 5,552,334.
Pertaining to claim 12, Yang teaches the method of claim 11, but is silent wherein stopping the removal on the insulating protective layer includes using an end point detection to stop the removal. Tseng teaches that end point detection to control a dry etch is conventional and well known in the art using various techniques to monitor the precise etch characteristics. Col 5 lines 30-45. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to employ an end point detection process for controlling the dry etch process of Yang. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to combine Tseng with Yang for the purpose of controlling etch depth and accuracy provided by the detection means such as those taught by Tseng in Col 5 lines 30-45.
Claim(s) 14, 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al US 9419001 and further in view of Hwang et al US 2003/0170985.
Pertaining to claim 14, Yang teaches a method of forming a memory device, the method comprising:
forming a line contact on and contacting an access line for an array of memory cells including:
removing a portion of processing layers 50 above a silicon nitride layer 260 positioned on the access line 230, using a dry etch Col 4 lines 54-61;
removing the silicon nitride layer 260, exposing a portion of the access line 230 without removing material of the access line See Figure 9, using a selective wet etch; and
forming the line contact 500 on and contacting the exposed portion of the access line 230 see Figure 10.
Yang is silent on the type of etchant used to remove the silicon nitride layer, specifically the etchant being a wet etch. Hwang teaches that etching silicon nitride using a wet etch is conventional. [0028]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to etch silicon nitride using a wet etch process such as that taught by Hwang. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed select a wet etch since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the base of its suitability, for its intended use involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Pertaining to claim 16, Yang in view of Hwang teaches the method of claim 14, wherein removing the portion of processing layers 50 above the silicon nitride layer 260 positioned on the access line 230 includes stopping the dry etch at a top of the silicon nitride layer 260 see Figure 8 element 64.
Pertaining to claim 17, Yang in view of Hwang teaches the method of claim 14, wherein removing the silicon nitride layer 260 using the selective wet etch includes using a wet phosphoric acid etchant [0028] H2PO3 (Hwang)
Pertaining to claim 18, Yang in view of Hwang teaches the method of claim 14, wherein removing the portion of processing layers above a silicon nitride layer 260 positioned on the access line 230 includes performing a multi-step dry etch. Yang teaches an additional dry etching step to remove processing layers above element 260 as shown in Figure 5 and Col 4 lines 28-38
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9, 10, 15, 19 and 20 are 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.
Pertaining to claim 9, the prior art fails to teach wherein the processing layers include a hard mask, an underlayer coating, a dielectric anti-reflective coating layer, a carbon layer, a silicon nitride layer, and an oxide layer on the insulating protective layer.
Pertaining to claim 10, the prior art fails to teach wherein the method includes forming a spacer oxide in an opening formed by removing the portion of processing layers above the insulating protective layer and forming the line contact on the spacer oxide during the forming of the line contact on and contacting the exposed portion of the access line.
Pertaining to claim 15, the prior art fails to teach wherein the method includes depositing an oxide spacer in an opening formed by the dry etch prior to removing the silicon nitride layer using the selective wet etch.
Pertaining to claim 19, the prior art fails to teach wherein performing the multi-step dry etch includes removing one or more of the processing layers positioned above a top silicon nitride layer on and contacting an oxide region on the silicon nitride layer positioned on the access line.
Conclusion
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/NICHOLAS J TOBERGTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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