DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending before the Office for review.
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
Claims 16-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on February 4, 2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-15) in the reply filed on February 4, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FUNG et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0005688) in view of TAN et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0028697).
With regards to claim 1, Fung discloses a method comprising performing the following concurrent steps: depositing a material (316B) on a relief pattern (308A), the relief pattern comprising features separated by recesses (312); and etching side protrusions (316A) of the material (316B) vertically overlapping the recesses using a fluorine-containing gas (Figure 4A-4B Paragraphs [0061]-[0067]).
Fung does not explicitly disclose depositing a relief on a relief patter using a precursor gas and a reactant gas.
Tan discloses a method comprising depositing a material (800) on a relief pattern (405) using a precursor gas and a reactant gas for patterning a substrate (Paragraphs [0104]-[0107]). Fung discloses wherein the deposition gas mixture includes a carbon containing as such as carbon monoxide or methane. (Paragraph [0063]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method of Fung to include the precursor and reactant gas as rendered obvious by Tan because one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention would have had a reasonable expectation of predictably achieving the desired depositing using the precursor and reactant gas as rendered obvious by Tan. MPEP 2143D
With regards to claim 2, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein the concurrent steps further comprise: applying bias power to a substrate comprising the relief pattern. (Fung Paragraph [0032]).
With regards to claim 3, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein the fluorine-containing gas comprises nitrogen. (Fung Paragraphs [0067]-[0070] discloses a fluorine containing gas wherein the fluorine containing nitrogen trifluoride).
With regards to claim 4, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein the reactant gas comprises oxygen (Fung Paragraph [0063] discloses carbon monoxide which comprises oxygen) and wherein the material is an oxide (Fung Paragraphs [0061]-[0063] discloses forming a passivation layer wherein the passivation is formed of a carbon containing material which is bonded to the top surface of the photoresist layer having a M-OH ling bond and MOM ligand bonds which would form an oxide material on the surface).
With regards to claim 5, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious further comprising: performing an etching step using the material as an etch mask to deepen the recesses. (Fung Paragraphs [0070]-[0076] discloses steps 280-290).
With regards to claim 6, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein the concurrent steps and the etching step are alternated as part of a cycle. (Tan Paragraph [0087] discloses the deposition and etching may be performed simultaneously, separate or may be repeated in multiple cycles).
With regards to claim 7, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein the concurrent steps and the etching step are performed in situ in an etching chamber. (Fung Paragraphs [0019], [0033]-[0035] discloses loading the substrate into the processing chamber 100 and performing the steps for method 200 in the processing chamber).
With regards to claim 8, the modified teachings of Fung wherein the relief pattern comprises a metal-oxide resist. (Fung Paragraphs [0061]-[0062] discloses organometallic photoresist).
Claims 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FUNG et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0005688) in view of TAN et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0028697) and SANCHEZ (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/0164657).
With regards to claim 9, Fung discloses a method comprising vertically growing a passivation material (316B) on features of a mask layer (308A), the features being separated by openings (312) exposing an underlying layer (314), and etching side protrusions (314A) of the passivation material vertically overlapping the openings using a fluorine-containing gas; and etching the underlying layer through the openings using the passivation material as an etch mask. (Figure 4A-4B Paragraphs [0061]-[0067]).
Fung does not explicitly disclose vertically growing an oxide, wherein vertically growing the oxide comprises concurrently depositing the oxide on the features using a precursor gas and an oxygen-containing gas
Tan discloses a method comprising depositing a material (800) on a relief pattern (405) using a precursor gas and a reactant gas for patterning a substrate using precursor gases to vertically grow the layer wherein the layer may be carbon containing material or a silicon containing material (Paragraphs [0104]-[0107]). Sanchez a method for patterning comprising forming an encapsulating layer on a photoresist layer wherein the top is grown thicker than the side wherein the encapsulation layer may comprise silicon based layer including silicon oxide by flowing a silicon precursor and oxygen to form the layer (Paragraphs [0052], [0064]-[0067]). As such Fung as modified by Tan and Sanchez vertically growing a passivation material wherein the passivation material comprises materials including a carbon containing layer and silicon containing layer wherein the silicon containing layer can be formed with a silicon precursor and oxygen precursor (Fung Paragraphs [0061]-[0067], Tan Paragraphs [0104]-[0107], Sanchez Paragraphs [0052]) which renders obvious vertically growing an oxide, wherein vertically growing the oxide comprises concurrently depositing the oxide on the features using a precursor gas and an oxygen-containing gas.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method of Fung to include the precursor and reactant gas as rendered obvious by Tan and Sanchez because one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention would have had a reasonable expectation of predictably achieving the vertically growing of an oxide using the precursor and reactant gas as rendered obvious by Tan and Sanchez. MPEP 2143D
With regards to claim 10, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein vertically growing the oxide on the features of the mask layer further comprises applying bias power to a substrate comprising the mask layer and the underlying layer concurrently with depositing the oxide and etching the portions of the oxide (Fung Paragraph [0032], Tan Paragraph [0064], Sanchez [0078]).
With regards to claims 11-12, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein the fluorine-containing gas comprises a fluoronitrogen compound wherein the fluoronitrogen compound is nitrogen trifluoride. (Fung Paragraphs [0067]-[0070] discloses a fluorine containing gas wherein the fluorine containing nitrogen trifluoride).
With regards to claim 13, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein vertically growing the oxide and etching the underlying layer are alternated as part of a cycle. (Tan Paragraph [0087] discloses the deposition and etching may be performed simultaneously, separate or may be repeated in multiple cycles).
With regards to claim 14, the modified teachings of Fung renders obvious wherein vertically growing the oxide and etching the underlying layer are performed in situ in an etching chamber. (Fung Paragraphs [0019], [0033]-[0035] discloses loading the substrate into the processing chamber 100 and performing the steps for method 200 in the processing chamber).
With regards to claim 15, the modified teachings of Fung wherein the mask layer comprises a metal-oxide resist. (Fung Paragraphs [0061]-[0062] discloses organometallic photoresist).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHANIE P. DUCLAIR whose telephone number is (571)270-5502. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6:30 M-F.
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/STEPHANIE P DUCLAIR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
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