DETAILED ACTION
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 .
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 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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 5-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tsai (US20230282487).
The applied reference has a common Applicant with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement.
Regarding claim 1, Tsai discloses a method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure (abstract), comprising: providing a substrate (paragraph 0017); forming a material layer on the substrate (layer 110 reads on a material layer, paragraph 0018); forming a first hard mask pattern on the material layer, wherein a top-view pattern of the first hard mask pattern is ring-shaped, and the first hard mask pattern has an opening (pattern 130a reads on a first hard mask pattern, which is formed around bar pattern 114a; therefore, pattern 130a has a ring-shape in top-view; the first hard mask pattern has an opening 130b, paragraphs 0027-0028 and Fig. 3F); forming a second hard mask pattern on the first hard mask pattern, wherein the second hard mask pattern fills the opening, and a top-view pattern of the second hard mask pattern is completely inside an outer contour of the top-view pattern of the first hard mask pattern, wherein a contour of the top-view pattern of the second hard mask pattern is located between the outer contour of the top-view pattern of the first hard mask pattern and an inner contour of the top-view pattern of the first hard mask pattern (as shown in the annotated Fig. 3G below, a second hard mask pattern is formed in the hard mask layer 140 during the dry etching process using pattern layer 142 as an etching mask, paragraphs 0029 and 0031; the relative positions of relevant contours are shown in the annotated Fig. 3G below); and transferring a pattern of the first hard mask pattern and a pattern of the second hard mask pattern to the material layer to form a first target pattern (paragraphs 0031 and 0035).
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Regarding claim 2, Tsai discloses wherein the contour of the top-view pattern of the second hard mask pattern surrounds the inner contour of the top-view pattern of the first hard mask pattern (see annotated Fig. 3G above and paragraph 0030).
Regarding claim 3, Tsai discloses wherein the opening penetrates the first hard mask pattern (opening 130b, paragraph 0028 and Fig. 3F).
Regarding claim 5, Tsai discloses wherein the method for forming the second hard mask pattern comprises: forming a hard mask layer on the first hard mask pattern, wherein the hard mask layer fills the opening (layer 140 reads on a hard mask layer, paragraph 0029 and Fig. 3G); forming a patterned photoresist layer on the hard mask layer (layer 142 reads on a patterned photoresist layer, paragraph 0029 and Fig. 3G); and patterning the hard mask layer to form the second hard mask pattern by using the patterned photoresist layer as a mask (paragraph 0031 and annotated Fig. 3G above).
Regarding claim 6, Tsai discloses wherein a top-view pattern of the first target pattern corresponds to a top-view pattern formed by superimposing the top-view pattern of the first hard mask pattern and the top-view pattern of the second hard mask pattern (paragraph 0035 and Figs. 3G-3I).
Regarding claim 7, Tsai discloses forming a hard mask layer on the material layer prior to forming the first hard mask pattern (layer 112 reads on a hard mask layer, paragraph 0018 and Fig. 3G).
Regarding claim 8, Tsai discloses wherein the method of transferring the pattern of the first hard mask pattern and the pattern of the second hard mask pattern to the material layer comprises: transferring the pattern of the first hard mask pattern and the pattern of the second hard mask pattern to the hard mask layer to form a third hard mask pattern (pattern 112a reads on a third hard mask pattern, paragraph 0031 and Fig. 3H); and transferring the pattern of the third hard mask pattern to the material layer to form the first target pattern (paragraph 0035 and Figs. 3H-3I).
Regarding claim 9, Tsai discloses wherein a top-view pattern of the third hard mask pattern corresponds to a top-view pattern formed by superimposing the top-view pattern of the first hard mask pattern and the top-view pattern of the second hard mask pattern (paragraph 0035 and Figs. 3G-3I).
Regarding claim 10, Tsai discloses wherein in the process of transferring the pattern of the first hard mask pattern and the pattern of the second hard mask pattern to the hard mask layer, a part of the first hard mask pattern is removed, so that a cross-sectional shape of the first hard mask pattern comprises a step shape (paragraph 0031 and Figs. 3G-3H).
Regarding claim 11, Tsai discloses removing the second hard mask pattern after the third hard mask pattern is formed (paragraph 0031 and Fig. 3H).
Regarding claim 12, Tsai discloses forming a fourth hard mask pattern simultaneously in the process of forming the first hard mask pattern, wherein the first hard mask pattern and the fourth hard mask pattern are separated from each other (pattern 130a formed around bar 114c reads on a fourth hard mask pattern, paragraph 0027 and Figs. 1C and 4E-4F).
Regarding claim 13, Tsai discloses wherein a top-view pattern of the fourth hard mask pattern is in a shape of a strip (paragraph 0027 and Fig. 4F).
Regarding claim 14, Tsai discloses transferring a pattern of the fourth hard mask pattern to the hard mask layer to form a fifth hard mask pattern corresponding to the fourth hard mask pattern, wherein the third hard mask pattern and the fifth hard mask pattern are separated from each other (pattern 112c reads on a fifth hard mask pattern, paragraph 0032; Fig. 4H); and transferring a pattern of the fifth hard mask pattern to the material layer to form a second target pattern corresponding to the fifth hard mask pattern (paragraph 0035 and Figs. 4H-4I).
Regarding claim 15, Tsai discloses forming a fourth hard mask pattern simultaneously in the process of forming the second hard mask pattern, wherein the second hard mask pattern and the fourth hard mask pattern are separated from each other (pattern 130a formed around bar 114c reads on a fourth hard mask pattern, paragraph 0027 and Figs. 1C and 4E-4F).
Regarding claim 16, Tsai discloses wherein a top-view pattern of the fourth hard mask pattern is in a shape of a strip (paragraph 0027 and Fig. 4F).
Regarding claim 17, Tsai discloses transferring a pattern of the fourth hard mask pattern to the hard mask layer to form a fifth hard mask pattern corresponding to the fourth hard mask pattern, wherein the third hard mask pattern and the fifth hard mask pattern are separated from each other (pattern 112c reads on a fifth hard mask pattern, paragraph 0032; Fig. 4H); and transferring a pattern of the fifth hard mask pattern to the material layer to form a second target pattern corresponding to the fifth hard mask pattern (paragraph 0035 and Figs. 4H-4I).
Regarding claim 18, Tsai discloses forming a fourth hard mask pattern simultaneously in the process of forming the first hard mask pattern, wherein the first hard mask pattern and the fourth hard mask pattern are separated from each other (pattern 130a formed around bar 114c reads on a fourth hard mask pattern, paragraph 0027 and Figs. 1C and 4E-4F); and forming a fifth hard mask pattern simultaneously in the process of forming the second hard mask pattern, wherein the second hard mask pattern and the fifth hard mask pattern are separated from each other (pattern 112c reads on a fifth hard mask pattern, paragraph 0032; Figs. 1C and 4H).
Regarding claim 19, Tsai discloses transferring a pattern of the fourth hard mask pattern and a pattern of the fifth hard mask pattern to the hard mask layer to form a sixth hard mask pattern corresponding to the fourth hard mask pattern and a seventh hard mask pattern corresponding to the fifth hard mask pattern, wherein the third hard mask pattern, the sixth hard mask pattern and the seventh hard mask pattern are separated from one another (paragraph 0031; Figs. 1C, 3G-3H and 4G-4H); and transferring a pattern of the sixth hard mask pattern and a pattern of the seventh hard mask pattern to the material layer to form a second target pattern corresponding to the sixth hard mask pattern and a third target pattern corresponding to the seventh hard mask pattern (paragraph 0035; Figs. 1C, 3H-3I and 4H-4I).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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:
Regarding claim 4, the cited prior art of record, taken either alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious a method comprising: patterning the hard mask layer to form the first hard mask pattern by using the patterned photoresist layer as a mask, in the context of the instant claim. The closest cited prior art of Tsai discloses that the first hard mask pattern is formed by deposition of a spacer layer followed by etching steps (paragraph 00026 and Figs. 3D-3F).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang et al. (US20220320126) discloses a method of manufacturing memory devices using a combination of masks (abstract and Fig. 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIONG-PING LU whose telephone number is (571) 270-1135. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 9:00am – 5:00pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua L Allen, can be reached at telephone number (571)270-3176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIONG-PING LU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713