DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to communication received on 4/16/26.
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 9/25/25 and 1/16/26.
Election/Restrictions
Newly submitted claim 27 directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: Claim 27 is a product-by-process claim and inherently has a different scope than the process of claim 1. Specifically, product-by-process claims are limited not to the specific process steps but to the structure implied by those steps. As such, claim 27 in volves a search burden to properly address. Examiner notes that there was previous election in this case, in which claim 21 was withdrawn as a product. Respecting that previous correspondence, Examiner withdraws the product claims and continues to review the elected invention of the method.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claim 27 is withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The claim rejection(s) under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Nakatani et al. US PGPub 2020/0135455 hereinafter NAKATANI in view of Nakamura et al. US Patent Number 10,229,829 hereinafter NAKAMURA on claim 1-8, 13-14 and 17-19 is withdrawn because the independent claim 1 has been amended.
The claim rejection(s) under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Nakatani et al. US PGPub 202010135455 hereinafter NAKATANI in view of Nakamura et al. US Patent Number 10,229,829 hereinafter NAKAMURA as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Guo US 10,629,451 hereinafter GUO on claim 9-11 and 15-17 are withdrawn because the independent claim 1 has been amended.
The claim rejection(s) under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Nakatani et al. US PGPub 2020/0135455 hereinafter NAKATANI in view of Nakamura et al. US Patent Number 10,229,829 hereinafter NAKAMURA further in view of Suk US20180366411 hereinafter SUK on claim 12 is withdrawn because the independent claim 1 has been amended.
Claim(s) 1-8, 13-14 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakatani et al. US PGPub 2020/0135455 hereinafter NAKATANI in view of Nakamura et al. US Patent Number 10,229,829 hereinafter NAKAMURA and Marsh US PGPub 2012/0052681 hereinafter MARSH.
As for claim 1, NAKATANI teaches "As an example of a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a substrate processing process of forming a film by supplying a precursor to a substrate on which a concave portion, such as a trench or a hole, is formed on its surface so as to fill the concave portion is often carried out" (paragraph 3), i.e. A substrate processing method.
NAKATANI teaches "According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a technique that includes filling a concave portion formed on a surface of a substrate with a first film and a second film by performing: (a) forming the first film having a hollow portion using a first precursor so as to fill the concave portion formed on the surface of the substrate; (b) etching a portion of the first film which makes contact with the hollow portion, using an etching agent" (paragraph 5, lines 1-9), wherein the first film of NAKATANI is analogous to the second film of the claims, i.e. b) forming a second film ... in the concave portion by supplying a second film-forming agent to the substrate; (c) modifying a part of the second film by supplying a modifying agent containing fluorine to the substrate; and (d) removing a modified portion of the second film by supplying an etching agent ... to the substrate.
NAKATANI further teaches "As an etching agent, for example, a hydrogen fluoride (HF) gas containing hydrogen (H) and fluorine (F)" (paragraph 21, lines 1-2). Examiner notes that fluorine is a known halogen, thus, NAKATANI teaches an etching agent containing halogen
NAKATANI is silent on (a) forming a first film in a concave portion by supplying a first film-forming agent to a substrate on a surface of which the concave portion is provided and the second film having a chemical composition different from a chemical composition of the first film on the first film formed.
However, NAKATANI does teach that its process "may also be suitably applied to cases where the concave portion formed on the surface of the wafer 200 may be filled with a Si-based film (Si-containing film) such as a silicon nitride film (SiN film), a silicon carbonitride film (SiCN film), a silicon oxycarbonitride film (SiOCN film), a silicon oxynitride film (SiON film), a silicon oxycarbide film (SiOC film), or the like" (paragraph 101, lines 5-11 ).
NAKAMURA teaches "There is provided a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device" (abstract, lines 1-6) and further shows in Figures 13A-C filling a concave portion of a substrate with a SiO film and an SiN film.
NAKAMURA further teaches "In the film forming sequence illustrated in FIG. 4, there are performed: a step of providing a wafer 200 as a substrate 12 on which a silicon oxide film (SiO film) as an oxide film is 5 formed (in a substrate providing step), a step of pre-processing a surface of the SiO film (in a pre-processing step)" (column 11, lines 2-7) and "As described above, the SiO film as an oxide film is formed in advance on at least a portion of the surface of the wafer 200. This film functions as a supply source of O added to a seed layer" (column 12, lines 6-9), i.e. forming a first film in a concave portion by supplying a first film-forming agent to a substrate on a surface of which the concave portion is provided.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include forming a first film in a concave portion by supplying a first film forming agent to a substrate on a surface of which the concave portion is provided in the process of NAKATANI such that the second film having a chemical composition different from a chemical composition of the first film on the first film formed because NAKAMURA teaches that applying such a layer provides a seed layer and source of oxygen for layer later formations.
NAKATANI and NAKAMURA are silent on reactivity between the modifying agent and the first film is lower than reactivity between the modifying agent and the second film.
MARSH teaches “In a conventional ALD process, at least one precursor is introduced to a substrate in a reaction chamber in alternate pulses separated by inert gas purging (in flow type reactors) or by evacuation of the reactor (in high-vacuum type reactors). The precursors react with surface groups on the substrate, or chemisorb on exposed surfaces of the substrate. The inert gas may then be flowed into the reaction chamber to substantially remove the precursor from the chamber before introducing another precursor” (paragraph 3).
MARSH teaches “The possibility of altering functional groups on surfaces of substrates, such as silicon substrates, enables selective deposition of materials on the substrate by ALD. For example, surface treatments may be used to increase reactivity of the surface of the substrate or to block deposition on regions of the surface of the substrate. Exposed regions of a patterned surface of the substrate may be selectively treated to yield reactive surface regions including reactive functional groups, such as, organic terminal groups, that improve nucleation of the precursors during the ALD process” (paragraph 4), i.e. wherein the reactivity of desired surfaces for deposition and undesired surfaces for deposition are adjusted to get the desired pattern.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the reactivity of the desired substrate verse the undesired substrate such that the desired pattern and layer is achieved. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 2, NAKATANI teaches"( c) forming the second film on the first film of which the portion is etched, using a second precursor, wherein (b) includes performing, a predetermined number of times: (b-1) modifying a portion of the first film using a modifying agent; and (b-2) selectively etching the modified portion of the first film using the etching agent" (paragraph 5, lines 9-14), i.e. comprising: (e) forming a third film on the second film after removing the modified portion by supplying a third film-forming agent to the substrate.
agent to the substrate.
As for claim 3, NAKATANI is silent on the first film.
NAKAMURA further teaches "In the film forming sequence illustrated in FIG. 4, there are performed: a step of providing a wafer 200 as a substrate 12 on which a silicon oxide film (SiO film) as an oxide film is 5 formed (in a substrate providing step), a step of pre-processing a surface of the SiO film (in a pre-processing step)" (column 11, lines 2-7) and "As described above, the SiO film as an oxide film is formed in advance on at least a portion of the surface of the wafer 200. This film functions as a supply source of O added to a seed layer" (column 12, lines 6-9), i.e. forming a first film... wherein the first film is an oxide film.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include forming a first film ... wherein the first film is an oxide film in the process of NAKATANI because NAKAMURA teaches that applying such a layer provides a seed layer and source of oxygen for layer later formations.
As for claim 4, NAKATANI is silent on the first film.
NAKAMURA further teaches "In the film forming sequence illustrated in FIG. 4, there are performed: a step of providing a wafer 200 as a substrate 12 on which a silicon oxide film (SiO film) as an oxide film is 5 formed (in a substrate providing step), a step of pre-processing a surface of the SiO film (in a pre-processing step)" (column 11, lines 2-7) and "As described above, the SiO film as an oxide film is formed in advance on at least a portion of the surface of the wafer 200. This film functions as a supply source of O added to a seed layer" (column 12, lines 6-9), i.e. forming a first film... wherein the first film is a silicon oxide film.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include forming a first film ... wherein the first film is a silicon oxide film in the process of NAKATANI because NAKAMURA teaches that applying such a layer provides a seed layer and source of oxygen for layer later formations.
As for claim 5, NAKATANI teaches that its process "may also be suitably applied to cases where the concave portion formed on the surface of the wafer 200 may be filled with a Si-based film (Si-containing film) such as a silicon nitride film (SiN film), a silicon carbonitride film (SiCN film) ... or the like" (paragraph 101, lines 5-11 ), i.e. wherein the second film is a film other than a silicon oxide film.
As for claim 6, NAKATANI teaches that its process "may also be suitably applied to cases where the concave portion formed on the surface of the wafer 200 may be filled with a Si-based film (Si-containing film) such as a silicon nitride film (SiN film), a silicon carbonitride film (SiCN film) ... or the like" (paragraph 101, lines 5-11 ), i.e. wherein the second film contains silicon and nitrogen.
As for claim 7, NAKATANI teaches "The bottom portion of the concave portion is made of single crystal Si, and the side portion and upper portion of the concave portion are formed by an insulating film 200a such as a silicon oxide film (SiO film), a silicon nitride (SiN film), a silicon oxycarbonitride (SiOCN film), or the like" (paragraph 39, lines 8 5-10), i.e. wherein a surface of the concave portion is formed of a material other than a silicon oxide film.
As for claim 8, NAKATANI teaches "The bottom portion of the concave portion is made of single crystal Si, and the side portion and upper portion of the concave portion are formed by an insulating film 200a such as a silicon oxide film (SiO film), a silicon nitride (SiN film), a silicon oxycarbonitride (SiOCN film), or the like" (paragraph 39, lines 5-10), i.e. a surface of the concave portion is formed of a material containing silicon.
As for claim 13, NAKATANI shows in Figures 5A-5E, (c), a part of a region of the second film from a surface of the second film to a site in contact with a substrate is modified.
NAKATANI is silent on the first film, but as shown above, it would have been obvious to include on in view of NAKAMURA.
However, NAKATANI further teaches" However, in this film-forming process, the surface side of the concave portion is closed by the first Si film grown to overhang from the side portion and upper portion of the concave portion. A non-filled region extending in a depth region (direction), i.e., a hollow portion, is formed in the concave portion. The hollow portion is generated when the surface side of the concave portion is closed before the inside of the concave portion is completely filled with the first Si film, the MS gas does not reach the inside of the concave portion and the growth of the first Si film in the concave portion stops. The hollow portion is formed inside the first Si film, and becomes a closed space having no opening in its upper portion. Due to these factors, the first Si film becomes a film having a hollow portion therein. The hollow portion is likely to be generated when the aspect ratio of the concave portion (the depth of the concave portion/the width of the concave portion) is increased, specifically, when the aspect ratio is 1 or more, e.g., 20 or more, and further 50 or more" (paragraph 21 ), i.e. wherein the hollow portion extends through the first film physically applied onto the surface.
With this in mind, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the depth of the etch such that the desired hollow portion is opened for later filling. Discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, CCPA 1980, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ215.
As for claim 14, NAKATANI shows in Figures 5A-5E and further teaches "(a) forming the first film having a hollow portion using a first precursor so as to fill the concave portion formed on the surface of the substrate; (b) etching a portion of the first film which makes contact with the hollow portion, using an etching agent; and ( c) forming the second film on the first film of which the portion is etched" (paragraph 5, lines 5-10), i.e. wherein the second film includes a seam or a void, in (c), a region of the second film from a surface of the second film to at least a site in contact with at least a part of the seam or the void is modified, and in (d), at least a part of the seam or the void is eliminated.
As for 17, NAKATANI further teaches "As an etching agent, for example, a hydrogen fluoride (HF) gas containing hydrogen (H) and fluorine (F)" (paragraph 21, lines 1-2), i.e. the etching agent is a substance containing at least one selected from the group of fluorine.
As for 18, NAKATANI teaches "Step B-2 of selectively etching the modified portion of the first Si film using a HF gas as an etching agent are performed a predetermined number of times ( one or more times, here, twice as an example)" (paragraph 36, lines 3-6), wherein the reactivity is tailored for the modified portion, i.e. reactivity between the etching agent and the first film is lower than reactivity between the etching agent and the modified portion of the second film.
As for 19, NAKATANI teaches "As an example of a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device" (paragraph 3, line 1-2), i.e. further comprising manufacturing a semiconductor device.
As for claim 22, NAKATANI teaches “A process chamber 201 is formed in a hollow cylindrical
portion of the reaction tube 203. The process chamber 201 is configured to accommodate wafers 200 as substrates” (paragraph 15, lines 7-9), “substrate with a first film and a second film” (paragraph 5, lines 4)
and “As a modifying agent (oxidizing agent), for example, an oxygen (O)-containing gas, is supplied from the gas supply pipe 232b into the process chamber 201” (paragraph 20, lines 1-2), wherein the modifying agent is provided to the same chamber as the substrate with both films, i.e. wherein in (c) the modifying agent is supplied to the surface of the second film.
As for claim 23, NAKATANI is specifically silent on in (c), the modifying of the part of the second film proceeds from the surface in a depth direction of the second film. However, Examiner notes that NAKATANI shows in Fig. 5a the modification of the portion which has a depth of modification meaning that is inherent within NAKATANI that the in (c), the modifying of the part of the second film proceeds from the surface in a depth direction of the second film as that would be required in order for the modified portion to exist within a depth of the film. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention's features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. Inherency is not established by probabilities or possibilities. In re Robertson, 49 USPQ2d 1949 (1999).
As for claim 24, NAKATANI is specifically silent on in (c), the modifying of the part of the second film proceeds from the surface in a depth direction of the second film in accordance with the supply of the modifying agent to the surface of the second film. However, Examiner notes that NAKATANI shows in Fig. 5a the modification of the portion which has a depth of modification meaning that is inherent within NAKATANI that the in (c), the modifying of the part of the second film proceeds from the surface in a depth direction of the second film as that would be required in order for the modified portion to exist within a depth of the film. Further, it is also necessary with NAKATANI to have the modifying of the part of the second film… in accordance with the supply of the modifying agent to the surface of the second film as it is necessary for a reactant to be present for a reaction to take place. In this case, modification only happens if the modifying agent is there to modify the surface. It is therefore inherent that NAKATANI teaches in (c), the modifying of the part of the second film proceeds from the surface in a depth direction of the second film in accordance with the supply of the modifying agent to the surface of the second film in accordance with the supply of the modifying agent to the surface of the second film. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention's features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. Inherency is not established by probabilities or possibilities. In re Robertson, 49 USPQ2d 1949 (1999).
As for claim 25, NAKATANI is specifically silent on in (c), the modifying of the part of the second film proceeds from the surface in a depth direction of the second film in accordance with the supply of the modifying agent to the surface of the second film. However, Examiner notes that NAKATANI shows in Fig. 5a the modification of the portion which has a depth of modification and further shows that the modification stops at the interface with portion 200a. NAKATANI also teaches “The bottom portion of the concave portion is made of single crystal Si, and the side portion and upper portion of the concave portion are formed by an insulating film 200a such as a silicon oxide film (SiO film), a silicon nitride (SiN film), a silicon oxycarbonitride (SiOCN film), or the like.” (paragraph 39, lines 5-10). It is therefore inherent that NAKATANI teaches that the in (c), the modifying of the part of the second film in a dep direction towards the first film is suppressed or stopped at an interface between the first film and the second film. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention's features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. Inherency is not established by probabilities or possibilities. In re Robertson, 49 USPQ2d 1949 (1999).
Claim(s) 9-11 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakatani et al. US PGPub 2020/0135455 hereinafter NAKATANI in view of Nakamura et al. US Patent Number 10,229,829 hereinafter NAKAMURA Marsh US PGPub 2012/0052681 hereinafter MARSH as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Guo US 10,629,451 hereinafter GUO.
As for claim 9, NAKATANI is silent on wherein the modifying agent contains fluorine and oxygen.
However, NAKATANI does teach "The effects mentioned above can be similarly achieved in the case where the aforementioned first precursor other than the MS gas is used, or in the case where the
aforementioned second precursor other than the MS gas is used, or in the case where a modifying agent other than the 02 gas is used, or in the case where an etching agent other than the HF gas is used, or in the case where an inert gas other than the N2 gas is used" (paragraph 91).
GUO teaches "Cyclic etch methods comprise the steps of: i) exposing a SiN layer covering a structure on a substrate in a reaction chamber to a plasma of hydro fluorocarbon (HFC) to form a polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer that modifies the surface of the SiN layer ... ii) exposing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer to a plasma of an inert gas, the plasma of the inert gas removing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer and the modified surface of the SiN layer on an etch front" (abstract, lines 1-11 ).
GUO teaches "The thin layer of polymer is formed by a plasma of a HFC gas or a plasma of a gas mixture of a HFC gas and an inert gas, such as N2" (column 10, lines 9-11) and "An oxygen-containing gas may be introduced into the reaction chamber in order to eliminate high polymer deposition or reduce the thickness of the high polymer deposition" (column 11, lines 56-59), i.e. the modifying agent contains fluorine and oxygen.
GUO further teaches that its process provides "less to no excess material left proximate the SiN layer and the substrate; no fluoride residuals left on the vertically straight SiN spacers and the etch front; surface roughness on the surface of the vertically straight SiN spacers and the surface of the etch front after the cyclic etch being improved comparing to those before the cyclic etch" (column 4, lines 58-65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the etching of SiN as taught by GUO in the process of NAKATANI and NAKAMURA such that it includes the modifying agent contains fluorine and oxygen because GUO teaches that such a process have improved results over cyclic etch processes.
As for claim 10, NAKATANI is silent on wherein the modifying agent contains fluorine, nitrogen, and oxygen.
However, NAKATANI does teach "The effects mentioned above can be similarly achieved in the case where the aforementioned first precursor other than the MS gas is used, or in the case where the aforementioned second precursor other than the MS gas is used or in the case where a modifying agent other than the O2 gas is used, or in the case where an etching agent other than the HF gas is used, or in the case where an inert gas other than the N2 gas is used" (paragraph 91 ).
GUO teaches "Cyclic etch methods comprise the steps of: i) exposing a SiN layer covering a structure on a substrate in a reaction chamber to a plasma of hydro fluorocarbon (HFC) to form a polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer that modifies the surface of the SiN layer ... ii) exposing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer to a plasma of an inert gas, the plasma of the inert gas removing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer and the modified surface of the SiN layer on an etch front" (abstract, lines 1-11 ).
GUO teaches "The thin layer of polymer is formed by a plasma of a HFC gas or a plasma of a gas mixture of a HFC gas and an inert gas, such as N2" (column 10, lines 9-11) and "An oxygen-containing gas may be introduced into the reaction chamber in order to eliminate high polymer deposition or reduce the thickness of the high polymer deposition" (column 11, lines 56-59), i.e. wherein the modifying agent contains fluorine, nitrogen, and oxygen.
GUO further teaches that its process provides "less to no excess material left proximate the SiN layer and the substrate; no fluoride residuals left on the vertically straight SiN spacers and the etch front; surface roughness on the surface of the vertically straight SiN spacers and the surface of the etch front after the cyclic etch being improved comparing to those before the cyclic etch" (column 4, lines 58-65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the etching of SiN as taught by GUO in the process of NAKATANI and NAKAMURA such that it includes wherein the modifying agent contains fluorine, nitrogen, and oxygen because GUO teaches that such a process have improved results over cyclic etch processes.
As for claim 11, NAKATANI is silent on the modifying agent is ... a fluorine, nitrogen, and oxygen-containing gas.
However, NAKATANI does teach "The effects mentioned above can be similarly achieved in the case where the aforementioned first precursor other than the MS gas is used, or in the case where the aforementioned second precursor other than the MS gas is used, or in the case where a modifying agent other than the 02 gas is used, or in the case where an etching agent other than the HF gas is used, or in the case where an inert gas other than the N2 gas is used" (paragraph 91 ).
GUO teaches "Cyclic etch methods comprise the steps of: i) exposing a SiN layer covering a structure on a substrate in a reaction chamber to a plasma of hydro fluorocarbon (HFC) to form a polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer that modifies the surface of the SiN layer ... ii) exposing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer to a plasma of an inert gas, the plasma of the inert gas removing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer and the modified surface of the SiN layer on an etch front" (abstract, lines 1-11 ).
GUO teaches "The thin layer of polymer is formed by a plasma of a HFC gas or a plasma of a gas mixture of a HFC gas and an inert gas, such as N2" (column 10, lines 9-11) and "An oxygen-containing gas may be introduced into the reaction chamber in order to eliminate high polymer deposition or reduce the thickness of the high polymer deposition" (column 11, lines 56-59), i.e. the modifying agent is ... a fluorine, nitrogen, and oxygen-containing gas.
GUO further teaches that its process provides "less to no excess material left proximate the SiN layer and the substrate; no fluoride residuals left on the vertically straight SiN spacers and the etch front; surface roughness on the surface of the vertically straight SiN spacers and the surface of the etch front after the cyclic etch being improved comparing to those before the cyclic etch" (column 4, lines 58-65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the etching of SiN as taught by GUO in the process of NAKATANI and NAKAMURA such that it includes modifying agent is ... a fluorine, nitrogen, and oxygen containing gas because GUO teaches that such a process have improved results over cyclic etch processes.
As for claim 15, NAKATANI teaches "Furthermore, at Step B, Step B-1 of modifying a portion of the first Si film using an Oz gas as a modifying agent" (paragraph 36), i.e. wherein in (c), a part of the second film is modified to a ... oxygen containing layer.
NAKATANI is silent on a fluorine ... -containing layer.
GUO teaches "The HFC gas reacts with the material SiN on the surface of the SiN layer, forming the thin layer of polymer which is a C rich polymer (C:F>1) and also called a modified surface layer on the surface of the SiN layer where chemical bonds are formed at an interlayer between the thin layer of polymer and the surface of the SiN layer" (column 10, lines 12-18) and "An oxygen-containing gas may be introduced into the reaction chamber in order to eliminate high polymer deposition or reduce the thickness of the high polymer deposition" (column 11, lines 56-59), i.e. wherein a fluorine ... -containing layer is deposited.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have in (c), a part of the second film is modified to a fluorine ... -containing layer in the process of NAKATANI because GUO teaches that such a process have improved results over cyclic etch processes.
As for claim 16, NAKATANI teaches "Furthermore, at Step B, Step B-1 of modifying a portion of the first Si film using an Oz gas as a modifying agent" (paragraph 36), i.e. wherein in (c), a part of the second film is modified to a silicon ... and oxygen containing layer.
NAKATANI is silent on a fluorine ... -containing layer.
GUO teaches "The HFC gas reacts with the material SiN on the surface of the SiN layer, forming the thin layer of polymer which is a C rich polymer (C:F>1) and also called a modified surface layer on the surface of the SiN layer where chemical bonds are formed at an interlayer between the thin layer of polymer and the surface of the SiN layer" (column 10, lines 12-18) and "An oxygen-containing gas may be introduced into the reaction chamber in order to eliminate high polymer deposition or reduce the thickness of the high polymer deposition" (column 11, lines 56-59), i.e. wherein a fluorine ... -containing layer is deposited.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have in (c), a part of the second film is modified to a silicon, fluorine, and oxygen-containing layer in the process of NAKATANI because GUO teaches that such a process have improved results over cyclic etch processes.
Claim(s) 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakatani et al. US PGPub 2020/0135455 hereinafter NAKATANI in view of Nakamura et al. US Patent Number 10,229,829 hereinafter NAKAMURA and Marsh US PGPub 2012/0052681 hereinafter MARSH as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sneh US PGPub 2003/0168001 hereinafter SNEH.
As for claim 26, NAKATANI, NAKAMURA and MARSH are silent on the modifying agent includes nitrosyl fluoride.
NAKATANI does teach “As the modifying agent (O-containing gas), it may be possible to use, for example… an ozone (O3) gas… or the like, as well as the O2 gas.” (Paragraph 62).
SNEH teaches “A method and an apparatus for executing efficient and cost-effective Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) at low temperatures are presented” (abstract, lines 1-3).
SNEH further teaches “A catalyzing reaction in accordance with the invention does not, by itself, deposit solid material on the surface. A catalyzing reaction requires two or more reactive chemicals, referred to herein as "catalyzing reactants", that react with each other, preferably vigorously, to produce a stable volatile by-product molecule and an unstable surface-adsorbed intermediate reactive molecular fragment. A catalyzing reaction is thermodynamically driven and is irreversible by virtue of volatilization of the stable by-product. The reactive molecular fragments generated in catalyzing reactions generally form as adsorbed radical species. These adsorbed reactive molecular fragments are atomic or molecular sections, or both. Nevertheless, when the surface contains reactive sites, a reactive fragment reacts with a reactive site in a fragment-surface reaction, typically producing a volatile surface by-product or being incorporated into a growing film, or both. Thus, a catalyzing reaction generally proceeds ( cascades) from catalyzing reactants to a final volatile species from both the catalyzing reaction and from the reactive sites on the surface” (paragraph 33).
SNEH further teaches “the plurality of catalyzing reactants comprises a first type of catalyzing reactant and a second type of catalyzing reactant; and the first type of catalyzing reactant is selected from a group including O3… FNO” (paragraph 51, lines 2-6) wherein FNO was known to be a known alternative to O3 as a reactant that can modify the surface for layer treatment in ALD reactions.
It would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use FNO as part of the oxygen-containing modifying agent in NAKATANI such that it includes the modifying agent includes a nitrosyl fluoride because SNEH teaches that such a material was known to be a known alternative to the O3 and known to be used in modifying surfaces for improving reactivity for later steps.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-11, 13-18, and 22-26 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
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.
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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.
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/KRISTEN A DAGENAIS/Examiner, Art Unit 1717
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