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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/17/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 21-34 were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter which were not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Amended claim 21 recites “a method of forming low dielectric-constant (low-k) films, the method comprising: depositing, by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) techniques, a film-deposition layer; oxidizing and cleaning the film-deposition layer by radio frequency (RF) plasma; doping the film-deposition layer with a fluorine dopant by the RF plasma; depositing, by the ALD techniques, a subsequent film-deposition layer; and repeating the depositing and the doping as needed to obtain a final film thickness of a film having a low dielectric constant (a low-k film), the low-k film comprising at least one material selected from materials including fluorine-doped silicon oxide (SiOF), carbonofluoridoylsilicon (SiOCF), and fluorinated silicon oxynitride (SiONF), the depositing, the oxidizing and cleaning, and the doping being performed in a common reaction chamber as a continuous process sequence”. Depositing, by ALD techniques, a film deposition layer involves the following processing steps as detailed in Fig. 4 of the instant application, i) a dose operation (411); ii) a purge operation (413); iii) an oxidation operation (415) involving oxidation and cleaning and iv) a purge operation (417). These four processing steps complete one cycle of ALD and results in the deposition of the film deposition layer. Oxidizing and cleaning the film-deposition layer by radio frequency (RF) plasma is an integral part of this ALD process and not a process step that is carried out after the deposition of the film deposition layer by ALD technique. The extra processing step of “oxidizing and cleaning the film-deposition layer by radio frequency (RF) plasma” after the deposition of the film deposition layer has no support in the specification. Amended claim 29 has similar issues. Appropriate correction/clarification is requested. Claims 22-28 & 30-34 inherit the 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112, 1st paragraph (pre-AIA ) rejections based on their dependencies on claims 21 and 29, respectively.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 21-34 were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Amended claim 21 recites “a method of forming low dielectric-constant (low-k) films, the method comprising: depositing, by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) techniques, a film-deposition layer; oxidizing and cleaning the film-deposition layer by radio frequency (RF) plasma; doping the film-deposition layer with a fluorine dopant by the RF plasma; depositing, by the ALD techniques, a subsequent film-deposition layer; and repeating the depositing and the doping as needed to obtain a final film thickness of a film having a low dielectric constant (a low-k film), the low-k film comprising at least one material selected from materials including fluorine-doped silicon oxide (SiOF), carbonofluoridoylsilicon (SiOCF), and fluorinated silicon oxynitride (SiONF), the depositing, the oxidizing and cleaning, and the doping being performed in a common reaction chamber as a continuous process sequence”. Depositing, by ALD techniques, a film deposition layer involves the following processing steps as detailed in Fig. 4 of the instant application, i) a dose operation (411); ii) a purge operation (413); iii) an oxidation operation (415) involving oxidation and cleaning and iv) a purge operation (417). These four processing steps complete one cycle of ALD and results in the deposition of the film deposition layer. Oxidizing and cleaning the film-deposition layer by radio frequency (RF) plasma is an integral part of this ALD process and not a process step that is carried out after the deposition of the film deposition layer by ALD technique. The extra processing step of “oxidizing and cleaning the film-deposition layer by radio frequency (RF) plasma” after the deposition of the film deposition layer has no support in the specification. Amended claim 29 has similar issues. Appropriate correction/clarification is requested.
Claims 21-28, 30-34 inherit the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112, 2nd paragraph (pre-AIA ) rejections based on their dependencies on claims 21, and 29, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 35-40 are allowed. The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding Claim 35: The prior art of record to the examiner’s knowledge does not teach or render obvious the instant invention, particularly characterized by a method of forming a low dielectric-constant (low-k) silicon-oxide film, the method comprising: depositing, by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) techniques, a film-deposition layer; doping the film-deposition layer with a halide by radio frequency (RF) plasma; selecting the halide to comprise at least one material selected from materials including iodine and bromine; and depositing, by the ALD techniques, a subsequent film-deposition layer of silicon oxide to obtain a silicon oxide film, and after doping, lowering a halide content of the silicon oxide film by at least one treatment selected from: a high-temperature process, a hydrogen (H2) treatment, an H2/02 mixture treatment, or an ultraviolet (UV) or vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) treatment, the depositing and the doping being performed in a common reaction chamber as a continuous process sequence.
The most relevant prior art reference due to Kamakura et al. (Pub. No.: US 2018/0204732 A1) substantially discloses a method of forming a low dielectric-constant (low-k) film (Par. 0111), the method comprising:
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depositing, by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) techniques, a film-deposition layer (Par. 0056-0057, 0141-0142; Figs. 1, 4A & 4B, especially Fig. 4B); doping the film-deposition layer with a halide (Par. 0056-0057, 0111, 0141-0142; Figs. 1, 4A & 4B, especially Fig. 4B – the deposited film is then doped with fluorine by exposing the wafer to a fluorine containing precursor, such as NF3); selecting the halide to comprise at least one material selected from materials including iodine and bromine (Par. 0026, 0131); and depositing, by the ALD techniques, a subsequent film- deposition layer of silicon oxycarbide film, he depositing and the doping being performed in a common reaction chamber as a continuous process sequence (Par. 0056-0057, 0095, 0141-0142; Figs. 1, 4A & 4B, especially Fig. 4B).
This prior art, however, does not disclose a method of forming a low dielectric-constant (low-k) silicon-oxide film, the method comprising: doping the film-deposition layer with a halide by radio frequency (RF) plasma; selecting the halide to comprise at least one material selected from materials including iodine and bromine; lowering a halide content of the silicon oxide film by at least one treatment selected from: a high-temperature process, a hydrogen (H2) treatment, an H2/02 mixture treatment, or an ultraviolet (UV) or vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) treatment, the depositing and the doping being performed in a common reaction chamber as a continuous process sequence.
Additionally, the prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See form PTO-892.
However, none of these prior art references indicated above or the prior arts made of record in form PTO-892, disclose all the limitations of claim 35 (the individual limitations may be found in a plurality of prior arts but there is no motivation to combine). Because no reference alone teaches all the limitations, nor is there any motivation to combine the prior arts to construct all the limitations of this independent claim, claim 35 is deemed patentable over the prior arts.
Regarding Claim 36: this claim is allowed because of their dependency status from claim 35.
Regarding Claim 37: The prior art of record to the examiner’s knowledge does not teach or render obvious the instant invention, particularly characterized by a method of forming a low dielectric-constant (low-k) film, the method comprising: modulating a film thickness by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) techniques, in a layer-by- layer film-deposition process, the film having a low dielectric constant (a low-k film);doping each deposited film layer with a dopant material selected from at least one dopant material comprising a fluorine dopant and a halide, the fluorine dopant being introduced by radio frequency (RF) plasma applied at one or more frequencies including about 13.56 MHz and about 400 kHz, with a dopant exposure duration in a range of about 0.02 seconds to about 2.0 seconds; depositing, by the ALD techniques, a subsequent film-deposition layer; and repeating the depositing and the doping as needed to obtain a final film thickness of the low- k film, the low-k film comprising at least one material selected from materials including fluorine- doped silicon oxide (SiOF), carbonofluoridoylsilicon (SiOCF), and fluorinated silicon oxynitride (SiONF), the depositing and the doping being performed in a common reaction chamber as a continuous process sequence.
The most relevant prior art reference due to Kamakura et al. (Pub. No.: US 2018/0204732 A1) substantially discloses a method of forming a low dielectric-constant (low-k) film, the method comprising: modulating a film thickness by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) techniques, in a layer-by-layer film-deposition process (Par. 0056-0057, 0141-0142; Figs. 1, 4A & 4B, especially Fig. 4B – first a wafer (substrate) 200 is exposed to a BTCSM gas); doping each deposited film layer with dopant material selected from at least one dopant material comprising fluorine and a halide (Par. 0056-0057, 0111, 0141-0142; Figs. 1, 4A & 4B, especially Fig. 4B – the deposited film is then doped with fluorine by exposing the wafer to a fluorine containing precursor, such as NF3);
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depositing, by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) techniques, a subsequent film- deposition layer (Par. 0056-0057, 0095, 0141-0142; Figs. 1, 4A & 4B, especially Fig. 4B); and repeating the deposition operations and the doping operations as needed to obtain a final film thickness of the low-k film (Par. 0056-0057, 0095, 0141-0142; Figs. 1, 4A & 4B, especially Fig. 4B), the low-k film comprising at least one material selected from materials including fluorine-doped silicon oxide (SiOF), carbonofluoridoylsilicon (SiOCF), and fluorinated silicon oxynitride (SiONF) (Par. 0056-0057, 0111-0117, 0141-0142; Figs. 1, 4A & 4B, especially Fig. 4B – teaches forming low-k film SiOCF).
This prior art, however, does not disclose a method of forming a low dielectric-constant (low-k) film, the method comprising: doping each deposited film layer with a dopant material selected from at least one dopant material comprising a fluorine dopant and a halide, the fluorine dopant being introduced by radio frequency (RF) plasma applied at one or more frequencies including about 13.56 MHz and about 400 kHz, with a dopant exposure duration in a range of about 0.02 seconds to about 2.0 seconds; the depositing and the doping being performed in a common reaction chamber as a continuous process sequence.
Additionally, the prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See form PTO-892.
However, none of these prior art references indicated above or the prior arts made of record in form PTO-892, disclose all the limitations of claim 37 (the individual limitations may be found in a plurality of prior arts but there is no motivation to combine). Because no reference alone teaches all the limitations, nor is there any motivation to combine the prior arts to construct all the limitations of this independent claim, claim 37 is deemed patentable over the prior arts.
Regarding Claims 38-40: these claims are allowed because of their dependency status from claim 37.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments filed on 07/09/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot because of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by amendments made to the claims.
Conclusion
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07/24/2026
/SYED I GHEYAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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