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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on May 7, 2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of method embodiment 2 (Fig. 2, claims 1-20) in the reply filed on August 11, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: after every roman numeral i to v there is included a “.” This is improper as a “.” is included at the end of claim limitations. Appropriate correction is required. For purposes of examination these “.” will be removed and replaced with a “:” from claim 1.
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.
Claim 6 is 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6, line 2 recited the limitation “passive pretreatment step and/or activation pretreatment step.” It is unclear if the method is meant to not have a passive AND activation pretreatment step or just one or the other. For purposes of examination this will be interpreted as” passive pretreatment step or activation pretreatment step.”
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) 1, 4, 6-8, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Henri (US 2016/0148806). Claim 1, Henri discloses (Fig. 1) a method for selectively depositing a material comprising silicon and nitrogen on a substrate, the method comprising: i: providing a substrate (101, substrate is provided to a process station, Para [0025], hereinafter “sub”) comprising a first surface (sub has active sites which are considered the first surface, Para [0030] hereinafter “first”) and a second surface (the surface of sub which does not have the active sites, Para [0030], hereinafter “second”) in a reaction space (101 is placed in a process station, Para [0025]), wherein the first surface and the second surface are chemically distinct (since first has active sites and second does not they would be chemically distinct); ii: exposing the substrate to a silicon precursor (103, sub is exposed to silicon-containing precursor, Para [0030]), wherein the silicon precursor adsorbs on the first surface of the substrate more so than on the second surface of the substrate (silicon-containing precursor adsorbs to first and does not adsorb to second, Para [0030]); iii: purging the reaction space (105, process station is purged to remove excess precursor, Para [0035]); iv: exposing the substrate to a nitrogen precursor (107, sub is exposed to nitrogen plasma, Para [0037]) formed in a remote plasma (nitrogen plasma is remote, Para [0038]) to convert the adsorbed silicon precursor to a material comprising silicon and nitrogen (nitrogen plasma reacts with adsorbed layer of silicon-containing precursor to form silicon nitride film, Para [0039]); and v: purging the reaction space (109, process station is purged, Para [0042]). Claim 4, Henri discloses (Fig. 1) the method according to claim 1, wherein the material comprising silicon and nitrogen is deposited on the first surface of the substrate and not on the second surface of the substrate (silicon and nitrogen are deposited on active of first and not deposited in non-active second, Para [0030]). Claim 6, Henri discloses (Fig. 1) the method according to claim 1, wherein the method does not comprise a separate passivation pretreatment step or activation pretreatment step (Fig. 1 does not show any pretreatment step). Claim 7, Henri discloses (Fig. 1) the method according to claim 1, further comprising: repeating steps ii – v to grow a film of the material comprising silicon and nitrogen on the first surface of the substrate (step 113 shows that 103-109 can be repeated until the adequate thickness is formed, Para [0044]). Claim 8, Henri discloses (Fig. 1) the method according to claim 1, wherein the material comprising silicon and nitrogen is selected from the group consisting of silicon nitride, silicon carbonitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon carbon oxynitride, and combinations thereof (nitrogen plasma reacts with adsorbed layer of silicon-containing precursor to form silicon nitride film, Para [0039]).
Claim 18, Henri discloses (Fig. 1) the method according to claim 1, wherein the nitrogen precursor is selected from the group consisting of activated nitrogen, activated ammonia, nitrogen atoms, NH radicals, NH2 radicals, and combinations thereof (107 may have nitrogen radicals or ions, Para [0039]).
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) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henri (US 2016/0148806) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Murakami (US 2017/0278705).
Claim 5, Henri discloses the method according to claim 1. Henri does not explicitly disclose wherein the method further comprises a pretreatment step comprising exposing the substrate to a chlorine pretreatment agent. However, Murakami discloses using a pretreatment step of chlorine-containing gas (Para [0029]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to apply the pretreatment step of chlorine of Murakami to the method of Henri as it allows control of thickness growth of SiN across a surface of a wafer due to the possible enlargement of incubation time (Murakami, Para [0029]).
Claim(s) 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henri (US 2016/0148806) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Seutter (US 2003/0215570).
Claim 15, Henri discloses the method according to claim 1. Henri does not explicitly disclose wherein the silicon precursor comprises silicon and chlorine. However, Seutter discloses using a silicon precursor that comprises silicon and chlorine (forming a silicon nitride using a silicon precursor of hexachlorodisilane, Para [0022] – [0023]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Seutter, including the specific material of the silicon precursor to the method of Henri.
The motivation to do so is that the combination yields the predictable results of allowing for the selection of a known material based on its suitability for the intended use as a silicon precursor with low content of impurities (Seutter, Para [0023]). Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945). See also MPEP 2144.07. Claim 16, Henri in view of Seutter disclose the method according to claim 15, wherein the silicon precursor is selected from the group consisting of a chlorosilane, an alkyl chlorosilane, and combinations thereof (Seutter discloses silicon precursor of hexachlorodisilane, Para [0023]). Claim 17, Henri in view of Seutter disclose the method according to claim 16, wherein the silicon precursor is selected from the group consisting of dichlorosilane, tetrachlorosilane, hexachlorodisilane, octachlorotrisilane, bis(trichlorosilyl)methane, bis(trichlorosilyl)ethane, and combinations thereof (Seutter discloses silicon precursor of hexachlorodisilane, Para [0023]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 9-14, and 19 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior art of record, Henri (US 2016/0148806), Murakami (US 2017/0278705), Seutter (US 2003/0215570), fail to disclose (by themselves or in combination) the following limitations in combination with the rest of the claim:
Regarding Claim 2, wherein a ratio of the material comprising silicon and nitrogen deposited on the first surface of the substrate versus the second surface of the substrate is at least about 70:30.
Regarding Claim 3, wherein a ratio of the material comprising silicon and nitrogen deposited on the first surface of the substrate versus the second surface of the substrate is at least about 90:10.
Regarding Claim 9 (from which claims 10-11 depend), wherein the first surface comprises silicon nitride and the second surface comprises one or more of silicon, silicon oxide, and a metal.
Regarding Claim 12 (from which claims 13-14 depend), wherein the first surface comprises a transition metal oxide and the second surface comprises one or more of silicon, silicon oxide, and a metal.
Regarding Claim 19, wherein the nitrogen precursor is a nitrogen plasma species that is free of ions and electrons.
Claim 20 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior art of record, Henri (US 2016/0148806), Murakami (US 2017/0278705), Seutter (US 2003/0215570), fail to disclose (by themselves or in combination) the following limitations in combination with the rest of the claim:
Regarding Claim 20, activating the plasma generator to form a nitrogen precursor that is free of ions and electrons…
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GUSTAVO G RAMALLO whose telephone number is (571)272-9227. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am - 6pm.
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/GUSTAVO G RAMALLO/Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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