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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 3, the claim recites “than the resin”, which should be “than the base resin”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al (2017/0343898) in view of Fujiwara et al (2021/0149301).
Hatakeyama et al disclose a resist composition comprising a polymer comprising units (a), (b), (c), and (d), having the following structures, wherein (c) equates to the instant phenolic hydroxy group-containing unit, and (d) equates to the instant (1) and (2):
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In formula (d), preferred structures fall within the scope of both (1) and (2), with (1) being used in an example, and formulas (A-1)-1 to (A-1)-10 also meet the limitations of (2), wherein each group is a hydrocarbon group (see (A-1) and (A-3) above).
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Instant Rx is a hydrocarbon chain, with exemplified compounds having 1-10 carbon atoms as required by the instant claim 2 (example includes 2, but RL8 is 1-10 carbons atoms; [0050]).
Examples above include units wherein each of the instant Rc1 and Rc2 are alkyl chains of 1-10 carbon atoms, and Rc3 is cycloalkyl having 6-12 carbon atoms [0049]. Additionally, the reference teaches hydrocarbon groups include phenyl and naphthyl (aromatic groups) as exemplified compounds include aliphatic and aromatic rings as contemplated for various structures ([0051], [0053]) as required by the instant claim 3.
The exemplified polymers include lactone-containing units (instant claim 7), and a sulfonium salt-containing units having an anion and cation, one of which is bonded to the polymer backbone (claim 3; instant claim 8).
The reference teaches that additional components known in the art may be included, such as acid generators ([0087], [0089]; instant claim 6), and basic compounds or quenchers to reduce the acid diffusion ([0091]). The reference doesn’t disclose a compound as claimed having the structure of the instant formula (α).
However, Fujiwara et al disclose a resist composition comprising an onium salt acid diffusion controller. The compound has a basic structure falling within the scope of the instant formula.
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In the formula, the instant Lq is reference -L1-O-C(R1)(R2)-C(Rf1)(Rf2)-, reference Ar is instant phenyl ring, reference R being more specifically R4 and R (instant I and Rw) with compound below having R4 as H, F, I, or C1-C10 hydrocarbyl, and R being a group of R-1 to (R-5) which meet the limitations of the instant formula for Rw being a monovalent organic group. When the exemplified compounds below replace the F with an I, the compounds meet the limitations of the instant claim 1. In examples, n (instant q2) is 1, instant q3 is 1, and when m (instant q1) is 2 or 3 (can be 0-4), the compounds meet the limitations of the instant claim 4.
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Exemplified cations include fluorinated sulfonium cation equating to instant “Z+” ([0060], [0063], claim 5; instant claim 5).
The inclusion of these specific class of compounds as an acid diffusion controller results in improved sensitivity, CDU, and reduced pattern defects.
Given the teachings of the references, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to prepare the material of Hatakeyama et al, choosing as the acid diffusion controller, that taught by Fujiwara et al to achieve improved sensitivity, CDU, and reduced pattern defects.
The Hatakeyama et al reference further teaches the inclusion of a surfactant, but fails to specifically teach a fluorine (high fluorine content) surfactant. Fujiwara et al further teaches the advantages of fluorine-containing polymeric surfactants, wherein the monomers include fluorine atoms and perfluoro groups, having a higher fluorine content than the base resin ([0192]-[0195]; instant claim 9), which improves the coating of the composition.
Given the teachings of the references, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to prepare the material of Hatakeyama et al, choosing as the surfactant, that taught by Fujiwara et al to achieve improved coatability.
The reference teaches a method as set forth by the instant claims 10 and 11:
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Each of Maruyama et al (2022/0299875, 2024/0152050), Masunaga et al (2023/0393465), Nishikori et al (2022/0382152), and (2023/0236501), are cited for their teachings of similar polymers and compounds similar to the instantly claimed acid diffusion controller.
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/AMANDA C. WALKE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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