Notice of 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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1-5 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu et al. (US 2017/0207327 A1) in view of Kwok et al. (US 2010/0171546 A1).
Regarding independent claim 1: Hsu teaches (e.g., Figs. 3A-3G) a high mobility driving device, comprising
a substrate ([0032]: 302);
an insulating film ([0034]: 306) positioned on the substrate;
a channel layer ([0035]-[0037]: region of 310 over the gate region 304) positioned on at least some areas of the insulating film and comprising metal oxide ([0035]-[0037]: 310 comprises IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide));
a source electrode ([0040]-[0041]: 316) and
a drain electrode ([0040]-[0041]: 318) connected to the channel layer (region of 310 over the gate 304) and located on the insulating film (306) to face each other on both sides centered on the channel layer (region of 310 over the gate 304);
a protective layer ([0041]: 320) covering all the channel layer (region of 310 over the gate 304), the source electrode (316) and the drain electrode (318),
wherein the channel layer comprises a local fluorination treatment areas (F treatment areas) ([0037]-[0039]) in at least some areas between the source electrode (316) and the drain electrode (318).
Hsu does not expressly teach that a plurality of local treatment.
Kwok teaches (e.g., Figs. 1-10) a high mobility driving device comprising a channel comprising a plurality of local treatment (Fig. 7; [0079]: 701).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include in the device of Hsu, the channel comprising a plurality of local treatment, as taught by Kwok, for the benefits of reducing the grains, grain boundary effects, improving reliability, uniformity and the electrical performance of the TFT.
Regarding claim 2: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
Hsu as modified by Kwok teaches that the area ratio (B) calculated by the following formula (1) is within the range of 0.25% to 0.75% (Kwok: [0079] the area ratio is about 50% since it alternate with untreated regions 702 along the channel length).
Area of each fluorination treatment area x n
Equation (1): Area ratio (B) = (Area of each fluorination treatment area x n 100) / (W x L)
(Wherein L is the interval between the source electrode and drain electrode, and W is the width of the source electrode or drain electrode, and n is the number of fluorination treatment are as.)
Regarding claim 3: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
Hsu as modified by Kwok teaches that 2 fluorination treatment areas (Kwok: 701) of the plurality of fluorination treatment areas are spaced apart from each other (Kwok: Fig. 8; [0079]-[0080]: 701), as the distance of the width (W) of the source electrode or drain electrode in the width direction, and the plurality of fluorination treatment areas (Kwok: Fig. 8; [0079]-[0080]: 701) is arranged in a row at equal intervals from each other in the width direction (Kwok: Fig. 8; [0079]-[0080]).
Regarding claim 4: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
Hsu as modified by Kwok teaches that the plurality of fluorination treatment areas (Kwok: Fig. 8; [0079]-[0080]: 701) is spaced apart from each other at the maximum interval calculated by the following Equation (2), (Kwok: Fig. 8; [0079]-[0080]: 701) and arranged symmetrically on the basis of the center of the channel layer (Kwok: Fig. 8; [0079]-[0080]: 701).
Equation (2): Maximum interval = w / n-1
(Wherein, W is the width of the source electrode or drain electrode, and n is the number of fluorination treatment areas.) (The claim limitation of the structure has been met, so the equation derived to describe the structure limitation is also met).
Regarding claim 5: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
Hsu as modified by Kwok teaches that the plurality of fluorination treatment areas is arranged along to the center line (A) extending in the width direction (Kwok: Fig. 8; [0079]-[0080]: 701) between the source electrode and drain electrode (space between source and drain describes the channel region).
Regarding claim 7: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
wherein the plurality of fluorination treatment areas is 3 to 9 (Kwok: Fig. 8; [0078]-[0080]: about 7 to 8 treatment areas).
Regarding claim 8: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
wherein the metal oxide of the channel layer comprises indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) (Hsu: [0025] and [0035]).
Regarding claim 9: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends, further comprising a gate electrode (Hsu: [0033]-[0034]: 304) between the substrate (Hsu: [0033]: 302) and the insulating film (Hsu: [0034]: 306).
Regarding claim 10: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
wherein the insulating film comprises silicon oxide (Hsu: [0034]).
Regarding claim 11: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
wherein the protective layer comprises silicon oxide (Hsu: [0041]: 320).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu et al. (US 2017/0207327 A1) in view of Kwok et al. (US 2010/0171546 A1) as applied above and further in view of Park et al. (US 2012/0168757 A1).
Regarding claim 6: Hsu and Kwok teach the claim limitation of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends.
Hsu as modified by Kwok does not expressly teach that the plurality of fluorination treatment areas is formed on the upper surface of the channel layer.
Park teaches (e.g., Fig. 1) a semiconductor device comprising treatment areas ([0050]-[0052]: 10) formed on the upper surface of a channel layer ([0050]-[0052]: C1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention of Hsu as modified by Kwok, the fluorination treatment areas is formed on the upper surface of the channel layer, as taught by Park, for the following benefits,
when the fluorine-containing region 10 is formed in the upper portion (back channel region) of the channel layer C1, the number of oxygen vacancies and defects in the upper portion (back channel region) of the channel layer C1 is reduced. Thus, the carrier concentration of the upper portion (back channel region) of the channel layer C1 is reduced, and the generation of photocurrent in the upper portion (e.g., back channel region) of the channel layer C1 is suppressed. Thus, variations in characteristics of the transistor due to light are also suppressed (Park: [0052]).
Claims 12-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu et al. (US 2017/0207327 A1) in view of Kwok et al. (US 2010/0171546 A1) as applied above and further in view of Li et al. (US 20220093710 A1).
Regarding claim 12: Hsu teaches (e.g., Figs. 3A-3G) a manufacturing method of the high mobility driving device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends.
Hsu as modified by Kwok teaches preparing a substrate (Hsu: [0032]: 302);
forming a channel layer (Hsu: [0035]-[0037]: 310) comprising metal oxide (Hsu: [0035]-[0037]: channel 310 comprises IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide)) on the substrate;
arranging photoresist (Kwok: Fig. 6(a); [0061] and [0077]: 603), in which holes with a certain size are formed on a certain position, on the channel layer (Kwok: [0077]);
exposing ions through the holes (Kwok: [0077]); Hsu: teaches exposing fluorine (Hsu: [0008]-[0010], [0019], [0026] and [0029]-[0030]).
removing the photoresist (Kwok: 603) using a removal means (Kwok: at Fig. 6(b) the removal is completed);
forming a source electrode (Hsu: [0040]: 316) and a drain electrode (Hsu: [0040]: 318) to face each other on both sides centered on the channel layer; and
forming a protective layer (Hsu: [0041]: 320) to cover all the channel layer, the source electrode and the drain electrode (Hsu: [0040]), and Hsu: teaches exposing fluorine (Hsu: [0008]-[0010], [0019], [0026] and [0029]-[0030]).
Hsu as modified by Kwok does not expressly teach removing the photoresist using a removal solution.
Li teaches a method comprising removing the photoresist using a removal solution ([0091]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include in the method of Hsu as modified by Kwok, the method of removing the photoresist using a removal solution, as taught by Li, for the benefits of completely removing the photoresist along with any unwanted residue, and thus improve the device reliability.
Regarding claim 13: Hsu, Kwok and Li teach the claim limitation of the manufacturing method of the high mobility driving device according to claim 12, on which this claim depends,
wherein the metal oxide of the channel layer comprises indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) (Hsu: e.g., Figs. 3A-3G, [0035]-[0037]: 310 comprises IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide));
Regarding claim 14: Hsu, Kwok and Li teach the claim limitation of the manufacturing method of the high mobility driving device according to claim 12, on which this claim depends,
wherein the protective layer comprises silicon oxide (Hsu: [0041]: 320).
Regarding claim 15: Hsu, Kwok and Li teach the claim limitation of the manufacturing method of the high mobility driving device according to claim 12, on which this claim depends, further comprising forming an insulating film (Hsu: [0034]: 306) on the substrate, before forming the channel layer (Hsu: [0035]: 310).
Regarding claim 16: Hsu teaches (e.g., Figs. 3A-3G) a manufacturing method of the high mobility driving device according to claim 12, on which this claim depends,
further comprising forming a gate electrode (Hsu: [0033]-[0034]: 304) before film forming the insulating film (Hsu: [0033]-[0035]: 306).
Regarding claim 17: Hsu, Kwok and Li teach the claim limitation of the manufacturing method of the high mobility driving device according to claim 12, on which this claim depends wherein the insulating film comprises silicon oxide (Hsu: [0033]-[0035]: 306).
Conclusion
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/HERVE-LOUIS Y ASSOUMAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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