DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-5, 7 and 13 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group I, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 9/3/26.
Examiner notes the withdrawn claims are now cancelled.
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) 6, 8-9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. US PGPub 2010/0279011 hereinafter CHEN.
As for claim 6, CHEN teaches “Bismuth precursors having utility for forming highly conformal bismuth-containing films by low temperature ( <300° C.) vapor deposition processes such as CVD and ALD” (abstract, lines 1-3), i.e. A method for forming a bismuth-containing film on at least one surface of a substrate.
CHEN further teaches “Such coating may be affected by introduction of the precursor into the vessel in a vapor form from which the solid precursor is condensed in a film on the surfaces in the vessel… For such purpose, the vessel may contain substrate articles or elements that provide additional surface area in the vessel for support of the precursor film thereon” (paragraph 73, lines 3-13), i.e. a. providing the substrate with the at least one surface in a reaction vessel.
CHEN teaches “Bismuth precursors having utility for forming highly conformal bismuth-containing films by low temperature ( <300° C.) vapor deposition processes such as CVD and ALD” (abstract, lines 1-3), i.e. forming a bismuth-containing film on the at least one surface by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process using a… homoleptic.
CHEN further teaches “The bismuth alkyls… are species within the broad scope of bismuth compounds of the invention having the following formulae… R3nBi[(R1R2)N(CR6R7)mO]ox-n (C)… each R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 may be the same as or different from the others, and is independently selected from among… C1 -C6 alkyl, OX is the oxidation state of Bi (typically +3 or +5); n is an integer having a value of from 0 to OX” (paragraph 52). Examiner notes that when n=OX, and R3 is the same and a C5 alkyl, i.e. pentyl, it’s a compound matching a homoleptic precursor of formula Bi(Ar)3 where Ar is a bulky alkyl group selected from a neo-pentyl group, a sec-pentyl group and an iso-pentyl group.
As for claim 8, CHEN teaches “Bismuth precursors having utility for forming highly conformal bismuth-containing films by low temperature ( <300° C.) vapor deposition processes such as CVD and ALD” (abstract, lines 1-3), i.e. wherein the forming a bismuth-containing film comprises chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
As for claim 9, CHEN teaches “Bismuth precursors having utility for forming highly conformal bismuth-containing films by low temperature ( <300° C.) vapor deposition processes such as CVD and ALD” (abstract, lines 1-3) and “According to one preferred embodiment, a method of forming a bismuth oxide ceramic layer on a substrate by CVD is provided… at a thermal decomposition temperature of about 150-800° C” (column 4, lines 32-44), i.e. wherein the forming a bismuth-containing film comprises thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
As for claim 11, CHEN teaches “Bismuth precursors having utility for forming highly conformal bismuth-containing films by low temperature ( <300° C.) vapor deposition processes such as CVD and ALD” (abstract, lines 1-3), i.e. wherein the forming a bismuth-containing film comprises atomic layer deposition (ALD).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. US PGPub 2010/0279011 hereinafter CHEN as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Lei et al. US PGPub 2013/0008345 hereinafter LEI.
As for claim 9, CHEN teaches “Bismuth precursors having utility for forming highly conformal bismuth-containing films by low temperature ( <300° C.) vapor deposition processes such as CVD and ALD” (abstract, lines 1-3).
CHEN Is silent on the CVD process being a cyclic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD).
LEI teaches “Novel families of tri-valent metal complexes including… bismuth” (abstract, lines 1-5).
LEI further teaches “Another aspect of this invention is directed to the methods for producing metal containing films, or multi-component metal oxide films via either a chemical vapor deposition
(CVD), cyclic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD), plasma enhanced cyclic chemical vapor deposition (PECCVD), anatomic layer deposition(ALD), or plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD), employing the metal containing complexes” (paragraph 19, lines 1-8), i.e. wherein the forming a bismuth-containing film comprises cyclic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD).
LEI further teaches “employed as potential precursors to make thin metal, metal oxide, or multi-component metal oxide films via either a chemical vapor deposition (CVD), cyclic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD), plasma enhanced cyclic chemical vapor deposition (PECCVD), an atomic layer deposition(ALD), or plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) method at temperatures less than 500° C. The CVD, CCVD, PECCVD, ALD or PEALD process can be carried out with or without reducing or oxidizing agents whereas an ALD process usually involves the employment of another reactant
such as a reducing agent or oxidizing agent” (paragraph 34, lines 3-13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use a cyclic chemical vapor deposition process in place of the chemical vapor deposition process of CHEN because LEI teaches that such processes were known equivalents in the art of forming films from bismuth precursors.
Claim(s) 12, 14, 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. US PGPub 2010/0279011 hereinafter CHEN in view of Ma et al. US PGPub 2006/0269667 hereinafter MA.
As for claim 12, CHEN teaches “Bismuth precursors having utility for forming highly conformal bismuth-containing films by low temperature ( <300° C.) vapor deposition processes such as CVD and ALD” (abstract, lines 1-3), i.e. A method for forming a bismuth-containing film on at least one surface of a substrate.
CHEN further teaches “Such coating may be affected by introduction of the precursor into the vessel in a vapor form from which the solid precursor is condensed in a film on the surfaces in the vessel… For such purpose, the vessel may contain substrate articles or elements that provide additional surface area in the vessel for support of the precursor film thereon” (paragraph 73, lines 3-13), i.e. a. providing a substrate in a reaction vessel; b. introducing into the reaction vessel one or more precursor.
CHEN further teaches “The bismuth alkyls… are species within the broad scope of bismuth compounds of the invention having the following formulae… R3nBi[(R1R2)N(CR6R7)mO]ox-n (C)… each R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 may be the same as or different from the others, and is independently selected from among… C1 -C6 alkyl, OX is the oxidation state of Bi (typically +3 or +5); n is an integer having a value of from 0 to OX” (paragraph 52). Examiner notes that when n=OX, and R3 is the same and a C5 alkyl, i.e. pentyl, it’s a compound matching a precursor comprising a homoleptic precursor of formula Bi(Ar)3 where Ar is a bulky alkyl group selected from a neo-pentyl group, a sec-pentyl group and an iso-pentyl group.
CHEN is specifically silent on c. purging the reaction vessel with a first purge gas; d. introducing into the reaction vessel a source gas; e. purging the reaction vessel with a second purge gas; f. sequentially repeating steps b through e until a desired thickness of the bismuth-containing film is obtained.
However CHEN does teach “Bismuth precursors having utility for forming highly conformal bismuth-containing films by low temperature ( <300° C.) vapor deposition processes such as CVD and ALD” (abstract, lines 1-3).
MA teaches “A unique combination of solution stabilization and delivery technologies with special ALD operation is provided” (abstract, lines 1-2) and “Metal or non-metal precursors are selected from those known in the literature and in most cases are readily available commercially at a reasonable cost… The precursors according to the present invention include halides, alkoxides, ~-diketonates, nitrates, alkylamides, amidinates, cyclopentadienyls, and other forms of (organic or inorganic) (metal or non-metal) compounds.” (paragraph 27, lines 1-13), i.e. a method for forming a metal-containing film from a metal containing precursor.
MA further teaches “typical ALD process uses sequential precursor gas pulses to deposit a film one layer at a time. In particular, a first precursor gas is introduced into a process chamber and produces a mono layer by reaction at surface of a substrate in the chamber. A second precursor is then introduced to react with the first precursor and form a monolayer of film made up of components of both the first precursor and second precursor, on the substrate. Each pair of pulses ( one cycle) produces exactly one monolayer of film allowing for very accurate control of the final film thickness based on the number of deposition cycles performed” (paragraph 3) and in between the applications of precursors “Inert gas is also sent to the deposition chamber to purge out excess precursor and solvent from the previous cycle which can be then carried to an exhaust system” (paragraph 35, lines 5-7), i.e. c. purging the reaction vessel with a first purge gas; d. introducing into the reaction vessel a source gas; e. purging the reaction vessel with a second purge gas; f. sequentially repeating steps b through e until a desired thickness of the bismuth-containing film is obtained.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the ALD method of MA as the ALD method of CHEN such that the process includes c. purging the reaction vessel with a first purge gas; d. introducing into the reaction vessel a source gas; e. purging the reaction vessel with a second purge gas; f. sequentially repeating steps b through e until a desired thickness of the bismuth-containing film is obtained because MA teaches that such a process allow for very accurate control of the final film thickness and the use of a purge gas between application of precursor removes excess from the chamber between steps.
As for claim 14, CHEN teaches “Bismuth compounds of the invention may be used with appropriate co-reactants in a continuous deposition mode (CVD) or pulsed/atomic layer deposition mode (ALD) to deposit films of superior character. For oxides, preferred co-reactants include O2 and N2O for CVD, and more aggressive oxidizers for pulsed deposition, e.g., H2O, ozone, and O2 plasma” (paragraph 67, lines 1-8), i.e. wherein the source gas is one or more of an oxygen-containing source gas selected from water, diatomic oxygen, oxygen plasma, ozone, NO, N2O, NO2, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and combinations thereof.
As for claim 15, CHEN teaches “The precursors of the invention can be utilized as low temperature deposition precursors with reducing co-reactants such as hydrogen, H2/plasma, amines, imines, hydrazines… ammonia” (paragraph 70, lines 1-4), i.e. wherein the source gas is one or more of a nitrogen containing source gas selected from ammonia, hydrazine.
As for claim 17, CHEN teaches “more aggressive oxidizers for pulsed deposition, e.g., H2O, ozone, and O2 plasma.” (paragraph 67, lines 5-6), i.e. comprising applying energy to the one or more precursor, the source gas, the substrate, and combinations thereof, wherein the energy is one or more of… plasma.
As for claim 18, CHEN is silent on wherein the step b further comprises introducing into the reaction vessel the one or more precursor using a stream of carrier gas to deliver a vapor of the one or more precursor into the reaction vessel.
MA teaches “When the valves are on, hot vapor and inert gas enter the deposition chamber to dose deposition on the substrate surface. The ratio of inert gas entering the chamber and going to the exhaust is adjustable by means of metering valves or mass flow controllers” (paragraph 35, lines 11-15), i.e. wherein the step b further comprises introducing into the reaction vessel the one or more precursor using a stream of carrier gas to deliver a vapor of the one or more precursor into the reaction vessel.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the ALD method of MA as the ALD method of CHEN such that the process includes wherein the step b further comprises introducing into the reaction vessel the one or more precursor using a stream of carrier gas to deliver a vapor of the one or more precursor into the reaction vessel because MA teaches that such a process allow for very accurate control of the final film thickness and the use of a purge gas between application of precursor removes excess from the chamber between steps.
As for claim 19, CHEN teaches “In lieu of solid delivery of the precursor, the precursor may be provided in a solvent medium, forming a solution or suspension. Such precursor-containing solvent composition then may be delivered by liquid delivery and flash vaporized to produce a precursor vapor” (paragraph 77, lines 1-5) and “liquid or solid precursors may be employed in suitable solvents, including for example… aryl solvents ( e.g., benzene or toluene)” (paragraph 70, lines 9-12), i.e. wherein step b further comprises use of a solvent medium comprising one or more of toluene.
Claim(s) 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. US PGPub 2010/0279011 hereinafter CHEN in view of Ma et al. US PGPub 2006/0269667 hereinafter MA as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Lindfors et al. US PGPub 2009/0263578 hereinafter LINDFORS.
As for claim 16, CHEN and MA are silent on wherein the first and second purge gases are each independently selected from one or more of argon, nitrogen, helium, neon, and combinations thereof.
MA does teach “Inert gas is also sent to the deposition chamber to purge out excess precursor and solvent from the previous cycle which can be then carried to an exhaust system” (paragraph 35, lines 5-7),
LINDFORS teaches “An apparatus, such as an ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) apparatus, including a precursor source configured for depositing material on a heated substrate in a deposition reactor by sequential self-saturating surface reactions” (abstract, lines 1-4) and “Thin films that can be deposited with precursor vapor obtained from heated precursor source(s) comprise… bismuth oxide” (lines 1-17).
LINDFORS further teaches “Inactive gas, such as nitrogen or argon, and a vacuum pump are used for purging gaseous reaction by-products and the residual reactant molecules from the reaction space” (paragraph 3, lines 8-11), i.e. wherein the first and second purge gases are each independently selected from one or more of argon, nitrogen, helium, neon, and combinations thereof.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include the purge gases taught by LINDFORS as the purge gases in the combined process of CHEN and MA such that it includes wherein the first and second purge gases are each independently selected from one or more of argon, nitrogen, helium, neon, and combinations thereof because LINDFORS teaches that such gases are inactive and remove by-products and residual reactant molecules from the space.
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KRISTEN A DAGENAIS/ Examiner, Art Unit 1717
