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 .
Receipt is acknowledged of Applicant’s Amendments and Arguments filed on 05/13/2026.
Claim 1 has been amended.
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.
Claim(s) 1 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ritala et al. (US 6,632,279) in view of Jones (US 7,927,661) and Yoshino et al. (US 2017/0050998) are maintained for reasons of record in the previous office action filed on 01/15/2026.
Ritala discloses a method for growing thin oxide films on the surface of a substrate by alternatively reacting the surface of the substrate with a metal source material and an oxygen source material. The oxygen source material is preferably a metal alkoxide. The metal source material may be a metal halide, hydride, alkoxide, alkyl, a cyclopentadienylcompound, or a diketonate (abstract). Ritala discloses that, the deposition of a thin film is carried out by means of alternating saturated surface reactions. These reactions are implemented by directing gaseous or vaporized source materials alternately the reactor and by rinsing the reactor with an inert gas between the source material pulses and thin oxide films are deposited at a temperature which is so high that, when becoming adsorbed to the substrate surface, a vaporized source material reacts with a molecule layer of a second source material, or that a vaporized source material becomes adsorbed as such and reacts with a second source material directed to the substrate surface in the subsequent step (Col. 4 line 27-40). The metal may be, for example, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, or ytterbium (Col. 5 line 50+). In preferred embodiment, a protective layer is deposited on the surface of a readily oxidizing substrate material. The protective layer is typically fewer than 20, and preferably approximately 1-5 atom layers thick. When the substrate has been covered with a film thus deposited, the deposition is continued by some other process, for example, by using water or hydrogen peroxide as the oxygen source material (Col. 3 lines
16-25). By the procedure according to the embodiment it is possible to optimize, for example, the film growth rate and/or the purity of the film (Col. 8 lines 37-41). Additional disclosure includes that, considerable advantages are achieved by means of the invention. Owing to the new oxygen source materials, ALD can also be exploited in applications in which present-day oxygen source materials cause problems, for example, by oxidizing the substrate surface, since oxygen is bound directly to the metal in the metal compounds to which the invention relates, oxidation of the substrate surface presupposes the breaking of the metal-oxygen bond. On the other hand, the metal-oxygen bond can be affected by the selection of the metal and the compound type.
Ritala fails to disclose alkoxide compounds and carbon content in thin film is less than 1.0 atom % and thickness of 0.06 nm or more per one cycle.
Jones discloses stable volatile rare earth metal oxide precursors suitable for use in chemical vapour deposition techniques. Preferred precursors have the general formula: M[OCR¹(R²)(CH₂)nX]₃, wherein M is a rare earth metal, especially praseodymium, R¹ is H or an alkyl group, R² is an optionally substituted alky group and X is selected from OR and NR₂, R is an alkyl group or a substituted alkyl group (Col. 2 lines 7-28). The precursor may also be suitable for use in the deposition of praseodymium oxide films by other chemical vapour deposition techniques, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD). Other volatile rare earth precursors for use in MOCVD, ALD, or sol-gel processes may include lanthanide (rare-earth) elements, such as La, Ce, Gd, Pm, Eu, Th, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yo and Lu as well as Group IIIB elements including Sc and Y (Col. 3 lines 12-26). Analysis of the films by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that all the as-grown films exhibited smooth surfaces and uniform cross-sectional thicknesses (Col. 4 lines 65+). Analysis by auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis of Pr-oxide films deposited from [Pr(mmp)3] showed that the films are pure Pr-oxide, with no detectable carbon (Table 2). Carbon was not detected in any of the films at the estimated detection limit of <0.5 at -% and carbon free La-oxide films were obtained, even in the absence of oxygen (Col. 6 lines 28-35).
Yoshino discloses compound of general formula (I):
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99
183
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, wherein R¹ and R² independently
represent a straight chain or branched chain alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, and a thin film-forming raw material that uses this cobalt compound (abstract). The physical properties of the cobalt compound of this invention, which is a precursor, are suitable for vapor phase thin film formation methods, and especially CVD methods and ALD methods, the thin film-forming raw material of this invention is particularly useful as a raw material used in these film formation methods (0032). The deposition rate can be controlled by adjusting raw material supply conditions (vaporization temperature and vaporization pressure), reaction temperature and reaction pressure. If the deposition rate is too high,
the characteristics of the obtained thin film may deteriorate, and if the deposition rate is too low, productivity problems may occur. Therefore, the deposition rate is preferably 0.01 to 5000 nm/min, and more preferably 0.1 to 1000 nm/min. In addition, in the case of an ALD method, the number of cycles should be controlled so as to obtain the desired film thickness (0072). When using an ALD method to produce thin film, one cycle is deemed to be one series of steps comprising the precursor thin film formation step, the discharge step and the thin film formation step, and this cycle may be repeated a plurality of times until a thin film having the required film thickness is obtained. In such cases, it is preferable to carry out one cycle, discharge unreactedraw material gas, reactive gas and by-produced gas from the film formation chamber in the same way as in the discharge step, and then carry out the next cycle (0076). The obtained thin film was measured in terms of film thickness using an X-ray reflectance method, and the structure and composition of the thin film were confirmed using an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that the film thickness obtained per unit time was 0.2 to 1.0 nm/min, and that the obtained thin films were all cobalt oxide thin films (0139). Additional disclosure includes that the deposition rate can be controlled by adjusting raw material supply conditions (vaporization temperature and vaporization pressure), reaction temperature and reaction pressure. If the deposition rate is too high, the characteristics of the obtained thin film may deteriorate, and if the deposition rate is too low, productivity problems may occur. Therefore, the deposition rate is preferably 0.01 to 5000 nm/min, and more preferably 0.1 to 1000 nm/min. In addition, in the case of an ALD method, the number of cycles should be controlled so as to obtain the desired film thickness.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Jones and Yoshino into Ritala to arrive at the claimed thin film containing metal compound. Jones teaches that the precursors of the invention can also be used in in combination with an appropriate silicon precursor for the MOCVD of lanthanide silicates, and with appropriate co- precursors for the MOCVD of multi-component oxides, such as PrxMyOz containing praseodymium, or other rare earth metals with metals (M) from other groups of the periodic table (Col. 3 lines 27-35), Yoshino teaches that the deposition rate can be controlled by adjusting raw material supply conditions (vaporization temperature and vaporization pressure), reaction temperature and reaction pressure, and in the case of an ALD method, the number of cycles should be controlled so as to obtain the desired film thickness When using an ALD method to produce thin film, one cycle is deemed to be one series of steps comprising the precursor thin film formation step, the discharge step and the thin film formation step, and this cycle may be repeated a plurality of times until
a thin film having the required film thickness is obtained. In such cases, it is preferable to carry out one cycle, discharge unreacted raw material gas, reactive gas and by-produced gas from the film formation chamber in the same way as in the discharge step, and then carry out the next cycle ( 0072 and 0076). Given the physical properties of the metal alkoxides implicit in Ritala to the application of the metal alkoxide to ALD processes, one skied in the art would be motivated to use the compounds with a reasonable expectation of successfully obtaining an economically viable source of thin film precursors.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 05/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that in Jones reference, only precursors containing 1-methoxy-2-methy-2-propanolate (mmP0 ligands are observed for their crystal structure and actually used in the thin film producing method, it would be unclear and unpredictable what crystal structure is adopted when aminoalkoxide compounds are used as precursors. This argument is not persuasive since, it is noted that a reference may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill the art, including nonpreferred embodiments. Merck & Co. v. Biocraft Laboratories, 874 F.2d 804, 10 USPQ2d 1843 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 975 (1989). Further both Ritala and Jones reference is suggestive of precursors for deposition of metal oxide layers or films, method of making such precursors and methods of depositing metal oxide layers or films using such precursors by chemical vapour deposition techniques, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) (Col. 3 line 12-15). And further Jones discloses method of depositing a single or mixed metal oxide layer or film by atomic layer deposition (ALD), comprising using a rare earth metal precursor corresponding in structure to M[OCR1(R2)CH2X]3, wherein M is a rare earth metal (lanthanum), R1 is H or an alkyl group, R2 is an alkyl group optionally substituted with an alkoxy group, X is selected from the group consisting of OR and NR2, wherein R is an alkyl group optionally substituted with an alkoxy group (claim 18). Applicant argues that Jones is directed to the use of metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) to produce thin films and ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that these results are only specific to thin films formed using a compound containing an mmp ligand by MOCVD method. Jones fails to provide even a single example using ALD .In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. In this case, the Jones patent is relied upon to show that it is known in the art the precursors may also be suitable for use in the deposition of lanthanide (rare-earth) elements films by other chemical vapour deposition techniques, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) (Col. 3 line 12-15) and since Jones discloses both methods MOCVD and ALD would obviously generate films by ALD wherein carbon was not detected in any of the films at the estimated detection limit of ,0>5% and carbon-free La-oxide films were obtained, even in the absence of oxygen (Col. 6 line 28-35). Ritala discloses a method for growing thin oxide films (ALD) on the surface of a substrate by alternatively reacting the surface of the substrate with a metal source material and an oxygen source material. The oxygen source material is preferably a metal alkoxide (abstract) and discloses that the idea of using in the ALD process oxygen source materials which react well with a metal compound but which are less active as regards the oxidation of the substrate. Such oxygen sources include organometallic compounds in which the oxygen atom(s) is (are) bound to a metal, i.e. compounds which comprise at least one organic ligand and in which the metal atom(s) is (are) bound to oxygen, Metal alkoxides are preferably used. Applicant further argues that Yoshino discloses a method of producing thin films using thin film formation raw materials comprising cobalt-containing aminoalkoxide compounds and fails to provide a single example of cobalt oxide thin films produced by ALD. This argument is not persuasive since Yoshino patent is relied upon to show that the deposition rate can be controlled by adjusting raw material supply conditions (vaporization temperature and vaporization pressure) reaction temperature and reaction pressure to produce thin films of desired thickness. Yoshino discloses that if the deposition rate is too high, the characteristics of the obtained thin films may deteriorate, and if the deposition rate is too low, productivity problems may occur. Therefore, the deposition rate is preferably 0.01 to 5000 nm/min, and more preferably 0.1 to 1000 nm/min. In addition, in the case of an ALD method, the number of cycles should be controlled so as to obtain the desired film thickness (0069 and 0072). Yoshino discloses that when using an ALD method to produce a cobalt oxide thin film, one cycle is deemed to be one series of steps comprising the precursor thin film formation step, the discharge step and the cobalt oxide thin film formation step, and this cycle may be repeated a plurality of times until a cobalt oxide thin film having the required film thickness is obtained. In such cases, it is preferable to carry out one cycle, discharge unreacted raw material gas, reactive gas and by-produced gas from the film formation chamber in the same way as in the discharge step, and then carry out the next cycle (0076). Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonably high expectation of success in producing the instant invention using the guidance set forth by the reference. Therefore, the invention as a whole would also have been prima-facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made, as evidenced by the references, alone or in combination, especially in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed at this time.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/J.R.S/Examiner, Art Unit 1618 /JAKE M VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1618
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