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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the subject matter of claim 12 such as “depositing the oxide layer between the plurality of hard mask mandrels” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 12 and 13 are 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 12 recites the limitation “depositing the oxide layer between the plurality of hard mask mandrels.” This limitation renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear how this step could be performed, because “the oxide layer” is already formed on the substrate as recited in the parent claim 9.
Claim 13 is indefinite due to it dependance on indefinite claim 12.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Schultz (US 2018/0286942).
Regarding claim 1, Schultz discloses a method, comprising: forming an oxide layer (Fig.1, numeral 104) on a substrate (102); forming a plurality of oxide mandrels (Fig.2, upper part of (104)) on the oxide layer (104); depositing a first metal layer (Fig.5, numeral 510) on the plurality of oxide mandrels (upper part of (104)) and the oxide layer (104); depositing a dielectric layer (Fig.6, numeral 610) on the first metal layer (510); and forming a second metal layer (620) on the dielectric layer (610).
Regarding claim 2, Schultz discloses forming a first interconnect structure (Fig.10, numeral 1020) electrically connected to the first metal layer (510); and forming a second interconnect structure (1022) electrically connected to the second metal layer (610) ([0037]).
Regarding claim 5, Schultz discloses wherein depositing the first metal layer comprises depositing a metal on top and side surfaces of the plurality of oxide mandrels (Fig. 5, numeral 510).
Regarding claim 6, Schultz discloses wherein forming the dielectric layer comprises depositing a high-k dielectric material on top and side surfaces of the first metal layer (510) ([0035]).
Regarding claim 8, Schultz discloses forming the second metal layer comprises: depositing a metal (Fig.7, numeral 620) on the dielectric layer ([0035]); and removing the deposited metal outside an area of the plurality of oxide mandrels (Fig.8) ([0036]).
Claim(s) 1 ,7, 9, 14, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)/(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tseng (US 2015/0295020).
Regarding claim 1, Tseng discloses a method, comprising: forming an oxide layer (Fig. 4, numeral 110) on a substrate (210); forming a plurality of oxide mandrels (upper part of (110)) on the oxide layer (110); depositing a first metal layer (402) on the plurality of oxide mandrels (upper part of (110)) and the oxide layer (110); depositing a dielectric layer (404) on the first metal layer (402); and forming a second metal layer (40) on the dielectric layer (404).
Regarding claim 7, Tseng discloses forming a capping layer (408) on the second metal layer (406).
Regarding claim 9, Tseng discloses a method, comprising: forming a capacitor structure (101) (Fig.4, numerals 402-406) on a substrate (210), wherein forming the capacitor structure comprises: forming an oxide layer (Fig.4, numeral 110) on the substrate (210); forming a plurality of oxide mandrels (upper part of (110)) on the oxide layer (110); depositing a first metal layer (402) on the plurality of oxide mandrels ([0034]); depositing a dielectric layer (404) on the first metal layer (402); and forming a second metal layer (406) on the dielectric layer (404); forming a capping layer (408) on the capacitor structure; forming an intermetallic dielectric layer ([0017]; numeral 116)) on the capacitor structure and the capping layer (408); and forming one or more interconnect structures (120a) ; (120b) in the intermetallic dielectric layer (116) and electrically connected to the capacitor structure (101).
Regarding claim 14, Tseng discloses wherein forming the first metal layer comprises depositing a metal (Fig.4, numeral 402) on top and side surfaces of the plurality of oxide mandrels (110).
Regarding claim 15, Tseng discloses wherein forming the dielectric layer comprises depositing a high-k dielectric material on top and side surfaces of the first metal layer ([0025]).
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.
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schultz (US 2018/0286942) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Ting (US 2007/0059879).
Regarding claim 3, Schutz discloses wherein forming the plurality of oxide mandrels comprises: depositing a mask layer (Fig.1, numeral 106) on the oxide layer (104); etching the mask layer (Fig.1, numeral 120) to form a plurality of mask mandrels; etching the oxide layer between the plurality of mask mandrels (Fig. 2, numeral 210); and removing the plurality of mask mandrels (Fig.3).
Schultz does not disclose that the mask is a hard mask.
Ting however discloses that the mask is a hard mask (Fig.4A, numeral P; [0042]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Shultz with Ting to have the mask as a hard mask because this is a typical material for forming mask layers.
Regarding claim 4, Ting discloses wherein removing the plurality of hard mask mandrels comprises performing a wet etch process on the plurality of hard mask mandrels ([0043]).
Claim(s) 10 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Schultz.
Regarding claim 10, Tseng does not disclose forming the second metal layer comprises: depositing a metal on the dielectric layer and removing the deposited metal outside an area of the plurality of oxide mandrels.
Schultz however discloses depositing a metal (Fig.7, numeral 620) on the dielectric layer (510); and removing the deposited metal outside an area of the plurality of oxide mandrels (Fig.8).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the at the time the invention was filed to modify Tseng with Schultz to deposit a metal on the dielectric layer and removing the deposited metal outside an area of the plurality of oxide mandrels for the purpose of placement a connecting via (Schultz, [0036]).
Regarding claim 11, Schultz discloses wherein removing the deposited metal outside the area of the plurality of oxide mandrels comprises performing an etching process on the deposited metal ([0036]).
Claim(s) 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Schultz and Ting.
Regarding claim 12, Tseng does not disclose wherein forming the plurality of oxide mandrels on the oxide layer comprises: depositing a hard mask layer on the oxide layer; etching the hard mask layer to form a plurality of hard mask mandrels; depositing the oxide layer between the plurality of hard mask mandrels; and removing the plurality of hard mask mandrels.
Shultz however discloses wherein forming the plurality of oxide mandrels comprises: depositing a mask layer (Fig.1, numeral 106) on the oxide layer (104); etching the mask layer (Fig.1, numeral 120) to form a plurality of mask mandrels; etching the oxide layer between the plurality of mask mandrels (Fig. 2, numeral 210); and depositing the oxide layer (Fig, 10, numeral 1010) between the plurality of mask mandrels; removing the plurality of mask mandrels (Fig.3).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Tseng with Schultz to deposit a mask layer on the oxide layer; etching the mask layer to form a plurality of mask mandrels; etching the oxide layer between the plurality of mask mandrels; and removing the plurality of mask mandrels for the purpose of efficiently fabricate a MIM capacitor (Schultz, [0003]; [0004]).
Tseng in view of Schultz does not disclose that and the mask is a hard mask
Ting however discloses that the mask is a hard mask (Fig.4A, numeral P; [0042]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Shultz with Ting to have the mask as a hard mask because this is a typical material for forming mask layers.
Claims 16, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeng (US 2018/0068978) in view of Tseng.
Regarding claim 16, Jeng discloses a method, comprising: forming a redistribution layer (Fig.2B, numeral 20) comprising solder bumps (26); and forming an interposer structure (36) electrically connected to the redistribution layer (20), wherein forming the interposer structure comprises: forming a capacitor structure on a substrate (10) ([0031]), forming one or more dies (30) on the substrate (10); and depositing an additional dielectric layer (Fig.2C, numeral 40) surrounding the one or more dies (30) and the first and second interconnect structures (36C) of the capacitor structure (36).
Jeng does not disclose wherein the capacitor structure comprises: an oxide layer comprising a plurality of oxide mandrels; a first metal layer on the plurality of oxide mandrels; a dielectric layer over the first metal layer; a second metal layer over the dielectric layer; a first interconnect structure extending through the dielectric layer and electrically connected to the first metal layer; and a second interconnect structure electrically connected to the second metal layer.
Tseng however discloses wherein the capacitor structure comprises: an oxide layer comprising a plurality of oxide mandrels (Fig.4, upper parts of (110)); a first metal layer (402) on the plurality of oxide mandrels (110); a dielectric layer (404) over the first metal layer (402); a second metal layer (406) over the dielectric layer (110); a first interconnect structure (120a) extending through the dielectric layer (404) and electrically connected to the first metal layer (402); and a second interconnect structure (120b) electrically connected to the second metal layer (406).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was field to modify Jeng with Tseng to have the capacitor structure comprises: an oxide layer comprising a plurality of oxide mandrels; a first metal layer on the plurality of oxide mandrels; a dielectric layer over the first metal layer; a second metal layer over the dielectric layer; a first interconnect structure extending through the dielectric layer and electrically connected to the first metal layer; and a second interconnect structure electrically connected to the second metal layer for the purpose of fabrication a MIM capacitor (Tseng, [0017]).
Regarding claim 17, Tseng discloses forming a capping layer (408) on the dielectric layer (404) and the second metal layer (406), wherein the capping layer (408) is in contact with the dielectric layer (404).
Regarding claim 20, Tseng discloses wherein forming the capacitor structure further comprises depositing a high-k dielectric material on the first metal layer ([0025]).
Claims 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeng in view of Tseng as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Schultz and Ting.
Regarding claim 18, Jeng in view of Tseng does not disclose wherein forming the capacitor structure further comprises: depositing a hard mask layer on the oxide layer; etching the hard mask layer to form a plurality of hard mask mandrels; etching the oxide layer between the plurality of hard mask mandrels; and removing the plurality of hard mask mandrels.
Schultz however discloses wherein forming the capacitor structure further comprises: depositing a mask layer (Fig.1, numeral 106) on the oxide layer (104); etching the mask layer to form a plurality of mask mandrels (110) (Fig.1); etching the oxide layer between the plurality of mask mandrels (Fig.2); and removing the plurality of mask mandrels (Fig.3).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Jeng with Schultz to deposit a mask layer on the oxide layer; etching the mask layer to form a plurality of mask mandrels; etching the oxide layer between the plurality of mask mandrels; and removing the plurality of mask mandrels for the purpose of efficiently fabricate a MIM capacitor (Schultz, [0003]; [0004]).
Jeng in view of Tseng and Schultz does not disclose that the mask is a hard mask.
Ting however discloses that the mask is a hard mask (Fig.4A, numeral P; [0042]).
It would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Jeng in view of Tseng and Shultz with Ting to have the mask as a hard mask because this is a typical material for forming mask layers.
Regarding claim 19, Ting discloses wherein removing the plurality of hard mask mandrels comprises performing a wet etch process on the plurality of hard mask mandrels ([0043]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIA SLUTSKER whose telephone number is (571)270-3849. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9 am-6 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Landau can be reached at 571-272-1731. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JULIA SLUTSKER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2891
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