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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-22 are pending in this application, which is a 371 of PCT/US2023/062877. Amended claims 1, 4, 11, 15-16, 21 are noted.
The amendment dated 06/12/2026 has been entered and carefully considered. The examiner appreciates the amendments to the abstract, title, and claims. In view of said amendments and arguments, the objections to the abstract and title, the previous 112 rejection and the art rejection have been withdrawn in favor of a new art rejection. As a result, this action is NOT made final. The examiner regrets the inconvenience.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
In claim 11 line 1, from which claim 12 depends, the newly added limitation of “completely” is deemed new matter as there appears to be no support for such a limitation in the original specification.
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.
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.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al. (2021/0082750) in view of Na et al. (WO 2021/046058).
Yu teaches a method of bottom-up metallization in a recessed feature (title) in which a substrate having a recess formed therein is coated with a conformal liner on the bottom and sidewalls of the recess and the conformal liner is subsequently removed (abstract) by etching (0006). Metal is selectively deposited in a lower portion of the recess to form a metallization feature (abstract and Figure 1). In one embodiment, an initial metal deposition process deposits more metal on lower portions of the sidewalls before the selective deposition (0008, Figure 3) followed by a subsequent metal deposition (0009). However, the reference fails to teach a metal compound.
Na teaches a method of selectively depositing a molybdenum film (408) on a metal containing surface on a substrate which includes a feature which fills the feature (0005 and Figure 4). The feature has a bottom and sidewalls which are covered with oxide or nitride surfaces (0005 and Figure 4), which meets the claimed limitation of a conformal layer. The precursors can be molybdenum-containing oxyhalide precursor and a reducing agent (0005 and Figure 6B). It is specifically noted that the specification teaches that a compound is also referred to as a precursor (0068). Hence, the molybdenum-containing oxyhalide precursor of Na meets the newly added limitation of a compound. It would have been obvious to use the claimed precursors including the metal compound of Na in the process of Yu with the expectation of success because Na teaches of using an oxyhalide precursor.
Regarding claim 2, Na teaches hydrogen (0005).
Regarding claim 3, Na teaches titanium nitride (0005).
Regarding claim 4, Na teaches molybdenum oxyhalide (0005).
Regarding claim 5, Yu teaches sequential etching (0006).
Regarding claim 6, the applicant requires simultaneous etching. Yu teaches sequential etching (0006). Generally, no invention is involved in the broad concept of performing simultaneously operations which have previously been performed in sequence.
Regarding claim 7, Na teaches molybdenum oxyhalide (0005).
Regarding claim 8, Na teaches molybdenum tetrafluoride oxide (0032).
Regarding claim 9, Na teaches a temperature of 350-600oC (0033).
Regarding claim 10, Na teaches a pressure from 1 to 100 Torr (0037).
Regarding claim 11, Yu teaches completely filling (0032).
Regarding claim 12, the applicant requires titanium disilicide. It is noted that Na teaches titanium silicide (0005). Given Na’s teaching, it would have been obvious to utilize titanium disilicide in the absence of a showing of unexpected results.
Regarding claim 13, Chandrashekar teaches cleaning (0008).
Regarding claim 14, Chandrashekar teaches etching sidewalls only (0004).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-22 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) above have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant argues that the references fail to teach preferentially etching the conformal liner layer from the feature sidewall with the metal-containing compound (p.8 first full paragraph).
The examiner agrees and notes the new grounds of rejection.
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are not deemed persuasive.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRET CHEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1417. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-8:30 MT.
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, Gordon Baldwin can be reached at (571) 272-5166. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRET P CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718 07/25/2026
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