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 .
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 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election with traverse of claims 1-10 and the withdrawal of claims 11-20 in the reply filed on July 6, 2026 are acknowledged.
The Applicant argues that “exposing a substrate to an inhibitor chemical within an atomic layer etching process constitutes a special technical linking feature”. However, this technical feature is not a special technical feature as it does not make a contribution over the prior art, see the rejection to claim 1 below for more details. Because the shared technical feature is known in the art, restriction is proper.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
Claims 1, 3 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fischer et al. (US20170256416).
Regarding claim 1, Fischer discloses a method for performing atomic layer etching of a substrate (abstract), the method comprising: performing a plurality of process cycles (claim 1), at least one process cycle of the plurality of process cycles comprising: exposing the substrate to a modification chemical in a modification step (paragraph 0039 and claim 1), exposing the substrate to an inhibitor chemical (a gas to inhibit the formation of a carbide reads on an inhibitor chemical, paragraph 0040), and exposing the substrate to a volatilization chemical in a removal step (paragraph 0048 and claim 1).
Regarding claim 3, Fischer discloses wherein exposing the substrate to the inhibitor chemical comprises exposing the substrate to a reactive inhibitor species generated by one or more of a remote plasma or an in-situ plasma (paragraph 0042).
Regarding claim 7, Fischer discloses wherein exposing the substrate to a modification chemical comprises exposing the substrate to reactive species generated by a remote plasma comprising the modification chemical (paragraph 0042).
Regarding claim 8, Fischer discloses wherein exposing the substrate to a volatilization chemical comprises exposing the substrate to tin (II)-acetylacetonate (paragraph 0048).
Claims 1, 3-7 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tan et al. (US20170229314).
Regarding claim 1, Tan discloses a method for performing atomic layer etching of a substrate (abstract), the method comprising: performing a plurality of process cycles, at least one process cycle of the plurality of process cycles comprising: exposing the substrate to a modification chemical in a modification step (step 220, Fig. 2 and claim 19), exposing the substrate to an inhibitor chemical (step 260, Fig. 2 and claim 19), and exposing the substrate to a volatilization chemical in a removal step (step 230, Fig. 2 and claim 19).
Regarding claim 3, Tan discloses wherein exposing the substrate to the inhibitor chemical comprises exposing the substrate to a reactive inhibitor species generated by one or more of a remote plasma or an in-situ plasma (oxygen-containing plasma, step 260, Fig. 2 and claim 19).
Regarding claim 4, Tan discloses heating the substrate while introducing the inhibitor chemical (paragraph 0113).
Regarding claim 5, Tan discloses wherein exposing the substrate to an inhibitor chemical comprises exposing the substrate to an oxidizing chemical (oxygen-containing plasma, step 260, Fig. 2 and claim 19).
Regarding claim 6, Tan discloses wherein the oxidizing chemical comprises O2 (paragraph 0076).
Regarding claim 7, Tan discloses wherein exposing the substrate to a modification chemical comprises exposing the substrate to reactive species generated by a remote plasma comprising the modification chemical (paragraph 0061).
Regarding claim 10, Tan discloses wherein the at least one process cycle comprises a first process cycle, and wherein the plurality of process cycles further comprises a second process cycle that omits exposing the substrate to the inhibitor chemical (Fig. 2 and claim 19).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 2 and 9, the cited prior art of record, taken either alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious a method wherein exposing the substrate to the modification chemical comprises exposing the substrate to the modification chemical in a non-saturation regime, in the context of the instant claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIONG-PING LU whose telephone number is (571) 270-1135. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 9:00am – 5:00pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua L Allen, can be reached at telephone number (571)270-3176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIONG-PING LU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
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