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 .
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)(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, 4-7, 11, 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wontae Noh (U. S. Patent Application 2022/0119939, here after 939).
Claims 1-2 are rejected. 939 teaches a method for filling a feature of a structure on a substrate in a chamber, the method comprising:
performing one or more cycles of:
(a) providing a halogen-containing gas to the chamber under non-plasma conditions
to inhibit deposition on at least part of the feature [abstract, 0003];
(b) performing one or more atomic layer deposition cycles to deposit a dielectric
material (silicon oxide or zirconium oxide) in the feature [abstract, 0134, 0135, 0146].
Claim 4 is rejected as the feature comprising silicon oxide (102) [0073], and exposing it to F gas would results in etching and then deposition on surface therefore (a) results in a self-limiting etch.
Claim 5 is rejected as exposing surface (silicon oxide) to F inherently results in a halogen-terminated surface.
Claim 6 is rejected as 939 teaches step (a) further comprises providing water or one or more co-reactants [0034] which in fact form water to the chamber.
Claim 7 is rejected as 939 teaches step (a) comprises providing the halogen-containing gas(F), and also teaches a co-reactant such as hydrogen (H₂), and oxygen (O₂) to the chamber [0034].
Claim 11 is rejected as 939 teaches co-reactant as water in chamber and also H2 and O2 (co-reactants) [0034] can react and make water.
Claim 13 is rejected as 939 teaches the inhibition in (a) is greater at a feature opening than deeper within the feature [fig. 2].
Claim 14 is rejected as 939 teaches (b) comprises performing a plurality of atomic layer deposition cycles to deposit the dielectric feature [0134].
Claim 15 is rejected. 939 teaches (b) is performed more times per cycle than (a) [0148 lines 15-26].
Claim 16 is rejected as in step (a) F etch the dielectric layer and form a layer on it (adsorption, 0155), therefore step a is diffusion-limited.
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Wontae Noh (U. S. Patent Application 2022/0119939, here after 939), further in view of Dustin Z. Austin et al (WO 2021/202808, here after 808).
Claim 3 is rejected. 939 teaches inhibitor comprising fluorine, but does not teach before performing one or more cycles of (a) and (b), depositing a liner layer in the feature by atomic layer deposition. 808 teaches prior to depositing inhibitor and by ALD depositing a liner to protect the feature (from unwanted etch) [0032, 0035]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 939 and deposit a lining layer, because it protects features from etching (by fluorine).
Claims 8-9, and 17-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Wontae Noh (U. S. Patent Application 2022/0119939, here after 939) further in view of Joseph Able et al (WO 2020/009818, here after 818).
Claim 8 is rejected. 939 teaches the limitation of claim 1, and teaches the structure comprises a vertically-oriented feature, where the vertically-oriented feature having sidewalls [fig. 2] for forming a memory device [0073], but does not teach the structure comprises a plurality of openings in the sidewalls leading to a plurality of laterally-oriented features. 818 teaches a method of gap filling structure for making memory device, where the structure comprises a plurality of openings in the sidewalls leading to a plurality of laterally-oriented features fluidically accessible through the plurality of openings, and wherein the feature is one of the laterally-oriented features [fig. 1c, 0001108]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 939 where the feature in substrate comprising vertical feature with horizontal opening, because it is suitable to make memory devices.
Claim 9 is rejected as 939 teaches inhibitor may generated with or without plasma [0026]; therefore, in some cycles can perform as steps (1) and (b) and in some cycles as (c) and (d).
Claim 17 is rejected. 939 teaches a method for filling a feature of a structure on a substrate in a chamber, the method comprising: performing one or more cycles of:
a) in letting a halogen-containing gas to a chamber housing the structure under
non-plasma conditions to inhibit deposition on features [abstract, 0003]; and
b) performing one or more atomic layer deposition cycles to deposit a dielectric
material in the feature [abstract, 0134, 0135, 0146] and performing it a plurality of times (ALD). 939 teaches the structure comprises a vertically-oriented feature, where the vertically-oriented feature having sidewalls [fig. 2] for forming a memory device [0073], but does not teach the structure comprises a plurality of openings in the sidewalls leading to a plurality of laterally-oriented features. 818 teaches a method of gap filling structure for making memory device, where the structure comprises a plurality of openings in the sidewalls leading to a plurality of laterally-oriented features fluidically accessible through the plurality of openings, and wherein the feature is one of the laterally-oriented features [fig. 1c, 0001108]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 939 where the feature in substrate comprising vertical feature with horizontal opening, because it is suitable to make memory devices. 818 also teaches using inhibitors prior to gasp filling [0068] which in fact leads to formation of inhibitors on at least part of each of the plurality of laterally-oriented features.
Claim 18 is rejected as 939 teaches (a) further comprises inletting hydrogen (H₂) and (O2) to the chamber [0034].
Claim 19 is rejected as the structure is high aspect ratio, and the gases come from a showerhead (above the substrate) in step (a) therefore inhibiting a portion of each feature near a feature opening to a greater extent than deeper within the feature.
Claim 20 is rejected as 939 teaches step (b) comprises performing a plurality of atomic layer deposition cycles to deposit the dielectric feature (ALD) [0146].
Claim 21 Claim 15 is rejected. 939 teaches (b) is performed more times per cycle than (a) [0148 lines 15-26].
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Wontae Noh (U. S. Patent Application 2022/0119939, here after 939) further in view of Heon Byeon et al (U. S. Patent Application 2021/0028187, here after 187).
Claim 12 is rejected. 939 teaches halogen containing gas is fluorine but not hydrogen fluoride. 187 teaches a method for filling a feature of a structure by
providing an inhibitor such as fluorine-containing gas to the chamber to inhibit deposition on at least part of the feature [0017, fig. 2D], prior to step of
depositing a dielectric Material (silicon oxide) in the feature [0021]. 187 also teaches the halogen-containing gas is hydrogen fluoride [0017]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 939 where the inhibitor is HF, because it is suitable fluoride inhibitor for selectively deposition and gas filling.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TABASSOM TADAYYON ESLAMI whose telephone number is (571)270-1885. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gordon Baldwin can be reached at 5712725166. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TABASSOM TADAYYON ESLAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718
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