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 .
Remarks
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 10/07/24. Examiner acknowledged that claims 1-11 are pending.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/07/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nanba (US 8043467).
Regarding Claim 1, Nanba teaches a film-forming method for forming a film (Fig. 5: 110) on a substrate (Fig. 1; W), the film-forming method comprising: (A) forming the film on the substrate by, rotating the substrate (Fig. 5), moving one of the substrate or a nozzle gas discharge mechanism (Fig. 1: 48, 52) relative to another of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism such that a discharge hole of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism passes over a center of the substrate, and discharging a processing gas (Fig. 5: hydrofluoric acid) toward the substrate from the discharge hole; and (B) changing a discharge condition of the processing gas from that in (A), and adjusting a film thickness of the film (Fig. 5: 110) formed on the substrate by, in the process chamber, rotating the substrate, moving one of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism relative to another of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism (Fig. 2: 47, 51 moving the nozzle up and down), and discharging the processing gas toward the substrate from the discharge hole.
Nanba does not explicitly teach in Fig. 1 a process chamber. However, it is well known in the art that a process chamber houses a substrate in order for plasma generation to be performed since a chamber having a substrate is the industry standard for etching a substrate properly using gases.
Regarding Claim 2, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 1, wherein in (B), a discharge condition of the processing gas is changed such that the discharge hole faces, for a longer time, a region in which the film thickness of the film formed in (A) is smaller than that of a target shape (Fig. 5C: 21 is applied longer to make the film uniform).
Regarding Claim 3, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 2, wherein in (B), a range in which one of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism is moved relative to another of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism is made narrower than that in (A) (Fig. 2; 47, 51 can be moved to become narrower as it reaches the center of the substrate).
Regarding Claim 4, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 3, wherein in (B), the range in which one of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism is moved relative to another of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism is gradually narrowed over time (Fig. 2; 47, 51 can be moved to become narrower as it reaches the center of the substrate; Fig. 5; this can be seen as the center is filled to be even and uniform with the rest of the substrate).
Regarding Claim 5, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 1, wherein in (A), the film is formed to have a projecting shape in which a film thickness thereof is larger in a region closer to the center of the substrate than on an outer edge side of the substrate, and in (B), the film is formed to have a film thickness that is uniform between in the region closer to the center of the substrate and on the outer edge side of the substrate (Fig. 7C, Fig. 7E).
Regarding Claim 6, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 1, wherein the film-forming method performs (B) after (A) (Fig. 7C, Fig. 7E).
Regarding Claim 7, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 6, wherein the film-forming method performs (B) after (A) without carrying the substrate out of the process chamber (Fig. 7C, Fig. 7E is carried out in the chamber as the substrate rotates).
Regarding Claim 8, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 1, wherein in at least one of (A) or (B), a speed at which one of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism is moved relative to another of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism is changed in accordance with a position in the substrate faced by the discharge hole ([col 8 ln40] “wafer W is preferably set to be 100 to 1,000 rpm”).
Regarding Claim 9, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle gas discharge mechanism includes a first nozzle gas discharge mechanism and a second nozzle gas discharge mechanism that are configured to discharge the processing gas to the substrate, and in (A) and (B), in a state in which the substrate is being rotated, the first nozzle gas discharge mechanism and the second nozzle gas discharge mechanism are caused to swing independently of each other (Fig. 2; 47 , 51 are moved independent of each other).
Regarding Claim 10, Nanba teaches the film-forming method according to claim 9, wherein the first nozzle gas discharge mechanism includes a first nozzle extending in the process chamber, a first nozzle driver (fig. 2; 48) provided at a base end of the first nozzle and configured to swing the first nozzle, and a first head (Fig. 2: 21a) provided at a front end of the first nozzle and configured to discharge an adsorbing gas as the processing gas, and the second nozzle gas discharge mechanism (Fig. 2: 52) includes a second nozzle extending in the process chamber, a second nozzle driver provided at a base end of the second nozzle and configured to swing the second nozzle, and a second head (fig. 2: 22a) provided at a front end of the second nozzle and configured to discharge, as the processing gas, a reactive gas that is reactive with the adsorbing gas.
Regarding Claim 11, Nanba teaches a film-forming apparatus configured to form a film (Fig. 5: 110) on a substrate (Fig. 1; W), the film-forming apparatus comprising: a substrate support (Fig. 1: 2a) configured to support the substrate and rotate (Fig. 7) the substrate; a nozzle gas discharge mechanism including a discharge hole configured to discharge a processing gas (Fig. 5C: 21, Fig. 5D: 22) toward the substrate supported by the substrate support; and a controller (Fig. 1: 101) including a memory (Fig. 1: 101 having nonvolatile memory) and a processor (fig. 1: 101 comprises a micro-processor) coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to control movements of the substrate support (Fig. 1; 2) and the nozzle gas discharge mechanism (Fig. 1: 48, 52), and control (A) forming the film on the substrate by, in the process chamber, rotating the substrate (Fig. 5), moving one of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism relative to another of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism such that the discharge hole of the nozzle gas discharge mechanism passes over a center of the substrate, and discharging the processing gas toward the substrate from the discharge hole (Fig. 2: 51, 47 moves the nozzles up and down), and (B) changing a discharge condition of the processing gas from that in (A), and adjusting a film thickness of the film formed on the substrate by, in the process chamber, rotating the substrate, moving one of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism relative to another of the substrate or the nozzle gas discharge mechanism, and discharging the processing gas toward the substrate from the discharge hole (Fig. 5B-E).
Nanba does not explicitly teach in Fig. 1 a process chamber configured to house the substrate. However, it is well known in the art that a process chamber houses a substrate in order for plasma generation to be performed since a chamber having a substrate is the industry standard for etching a substrate properly using gases.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENRY T LUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7008. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday: 8:00-6:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander Taningco can be reached at (571) 272-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Henry Luong/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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