DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-9 are pending.
The foreign priority application No.2024-039577 filed on March 14, 2024 in Japan has been received and it is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 1-4 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuyama et al. (US 2015/0248052) in view of Hatakeyama et al. (US 2010/0055621).
With regard to claim 1, Masuyama et al. teach a photoresist composition comprising the resin A1, the compound I-1, and a mixture of organic solvents (Comp.4 in Table 1, par.0563, par.0568). The resin A1 is represented by the formula:
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(par.0554), and the compound I-1 is represented by the formula:
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(par.0492).
The compound I-1 is a hypervalent iodine compound of formula (I) in claim 1, wherein R1 and R2 are C10 hydrocarbyl groups, and n=0.
The first two repeating units of the resin A1 are units comprising acid-labile groups (see par.0061 and par.0078), so the resin A1 is “a polymer comprising repeating units having an acid labile groups” in claim 1.
Masuyama et al. fail to teach that the resin A1 comprises a carboxy group, as required in claim 1.
Hatakeyama et al. teach a photoresist and a patterning process (abstract).
Hatakeyama et al. teach a base polymer which may comprise an adhesion group, such as a carboxy group, which may raise the glass transition temperature of the base polymer (Tg) and increase its mechanical strength (par.0055-0056). The base polymer may also comprise a repeating unit comprising an acid labile group (par.0079).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to include a repeating unit comprising a carboxy group in the resin A1 of Masuyama et al., in order to increase the mechanical strength of the resin.
Therefore, the photoresist composition of Masuyama modified by Hatakeyama is equivalent to the resist composition in claim 1.
With regard to claim 2, the repeating units of formulas:
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of the resin A1 are repeating units of formula (a1), wherein RA is a methyl group, X1 is a single bond, and AL1 is an acid labile group (see definitions in par.0061 and par.0078 of Masuyama et al.).
With regard to claim 3, Hatakeyama et al. teach that a repeating unit comprising a carboxy group may be represented by the formulas:
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or
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(par.0062, par.0120, par.0122).
The repeating units above are recurring units of formula (2), wherein RA is a methyl group, XA is a single bond or a C10 hydrocarbylene group.
With regard to claim 4, the repeating unit of formula:
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of the resin A1 is a repeating unit of formula (c1), wherein RA is a methyl group and R21 is a C10 group comprising hydroxyl groups.
With regard to claims 6 and 7, Masuyama et al. teach that the photoresist composition further comprises the photoacid generators B1-21 and B1-22 and the quenched D1 (Comp.4 in Table 1, par.0563).
With regard to claim 8, Masuyama et al. teach that the photoresist composition may further comprise a surfactant (par.0450).
With regard to claim 9, Masuyama et al. teach that a photoresist pattern may be produced by the following steps:
-applying the photoresist composition on a substrate and drying to form a composition film;
-exposing the composition film; and
-developing the exposed composition film (par.0457-0462).
Masuyama et al. further teach that the exposure may be performed with KrF excimer laser, ArF excimer laser, extreme ultraviolet (EUV), or electron beam (EB)(par.0478).
6. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuyama et al. (US 2015/0248052) in view of Hatakeyama et al. (US 2010/0055621) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Matsumaru et al. (US 2007/0231708).
With regard to claim 5, Masuyama modified by Hatakeyama teach the resist composition of claim 1 (see paragraph 5 above), but fail to teach that the resin A1 comprises a repeat unit having a photoacid generating group.
Matsumaru et al. teach a polymer compound capable of forming a positive resist composition, the polymer comprising a structural unit (a1) derived from an (a-lower alkyl) acrylate ester having an acid-dissociable group, and a structural unit (a2) of formula (a2-1):
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(abstract, par.0010).
Matsumaru et al. teach that the polymer compound is capable of forming a positive resist composition that can form a high-resolution pattern with a reduced level of LER (line edge roughness) (par.0008, abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to include a structural unit (a2) of formula (a2-1) of Matsumaru et al. in the resin A1 of Masuyama modified by Hatakeyama, in order to form a polymer capable of forming a positive resist composition that can form a high-resolution pattern with a reduced level of LER (line edge roughness).
The structural unit (a2) of formula (a2-1) may be represented by the formula:
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(par.0044), and it is a repeat unit having a photoacid generating group (see group (d1) in par.00132 of the specification of the instant application).
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Nguyen et al. (US 2021/0181628) teach a resist composition comprising a hypervalent iodine compound of Chemical Formula 1 and a polymer (par.0025), and the hypervalent iodine compound of Chemical Formula 1 may be represented by the formula M1:
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(par.0040).
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/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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