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 .
Claims 1-20 remain in the application.
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.
Claims 1,2,5,6,8-11 and 13-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taguwa (6,204,170) in combination with Moon et al. (7,547,607).
Taguwa (6,204,170) teaches a method of manufacturing semiconductor device having metal silicide film and metal film in which the metal film can be selectively removed. Taguwa (6,204,170) teaches depositing a titanium film in the hole forming in an insulation film ((102)-claimed dielectric) and on the insulation film by CVD, forming a metal silicide film by reaction between titanium film on a bottom of the hole of a semiconductor substrate ((101)-claimed silicon) and then selectively removing unnecessary metal film other than the metal silicide film by using an etching gas containing halogen (abstract and col. 3, lines 25-60). Taguwa (6,204,170) teaches applying an RF power to generate a plasma to form the titanium film using titanium tetrachloride (titanium precursor), argon gas (carrier gas) and hydrogen (H2) gas and using a s the etching gas titanium tetrachloride and argon gas while substrate temperature is at 500C (col. 3, lines 25-60).
Taguwa (6,204,170) fails to teach repeating the performing the titanium layer and titanium removal layer.
Moon et al. (7,547,607) teaches forming a first metal layer and the first metal layer is silicided to form a metal silicide layer and remaining metal layer is removed by dry etching (abstract). The process of forming the first metal layer includes cyclic CVD method (col. 6, lines 13-25).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Taguwa (6,204,170) process to include cyclically repeating the deposition and etching steps as evidenced by Moon et al. (7,547,607) with the expectation of forming the desired titanium silicide thickness.
Regarding claims 2 and 9, the etching process includes delivering TiCl4 and the substrate is heated at 500C (col. 3, lines 55-60).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, the claims recited cyclical process four or more times. The combination suggests cyclical deposition/etching but does not recite the claimed 4 or more, however, the Examiner takes the position that the number of times the deposition/etching cycle is performed would be a matter of design choice depending upon the desired thickness absent a showing of criticality thereof.
Regarding claim 6, the metal is titanium (col. 3, lines 40-45).
Regarding claim 8, forming the titanium layer by flowing titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4-metal precursor), argon gas (carrier) and hydrogen (H2) at a temperature of 500 while applying an RF power to generate a plasma and removing the Ti layer using a dry etching of TiCl4 gas (col. 3, lines 25-60).
Regarding claim 10, the carrier gas is argon (col.3, line 45).
Regarding claim 11, the metal precursor is titanium chloride (TiCl4) and hydrogen precursor is H2 (col. 3, line 44-45).
Regarding claim 14, the flow rate of the etching gas TiCl4 is 3-10 sccm and temperature is at 500C (col. 3, lines 45-48) as the condition for etching are the same as deposition and hence the flow rate of TiCl4 would be the same (col. 5, line 65 – col. 6, line 5).
Regarding claim 15, Moon et al. (7,547,607) teaches deposition, and etching process can be performed in the same process chamber (col. 4, lines 4-12).
Regarding claim 16, the process of depositing and etching can be done continuously which would suggest stopping flow of hydrogen and argon gas while continuously flowing TiCl4 gas for etching to reduce the number of steps and provide high producibility (col. 6, lines 19-33).
Regarding claim 17, teaches flow rate of TiCl4 gas for deposition of TiN film is 3-15 sccm (col. 5, lines 50-55).
Regarding claim 18, teaches the flow rate of the etching process of TiCl4 to be 3-15 as the condition for etching are the same as deposition and hence the flow rate of TiCl4 would be the same (col. 5, line 65 – col. 6, line 5).
Claims 3,4,7,12,19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taguwa (6,204,170) in combination with Moon et al. (7,547,607) further in combination with Ameen et al. (5,926,737) and Kuratomi et al. (2002/0359209).
Features detailed above concerning the teachings of Taguwa (6,204,170) in combination with Moon et al. (7,547,607).
Taguwa (6,204,170) in combination with Moon et al. (7,547,607) fail to specifically teach the claimed times of the process and flow gases.
Ameen et al. (5,926,737) teaches etching using TiCl4 for a flow of gas at 20,40 and 60 seconds (col. 6, lines 30-43).
Kuratomi et al. (2002/0359209) teaches depsotion times for forming Ti layer is 0.1 -200 seocnds [0007].
Therefore it would have been obvious for one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Taguwa (6,204,170) in combination with Moon et al. (7,547,607) process to flow the deposition and etching gas for the claimed time period as evidenced by Ameen et al. (5,926,737) and Kuratomi et al. (2002/0359209) with the expectation of similar success, depositing the Ti layer and etching the Ti layer.
Regarding claim 3, Kuratomi et al. (2002/0359209) teaches the deposition time for the titanium layer to be 0.1-200s seconds [0007].
Regarding claims 4 and 20, Ameen et al. (5,926,737) teaches the TiCl4 during etching is 20 seconds (col. 6, lines 30-43).
Regarding claim 7, Kuratomi et al. (2002/0359209) teaches forming a metal layer (TiN-(559)) as well a metal fill (523) atop of the titanium layer (350) [0058]-[0059].
Regarding claim 12, Ameen et al. (5,926,737) teaches the TiCl4 during etching is 20 seconds (col. 6, lines 30-43) while Kuratomi et al. (2002/0359209) teaches the deposition time for the titanium layer to be 0.1-200 seconds [0007].
Regarding claim 19, Kuratomi et al. (2002/0359209) teaches the deposition time for the titanium layer to be 0.1-200 seconds which is the time for the power to be supplied to form the plasma [0007].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN K TALBOT whose telephone number is (571)272-1428. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 7-4PM.
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, MICHAEL CLEVELAND can be reached at 571-272-1418. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BRIAN K TALBOT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1712
