References cited herein:
`
`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`
` U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716 (“‘716 Patent”)
`
` D.V. Mozgrin, et al, High-Current Low-Pressure Quasi-Stationary Discharge in a
`Magnetic Field: Experimental Research, Plasma Physics Reports, Vol. 21, No. 5, 1995
`(“Mozgrin”)
`
` A. A. Kudryavtsev, et al, Ionization relaxation in a plasma produced by a pulsed inert-gas
`discharge, Sov. Phys. Tech. Phys. 28(1), January 1983 (“Kudryavtsev”)
`
` U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,512 (“Lantsman”)
`
` Milton Ohring, The Material Science of Thin Films, Academic Press, 1992 (“Ohring”)
`
` Donald L. Smith, Thin-Film Deposition: Principles & Practice, McGraw Hill, 1995
`(“Smith”)
`
`
`
`Claims 19 and 20
`
`14. A method for
`generating a strongly-
`ionized plasma, the
`method comprising:
`
`a. ionizing a feed gas
`in a chamber to form
`a weakly-ionized
`
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`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`The combination of Mozgrin with Kudryavtsev discloses a method for
`generating a strongly-ionized plasma.
`
`‘716 Patent at claim 24 (“wherein the peak plasma density of the
`strongly-ionized plasma is greater than about 1012 cm˗3”)
`
`Mozgrin at Fig 1
`
`Mozgrin at 400, right col, ¶ 4 (“To study the high-current forms of the
`discharge, we used two types of devices: a planar magnetron and a
`ystem with specifically shaped hollow electrodes.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶2 (“For pre-ionization … the initial plasma
`density in the 109 – 1011 cm-3 range.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 409, left col, ¶ 4 (“The implementation of the high-current
`magnetron discharge (regime 2) in sputtering … plasma density
`(exceeding 2x1013 cm-3).”)
`
`Mozgrin at 409, left col, ¶5 (“The high-current diffuse discharge
`(regime 3) is useful for producing large-volume uniform dense
`plasmas ni  1.5x1015cm-3…”).
`The combination of Mozgrin with Kudryavtsev discloses ionizing a
`feed gas in a chamber to form a weakly-ionized plasma that
`substantially eliminates the probability of developing an electrical
`
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`INTEL 1323
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`

`

`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`breakdown condition in the chamber.
`
`‘716 Patent at 5:14-15 (“The weakly-ionized plasma 232 is also
`referred to as a pre-ionized plasma.”)
`
`‘716 Patent at claim 23 (“wherein the peak plasma density of the
`weakly-ionized plasma is less than about 1012 cm˗3”)
`
`Mozgrin at Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7
`
`Mozgrin at 401, left col, ¶ 1 (“The [plasma] discharge had an annular
`shape and was adjacent to the cathode.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 401, left col, ¶ 4 (“[A]pplying a square voltage pulse to the
`discharge gap which was filled up with either neutral or pre-ionized
`gas.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 402, right col, ¶2 (“Figure 3 shows typical voltage and
`current oscillograms.… Part I in the voltage oscillogram represents
`the voltage of the stationary discharge (pre-ionization stage).”)
`
`Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶2 (“[f]or pre-ionization, we used a
`stationary magnetron discharge; … provided the initial plasma density
`in the 109 – 1011 cm˗3 range.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 400, right col, ¶ 3 (“We investigated the discharge regimes
`in various gas mixtures at 10-3 – 10 torr…”)
`
`Mozgrin at 402, ¶ spanning left and right cols (“We studied the high-
`current discharge in wide ranges of discharge current…and operating
`pressure…using various gases (Ar, N2, SF6, and H2) or their mixtures
`of various composition…”)
`
`The combination of Mozgrin with Kudryavtsev discloses supplying an
`electrical pulse across the weakly-ionized plasma that excites atoms in
`the weakly-ionized plasma, thereby generating a strongly-ionized
`plasma without developing an electrical breakdown condition in the
`chamber.
`
`‘716 Patent at claim 23 (“wherein the peak plasma density of the
`weakly-ionized plasma is less than about 1012 cm˗3”)
`
`‘716 Patent at claim 24 (“wherein the peak plasma density of the
`strongly-ionized plasma is greater than about 1012 cm˗3”)
`
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`
`Claims 19 and 20
`
`plasma that
`substantially
`eliminates the
`probability of
`developing an
`electrical breakdown
`condition in the
`chamber; and
`
`b. supplying an
`electrical pulse across
`the weakly-ionized
`plasma that excites
`atoms in the weakly-
`ionized plasma,
`thereby generating a
`strongly-ionized
`plasma without
`developing an
`electrical breakdown
`
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`

`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`Mozgrin at Fig. 1
`
`Claims 19 and 20
`
`condition in the
`chamber.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Mozgrin at Fig. 2
`
`Mozgrin at Fig. 3
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`Claims 19 and 20
`
`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`
`Mozgrin at 402, right col, ¶ 2 (“Part 1 in the voltage oscillogram
`represents the voltage of the stationary discharge (pre-ionization
`stage).”)
`
`Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶2 (“For pre-ionization … the initial plasma
`density in the 109 – 1011 cm-3 range.”)
`Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶ 1 (“Thus, the supply unit was made
`providing square voltage and current pulses with [rise] times (leading
`edge) of 5 – 60 µs…”).
`
`Mozgrin 403, right col, ¶4 (“Regime 2 was characterized by intense
`cathode sputtering…”) (emphasis added).
`
`Mozgrin at 409, left col, ¶ 4 (“The implementation of the high-current
`magnetron discharge (regime 2) in sputtering … plasma density
`(exceeding 2x1013 cm-3).”).
`
`Mozgrin at 409, left col, ¶5 (“The high-current diffuse discharge
`(regime 3) is useful for producing large-volume uniform dense
`plasmas ni  1.5x1015cm-3…”)
`
`Mozgrin at 400, left col, ¶ 3 (“Some experiments on magnetron
`systems of various geometry showed that discharge regimes which do
`not transit to arcs can be obtained even at high currents.”)
`Mozgrin at 400, right col, ¶ 1 (“A further increase in the discharge
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`

`Claims 19 and 20
`
`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`currents caused the discharges to transit to the arc regimes…”).
`Mozgrin at 404, left col, ¶ 3 (“The parameters of the shaped-electrode
`discharge…transit to arc regime 4, could be well determined… The
`point of the planar-magnetron discharge transit to the arc regime was
`determined by discharge voltage and structure changes...”).
`Mozgrin at 404, left col, ¶ 4 (“If the current was raised above 1.8 kA
`or the pulse duration was increase to 2 – 10 ms, an instability
`development and discharge contraction was observed.”).
`Mozgrin at Fig. 4
`
`Mozgrin at Fig. 7
`
`
`
`
`Mozgrin at 401, ¶ spanning left and right columns (“Designing the
`[pulsed supply] unit, we took into account the dependences which had
`been obtained in [Kudryavtsev] of ionization relaxation on pre-
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`Claims 19 and 20
`
`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`ionization parameters, pressure, and pulse voltage amplitude.”)
`Kudryavtsev at 34, right col, ¶ 4 (“Since the effects studied in this
`work are characteristic of ionization whenever a field is suddenly
`applied to a weakly ionized gas, they must be allowed for when
`studying emission mechanisms in pulsed gas lasers, gas breakdown,
`laser sparks, etc.”)
`Kudryavtsev at Fig. 1
`
`Kudryavtsev at Fig. 6
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Kudryavtsev at 31, right col, ¶ 7 (“The behavior of the increase in ne
`with time thus enables us to arbitrarily divide the ionization process
`into two stages, which we will call the slow and fast growth stages.
`Fig. 1 illustrates the relationships between the main electron currents
`in terms of the atomic energy levels during the slow and fast stages.”).
`Kudryavtsev at 31, right col, ¶ 6 (“For nearly stationary n2 [excited
`atom density] values … there is an explosive increase in ne [plasma
`density]. The subsequent increase in ne then reaches its maximum
`value, equal to the rate of excitation [equation omitted], which is
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`Claims 19 and 20
`
`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`several orders of magnitude greater than the ionization rate during the
`initial stage.”)
`Kudryavtsev at Abstract (“[I]n a pulsed inert-gas discharge plasma at
`moderate pressures… [i]t is shown that the electron density increases
`explosively in time due to accumulation of atoms in the lowest excited
`states.”)
`One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to use Kudryavtsev’s
`fast stage of ionization in Mozgrin so as to increase plasma density
`and thereby increase the sputtering rate. Further, use of
`Kudryavtsev’s fast stage in Mozgrin would have been a combination
`of old elements that in which each element performed as expected to
`yield predictable results of increasing plasma density and multi-step
`ionization.
`
`The combination of Mozgrin with Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`discloses supplying feed gas to the strongly-ionized plasma to
`transport the strongly-ionized plasma by a rapid volume exchange.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 14
`
`‘716 Patent at 2:19-30 [Discussed in connection with a prior art
`system] (“FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a known plasma
`generating apparatus 100…. The vacuum pump 106 is adapted to
`evacuate the vacuum chamber 104…. A feed gas from a feed gas
`source 109, such as an argon gas source, is introduced into the vacuum
`chamber 104 through a gas inlet 110. The gas flow is controlled by a
`valve 112.”) (emphasis added).
`
`‘716 Patent at Fig. 1.
`
`Lantsman at Fig. 6
`
`19. The method of
`claim 14 further
`comprising supplying
`feed gas to the
`strongly-ionized
`plasma to transport
`the strongly-ionized
`plasma by a rapid
`volume exchange.
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`Claims 19 and 20
`
`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`Lantsman at 3:9-13 (“[A]t the beginning of processing, this switch is
`closed and gas is introduced into the chamber. When the plasma
`process is completed, the gas flow is stopped….”)
`
`Lantsman at 4:36-38 (“To end processing, primary supply 10 is
`disabled, reducing the plasma current and deposition on the wafer.
`Then, gas flow is terminated….”)
`
`Lantsman at 5:39-42 (“Sometime thereafter, gas flow is initiated and
`the gas flow and pressure (trace 48) begin to ramp upwards toward
`normal processing levels.”)
`
`Lantsman at 5:42-45
`
`Lantsman at 2:48-51 (“This secondary power supply ‘pre-ignites’ the
`plasma so that when the primary power supply is applied, the system
`smoothly transitions to final plasma development and deposition.”)
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to continue to
`apply the feed gas during Mozgrin’s regions 1 and 2 as taught by
`Lantsman. Such a continuous introduction of feed gas balances gas
`withdrawn by the vacuum system (e.g., as shown in the drawings from
`Ohring and Smith, copied below) so as to maintain a desired pressure.
`
`One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to combine Mozgrin
`and Lantsman. Both Mozgrin and Lantsman are directed to sputtering
`using plasma. See Mozgrin at 409, left col, ¶ 4 (“The implementation
`of the high-current magnetron discharge (regime 2) in sputtering or
`layer-deposition technologies provides an enhancement in the flux of
`deposited materials and plasma density….”); see also Lantsman at
`1:6-8 (“This invention relates to reduction of device damage in plasma
`processes, including DC (magnetron or non-magnetron) sputtering,
`and RF sputtering.”). Both references also relate to sputtering systems
`that use two power supplies, one for pre-ionization and one for
`deposition. See Lantsman at 4:45-47 (“[T]he secondary [power]
`supply 32 is used to pre-ignite the plasma, whereas the primary
`[power] supply 10 is used to generate deposition.”); see Mozgrin at
`Fig. 2. (showing the “high-voltage supply unit” and the “stationary
`discharge supply unit”)
`
`Moreover, both Mozgrin and Lantsman are concerned with generating
`plasma while avoiding arcing. See Mozgrin at 400, right col, ¶ 3
`(“The main purpose of this work was to study experimentally a high-
`power noncontracted quasi-stationary discharge in crossed fields of
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`Claims 19 and 20
`
`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`various geometry and to determine their parameter ranges.”); see also
`Lantsman at 1:51-59 (“Furthermore, arcing which can be produced by
`overvoltages can cause local overheating of the target, leading to
`evaporation or flaking of target material into the processing chamber
`and causing substrate particle contamination and device damage….
`Thus, it is advantageous to avoid voltage spikes during processing
`whenever possible.”).
`
`Summarizing, Mozgrin and Lantsman relate to the same application.
`Further, one of ordinary skill would have been motivated to use
`Lantsman’s continuous gas flow in Mozgrin so as to maintain a
`desired pressure in the chamber. Finally, use of Lantsman’s
`continuous gas flow in Mozgrin would have been a combination of
`old elements in which each element behaved as expected.
`
`Background:
`Ohring at Fig. 3-13
`
`
`Smith at Fig. 3-1
`
`
`
`20. The method of
`claim 19 wherein the
`transport of the
`strongly-ionized
`
`
`The combination of Wang with Mozgrin and Lantsman discloses the
`transport of the strongly-ionized plasma by the rapid volume exchange
`permits additional power to be absorbed by the strongly-ionized
`plasma.
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`

`EXHIBIT B.03
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Mozgrin in view of Kudryavtsev and Lantsman
`
`
`See evidence cited in claim 19.
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to continue to add
`the feed gas in Mozgrin during production of the strongly-ionized
`plasma (i.e., during either of regions 2 or 3). Such addition of the feed
`gas would have both transported the strongly-ionized plasma by rapid
`volume exchange and allowed additional power from Mozgrin’s
`repeating voltage pulses to be absorbed by the strongly-ionized
`plasma.
`
`Claims 19 and 20
`
`plasma by the rapid
`volume exchange
`permits additional
`power to be absorbed
`by the strongly-
`ionized plasma.
`
`
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