References cited herein:
`
`EXHIBIT B.10
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
` U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716 (“‘716 Patent”)
`
` U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,382 (“Wang”)
`
` 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”)
`
` 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”)
`
`Claims 22-24
`
`Wang in view of Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin
`
`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
`plasma that
`substantially
`eliminates the
`probability of
`developing an
`electrical breakdown
`
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`The combination of Wang and Kudryavtsev discloses a method for
`generating a strongly-ionized plasma.
`
`Wang at 7:19-25 (“Preferably, the peak power PP is at least 10 times the
`background power PB, more preferably at least 100 times, and most
`preferably 1000 times to achieve the greatest effect of the invention. A
`background power PB of 1kW will typically be sufficient to support a
`plasma with the torpedo magnetron and a 200 mm wafer although with
`little if any actual sputter deposition.”)
`
`Wang at 7:28-30 (“ the application of the high peak power PP instead
`quickly causes the already existing plasma to spread and increases the
`density of the plasma”) (emphasis added).
`
`Wang at 7:31-39 (“In one mode of operating the reactor, during the
`background period, little or no target sputtering is expected. The SIP
`reactor is advantageous for a low-power, low-pressure background
`period since the small rotating SIP magnetron can maintain a plasma at
`lower power and lower pressure than can a larger stationary magnetron.
`However, it is possible to combine highly ionized sputtering during the
`pulses with significant neutral sputtering during the background
`period.”)
`
`The combination of Wang and Kudryavtsev discloses ionizing a feed
`gas in a chamber to form a weakly-ionized plasma that substantially
`eliminates the probability of developing an electrical breakdown
`condition in the chamber.
`
`Wang at Fig. 7
`
`Wang at 4:5-6 (“A sputter working gas such as argon is supplied from a
`gas source 32….”)
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`

`
`EXHIBIT B.10
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Claims 22-24
`
`Wang in view of Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin
`
`
`
`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
`
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`
`Wang at 4:20-21 (“… a reactive gas, for example nitrogen is supplied to
`the processing space 22….”)
`
`Wang at 7:17-31 (“The background power level PB is chosen to exceed
`the minimum power necessary to support a plasma... [T]he application
`of the high peak power PP quickly causes the already existing plasma to
`spread and increases the density of the plasma.”)
`
`Wang at 7:19-25 (“Preferably, the peak power PP is at least 10 times the
`background power PB … and most preferably 1000 times to achieve the
`greatest effect of the invention. A background power PB of 1 kW
`[causes] little if any actual sputter deposition.”
`
`Wang at 4:23-31 (Ex. 1005) (“…thus creating a region 42 of a high-
`density plasma (HDP)…”)
`
`Wang at 7:3-49 (“Plasma ignition, particularly in plasma sputter
`reactors, has a tendency to generate particles during the initial arcing,
`which may dislodge large particles from the target or chamber… The
`initial plasma ignition needs be performed only once and at much lower
`power levels so that particulates produced by arcing are much
`reduced.”)
`
`Wang at 7:25-28 (“As a result, once the plasma has been ignited at the
`beginning of sputtering prior to the illustrated waveform, no more
`plasma ignition occurs.”).
`
`Wang at 7:58-61 (“… DC power supply 100 is connected to the target
`14 … and supplies an essentially constant negative voltage to the target
`14 corresponding to the background power PB.”)
`
`
`Wang at 7:22-23 (“A background power PB of 1 kW will typically be
`sufficient to support a plasma…”)
`
`The combination of Wang and 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.
`
`Wang at Fig. 7
`
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`

`
`EXHIBIT B.10
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Claims 22-24
`
`Wang in view of Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin
`
`
`
`plasma without
`developing an
`electrical breakdown
`condition in the
`chamber.
`
`Wang at 7:61-62 (“The pulsed DC power supply 80 produces a train of
`negative voltage pulses.”)
`
`Wang at 7:19-25 (“Preferably, the peak power level PP is at least 10
`times the background power level PB, … most preferably 1000 times to
`achieve the greatest effects of the invention. A background power PB of
`1 kW will typically be sufficient…”)
`
`Wang at 7:28-30 (“… the application of the high peak power PP instead
`quickly causes the already existing plasma to spread and increases the
`density of the plasma.”).
`
`Wang at 7:36-39 (“However, it is possible to combine highly ionized
`sputtering during the pulses with significant neutral sputtering during
`the background period.”)
`
`Wang at 5:23-27 (“[The pulse’s] exact shape depends on the design of
`the pulsed DC power supply 80, and significant rise times and fall times
`are expected.”)
`
`Wang at 7:3-49 (“Plasma ignition, particularly in plasma sputter
`reactors, has a tendency to generate particles during the initial arcing,
`which may dislodge large particles from the target or chamber… The
`initial plasma ignition needs be performed only once and at much lower
`power levels so that particulates produced by arcing are much
`reduced.”).
`
`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
`
`
`
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`

`
`EXHIBIT B.10
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Claims 22-24
`
`Wang in view of Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin
`
`
`
`
`
`
`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 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 Wang so as to increase plasma density and
`thereby increase the sputtering rate. Further, use of Kudryavtsev’s fast
`stage in Wang 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 Wang, Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin discloses the
`electrical pulse comprises a rise time that is between about 0.1
`microsecond and 10 seconds.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 14.
`
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`
`22. The method of
`claim 14 wherein the
`electrical pulse
`comprises a rise time
`that is between about
`
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`

`
`EXHIBIT B.10
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Claims 22-24
`
`Wang in view of Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin
`
`
`
`0.1 microsecond and
`10 seconds.
`
`
`Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶ 1 (“…the supply unit was made providing
`square voltage and current pulses with [rise] times (leading edge) of 5 –
`60 µs...”).
`
`Mozgrin’s rise time would have been an obvious choice to use in Wang.
`Both Mozgrin and Wang teach generation of a high density plasma to
`improve sputtering conditions. For example, Mozgrin’s “main purpose
`… was to study experimentally high-power noncontracted quasi-
`stationary discharge … [that] can be useful in generating large-volume
`dense plasmas and intense flows of charged particles.” Mozgrin at 400,
`right col, ¶ 3. Large plasma densities are beneficial because “the
`discharge expands over a considerably larger area of the cathode surface
`… .” Mozgrin at 403, left col, last ¶. Similarly, Wang explains that the
`plasma it generates with the peak power level, PP, “increases the
`sputtering rate...” Wang at 4:29-31.
`
`Moreover, in order to achieve these high plasma densities, both Mozgrin
`and Wang teach generation of an initial plasma prior to application of
`the high-power pulse to avoid arcing. See Mozgrin at 406, right col, ¶ 3
`(“pre-ionization was not necessary; however, in this case, the
`probability of discharge transferring to arc mode increased.”); Wang at
`7:47-49 (“The initial plasma ignition needs to be performed only once
`and at much lower power levels so that particulates produced by arcing
`are much reduced.”). Kudryavtsev similar pre-ionized Kudryavtsev’s
`plasma before applying a voltage pulse and states that “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 34, right col, ¶ 4.
`Because Wang and Mozgrin applies voltage pulses that “suddenly
`generate an electric field,” one of ordinary skill reading Wang would
`have been motivated to consider Kudryavtsev to further appreciate the
`effects of applying Wang’s pulse.
`The combination of Wang, Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin discloses a peak
`plasma density of the weakly-ionized plasma is less than about 1012 cm-
`3.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 14.
`
`Wang at Fig. 6
`
`Wang at 7:17-31 (“The background power level PB is chosen to exceed
`the minimum power necessary to support a plasma... [T]he application
`of the high peak power PP quickly causes the already existing plasma to
`
`23. The method of
`claim 14 wherein a
`peak plasma density
`of the weakly-ionized
`plasma is less than
`about 1012 cm-3.
`
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`

`
`EXHIBIT B.10
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Claims 22-24
`
`Wang in view of Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin
`
`
`
`spread and increases the density of the plasma.”)
`
`Wang at 7:19-25 (“Preferably, the peak power PP is at least 10 times the
`background power PB … and most preferably 1000 times to achieve the
`greatest effect of the invention. A background power PB of 1 kW
`[causes] little if any actual sputter deposition.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶2 (“..the initial plasma density in the 109-
`1011 cm-3 range.”)
`
`
`If Wang’s plasma densities were different than those identified in
`Mozgrin, one of ordinary skill would have been motivated to adjust
`Wang’s power levels so as to use Mozgrin’s plasma densities. Mozgrin
`specifically notes that “the initial plasma density in the 109 – 1011 cm-3
`range. This initial density was sufficient for plasma density to grow
`when the square voltage pulse was applied to the gap. So we chose
`these regimes as pre-ionization regimes.” Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶ 2.
`Accordingly, in order to allow the plasma density to further grow upon
`application of subsequent pulses, one of ordinary skill reading Wang
`would have been motivated to achieve the plasma density in the 109 –
`1011 cm-3 range.
`
`The combination of Wang, Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin discloses the peak
`plasma density of the strongly-ionized plasma is greater than about 1012
`cm-3.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 14.
`
`Wang at 7:17-31 (“The background power level PB is chosen to exceed
`the minimum power necessary to support a plasma... [T]he application
`of the high peak power PP quickly causes the already existing plasma to
`spread and increases the density of the plasma.”)
`
`Wang at 7:19-25 (“Preferably, the peak power PP is at least 10 times the
`background power PB … and most preferably 1000 times to achieve the
`greatest effect of the invention. A background power PB of 1 kW
`[causes] little if any actual sputter deposition.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 403, right col, ¶4 (“Regime 2 was characterized by intense
`cathode sputtering…)
`
`Mozgrin at 409, left col, ¶ 4 (“The implementation of the high-current
`magnetron discharge (regime 2) in sputtering … plasma density
`(exceeding 2x1013 cm-3).”)
`
`24. The method of
`claim 14 wherein the
`peak plasma density
`of the strongly-
`ionized plasma is
`greater than about
`1012 cm-3.
`
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`

`
`EXHIBIT B.10
`U.S. Patent No. 7,604,716
`
`Claims 22-24
`
`Wang in view of Kudryavtsev and Mozgrin
`
`
`If Wang’s plasma densities were different than those identified in
`Mozgrin, one of ordinary skill would have been motivated to adjust
`Wang’s power levels so as to use Mozgrin’s plasma densities. As
`taught in both Wang and Mozgrin, high plasma density is desirable
`because it results in a high sputtering rate, which in turn increases the
`deposition rate of the sputtered material.
`
`
`
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