EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`
`References cited herein:
`(cid:120) U.S. Pat. No. 7,811,421 (“’421 Patent”)
`
`(cid:120) 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”)
`
`(cid:120) U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,512 (“Lantsman”)
`
`(cid:120) 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”)
`
`(cid:120) Dennis M. Manos & Daniel L. Flamm, Plasma Etching: An Introduction, Academic Press
`1989 (“Manos”)
`
`(cid:120) Milton Ohring, The Material Science of Thin Films, Academic Press, 1992 (“Ohring”)
`
`
`
`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`[17pre]. A sputtering source
`comprising:
`
`The combination of Mozgrin and Lantsman discloses
`a sputtering source.
`
`Mozgrin 403, right col, ¶4 (“Regime 2 was
`characterized by intense cathode sputtering…”)
`
`[17a] a) a cathode assembly
`comprising a sputtering target that is
`positioned adjacent to an anode;
`
`The combination of Mozgrin and Lantsman discloses
`a cathode assembly comprising a sputtering target
`that is positioned adjacent to an anode.
`
`‘421 Patent at 3:39-4:2 (“FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-
`sectional view of a known magnetron sputtering
`apparatus 100 having a pulsed power source 102. …
`The magnetron sputtering apparatus 100 also
`includes a cathode assembly 114 having a target 116.
`… An anode 130 is positioned in the vacuum
`chamber 104 proximate to the cathode assembly
`114.”)
`
`Mozgrin at Fig. 1
`
`Mozgrin at 403, right col., ¶4 (“Regime 2 was
`characterized by an intense cathode sputtering….”)
`
`Mozgrin at 403, right col, ¶ 4 (“…The pulsed
`deposition rate of the cathode material…”)
`
`[17b] b) a power supply that generates The combination of Mozgrin and Lantsman discloses
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`GILLETTE 1222
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`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`a voltage pulse between the anode and
`the cathode assembly that creates a
`weakly-ionized plasma and then a
`strongly-ionized plasma from the
`weakly-ionized plasma without an
`occurrence of arcing between the
`anode and the cathode assembly, an
`amplitude and a rise time of the
`voltage pulse being chosen to increase
`a density of ions in the strongly-
`ionized plasma; and
`
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`a power supply that generates a voltage pulse
`between the anode and the cathode assembly that
`creates a weakly-ionized plasma and then a strongly-
`ionized plasma from the weakly-ionized plasma
`without an occurrence of arcing between the anode
`and the cathode assembly, an amplitude and a rise
`time of the voltage pulse being chosen to increase a
`density of ions in the strongly-ionized plasma.
`
`‘421 Patent at Fig. 6
`
`‘421 Patent at 8:22-23 (“The weakly-ionized plasma
`is also referred to as a pre-ionized plasma.”)
`
`Mozgrin at Figs. 2 and 3
`
`Mozgrin at 401, left col, ¶ 4 (“It was possible to form
`the high-current quasi-stationary regime by applying
`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(cid:1956)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 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 Fig. 7
`
`Mozgrin explicitly notes that arcs can be avoided.
`See Mozgrin at 400, left col, ¶ 3 (“Some experiments
`on magnetron systems of various geometry showed
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`

`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`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 currents caused the discharges to transit
`to the arc regimes…”)
`
`Mozgrin at 404, left col, ¶ 4 (“The parameters of the
`shaped-electrode discharge transit to regime 3, as
`well as the condition of its transit to arc regime 4,
`could be well determined for every given set of the
`discharge parameters.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 406, right col, ¶ 3 (“Moreover, pre-
`ionization was not necessary; however, in this case,
`the probability of discharge transferring to the arc
`mode increased.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 404, left col, ¶ 2 (“[t]he density turned out
`to be about 3 x 1012 cm-3 in the regime of Id = 60A
`and Ud = 900 V.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 403 left col, ¶ 4 (“[t]ransferring to regime
`3, the discharge occupied a significantly larger
`cathode surface than in the stationary regime.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 404, right col, ¶ 2 (“The density ranged
`from (2 – 2.5) x 1014 cm-3 at 360 - 540A current up to
`(1-1.5) x 1015 cm-3 at 1100-1400 A current.”)
`
`Background:
`
`Manos at 231 (“…arcs… are a problem…”)
`
`[17c] c) a substrate support that is
`positioned adjacent to the sputtering
`target; and
`
`The combination of Mozgrin and Lantsman discloses
`a substrate support that is positioned adjacent to the
`sputtering target.
`
`Lantsman at Fig. 1
`
`Lantsman at 1:12-14 (“The semiconductor substrate
`16 (also known as the wafer) rests on a back plane
`18….”)
`
`One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to
`use Lantsman’s substrate support in Mozgrin’s
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`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`sputtering systems. First, 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.”). Accordingly, rather
`than using a “probecollector” described in Mozgrin,
`one of ordinary skill in the art would have been
`motivated to use a substrate support that can support
`a substrate to allow deposition onto a substrate, such
`as wafer 16. See Mozgrin at 403, right col. ¶ 4.
`
`Also, both references relate to sputtering systems that
`use two power supplies, one for pre-ionization and
`one for deposition. See Mozgrin at Fig. 2; see also
`Lantsman at 4:45-47 (“…the secondary [power]
`supply 32 is used to pre-ignite the plasma, whereas
`the primary [power] supply 10 is used to generate
`deposition.”)
`
`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 various geometry and to
`determine their parameter ranges.”); see also
`Lantsman 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, incorporating Lantsman’s
`substrate support into Mozgrin would have been a
`combination of old elements according to known
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`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`methods to yield predictable results.
`
`[17d] d) a bias voltage source having
`an output that is electrically plasma
`coupled to the substrate support.
`
`The combination of Mozgrin and Lantsman discloses
`a bias voltage source having an output that is
`electrically plasma coupled to the substrate support.
`
`Lantsman at Fig. 5
`
`Lantsman at 1:14-17 (“The back plane may be driven
`by radio frequency (RF) AC voltage signals,
`produced by an RF power supply 20, which drives
`the back plane through a compensating network 22.”)
`
`The combination of Mozgrin, Lantsman, and
`Kudryavtsev discloses the voltage pulse generated
`between the anode and the cathode assembly excites
`atoms in the weakly-ionized plasma and generates
`secondary electrons from the cathode assembly, the
`secondary electrons ionizing a portion of the excited
`atoms, thereby creating the strongly-ionized plasma.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 17
`
`‘421 Patent at 1:44-46 (“Magnetron sputtering
`systems use magnetic fields that are shaped to trap
`and to concentrate secondary electrons, which are
`produced by ion bombardment of the target surface.”)
`
`‘421 Patent at 1:41-43 (“The plasma is replenished
`by electron-ion pairs formed by the collision of
`neutral molecules with secondary electrons generated
`at the target surface.”)
`
`Mozgrin at 401, ¶ spanning left and right columns
`(“[d]esigning the [pulsed supply] unit, we took into
`account the dependences which had been obtained in
`[Kudryavtsev] of ionization relaxation on pre-
`ionization parameters, pressure, and pulse voltage
`amplitude.”)
`
`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
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`21. The sputtering source of claim 17
`wherein the voltage pulse generated
`between the anode and the cathode
`assembly excites atoms in the weakly-
`ionized plasma and generates
`secondary electrons from the cathode
`assembly, the secondary electrons
`ionizing a portion of the excited
`atoms, thereby creating the strongly-
`ionized plasma.
`
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`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`sputtering … plasma density (exceeding 2x1013 cm-
`3).”)
`
`Mozgrin 403, right col, ¶4 (“Regime 2 was
`characterized by intense cathode sputtering due to
`both high energy and density of ion flow.”)
`
`Kudryavtsev at 34, right col, ¶ 4 (“[s]ince 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 Figs. 1 and 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 several orders of magnitude
`greater than the ionization rate during the initial
`stage.”)
`
`Kudryavtsev at Abstract (“in 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.”)
`
`Kudryavtsev at 30, Equation 1
`
`Kudryavtsev at 30, right col, last ¶ (“…n2, and ne are
`the atomic densities in the …first excited states and
`the electron density, respectively;… (cid:69)2e [is] the rate
`coefficient[]…”)
`
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`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`If one of ordinary skill building a system according to
`Mozgrin did not experience Kudryavtsev’s
`“explosive increase” in plasma density, it would have
`been obvious to adjust the operating parameters, e.g.,
`increase the pulse length and/or pressure, so as to
`trigger Kudryavtsev’s fast stage of ionization. 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.
`
`The arrows (cid:299)12 in show that excited atoms are
`produced in both Kudryavtsev’s slow and fast stages.
`Therefore, in the combination of Mozgrin and
`Kudryavtsev, excited atoms are produced in the
`weakly-ionized plasma.
`
`As explained with respect to claim 17, one of
`ordinary skill would have been motivated to use
`Lantsman’s continuous gas flow in Mozgrin.
`Further, as explained with respect to claim 9, one of
`ordinary skill would also have been motivated to
`incorporate Kudryavtsev’s fast stage of ionization
`into Mozgrin. Therefore, the combination of
`Mozgrin, Lantsman and Kudryavtsev renders claim
`21 obvious.
`
`Background:
`
`Ohring at 104 (“Microscopically, positive gas ions in
`the discharge strike the cathode plate and eject
`neutral target atoms…. In addition, other particles
`(secondary electrons, desorbed gases, and negative
`ions) … are emitted from the target.”)
`
`The combination of Mozgrin, Lantsman, and
`Kudryavtsev discloses a rise time of the voltage pulse
`is chosen to increase an ionization rate of the
`strongly-ionized plasma.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 17
`
`24. The sputtering source of claim 17
`wherein a rise time of the voltage
`pulse is chosen to increase an
`ionization rate of the strongly-ionized
`plasma.
`
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`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`25. The sputtering source of claim 17
`wherein a distance between the anode
`and the cathode assembly is chosen to
`increase an ionization rate of strongly-
`ionized plasma.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 21
`
`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 (cid:35) 1.5x1015cm-
`3…”)
`
`Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶ 1 (“The power supply
`was able to deliver square voltage and current pulses
`with [rise] times (leading edge) of 5 – 60 μs ….”)
`
`The combination of Mozgrin, Lantsman, and
`Kudryavtsev discloses a distance between the anode
`and the cathode assembly is chosen to increase an
`ionization rate of strongly-ionized plasma.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 17
`
`See evidence cited in claim 21
`
`See evidence cited in claim 24
`
`Mozgrin at Fig. 1
`
`
`
`
`Mozgrin at 401, left col, ¶ 4 (“…applying a square
`voltage pulse to the discharge gap…”).
`Mozgrin at 401, right col, ¶2 (“…square voltage was
`applied to the gap.”).
`
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`‘421 Claims 21, 24, and 25
`
`EXHIBIT C.07
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and Kudryavtsev
`
`
`
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