`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) D.V. Mozgrin, High-Current Low-Pressure Quasi-Stationary Discharge in a Magnetic
`Field: Experimental Research, Thesis at Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, 1994
`(“Mozgrin Thesis”)
`
`(cid:120) Dennis M. Manos & Daniel L. Flamm, Plasma Etching: An Introduction, Academic Press
`1989 (“Manos”)
`
`‘421 Claim 26
`
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and the Mozgrin
`Thesis
`
`[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…”)
`
`The combination of Mozgrin and Lantsman discloses
`a power supply that generates a voltage pulse between
`the anode and the cathode assembly that creates a
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`[17b] b) a power supply that
`generates a voltage pulse between the
`anode and the cathode assembly that
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`EXHIBIT C.08
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and the Mozgrin
`Thesis
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`‘421 Claim 26
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`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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`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 that
`discharge regimes which do not transit to arcs can be
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`EXHIBIT C.08
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and the Mozgrin
`Thesis
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`‘421 Claim 26
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`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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`EXHIBIT C.08
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and the Mozgrin
`Thesis
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`‘421 Claim 26
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`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 Claim 26
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`EXHIBIT C.08
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and the Mozgrin
`Thesis
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`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.”)
`
`26. The sputtering source of claim 17
`wherein the rise time of the voltage
`pulse is in the range of approximately
`0.01V/μsec to 1000V/μsec.
`
`The combination of Mozgrin, Lantsman, and the
`Mozgrin Thesis discloses the rise time of the voltage
`pulse is in the range of approximately 0.01V/μsec to
`1000V/μsec.
`
`See evidence cited in claim 17
`
`Mozgrin at 402, Fig. 3 caption (“Oscillograms of (a)
`current and (h) voltage of the quasi-stationary
`discharge (50 μs per div., 180 A per div., 180 V per
`div.)”)
`
`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 Thesis at 63, Fig. 3.2
`
`It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill to
`combine Mozgrin with the Mozgrin Thesis. Both
`Mozgrin and Mozgrin Thesis are written by the same
`author, address similar subject matter, and describe the
`same research. The Mozgrin Thesis merely provides
`additional detail for the material already disclosed in
`Mozgrin. Thus, a person of ordinary skill reading
`Mozgrin would have looked to the Mozgrin Thesis to
`determine additional details not present in Mozgrin
`such as those shown in Fig. 3.2.
`
`As explained with respect to claim 17, it would have
`been obvious to combine Mozgrin and Lantsman. In
`particular, one of ordinary skill would have been
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`EXHIBIT C.08
`U.S. Patent No. 7,811,421
`Mozgrin in view of Lantsman and the Mozgrin
`Thesis
`
`‘421 Claim 26
`
`motivated to use Lantsman’s continuous gas flow in
`Mozgrin. Further, as explained with respect to claim,
`one of ordinary skill reading Mozgrin would have
`been motivated to look to the Mozgrin Thesis to
`determine additional details not provided in Mozgrin
`such as those shown in Fig. 3.2. Therefore, one of
`ordinary skill would have used the rise time given in
`the Mozgrin Thesis in a combination of Mozgrin and
`Lantsman.
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