Attorney’s Docket Number: 537727US
Filing Date: 10/19/2021
Claimed Priority Date: 9/2/2021 (PCT/CN2021/116100)
Inventors: Hu et al.
Examiner: Marcos D. Pizarro
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the amendment filed on 9/15/2025.
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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for a 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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after the final rejection in paper no. 9, mailed on 7/18/2025. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 9/15/2025 has been entered.
Amendment Status
The RCE submission filed on 9/15/2025 as an amendment in reply to the Office action in paper no. 9 has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this Office action are claims 1, 2, 4-10 and 21-30.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the first electronic structure formed over a portion of the first substrate layer, as recited in claim 21, must be shown or the feature canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered, and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 21-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 21 recites that the first electronic structure is formed over a portion of the first substrate layer. The specification, as originally filed, fails to support these limitations in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang (CN 112185980).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang (see, e.g., annotated fig. 16 attached to paper no. 5) shows all aspects of the instant invention including a semiconductor device comprising:
A first substrate layer 4 having a first side over which devices are formed
A first dielectric structure 17, in which the devices are positioned, and formed over the first side of the substrate layer
A bottom surface of the dielectric structure 17 directly contacting the first side of the substrate layer 4
A portion of the bottom surface of the dielectric structure 17 not being covered by the substrate layer (see, e.g., fig. 14), and
A first electronic structure ES1 positioned over the uncovered portion of the bottom surface of the dielectric structure 17 such that the electronic structure ES1 and the substrate layer 4 are at a same side of the dielectric structure
wherein the electronic structure is bonded to the dielectric structure, and the substrate layer extends in a direction parallel to the bottom surface of the dielectric structure.
Regarding claim 4, Zhang (see, e.g., fig. 16) shows the devices include at least one of a transistor, a diode, a capacitor, a resistor and an inductor.
Regarding claim 5, Zhang (see, e.g., fig. 16) shows the devices including memory cells that further comprise:
A stack of alternating insulating layers 6 and word lines 20 positioned over the first side of the substrate layer 4 in a staircase configuration and arranged in the dielectric structure 17
A channel structure 12 that extends through the insulating layers and word lines, and
A word line contact 22b positioned over the first side of the substrate layer and extending from one of the word lines
Regarding claim 6, Zhang (see, e.g., fig. 16) shows the device further comprising:
A first contact structure 22a extending from the first side of the substrate layer 4 and through the dielectric structure 17
A through-silicon via TSV formed in and extending through the substrate layer, and contacting the contact structure
A first metal line 23 formed over the first side of the substrate layer and arranged on a top surface of the dielectric structure that is opposite to the bottom surface of the dielectric structure, and
A pad structure 34 positioned over and coupled to the TSV
wherein:
The TSV contact the contact structure 22a
The metal line 23 is coupled to one of the channel structures 12, the contact structure 22a and the word line contact 22b
Regarding claim 7, Zhang (see, e.g., fig. 16) shows the device further comprising:
A second dielectric structure DS2 formed over a first side of a second substrate layer SL2
A transistor 26 formed in the first side of the second substrate layer and in the second dielectric structure, and
A second metal line 24 formed over the second dielectric structure DS2 and coupled to the first metal line 23 such that the memory cells are coupled to the transistor 26
wherein the first side of the first substrate layer and the first side of the second substrate layer are aligned.
Regarding claim 8, Zhang (see, e.g., fig. 16) shows the device further comprising:
A source/drain (S/D) contact SDC extending from an S/D region of the transistor
A gate contact GC extending from a gate structure of the transistor, and
A second contact structure CS2 extending from the first side of the second substrate layer SL2 and through the second dielectric structure DS2
wherein:
The second metal line 24 is coupled to one of the S/D contact SDC, the gate contact GC and the second contact structure CS2, and
The first metal line 23 is coupled to the second metal line 24 through a bonding via BV that is positioned between the metal lines
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 28-30 are allowed.
Claims 2, 9 and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
The applicant argues:
The claims recite that the first substrate layer extends in a direction parallel to the bottom surface of the dielectric structure. Zhang differently shows in figs. 14 and 16 that the substrate layer 4 extends perpendicular to the bottom surface of the dielectric structure 17.
The examiner responds:
Contrary to applicant’s assertions, Zhang does show in fig. 16 that the substrate layer 4 extends in a direction parallel to the bottom surface of the dielectric structure 17.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Marcos D. Pizarro at (571) 272-1716 and between the hours of 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) Monday through Thursday or by e-mail via Marcos.Pizarro@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Wael Fahmy, can be reached on (571) 272-1705.
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/Marcos D. Pizarro/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
MDP/mdp
February 4, 2026