DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Amendment
Allowable subject matter has been incorporated into independent claim 1, and independent claim 22 has very similar subject matter to claim 1, and is thus allowable.
The applicant has added claims 25 and 26, drawn to “a computer platform”, which falls within unelected invention II, from the election requirement of March 17, 2025, and not invention I, elected on May 19, 2025. Consequently claims 25 and 26 are withdrawn from consideration.
See the new rejection below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barth, US 2010/0078771 A1, in view of Chen, US 2021/0035906 A1.
Claim 27: Barth discloses
a lower-level metallization feature (51) comprising copper (“he back side contact 51 comprises copper” [0042]);
a non-copper via (41) in contact with the lower-level metallization feature; and
an upper-level metallization feature (65);
wherein the via comprises a fill metal comprising substantially pure W, and a liner comprising W, C and N. “The first conductive layer 41 comprises … tungsten” [0041]; “, the first conductive layer 41 is lined with a trench metal liner comprising … WCN” [0042].
Barth does not disclose the claimed structure of the upper-level metallization. However, this was know in the art. See Chen, which discloses an upper-level metallization that comprises:
a fill metal (236) comprising Cu ([0038]); and
a barrier material (tantalum film layer of 234, [0037]) comprising predominantly Ta.
It would have been obvious to have used such an upper-level metallization with a tantalum barrier layer as a diffusion barrier, and also as a wetting layer to promote the metal fill ([0035], [0037]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3, 4, 7, and 22-24 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the examiner did not find the components of the claimed materials with the claimed crystal structure in the prior searched.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER BRADFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-1596. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30-6:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacob Choi can be reached at 469.295.9060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER BRADFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897