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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/1/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 10-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu et al (US 2019/0067302 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Wu discloses a method of manufacturing a transistor, the method comprising:
forming an active layer on a base substrate (Wu discloses that the bottom of the device may be “silicon-on-insulator”, the silicon portion may be considered an active layer and the insulator may be considered a base substrate);
forming a sacrificial layer (402 in Fig. 4) on the active layer;
doping a first dopant ion in an entire portion of the active layer through a first ion implantation process without using a mask (¶ 0063; the “entire portion” being the portion of the active layer which is implanted with the ion);
removing the sacrificial layer (see Fig. 11);
forming a gate insulating layer (118 in Fig. 1); and
forming a gate electrode (114) on the gate insulating layer.
Regarding claim 2, Wu further discloses wherein the sacrificial layer comprises silicon oxide (¶ 0062).
Regarding claim 3, Wu further discloses wherein the sacrificial layer is formed through a chemical vapor deposition process (¶ 0062).
Regarding claim 10, Wu further discloses wherein a doping amount of the first dopant ion in the active layer has a peak in a region (deep well 202 in Fig. 5) and that region is less than or equal to 20 nm from a surface of the active layer (the deep well is at the surface of the active layer).
Regarding claim 11, the Examiner notes that applicant has claimed a concentration per area instead of a concentration per volume. As the active layer of Wu is a volume that is doped with ions and Applicant has given no restrictions for how this area may be selected, it can be selected arbitrarily. As such, there will exist a 1 nanometer x 1 nanometer area through an ion in the active layer. This area has a concentration of more than 1012 ions/cm2. The Examiner notes that if Applicant instead claimed a concentration per volume (e.g., ions/cm3 or an area concentration within a specific area (such as the surface of the active layer), then this line of reasoning would no longer apply.
Regarding claim 12, Wu further discloses wherein forming the gate electrode comprises sequentially forming an insulating layer (1002, Fig. 13B) and a gate electrode forming layer (1304) on the active layer after removing the sacrificial layer, and
patterning the gate electrode forming layer (see Fig. 13C) to form a gate electrode (324 in Fig. 13P) on the insulating layer; and
wherein the method of manufacturing the transistor further comprises forming an interlayer insulating layer (214u in Fig. 13S) on the gate electrode; and
forming a source electrode and a drain electrode (216 in Fig. 13S) on the interlayer insulating layer.
Regarding claim 13, Wu further discloses doping a second dopant ion on the active layer through a second ion implantation process (¶ 0065).
Regarding claim 14, Wu further discloses wherein an upper surface of the doped part contacts with the insulating layer (see Fig. 13S).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al (US 2019/0067302 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chuang et al. (US 2020/0194316 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Wu does not disclose that the sacrificial layer is removed through a wet etching method. Chuang, in the same field of endeavor, discloses removing sacrificial materials via a wet etching method (“chemical mechanical polishing”, ¶ 0021). There was a benefit to using such a method in that it can selectively etch the sacrificial material without unnecessary damage to the other components. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the Application's effective filing date to using the wet etching method of Chuang for this benefit.
Regarding claim 5, Wu does not disclose that the sacrificial layer is removed through a chemical mechanical polishing method. Chuang, in the same field of endeavor, discloses removing sacrificial materials via a chemical mechanical polishing method (“chemical mechanical polishing”, ¶ 0021). There was a benefit to using such a method in that it can selectively etch the sacrificial material without unnecessary damage to the other components. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the Application's effective filing date to using the chemical mechanical polishing method of Chuang for this benefit.
Claim(s) 6 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al (US 2019/0067302 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Fujii (US 2018/0286950 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Wu differs from the claimed invention by the substitution of a group III element for the first dopant ion with an unspecified element. However, doping with group III elements and the corresponding function was known in the art (“boron”, ¶ 0047 of Fujii). As such, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the Application's effective filing date to have substituted the known dopant of boron as taught by Fujii for the unspecified dopant of Wu and the results of the substitution would have been predictable. (see MPEP § 2143(I)(B)).
Regarding claim 7, Fujii discloses that the group III element is boron (¶ 0047).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/1/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that ¶ 0063 of Wu states that the selective doping is performed with a mask. This argument is not persuasive as ¶ 0063 states that the selective doping “may, for example, be performed using an ion implantation with a mask” and that “some other suitable selecting doping process” may be used. As such, Wu clearly states that the mask is not required.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT whose telephone number is (571)272-4893. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT/ Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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