DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the Amendment filed on 15 June 2026. Claims 1- Claims 1-15 and 21-25 are pending in the application. Claims 16-20 have been cancelled.
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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 are allowable over the prior art of record.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: With respect to the newly-cited Cheng et al. reference, US 2018/0269325, Cheng et al. fail to teach or suggest a method comprising the steps of etching openings in the metal material, wherein each opening exposes the isolation region, wherein the metal material remains on a top surface of the source/drain region remains after etching the openings; and depositing an insulating material, wherein the insulating material fills the openings, as required in independent claim 1
. With respect to independent claim 9, Cheng et al. fails to teach or suggest a method which comprises: after depositing the first isolation material, forming a plurality of gate structures; removing the first isolation material using an etching process; after removing the first isolation material, depositing a metal material over the plurality of gate structures, the plurality of fins, and the plurality of source/drain regions; patterning the metal material to form a plurality of source/drain contacts on the plurality of source/drain regions, wherein each source/drain contact of the plurality of source/drain contacts tapers from a bottom of the source/drain contact to a top of the source/drain contact; and depositing a second isolation material over the plurality of source/drain contacts, wherein the second isolation material separates adjacent source/drain contacts.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 21-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chanemougame et al., US Patent 10,374,040, cited by Applicant on the Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) submitted on 17 April 2026, in view of Anderson et al., US 2017/0301666.
With respect to claim 21, Chanemougame et al. disclose a method, shown in Figs. 3-9, comprising:
forming a first fin 120 protruding from a semiconductor substrate 100, as shown in Fig. 3;
forming a gate stack 610/620 over the first fin 120; as shown in Fig. 4;
forming a first source/drain region 300 in the first fin 120 adjacent the gate stack, as shown in Fig. 4;
forming a source/drain contact 910 on the first source/drain region 300, wherein forming the source/drain contact 910 comprises:
forming a silicide region 710 on the first source/drain region 300, as shown in Fig. 6;
after forming the silicide region 710, depositing a metal material 720 on the silicide region 710, as shown in Fig. 6, and
etching the metal material 720 to form at least one recess in the metal material 720, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, wherein a bottom of the at least one recess is closer to the semiconductor substrate 100 than a top side of the first source/drain region 300, wherein the source/drain contact 910 extends directly on the top side of the first source/drain region 300, as shown in Fig. 9, see column 4, line 35, to column 9, line 10..
However, the source/drain contact 910 of Chanemougame et al. does not extend directly on an underside of the first source/drain region. However, in the same field of endeavor, .Anderson et al. teach that a source/drain contact 19a can extend directly on an underside of a source/drain region 17, as shown in Fig. 10. Providing the source/drain contact on an underside of the source/drain region provides support and improved stability for the epitaxial source/drain region 17a formed on fin 5. In light of the teaching of Anderson et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the source/drain contact 910 in the known method of Chanemougame et al. could have extended directly on an underside of the first source/drain region.300 to support and provide stability for the first source/drain region.300.
With respect to claim 22, in the method of Chanemougame et al., a width of the source/drain contact 910 is greater than a width of the first source/drain region 300, as shown in Fig. 9.
With respect to claim 23, the method of Chanemougame et al. further comprises forming a second source/drain region 300 in a second fin 120 adjacent the first fin 120, wherein the source/drain contact 910 extends directly on a top side of the second source/drain region 300, as shown in Fig. 9.
With respect to claim 24, in the method of Chanemougame et al. in combination with Anderson et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the source/drain contact 910 would extend from the underside of the first source/drain region 300 to an underside of the second source/drain region 300, as shown in Fig. 10 of Anderson et al with respect to fins 10.
With respect to claim 25, in the method of Chanemougame et al., sidewalls of the source/drain contact 910 are separated by a greater distance near a bottom of the source/drain contact 910 than near a top of the source/drain contact 910, as shown in Fig. 8.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 21-25 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Independent claim 21 has been amended to require forming a silicide region on the first source/drain region, after forming the silicide region, depositing a metal material on the silicide region, and etching the metal material to form at least one recess in the metal material, wherein a bottom of the at least one recess is closer to the semiconductor substrate than a top side of the first source/drain region, wherein the source/drain contact extends directly on the top side of the first source/drain region and extends directly on an underside of the first source/drain region. The newly cited reference to Chanemougame et al., US Patent 10,374,040, cited by Applicant on the Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) submitted on 17 April 2026, discloses forming a silicide region 710 on the first source/drain region 300, as shown in Fig. 6, ;after forming the silicide region 710, depositing a metal material 720 on the silicide region 710, as shown in Fig. 6, and etching the metal material 720 to form at least one recess in the metal material 720, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, wherein a bottom of the at least one recess is closer to the semiconductor substrate 100 than a top side of the first source/drain region 300, wherein the source/drain contact 910 extends directly on the top side of the first source/drain region 300, as shown in Fig. 9. However, the source/drain contact 910 of Chanemougame et al. does not extend directly on an underside of the first source/drain region. However, Anderson et al. clearly teaches a source/drain contact can extend directly on an underside of an epitaxial source/drain region formed on a fin. Therefore, in light of the new rejection in this Office action based on Chanemougame et al. in view of Anderson et al., the method of claims 21-25 is not deemed patentable.
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.
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MARY A. WILCZEWSKI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2898
/MARY A WILCZEWSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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