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
Applicant’s amendment filed on 9/25/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 21, 25, 27-28 have been amended. Claims 29-31 have been added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 21-28 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 21-23, 26-27, 30 and 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yeh (US 2020/0058774 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Yeh teaches an integrated circuit (IC) die, comprising:
a substrate (110 in Figs. 70A-74B of Yeh) comprising a semiconductor material (silicon);
a fin (120 in Fig. 70B) consisting of the semiconductor material (as shown in Fig. 70B, the fin 120 only consists of silicon), and over the substrate, the semiconductor material of the fin having a first width (width of the lowest nanowire channel as shown in Fig. 70B) at a first height (height of the lowest nanowire channel) over the substrate, a second width (width of the narrow connecting portion between the lowest nanowire channel and the second lowest nanowire channel) at a second height (height of the connecting portion) over the substrate and above the first height, and a third width (width of the second lowest nanowire channel) at a third height (height of the second lowest nanowire channel) over the substrate and above the second height, wherein the first and third widths are greater than the second width (as shown in Fig. 70B); and
a gate structure (144 in Fig. 70B & 73A), a source (left S/D structure 180 in Fig. 73A), and a drain (right S/D structure 180 in Fig. 73A) coupled to a channel portion (portion covered by the gate 144) of the fin.
Regarding claim 22, Yeh teaches all the limitations of the IC die of claim 21, and also teaches wherein the fin has a fourth width (width of the connecting portion of the lowest channel to the base portion of the fin which is in contact with the STI 130 in Fig. 73A of Yeh) at a fourth height (height of the second connecting portion) over the substrate but below the first height, and the first width is greater than the fourth width (as shown in Fig. 70B of Yeh).
Regarding claim 23, Yeh teaches all the limitations of the IC die of claim 21, and also teaches wherein the semiconductor material comprises silicon (as described in [0109] of Yeh).
Regarding claim 26, Yeh teaches all the limitations of the IC die of claim 21, and also teaches wherein the semiconductor material comprises silicon (as described in [0109] of Yeh. Claim 26 is exactly the same claim as claim 23).
Regarding claim 27, Yeh teaches all the limitations of the IC die of claim 21, and also teaches wherein the semiconductor material has a convex sidewall defining the first and third widths (as shown in Fig. 70B of Yeh).
Regarding claim 30, Yeh teaches all the limitations of the IC die of claim 21, and also teaches wherein the semiconductor material has a fourth width (width of the 3rd nanowire channel from bottom up in Fig. 70B of Yeh) at a fourth height (height of the 3rd nanowire channel) over the third height, and a fifth width (width of connecting portion between the 2nd and 3rd nanowire channels) at a fifth height above the fourth height, and wherein the second and fourth widths are greater than the first, third, and fifth widths (as shown in Fig. 70B).
Regarding claim 31, Yeh teaches all the limitations of the IC die of claim 30, and also teaches wherein the gate structure is coupled to the second, third, fourth and fifth widths of the semiconductor material (as shown in Fig. 70B of Yeh).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 24-25, 28-29 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 24, the prior art of record does not disclose or fairly suggest an IC die satisfying limitation of “wherein the IC die comprises, or is thermally coupled to, a cooling structure, the cooling structure to remove heat from the IC die to achieve an operating temperature below -25°C” along with other limitations of the claim 21.
Regarding claim 28, the prior art of record does not disclose or fairly suggest an IC die satisfying limitation of “further comprising an insulating material over the substate and adjacent to the first width, but not adjacent to the second or third widths, and wherein the channel portion comprises the second and third widths of the semiconductor material” along with other limitations of the claim 21.
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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/Tuan A Hoang/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898