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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
Applicant’s remarks/amendments of claims 1-10 in the reply filed on April 07th, 2026, are acknowledged. Claim 1 has been amended. Claims 11-20 have been withdrawn from consideration. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Action on merits of claims 1-10 as follows.
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.
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 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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hiblot (US 2020/0373242, hereinafter as Hibl ‘242) in view of Briggs (US 2018/0211920, hereinafter as Brig ‘920) and further in view of LiCausi (US 2020/0227307, hereinafter as LiCa ‘307).
Regarding Claim 1, Hibl ‘242 teaches a method for forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
forming a front end of line structure (Fig. 8F, (1a); [0076]);
forming a back end of line structure (Fig. 8F, (4); [0076]) on a first surface of the front end of line structure; and
forming a backside power delivery network (PDN (7); [0071]) on a second surface of the front end of line structure opposite the first surface, the backside power delivery network comprising:
a first set of interconnect lines (27/38; [0067]) in a first metallization level;
a second set of interconnect lines (34; [0067]) in the first metallization level; wherein the first set of interconnect lines are embedded in the first dielectric material (not shown; see para. [0071])
Thus, Hibl ‘242 is shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitation: “a hybrid backside dielectric structure comprising a first dielectric material and a second dielectric material; and the second set of interconnect lines are embedded in the second dielectric material”.
Brig ‘920 teaches a hybrid backside dielectric structure (10; [0027]) comprising a first dielectric material (12; [0027]) and a second dielectric material (13; [0027]); the interconnect line (Fig. 6, (70); [0035]) embedded in the second dielectric material (13; [0032]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Hibl ‘242 by having a hybrid backside dielectric structure comprising a first dielectric material and a second dielectric material; and the second set of interconnect lines are embedded in the second dielectric material for the purpose of reducing in resistance-capacitance (RC) (see para. [0026])) as suggested by Brig ‘920.
Thus, Hibl ‘242 and Brig ‘920 are shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitation: “characterized in that a topmost surface of the first dielectric material, a topmost surface of the second dielectric material, a topmost surface of the first set of interconnect lines, and a topmost surface of the second set of interconnect lines are coplanar”.
LiCa ‘307 teaches characterized in that a topmost surface of the first dielectric material (Fig. 8, (10); [0009]), a topmost surface of the second dielectric material (Fig. 8, (42); [0028]), a topmost surface of the first set of interconnect lines (19; [0011]), and a topmost surface of the second set of interconnect lines (19; [0011]) are coplanar. Examiner consider the airgap (42) (dielectric constant of near unity; [0028]) is the second dielectric material.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Hibl ‘242 and Brig ‘920 by having a topmost surface of the first dielectric material, a topmost surface of the second dielectric material, a topmost surface of the first set of interconnect lines, and a topmost surface of the second set of interconnect lines are coplanar in order to improve the interconnects’ structure (see para. [0004]) by lowers the capacitance of a localized portion of the metallization level (see para. [0028]) as suggested by LiCa ‘307.
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Fig. 8P (Hibl ‘242)
Regarding Claim 2, Hibl ‘242 teaches the first set of interconnect lines (27/38) are electrically connected directly to each device region (15/16) of the front end of line structure (see Fig. 8P).
Regarding Claim 3, Hibl ‘242 teaches the second set of interconnect lines (34) are not electrically connected to at least one device region of the front end of line structure (see Fig. 8P).
Regarding Claim 4, Hibl ‘242 teaches a total number of the second set of interconnect lines (34) is less than a total number of the first set of interconnect lines (27/38) (see Fig. 8P).
Regarding Claim 5, Hibl ‘242 teaches the first set of interconnect lines (27) comprise power supply (VDD) (see Fig. 3) and ground (VSS) terminals (see Fig. 8P).
Regarding Claim 6, Hibl ‘242 teaches the second set of interconnect lines comprise a clock signal wire (35; see Fig. 4).
Regarding Claim 7, Hibl ‘242 teaches the clock signal wire (35) is electrically connected directly to a first gate (15) of the front end of line structure and electrically isolated from a second gate (not shown) of the front end of line structure (10; [0061]) (see Fig. 4).
Regarding Claim 8, Brig ‘920 teaches the first dielectric material (12) comprises a first dielectric constant (high-k) and the second dielectric material (13) comprises a second dielectric constant (low-k) less than the first dielectric constant (see para. [0027]).
Regarding Claim 9, Brig ‘920 teaches the first dielectric material (12) comprises a high-k dielectric
Thus, Hibl ‘242, Brig ‘920 and LiCa ‘307 are shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitation: “the first dielectric constant is greater than 3.7”.
However, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a high-k with the dielectric constant is greater than 3.7 for the first dielectric material on the basis of it suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. A person of ordinary skills in the art is motivated to select a high-k with the dielectric constant is greater than 3.7 when this improves the performance of the semiconductor devices.
Regarding Claim 10, Brig ‘920 teaches the second dielectric material (13; [0027]) comprises a low-k dielectric
Thus, Hibl ‘242, Brig ‘920 and LiCa ‘307 are shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitation: “the second dielectric constant is less than 3.7”.
However, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a low-k with the dielectric constant is less than 3.7 for the second dielectric material on the basis of it suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. A person of ordinary skills in the art is motivated to select a low-k with the dielectric constant is greater than 3.7 when this improves the performance of the semiconductor devices.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-10, filed on April 07th, 2026, have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
Interviews After Final
Applicants note that an interview after a final rejection is permitted in order to place the application in condition for allowance or to resolve issues prior to appeal. However, prior to the interview, the intended purpose and content of the interview should be presented briefly, preferably in writing. Upon review of the agenda, the Examiner may grant the interview if the examiner is convinced that disposal or clarification for appeal may be accomplished with only nominal further consideration. Interviews merely to restate arguments of record or to discuss new limitations will be denied. See MPEP § 714.13
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Dzung Tran whose telephone number is (571) 270-3911. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8 AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Supervisor Sue Purvis can be reached on 571-272-1236. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DZUNG TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
Prosecution Insights