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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of species I, claims 1-12, 14, 17 and 20, in the reply filed on October 2, 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 13, 15, 16, 18 and 19 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on October 2, 2025.
Claims 4, 5, 12, 14, 17 and 20 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species. There is no support in the elected embodiment of Fig. 3A for the claim limitations of “the first portion of the surface of the gate contact plug includes a portion curved convexly toward the gate electrode”, as recited in claim 4, “the first contact portion includes an overlapping portion in contact with a side surface of the upper pattern and overlapping the lower pattern and a protrusion extending laterally from the overlapping portion to be vertically overlapped by a lower surface of the upper pattern”, as recited in claim 12; and “a maximum thickness in a vertical direction of the TiN gate electrode directly on the third insulating layer is greater than a maximum thickness in the vertical direction of the TiN gate electrode directly on the second insulating liner”, as recited in claim 17; and these features are found on unelected embodiment of Fig. 4A, 6 and 7, respectively.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on July 19, 2022 and August 6, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “gate contact plug” (claim 1); “first side” and “opposite second side” (claim 7); “capacitor structure” (claim 10) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters “41”, “42’ and “43” have been used to designate “peripheral gate electrode”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3 and 6-11 are objected to because of the following informalities: a comma should be inserted after “device’ (claim 1, line 1); and “and” should be inserted after “electrode” (claim 1, line 16). Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3 and 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claimed limitations of “a gate structure including a gate electrode crossing the cell active region on the cell array region, extending into the third device separation layer on the connection region, and having an end surface in the third device separation layer, as recited in claim 1, are unclear as to which element crossing the cell active region on the cell array region, which element extending into the third device separation layer on the connection region, and which element having an end surface in the third device layer applicant refers.
The claimed limitation of "the active dam extends in a second direction", as recited in claim 9, is unclear as to which dimension of the active dam extends in a second direction applicant refers.
The claimed limitation of "… a first direction in which the gate electrode extends", as recited in claim 9, is unclear as to which dimension of the gate electrode extends applicant refers.
The claimed limitation of "a bit line structure extending across the gate structure", as recited in claim 10, is unclear as to which dimension of the bit line structure extending across the gate structure applicant refers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 and 6-11 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not teach or suggest, singularly or in combination, at least the limitations of “the third device separation layer includes a first insulating liner, a second insulating liner on the first insulating liner, and an embedded insulating layer on the second insulating liner, and the gate contact plug includes a protrusion extending downwardly along the end surface of the gate electrode and between the end surface of the gate electrode and the second insulating liner”, as recited in claim 1.
Claims 1-3 and 6-11 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ref's A-C are cited as being related to a semiconductor device.
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/MEIYA LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2811 17868