Attorney’s Docket Number: TSMC/P20214090US01
Filing Date: 08/18/2022
Continuity Data: RCE filed on 08/23/2026
Claimed Priority Date: 04/04/2022 (PRO 63/327,324)
Applicants: Huang et al.
Examiner: Younes Boulghassoul
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed on 08/23/2026.
Remarks
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 amendment filed on 08/23/2026 has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Applicant cancelled claims 22-23 and 27, and added new claims 29-31. Accordingly, pending in this application are claims 1-14, 21, 24, and 28-31.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments to the Specification have overcome the objections to Drawings, as previously set forth in the Final Office action mailed on 06/03/2026. Accordingly, all previous objections to drawings are hereby withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome the respective claim objections and claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112, 35 U.S.C. 102, and 35 U.S.C. 103, as previously set forth in the same Office action. Accordingly, all previous claim rejections are hereby also withdrawn. However, applicant’s amendments have introduced new issues, and new grounds of rejection are presented below, as necessitated by applicant’s amendments to the claims.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
- The amendment to the Specification filed on 08/04/2026 and reciting at Par. [0033], L.7-9 “The resulting sacrificial gate 222s, 222l have gate lengths GL1/GL2/GL3 and LGL1/LGL2/LGL3 at the levels LV1/LV2/LV3” is improper because the word “structures” is also newly added and should be clearly underlined as an amendment.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 9, 21 and 28 are objected to because of the following informalities:
- Claim 1, L. 19; Claim 9, L. 36; and Claim 28, L. 4-5: amend to -- a process temperature --, in accordance with the disclosure (see, e.g., Par. [0036])
Claim 21, L. 12-14: consider reciting the limitations “wherein a top surface of the first top conductive layer is lower than the first pair of sidewall spacers and is level with a top surface of the first gate dielectric layer” before reciting the limitation “a second semiconductor fin” at L. 12 for clarity, as the “wherein…” limitations are directed to features associated with the first gate structure, and not the second semiconductor fin.
Appropriate corrections are 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.
Claim 1-8 and 28-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 has been amended to recite the limitation “wherein etching the sacrificial gate electrode layer comprises: performing a first etch to etch back the sacrificial gate electrode layer to a top surface of the semiconductor fin; and performing a second etch to etch back the sacrificial gate electrode layer to adjacent to a top surface of the STI, and at least one of a ratio of processing gases, a process temperate, a bias voltage, and a duty cycle is adjusted from the first etch to the second etch;” at L. 13-20. However, claim 1 is devoid of any prior recitation of a “sacrificial gate electrode layer” feature, and of any prior recitation of a step of “etching the sacrificial gate electrode layer” for which the newly amended “wherein” clause would be further limiting.
Additionally, the newly amended “wherein” clause is only supported in the original disclosure with respect to the step of adjusting the profile of the sacrificial gate electrode layer (see, e.g., Fig. 1, step 106). However, it has been recited between later steps of “removing the sacrificial gate electrode to form a gate cavity” (see, e.g., Fig. 1, step 114) and “etching back a portion of the sidewall spacers to a first level” (see, e.g., Fig. 1, step 116), thus adding further confusion as to the intended scope of the claimed invention, because the newly amended “wherein” clause is unrelated to the recited limiting step of “removing the sacrificial gate electrode to form a gate cavity”.
Accordingly, the amendments to claim 1 raise both antecedent basis and clarity issues, thus rendering the claim indefinite.
Claims 2-8 and 29-31 depend from claim 1 thus inherit the deficiencies identified supra.
Claim 28 recites the limitation “performing a third etch to tune a sidewall profile of the sacrificial gate electrode” in L. 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purpose of examination, the claim will be construed as reciting -- performing a third etch to tune a sidewall profile of the sacrificial gate electrode layer--, in accordance with the claim language introduced in amended claim 9 at L. 31-35: “performing a first etch to etch back the sacrificial gate electrode layer to a first level…; and performing a second etch to etch back the sacrificial gate electrode layer to a second level,…”, until further clarifications are provided by applicant.
Claim 29 recites the limitation “wherein etching the sacrificial gate electrode layer further comprises” in L. 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Also see comments stated above in Par. 10 with regards to Claim 1, which are considered repeated here.
Claim 30 recites the limitation “wherein the work function layer has a U-shape cross section, and the conductive filling layer is inside the U-shape of the work function layer.” in L. 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purpose of examination, the claim will be construed as reciting -- wherein the work function metal layer has a U-shape cross section, and the conductive filling layer is inside the U-shape of the work function metal layer.--, in accordance with the claim language introduced in amended claim 1 at L. 24: “forming a work function metal layer over the gate dielectric layer…”, until further clarifications are provided by applicant.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-14, 21, and 24 are allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Younes Boulghassoul whose telephone number is (571) 270-5514. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-6pm EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wael Fahmy can be reached on (571) 272-1705. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YOUNES BOULGHASSOUL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
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