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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1-15 and 17-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 7, add --metal-- before “vertical portion.”
In claim 1, line 11, add --metal-- before “vertical portion.”
In claim 3, line 1, add --metal-- before “vertical portion.”
In claim 9, line 8, delete “the” before “sides of the second trench.”
In claim 10, line 2, add --sacrificial-- before “nanosheets.”
In claim 15, line 1, substitute “claim 9” with --claim 11-- (changing dependency) since “the dielectric plugs” in line 3 is introduced in claim 11 for the first time.
In claim 15, line 2, substitute “the” with --a-- before “well contact.”
In claim 17, line 5, add --metal-- before “vertical portion.”
In claim 17, line 9, add --metal-- before “vertical portion.”
In claim 19, line 1, substitute “claim 16” with --claim 17-- (changing dependency) since “the well portion” in line 2 is introduced in claim 17 for the first time.
In claim 20, line 1, substitute “claim 16” with --claim 17-- (changing dependency) since “the well portion” in line 2 is introduced in claim 17 for the first time.
Claim 2, 4-8, 11-14 and 18 variously depend from claim 1, 3, 9 or 17, so they are objected for the same reason.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishimatsu et al. (US Pub. 2022/0165724; hereinafter “Ishimatsu”).
Regarding Claim 16, Ishimatsu discloses an integrated circuit apparatus that comprises: a substrate 2 (page 1, paragraph 12); an array of transistors (10, 20) on the substrate 2 (page 1, paragraph 11; see figs. 2 and 3); and a well contact (31, 33) (a well contact diffusion region; page 1, paragraph 12) that is formed among the array of transistors (10, 20) on the substrate 2 (see fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17 and 18 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. Note that claims 19 and 20 are objected for improper dependency, as indicated above. Accordingly, once the objections are overcome, claims 19 and 20 will be objected to as being dependent on an objected base claim (claim 17) that contains allowable subject matter, as indicated below.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 17 recites a metal vertical portion that contacts the substrate immediately between the first and second source/drain structures; inner spacers that electrically insulate the metal vertical portion from the adjacent source/drain structures; bottom dielectric isolation that electrically insulates the source/drain structures from the substrate.
These features in combination with the other elements of the base claim are neither disclosed nor suggested by the prior art of record.
Claims 18-20 depend from claim 17, so they are or will be objected for the same reason.
Claims 1-15 will be allowed after overcoming the objections indicated above.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 1 recites a metal vertical portion that contacts the substrate immediately between the first and second source/drain structures; inner spacers that electrically insulate the metal vertical portion from the adjacent source/drain structures; bottom dielectric isolation that electrically insulates the source/drain structures from the substrate.
Claim 9 recites forming a liner at sides of the first trench; etching a second trench through the first and second sacrificial nanosheets; forming first gaps at sides of the second trench by etching the first sacrificial nanosheets; and forming second gaps at the sides of the second trench by releasing the second sacrificial nanosheets.
These features in combination with the other elements of the claim are neither disclosed nor suggested by the prior art of record.
Claims 2-8 and 10-15 variously depend from claim 1 or 9, so they will be allowed for the same reason.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Pub. 2023/0411515 discloses a semiconductor device comprising a plurality of transistors on a substrate, and well contacts on the substrate (fig. 1).
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/CHEUNG LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812 November 14, 2025