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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/30/2022 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The abstract and title are consistent with the requirements set forth in the MPEP 608.01(b) and 606, respectively.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 20 recites “ the method of claim 8, wherein the dielectric fill material comprises a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide.” However, claim 14 already recites “the method of claim 8, wherein the dielectric fill material comprises a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide. Claim 20 should be dependent on claim 15 and should be corrected to recite “the method of claim 15, wherein the dielectric fill material comprises a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(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 1-4, 6-11, 13-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Briggs et al. US PGPub. 2018/0114752. Regarding claim 1, Briggs teaches a super via device (fig. 10) [0019] comprising: a super via structure (228/270, fig. 10) [0081]; a metallic line (Ms/160, fig. 10) [0036]; and a dielectric fill material (240/245, fig. 10) [0072] located between sidewalls of the super via structure (270) and the metallic line (160) (Briggs et al., fig. 10). Regarding claim 2, Briggs teaches the super via device of claim 1, wherein the dielectric fill material (240/245) comprises at least one of AlO, HfO, SiN [0074] (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0074]).
Regarding claim 3, Briggs teaches the super via device of claim 1, wherein the super via structure (270) comprises at least one of Cu, Co, Ru, W [0083], Rh or Ir (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0083]). Regarding claim 4, Briggs teaches the super via device of claim 1, wherein the super via structure (270) comprises two or more sidewall angles (left and right sidewalls each have 180˚ angles) (Briggs et al., fig. 10). Regarding claim 6, Briggs teaches the super via device of claim 1, wherein the super via structure (270) comprises a first (left) sidewall and a second (right) sidewall, and wherein the dielectric fill material (245) comprises a first fill material (hereinafter called 245L, fig. 10) between the first (left) sidewall and the metallic line (160) and a second fill material (hereinafter called 245R, fig. 10) between the second (right) sidewall and the metallic line (160) (Briggs et al., fig. 10).
Regarding claim 7, Briggs teaches the super via device of claim 1, wherein the dielectric fill material (245) comprises (SiN, [0074]) a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0074]). See [0006] of US PGPub. 2021/0202639 as evidence that the dielectric constant of SiN is about 8 while the dielectric constant of SiO2 is about 4. Regarding claim 8, Briggs teaches a method (fig. 1-10) for fabricating a semiconductor device (fig. 10) by a fabrication system, the method comprising: forming (fig. 1), by the fabrication system, a wafer (99, fig. 1) [0028] comprising a metallic line (160/M2, fig. 1) [0035]; patterning (P1, fig. 3-6) [0050], by the fabrication system, a channel (220-230, fig. 6) through the metallic line (160/M2); filling (fig. 7), by the fabrication system, the channel (220-230) with a dielectric fill material (240/245, fig. 7) [0068]; patterning (fig. 8), by the fabrication system, a second channel (228, fig. 8) [0072], [0077] through the dielectric fill material (245); and forming, by the fabrication system, a super via structure (270, fig. 10) [0081] in the second channel (228) (Briggs et al., fig. 1-10). Regarding claim 9, Briggs teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the dielectric fill material comprises at least one of AlOx, HfOx, SiN [0074] (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0074]). Regarding claim 10, Briggs teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the super via structure (270) comprises at least one of Cu, Co, Ru, W [0083], Rh or Ir (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0083]). Regarding claim 11, Briggs teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the super via structure comprises two or more sidewall angles (left and right sidewalls each have 180˚ angles) (Briggs et al., fig. 10). Regarding claim 13, Briggs teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the super via structure (270) comprises a first (left) sidewall and a second (right) sidewall, and wherein the dielectric fill material (245) comprises a first fill material (hereinafter called 245L, fig. 10) between the first (left) sidewall and the metallic line (160) and a second fill material (hereinafter called 245R, fig. 10) between the second (right) sidewall and the metallic line (160) (Briggs et al., fig. 10). Regarding claim 14, Briggs taches the method of claim 8, wherein the dielectric fill material (245) comprises (SiN, [0074]) a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0074]). See [0006] of US PGPub. 2021/0202639 as evidence that the dielectric constant of SiN is about 8 while the dielectric constant of SiO2 is about 4. Regarding claim 15, Briggs teaches a method (fig. 1-10) for fabricating a semiconductor device (fig. 10) by a fabrication system, the method comprising: forming (fig. 1), by the fabrication system, a wafer (99, fig. 1) [0028] comprising a metallic line (160/M2, fig. 1) [0035]; etching (fig. 4), by the fabrication system, a first portion (220, fig. 4) [0064] of a first channel (220-230, fig. 6) from a top layer (PD2, fig. 6) of the wafer (99) to the metallic line (160/M2); etching (fig. 6), by the fabrication system, a second portion (230, fig. 6) [0064] of the first channel (220-230) through the metallic line (160/M2), wherein the second portion (230) of the first channel (220-230) comprises a width (fig. 6, [0066]) greater than the first portion (220) of the first channel (220-230); filling (fig. 7), by the fabrication system, the first channel (220-230) with a dielectric fill material (240/245, fig. 7) [0068]; etching (fig. 8-9), by the fabrication system, a second channel (228, fig. 9) [0081] through the dielectric fill material (245), wherein the second channel (228) comprises a width less than (fig. 9) the width of the second portion (230) of the first channel (220-230); and forming (fig. 10), by the fabrication system, a super via structure (270, fig. 10) [0081] in the second channel (228) (Briggs et al., fig., 1-10). Regarding claim 16, Briggs teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the dielectric fill material comprises at least one of AlOx, HfOx, SiN [0074] (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0074]). Regarding claim 17, Briggs teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the super via structure (270) comprises at least one of Cu, Co, Ru, W [0083], Rh or Ir (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0083]).
Regarding claim 18, Briggs teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the super via structure comprises two or more sidewall angles (left and right sidewalls each have 180˚ angles) (Briggs et al., fig. 10).
Regarding claim 20, Briggs teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the dielectric fill material (245) comprises (SiN, [0074]) a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide (Briggs et al., fig. 10, [0074]). See [0006] of US PGPub. 2021/0202639 as evidence that the dielectric constant of SiN is about 8 while the dielectric constant of SiO2 is about 4.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 12 and 19 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: the prior arts of record taken alone or in combination neither anticipates nor renders obvious the super via device and a method for fabricating a semiconductor device wherein “the super via structure comprises a first sidewall and a second sidewall, wherein the first sidewall comprises a first set of two or more sidewall angles and the second sidewall comprises a second set of two or more sidewall angles” as recited in claims 5, 12 and 19.
Conclusion
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/NDUKA E OJEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2892