Attorney’s Docket Number: SAM-60281
Filing Date: 03/06/2023
Continuity Data: RCE filed on 02/24/2026
Claimed Foreign Priority Date: 04/14/2022 (KR 10-2022-0046364)
Applicant: Min
Examiner: Younes Boulghassoul
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed on 02/24/2026.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/24/2026 has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this application are claims 1-3, 5-16, and 18-21.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome the respective claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 35 U.S.C. 103, as previously formulated in the Final Office action mailed on 11/24/2025. Accordingly, all previous claim rejections are hereby withdrawn. However, new grounds of rejections are presented below, as necessitated by applicant’s amendments to the claims.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Figs. 2B and 3A depict cross-sections cuts that are inconsistent with their respective labelling in Fig. 1:
- Fig. 2B is labelled as a cross-section view along I2--I2’. However, it should be labeled as a view along II1--II1’ instead, in accordance with Fig. 1.
- Fig. 3A is labelled as a cross-section view along II1--II1’. However, it should be labeled as a view along I2--I2’ instead, in accordance with Fig. 1.
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.
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)(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, 3, 5, and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US2022/0238666).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 1 and 2A-C) shows all aspects of the instant invention, including a semiconductor device, comprising:
- an active pattern (e.g., device region RX having fin-type active regions FA) extending in a first direction (e.g., direction X), parallel to an upper surface of a substrate (e.g., substrate 110), on the substrate
- a gate structure (e.g., gate line GL) extending in a second direction (e.g., direction Y), intersecting the first direction, on the active pattern
- a source/drain region (e.g., source/drain region SD) disposed in a region, adjacent to the gate structure, on the active pattern
- an interlayer insulating layer (e.g., feature comprising dielectric film 128 and insulating film 142) covering the gate structure and the source/drain region
- a contact structure (e.g., comprising active contact AC and insulating liner 146) penetrating through the interlayer insulating layer and contacting the source/drain region (see, e.g., Fig. 2C)
- wherein the contact structure includes a contact plug (e.g., metal plug 156), an insulating liner surrounding a sidewall of the contact plug (e.g., insulating liner 146), and a conductive barrier layer (e.g., conductive barrier film 154) disposed between the insulating liner and the contact plug and on a bottom surface of the contact plug
- a lower end of the insulating liner (e.g., bottom surface 146L) is spaced apart from an uppermost surface of the active pattern (e.g., fin top surface FT) in a vertical direction (e.g., direction Z), the conductive barrier layer has a barrier extension portion extending downwardly from the lower end of the insulating liner (see, e.g., Fig. 2C: portion of 154 at bottom surface 146L), the conductive barrier layer has a first wall thickness above the barrier extension portion, and the barrier extension portion has a second wall thickness at a portion higher than the uppermost surface of the active pattern greater than the first wall thickness along the first direction (see, e.g., 2C: wall thickness of 154 at 146L along X is greater than wall thickness of 154 above 146L along X).
Regarding Claim 3, Kim (see, e.g., Fig. 2C) shows that a first width of the contact structure, defined by a distance between opposite outer sides of the barrier extension portion (e.g., 154 at 146L), is greater than a second width of the contact structure defined by a distance between opposite outer sides of a portion of the conductive barrier layer horizontally overlapping the insulating liner (e.g., 154 above 146L).
Regarding Claim 5, Kim (see, e.g., Fig. 2C) shows that the source/drain region includes a metal silicide layer (e.g., metal silicide film 152) in physical contact with the conductive barrier layer (e.g., 154).
Regarding Claim 9, Kim (see, e.g., Fig. 2C and Par. [0048]) shows that the insulating liner (e.g., 146) includes a silicon carbon nitride (SiCN), a silicon carbon oxynitride (SiCON), a silicon nitride (SiN), or a combination thereof.
Regarding Claim 10, Kim (see, e.g., Fig. 2C and Par. [0042]) shows that the conductive barrier layer (e.g., 154) includes titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta), a titanium nitride (TiN), a tantalum nitride (TaN), or a combination thereof.
Regarding Claim 11, Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 1 and 2A-C) shows the active pattern includes a plurality of active fins (e.g., RX includes fin-type active regions FA) respectively extending in the first direction (e.g., X) and arranged in the second direction (e.g., Y), and the source/drain region (e.g., SD) are disposed across the plurality of active fins.
Regarding Claim 12, Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 8-10) shows:
- a plurality of channel layers (e.g., nanosheet stack NSS including N1-N3) disposed to be spaced apart from each other in a direction (e.g., Z), perpendicular to the substrate, on the active pattern
- wherein the source/drain region (e.g., SD/930) is electrically connected to each of the plurality of channel layers
- the gate structure includes a gate electrode (e.g., 960) surrounding each of the plurality of channel layers and extending in the second direction (e.g., Y), and a gate insulating layer (e.g., 952) disposed between each of the plurality of channel layers and the gate electrode and between the active pattern and the gate electrode.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-16 and 18-21 are allowable.
Claims 2 and 6-8 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.
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 at (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