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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Seng (US pub 20050093174).
With respect to claim 1, Seng teaches a semiconductor structure, comprising (see figs. 1-14, particularly figs. 3, 5, 9 and 10, 11-14):
a packaging substrate 150;
a lid 182; and
a first semiconductor die 110,500 between the packaging substrate and the lid, comprising:
a frontside (bottom) packaged toward the packaging substrate, comprising semiconductor devices 520; and
a backside (top), opposite the frontside, comprising grooves 522, 524,530 over the semiconductor devices that are less than a thickness of the first semiconductor die.
With respect to claim 2, Seng teaches the grooves comprise first parallel grooves 522 along a first direction (lateral, x). See fig. 10 and associated text.
With respect to claim 3, Seng teaches the grooves comprise second parallel grooves 524 along a second direction (vertical, y). See fig. 10 and associated text.
With respect to claim 4, Seng teaches the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. See fig. 10 and associated text.
With respect to claim 5, Seng teaches the backside comprises a clean region 520 without the grooves. See fig. 10 and associated text.
With respect to claim 6, Seng teaches the grooves comprise a depth h that is greater than half of the thickness T of the semiconductor die. See fig. 5 and associated text.
With respect to claim 8, Seng teaches wherein the thickness of the semiconductor die varies across the semiconductor die (areas without grooves having greater thickness and areas with groove having less thickness). See fig. 10 and associated text.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seng (US pub 20050093174).
With respect to claim 10, Seng teaches a single die but fail to teach the die comprises stacked dies.
However, the use of stacked dies to increase device density is well-known in semiconductor art.
Claim(s) 16, 17, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Seng (US pub 20050093174).
With respect to claim 16, Seng teaches a semiconductor structure, comprising (see figs. 1-14, particularly figs. 3, 5, 9 and 10, 11-14):
a semiconductor die 110,500, comprising:
a first section comprising first grooves 522, 530 cut into a backside (bottom) of the semiconductor die over a semiconductor device 520;
a second section comprising second grooves 524, 530 cut into the backside of the semiconductor die; and
a clean region 520 comprising no grooves.
With respect to claim 17, Seng teaches a difference between the first grooves and the second grooves, wherein the difference is selected from the group consisting of: depth of the grooves, pitch of the grooves, angle of the grooves (522 vertical whereas 524 is lateral), length of the grooves, width of the grooves, and curve of the grooves. See figs. 3, 5, 9 and 10 and associated text.
With respect to claim 20, Seng teaches the first grooves comprise a depth h that is greater than half of a thickness T of the semiconductor die. See figs. 3, 5, 9 and 10 and associated text.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 9, and 18-19 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/16/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. See the above rejections.
Conclusion
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LONG . PHAM
Examiner
Art Unit 2823
/LONG PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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