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 6-7 are objected to because of the following informalities: in claim 6, line 2, after the word “in”, --the-- has been inserted. Appropriate correction is required.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of group I in the reply filed on 08/15/25 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the restriction is not clear. This is not found persuasive because the restriction was clear with the exception of an obvious typographical error which referred to the method as the device claims and vice versa.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kato et al., US 2020/0020579.
Kato shows the invention as claimed including a semiconductor device, comprising:
A semiconductor substrate 10 having a first surface;
A first region 12 in the semiconductor substrate, the first region being at the first surface and containing a dopant of a first conductivity type; and
A first contact contacting the first region at the first surface, the first contact comprising:
A first metal layer 116 that contacts the first region;
A second metal layer 114 covering the first metal layer; and
A third metal layer 120 covering the second metal layer (see fig. 4 and paragraphs 0079-0112).
Concerning dependent claim 2, note that Kato et al. discloses wherein the first contact further comprises: a fourth metal layer 115 on the third metal layer (see fig. 6 and paragraph 0097).
Regarding dependent claim 3, note that Kato et al. discloses an insulating material 38 surrounding the first contact in a plane parallel to the first surface, wherein the first metal layer, second metal layer, and third metal layer are on a sidewall of the first contact with the first metal layer contacting the insulating material (see, for example, figs. 4-6 and paragraphs 0088-0097).
Concerning dependent claim 4, note that when giving the claim its broadest reasonable interpretation Kato et al. discloses wherein the fourth metal layer fills an interior of the first contact adjacent to the sidewall. This is because the third metal layer 120 can be broken down into smaller sub-layers (for example, a third and fourth metal layer) and therefore reads on the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 6-8, 10, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato et al., US 2020/0020579 in view of Matsuura et al., US 2020/0083249.
Kato et al. is applied as above but does not expressly disclose a second region in the semiconductor substrate at the first surface, the second region spaced from the first region and containing a dopant of the first conductivity type and an electrode on the first surface at a position between the first and second regions.
Matsuura et al. discloses a second region PP2 in the semiconductor substrate at the first surface, the second region spaced from the first region PP1 and containing dopants of the same conductivity type and an electrode (52,53) on the first surface at a position between the first and second regions (see, for example, figs. 6-7 and paragraphs 0096-0127). In view of this disclosure, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the primary reference of Kato et al. so as to comprise the claimed second region with the same metal layers as the first and electrode between the regions because Matsuura et al. shows that this is a suitable transistor configuration.
With respect to dependent claim 7, note that in the device of Kato et al. modified by Matsuura et al. it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have a second contact comprising the claimed fourth-sixth metal layers that are the same as the first-third metal layers because this would allow for the construction of repeatable source/drain electrodes throughout the device.
Regarding dependent claims 8 and 10, note that the second metal element 112 and therefore the fifth metal element is titanium (see paragraph 0079 of Kato et al..)
With respect to dependent claim 12, official notice is taken that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to form the contact structure in a memory device since contacts are commonly formed in memory devices in order to enable communication between discrete devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 9, and 11 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 art, particularly Kato et al., US 2020/0020579, fails to anticipate or render obvious, the limitations of: the first metal layer is titanium nitride, the second metal layer is a metallic film of titanium, hafnium, or aluminum, the third metal layer is titanium nitride, and the fourth metal layer is tungsten metal, as required by dependent claim 5. Additionally, the prior art also fails to anticipate or render obvious, the limitations of: wherein the fourth metal layer and the sixth metal layer each comprise titanium nitride, as required by dependent claims 9 and 11.
Claims 13-17 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record, particularly Kato et al., US 2020/0020579, fails to anticipate or render obvious, the limitations of: a bottom of the contact adjacent to the first surface in the first direction and a sidewall of the contact adjacent to the interlayer insulating film in a second direction parallel to the first surface have a stacked layer structure comprising: a first barrier metal layer that contacts the first region and the interlayer insulating film, a first metallic layer covering the first metal layer, and a second barrier metal layer covering the first metallic layer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD A BOOTH whose telephone number is (571)272-1668. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 5:00.
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/RICHARD A BOOTH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
November 11, 2025