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 Analysis for Independent Claims (Dependent Claim Analysis will follow)
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) 1,20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin (Lin, US 2023/0130955).
In regards to independent claim 1, Lin teaches a structure comprising:
a substrate (Lin, Fig. 4 Item 12) comprising a drift region (Lin, Fig. 4 Item 20 N well) and a body region (Lin, Fig. 4 Item 18 P Well)
a gate structure between the drift region and the body region (Lin, Fig 4 Item 24, gate structure)
an insulator material over the gate structure, the drift region and the body region (Lin, Fig. 4, Item 54, ILD layer); and
an air gap within the insulator material and extending into the drift region (Lin, Fig. 4 Item 60, air gap, extends below the surface of the N well).
In regards to independent claim 20, Lin teaches a method comprising:
forming a substrate (Lin, Fig. 4 Item 12, [0016]) comprising a drift region (Lin, Fig. 4 Item 20 N well[0016]) and a body region (Lin, Fig. 4 Item 18 P Well [0016]);
forming a gate structure between the drift region and the body region (Lin, Fig 4 Item 24, gate structure [0020]);
forming an insulator material over the gate structure, the drift region and the body region region (Lin, Fig. 4, Item 54, ILD layer [0022]); and
forming an air gap within the insulator material and extending into the body region (Lin, Fig. 4 Item 60, air gap, extends below the surface of the N well [0025]).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mun (Mun, US 2022/0059665).
In regards to independent claim 12, Mun teaches a structure comprising:
a substrate (Mun, Fig. 1A Item 105) comprising a drift region (Mun, Fig. 1A Item 150) and a body region (Mun, Fig. 1A Item 140);
a gate structure between the drift region and the body region (Mun, Fig. 1A Item 122); and
a field plate extending from the body region, over the gate structure and towards the drift region (Mun, Fig. 1A Item 177).
Claim Analysis for Dependent Claims
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) 8,9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin.
In regards to dependent claim 8, Lin teaches a shallow trench isolation structure within the drift region (Lin, Item 22).
In regards to dependent claim 9, Lin teaches wherein the air gap extends partially into the shallow trench isolation structure (Lin, Item 60, 22).
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) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of Mun.
In regards to dependent claim 10, Lin fails to explicitly teach a field plate extending from the body region, over the gate structure and adjacent to the air gap. Mun teaches a field plate extending from the body region, over the gate structure and adjacent to the air gap (Mun, Fig. 1A Item 177). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Lin and Mun before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the drift air gap taught by Lin to include the field plate of Mun in order to obtain an drift air gap covered by a field plate. One would have been motivated to make such a combination because it mitigates deleterious effects of internal electrical fields.
In regards to dependent claim 11, Lin fails to explicitly teach wherein the field plate extends over the air gap. Mun teaches wherein the field plate extends over the air gap (Mun, Fig. 1A Item 177, 183). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Lin and Mun before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the drift air gap taught by Lin to include the field plate of Mun in order to obtain an drift air gap covered by a field plate. One would have been motivated to make such a combination because it mitigates deleterious effects of internal electrical fields.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 13, and 14-19 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.
Conclusion
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/WILLIAM C TRAPANESE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812