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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Amendment filed on 5/5/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but they are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
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.
(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.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin (US 20220367622).
Regarding claim 15. (Currently amended) Fig 24 of Lin discloses A semiconductor device comprising:
an active pattern including a lower pattern 62 and sheet patterns 66 ([0014]/[0038]: 66 that will be patterned to form channel regions 68) spaced apart from each other on the lower pattern (via the lowermost sub-gate);
sub-gate structures 122/124 [0015] positioned on the lower pattern with respect to a vertical cross section and surrounding the sheet patterns [0015];
source/drain patterns 98C (left and right side of the sub-gate structures) positioned on opposite sides of the sub-gate structures; and
a stacked pattern 98A/98B positioned adjacent to and between a first source/drain pattern and a first sheet pattern (between left 98C and left 68 or between right 68 and right 98C), and including a first stacked pattern 98A and a second stacked pattern 98B sequentially stacked from a side surface (each lateral sides) of the first sheet pattern (ordered stack of 68/98A/98B),
wherein both the first stacked pattern and the second stacked pattern include SiGe [0055], and
wherein at least one of materials of the first stacked pattern and materials of the second stacked pattern, composition ratios of materials of the first stacked pattern ([0055]: ‘98A is less than a germanium concentration of the liner layers 98B’), and
concentrations of dopants in the first stacked pattern and dopants in the second stacked patterns are different from each other ([0053]: ‘Each of the 98A, the 98B formed of be doped to different impurity concentrations’).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12, 14 and 19-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the cited prior art of record does not teach or fairly suggest, along with the other claimed features, “each stacked pattern further includes a third stacked pattern positioned between the second stacked pattern and a source/drain pattern, and the third stacked pattern and the second stacked pattern include different materials from each other”.
Regarding claim 19, the cited prior art of record does not teach or fairly suggest, along with the other claimed features, “a first sub-gate electrode of a first sub-gate structure protrudes in the first direction past an end of each sheet pattern toward a source/drain pattern”.
Claims 16-18 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:
Regarding claim 16, the cited prior art of record does not teach or fairly suggest, along with the other claimed features, “a third stacked pattern positioned between the second stacked pattern and the first the source/drain pattern, and the third stacked pattern and the second stacked pattern include different materials from each other”.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Changhyun Yi whose telephone number is (571)270-7799. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 8A-4P.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davienne Monbleau can be reached on 571-272-1945. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Changhyun Yi/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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