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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 6-8 and 19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 9.3.2025.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the devices of claim 9 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 9, “the GAA FET device of claim 1 integrated into a device selected from the group consisting of: a set top box; an entertainment unit; a navigation device; a communications device; a fixed location data unit; a mobile location data unit; a global positioning system (GPS) device; a mobile phone; a cellular phone; a smart phone; a session initiation protocol (SiP) phone; a tablet; a phablet; a server; a computer; a portable computer; a mobile computing device; a wearable computing device; a desktop computer; a personal digital assistant (PDA); a monitor; a computer monitor; a television; a tuner; a radio; a satellite radio; a music player; a digital music player; a portable music player; a digital video player; a video player; a digital video disc (DVD) player; a portable digital video player; an automobile; a vehicle component; avionics systems; a drone; and a multicopter” is indefinite because redundant devices are claimed wherein one device claimed includes or is substantially identical to another device claimed and therefore the scope of the claim is indefinite.
For example (non-exhaustive list): “a computer” is a genus of “a portable computer” similarly “a radio” is a genus of “a satellite radio”; hence, the scope of the claim is unclear since both a genus and species of the same device are claimed. The claim includes a plurality of these issues and the Examiner suggests cancelling the claim.
Regarding claim 17, “the plurality of inactive gates” lacks proper antecedent basis. It appears the claim should recite --the plurality of inactive gate regions--.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 and 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 1-5, 15-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park et al. (of record, US 20230014468 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a gate-all-around (GAA) field-effect transistor (FET) device (Figs. 1 and 2A-2C), comprising:
a semiconductor substrate (101);
a P-type semiconductor material (P) (P-type) diffusion region (AF3/W2, “p-type well W2”) in the semiconductor substrate;
an N-type semiconductor material (N) (N-type) diffusion region (AF1/W1, “n-type well W1”) in the semiconductor substrate;
a gate (145+155) adjacent to the semiconductor substrate and extending in a first direction (Y, Fig. 1), the gate comprising:
a first active gate region (145 over AF3/W2) in the P-type diffusion region;
a second active gate region (145 over AF1/W1) in the N-type diffusion region; and
a plurality of inactive gate regions (155) each outside of the P-type diffusion region and outside of the N-type diffusion region (Fig. 1);
a GAA NFET (“p-type well W2 for an N-MOS transistor”) disposed in the P-type diffusion region, the GAA NFET comprising:
an N-type channel (CH2) extending (partly at least) in a second direction (X) orthogonal to the first direction (Y), the N-type channel adjacent to a first inactive gate region (155 next to it) of the plurality of inactive gate regions (Fig. 2A); and
a first active gate (145) comprising at least a portion of the first active gate region of the gate surrounding the N-type channel (Fig. 2A);
a GAA PFET (“n-type well W1 for a P-MOS transistor”) disposed in the N-type diffusion region, the GAA PFET comprising:
a P-type channel (CH1) extending (partly at least) in the second direction (X), the P-type channel adjacent to a second inactive gate region (155 next to it) of the plurality of inactive gate regions (Fig. 2A); and
a second active gate (145) comprising at least a portion of the second active gate region of the gate surrounding the P-type channel (Fig. 2A); and
a strain material of a first strain type disposed in the first inactive gate region and the second inactive gate region (155, “the gate isolation pattern 155 may include silicon nitride”; silicon nitride is the material disclosed by applicant at, e.g., claim 4 or [0039] of the published application – “the strain material 222(1)-222(3) could be Silicon Nitride (SiN)”).
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Regarding claim 2, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein:
the strain material (SiN) is configured to (MPEP 2111, 2112 and/or 2114) apply a first strain of the first strain type on the N-type channel (CH2) in the first direction (Y. The claimed property is presumed met by Park since SiN is disclosed by the applicant and by Park and no additional structural limitations are claimed); and
the strain material (SiN) is configured to (MPEP 2111, 2112 and/or 2114) apply a second strain of the first strain type on the P type channel (CH1) in the first direction (Y. The claimed property is presumed met by Park since SiN is disclosed by the applicant and by Park and no additional structural limitations are claimed).
Regarding claim 3, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein the first strain type is a tensile strain (Park discloses SiN which matches that of applicant at claim 4 or [0039] of the published application – “the strain material 222(1)-222(3) could be Silicon Nitride (SiN)”; hence, Park discloses the tensile strain as an inherent property of the material used which is the same in Park and the instant application. See MPEP 2111, 2112 and/or 2114).
Regarding claim 4, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein the strain material comprises silicon nitride (SiN) (“the gate isolation pattern 155 may include silicon nitride”).
Regarding claim 5, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of inactive gate regions (155) further comprise a common inactive gate region (middle 155 in Fig. 2A) between the N-type diffusion region and the P type diffusion region in the first direction (Y, Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 15, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein the strain material (155, SiN) extends (towards thereof) outside each of the plurality of inactive gate regions in the second direction (X, Fig.1. In X direction, each of 155 extends towards the outside of each 155).
Regarding claim 16, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein:
the strain material (155, SiN) extends parallel to a least one of the N-type channel and the P-type channel (CH1/CH2) in a third direction (Z) orthogonal to the first direction (Y) and the second direction (X, Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 17, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of inactive gates (155) further comprises a common inactive gate region (middle 155) between the N-type diffusion region and the P-type diffusion region (W1/W2) in the first direction (Y, Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 18, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein the P-type diffusion region (W2/AF3) is between the first inactive gate region (rightmost 155; Fig. 2A) and the N-type diffusion region (AF1/W1) in the first direction (Y, Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 20, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein the N-type diffusion region (AF1/W1) is between the second inactive gate region (leftmost 155) and the P-type diffusion region (W2/AF3) in the first direction (Y, Fig. 2A).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Park et al. (of record, US 20230014468 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1 integrated into a device selected from the group consisting of: a set top box; an entertainment unit; a navigation device; a communications device; a fixed location data unit; a mobile location data unit; a global positioning system (GPS) device; a mobile phone; a cellular phone; a smart phone; a session initiation protocol (SiP) phone; a tablet; a phablet; a server; a computer (“high performance, high speed, and/or multifunctional semiconductor devices increases” meets the term computer); a portable computer; a mobile computing device; a wearable computing device; a desktop computer; a personal digital assistant (PDA); a monitor; a computer monitor; a television; a tuner; a radio; a satellite radio; a music player; a digital music player; a portable music player; a digital video player; a video player; a digital video disc (DVD) player; a portable digital video player; an automobile; a vehicle component; avionics systems; a drone; and a multicopter.
In the event Park does not disclose the claimed devices, which is not conceded by the examiner, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include at least one of the claimed devices and arrive at the claimed invention in Park before the effective filing date so as to enable “high performance, high speed, and/or multifunctional semiconductor devices” ([0003] of Park) and apply it to at least one of the claimed devices to improve their performance.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 2.24.2024, with respect to overcoming the drawing objections based on claims 1, 9, 15 and 17 have been fully considered and are partly persuasive. All objections are withdrawn except that of claim 9 which was not addressed.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 2.24.2024, with respect to overcoming the 35 USC 112 rejections of claims 1, 9, 15 and 17 have been fully considered and are partly persuasive. All rejections are withdrawn except that of claim 9 which was not addressed.
Applicant's arguments filed 2.24.2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant alleges that elements 155 of Park cannot be considered part of the claimed gate nor the plurality of inactive gate regions because (a) “Applicant respectfully traverses, because as discussed below, "the gate isolation pattern 155" is not in contact with or part if the "gate," and thus cannot be an "inactive gate region" of the gate. Thus, the "gate isolation pattern 155" cannot be in an "inactive gate region" as provided in claim 1.”, (b) “As shown in Figure 2A of Park reproduced below, the "gate isolation pattern 155" in Park is between gate structures "GS" and is not part of them or disposed in them, as would be required to read on a "strain material disposed in an ... inactive gate region" in claim 1”, and (c) “As shown in Figure 3A of Park, as reproduced below, the "gate isolation pattern 155" is outside "gate spacers" 131, 132 and thus not disposed in a "gate structure GS." The "gate isolation pattern 155" is not in contact with a "gate structure GS." If the "gate isolation pattern 155" in Park were intended to introduce strain to the "gate structure GS" it would reason the "gate isolation pattern 155" be disposed in or contact with the "gate structure GS."”.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees because (a) the claim does not limit the materials of either of the claimed gate nor the claimed plurality of inactive regions, and (b) as seen in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3B, the gate spacer SP extends in the direction Y and encloses both the GSx structures and the elements 155. Hence, per MPEP 2111, elements enclosed by a gate spacer are considered part of “a gate” which includes “inactive gate regions”.
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The Applicant alleges “claim 4 provides that "the strain material extends outside each of the one or more inactive gate regions in the first direction." This is not shown in Park, because the "gate isolation pattern 155" does not include a portion "disposed in" an "inactive gate region" and a portion outside the "inactive gate region." Thus, Park also does not anticipate claim 4.”.
First, it appears Applicant refers to claim 15 not claim 4.
Second, it appears the Applicant refers to claim 15 prior to the current amendment.
Third, Park discloses the GAA FET device of claim 1, wherein the strain material (155, SiN) extends (towards thereof) outside each of the plurality of inactive gate regions in the second direction (X, Fig.1. In X direction, each of 155 extends towards the outside of each 155).
Fourth, the Examiner notes that “extends outside” encompasses extending towards an outside without going beyond said outside per MPEP 2111. The examiner suggests to amend the claim to recite --wherein the strain material extends beyond an outside of each of the plurality of inactive gate regions in the second direction-- which is not disclosed by Park.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDRES MUNOZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3346. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM Central Time.
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, Eva Montalvo can be reached at (571)270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Andres Munoz/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
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