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
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-12,14-16,18,20,24-25, 83 in the reply filed on 10/20/25 is acknowledged.
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) 1-12,14-16,18,20,24-25, 83 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Newman(USPATENT:6661102, hereinafter Newman) in view of Hagen (USPGPUB DOCUMENT: 2006/0255478, hereinafter Hagen).
Re claim 1 Newman discloses in Fig 2 a semiconductor package, comprising:a submount(10); and a semiconductor die(5) attached to the submount(10) using a die-attach material(20); and wherein the semiconductor die(5) has a sidewall(sidewall of 5), the at least one fillet(30) height(50%) of the die-attach material(20) along the sidewall(sidewall of 5) of the semiconductor die(5).
Newman does not disclose the sidewall(sidewall of 5) comprising at least one fillet(30) reduction feature, the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature configured to limit a fillet(30) height(50%) of the die-attach material(20) along the sidewall(sidewall of 5) of the semiconductor die(5).
Hagen disclose in Fig 1 the sidewall(sidewall of 1) comprising at least one fillet reduction feature(11),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Hagen to the teachings of Newman in order to have the lateral sides and/or the rear side of the semiconductor chip have at least one anchoring region, by means of which the semiconductor chip is in positive engagement with the surrounding [0004, Hagen]. In doing so, the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) configured to limit a fillet(30) height(50%) of the die-attach material(20) along the sidewall(sidewall of 5) of the semiconductor die(5).
Re claim 2 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) comprises at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) on each of two sides of the semiconductor die(5).
Re claim 3 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) comprises at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) on each of four sides of the semiconductor die(5).
Re claim 4 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) comprises a stepped surface profile[0007 of Hagen] in the sidewall(sidewall of 5).
Re claim 5 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 4, wherein the stepped surface profile[0007 of Hagen] comprises a step surface[0007 of Hagen].
Re claim 6 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 5, wherein the step surface[0007 of Hagen] is a non- planar surface(top/bottom).
Re claim 7 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 6, wherein the step surface[0007 of Hagen] comprises one or more indentations.
Re claim 8 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 5, wherein the step surface[0007 of Hagen] faces toward the submount(10).
Re claim 9 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 5, wherein the step surface[0007 of Hagen] faces away from the submount(10).
Re claim 10 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) comprises a recess in the sidewall(sidewall of 5).
Re claim 11 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) is a multi-cut dicing-defined feature in the sidewall(sidewall of 5).
Re claim 12 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the fillet(30) height(50%) of the die-attach material(20) along the sidewall(sidewall of 5) is about 50% or less of a thickness of the semiconductor die(5).
Re claim 14 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the die-attach material(20) comprises a wettable die-attach material(20).
Re claim 15 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 14, wherein the die-attach material(20) comprises a sintered metal[col7, lines 10-25].
Re claim 16 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 15, wherein the sintered metal[col7, lines 10-25] comprises silver or copper.
Re claim 20 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor die(5) comprises a silicon carbide-based MOSFET, a silicon carbide-based Schottky diode, or a Group III-nitride based high electron mobility transistor.
Re claim 24 Newman and Hagen disclose the semiconductor package of claim 1, further comprising an encapsulating material(6 of Hagen).
Re claim 25 Newman discloses in Fig 2 a semiconductor die(5), comprising: a first surface(top/bottom); a second surface(top/bottom) opposing the first surface(top/bottom); and a sidewall(sidewall of 5) defined between the first surface(top/bottom) and the second surface(top/bottom); the at least one fillet(30) height(50%) of a die-attach material(20) along the sidewall(sidewall of 5) of the semiconductor die(5).
Newman does not disclose wherein the sidewall(sidewall of 5) comprises at least one fillet(30) reduction feature, the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature configured to limit a fillet(30) height(50%) of a die-attach material(20) along the sidewall(sidewall of 5) of the semiconductor die(5).
Hagen disclose in Fig 1 wherein the sidewall(sidewall of 1) comprises at least one fillet reduction feature(11),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Hagen to the teachings of Newman in order to have the lateral sides and/or the rear side of the semiconductor chip have at least one anchoring region, by means of which the semiconductor chip is in positive engagement with the surrounding [0004, Hagen]. In doing so, the at least one fillet(30) reduction feature(11 of Hagen) configured to limit a fillet(30) height(50%) of a die-attach material(20) along the sidewall(sidewall of 5) of the semiconductor die(5).
Re claim 83 Newman discloses in Fig 2 a semiconductor package, comprising: a submount(10); a semiconductor die(5) attached to the submount(10) using a die-attach material(20), the die-attach material(20) comprising a die-attach material(20); and wherein a fillet(30) height(50%) of the die-attach material(20) along a surface(top/bottom) of a sidewall(sidewall of 5) of the semiconductor die(5) is in a range of about 5% to about 50% of a thickness of the semiconductor die(5).
Newman does not disclose wettable die-attach material(20)
Hagen disclose wettable die-attach material(since metal is hydrophilic this may be interpreted as wettable)[0010]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Hagen to the teachings of Newman in order to have the lateral sides and/or the rear side of the semiconductor chip have at least one anchoring region, by means of which the semiconductor chip is in positive engagement with the surrounding [0004, Hagen].
Conclusion
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/PATRICIA D VALENZUELA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812