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 .
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 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of Invention B (claims 8-13) in the reply filed on September 25th, 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claims 8, 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sheih et al. (Pub. No.: US 2014/0367785 A1), hereinafter as Sheih.
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Regarding claim 8, Sheih discloses a precursor structure formed during formation of a transistor structure in Fig. 8A-8B, the precursor structure comprising: a first hard mask (capping layer 206) disposed on a substrate (substrate 202) (see Fig. 8B and [0009]); a second hard mask (spacer fins 212a) disposed on the first hard mask to form first (left spacer fin 212a as the left double-ring shape) and second (right spacer fin 212a as the right ring shape) mandrels defining a pitch gap region (a region between two ring shapes as indicated by the broken arrow in annotated Fig. 8A) between the first and second mandrels (see [0017-0019]); first spacer material (the left spacer layer 226 of a left double-ring and the right spacer layer 226 of a right double-ring) deposited on the first hard mask in and around the first and second mandrels (each of left and right spacer layer 226 on capping layer 206 and in and around the left and right ring shapes of spacer fin 212a) to assume shapes of two-dimensional (2D) transistor fin elements (the left and right ring shapes) (see annotated Fig. 8A above, 9A and [0016-0019]); and second spacer material (one spacer layer 226 in the middle of single ring shape as illustrated in annotated Fig. 8A above) conformally deposited in the pitch gap region to define space (a space is defined by rectangular box as illustrated in annotated Fig. 8A above) having a shape of a one-dimensional (1D) transistor fin element (straight rectangular shape) (also see Fig. 11A and [0016-0019]).
Regarding claim 11, Sheih discloses the precursor structure according to claim 8, wherein a critical dimension (CD) of the space (critical dimension of the space later define fin structure 232a) differs (different lengths) from a corresponding CD of the 2D transistor fin elements (critical dimension of dummy structures 234b) (see Fig. 8A-11A).
Regarding claim 13, Sheih discloses the precursor structure according to claim 8, The precursor structure according to claim 8, wherein the shape of the 1D transistor fin element is straight (straight rectangular shape) (see annotated Fig. 8A above and Fig. 11A).
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
a. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
b. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
c. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
d. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sheih et al. (Pub. No.: US 2014/0367785 A1), hereinafter as Sheih as applied to claim 8 above, and further in Zhang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2019/0148516 A1), hereinafter as Zhang.
Regarding claim 12, Sheih discloses the precursor structure according to claim 8, but fails to disclose wherein the shapes of the 2D transistor fin elements are H-shapes.
Zhang discloses a precursor structure comprising shape of the 2D transistor fin elements (patterned hardmask 602a/cross fin 106) are H-shapes (see Figs. 16-17 and [0076-0078]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the method of forming shape of 2D transistor fin elements of Zhang into the method of Sheih because different fin shape can be interchangeable and manufactured by similar process for meeting manufacturing design and standard of vertical field effect transistor.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 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 an examiner's statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The cited art, whether taken singularly or in combination, especially when all limitations are considered within the claimed specific combination, fails to disclose or suggest the claimed invention having: wherein the first and second hard masks are formed of different hard mask materials and the second spacer material differs from the first spacer material as recited in claim 9. Claim 10 depend on claim 9, and therefore also include said claimed limitation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CUONG B NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1509 (Email: CuongB.Nguyen@uspto.gov). The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM-5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
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/CUONG B NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818