DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after[0062] March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YALAMANCHILI (USPGPUB DOCUMENT: 2012/0322234, hereinafter[0062] YALAMANCHILI) in view of Pace (USPATENT: 5904499, hereinafter[0062] Pace).
Re claim 1 YALAMANCHILI discloses in Fig 1C/4/5 a method of forming a copper feature comprising: providing a copper layer(508/402A/402B); cutting a trench(412) partially through the thickness leaving a remaining thickness using a laser[0033]; and after[0062] cutting, removing the remaining thickness using a water jet[0055].
YALAMANCHILI does not disclose providing a copper layer(508/402A/402B) with a thickness thicker than 1 mm[0023];
Pace disclose providing a copper layer(780) with a thickness thicker than 1 mm[col 15,lines35-50];
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 Pace to the teachings of YALAMANCHILI in order to have high packaging efficiency [col 3, lines 10-20, Pace].
Re claim 2 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising coupling the copper layer(508/402A/402B) with a dielectric substrate(505)[0036].
Re claim 3 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the dielectric substrate(505)[0036] is comprises one of aluminum oxide or boron nitride.
Re claim 4 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising: forming a layer over the copper layer(508/402A/402B) prior to laser[0033]ing; and removing[0060 of Pace] the layer after[0062] cutting.
Re claim 5 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising reducing copper oxide in the copper layer(508/402A/402B) by exposing the copper layer(508/402A/402B) to a forming gas[0055 of Pace].
Re claim 6 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the copper layer(508/402A/402B) is a first copper layer(508/402A/402B) and the method further comprises: coupling a second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) with a thickness thicker than 1 mm[col 15,lines35-50 of Pace]; to the dielectric substrate(505)[0036]; cutting a trench(412)[0046 of Pace] partially through the thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) leaving a remaining thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) using the laser[0033]; and after[0062] laser[0033]ing, cutting through the remaining thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) using the water jet[0047 of Pace].
Re claim 7 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the copper layer(508/402A/402B) is a first copper layer(508/402A/402B) and the method further comprises: coupling a heat sink comprising a second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) with a thickness thicker than 1 mm[col 15,lines35-50 of Pace]; to the dielectric substrate(505)[0036]; cutting a trench(412)[0046 of Pace] partially through the thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) leaving a remaining thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) using the laser[0033]; and after[0062] laser[0033]ing, cutting into the remaining thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) using the water jet[0047 of Pace] to form a fin of the heat sink.
Re claim 8 YALAMANCHILI discloses in Fig 1C/4/5 a method of forming a copper feature comprising: providing a copper layer(508/402A/402B); cutting a trench(412) partially through the thickness leaving a remaining thickness using a water jet[0055]; and after[0062] cutting, etching[0038] through the remaining thickness.
YALAMANCHILI does not disclose providing a copper layer(508/402A/402B) with a thickness thicker than 1 mm;
Pace disclose providing a copper layer(780) with a thickness thicker than 1 mm[col 15,lines35-50 of Pace];
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 Pace to the teachings of YALAMANCHILI in order to have high packaging efficiency [col 3, lines 10-20, Pace].
Re claim 9 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 8, further comprising coupling the copper layer(508/402A/402B) with a dielectric substrate(505)[0036].
Re claim 10 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 9, wherein the dielectric substrate(505)[0036] is comprises one of aluminum oxide or boron nitride.
Re claim 11 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 8, further comprising: forming a layer over the copper layer(508/402A/402B) prior to laser[0033]ing; and removing[0060 of Pace] the layer after[0062] etching[0038][0016 of Pace].
Re claim 12 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 8, further comprising reducing copper oxide in the copper layer(508/402A/402B) by exposing the copper layer(508/402A/402B) to a forming gas[0055 of Pace].
Re claim 13 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 9, wherein the copper layer(508/402A/402B) is a first copper layer(508/402A/402B) and the method further comprises: coupling a second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) with a thickness thicker than 1 mm[col 15,lines35-50 of Pace]; to the dielectric substrate(505)[0036]; cutting a trench(412)[0046 of Pace] partially through the thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) leaving a remaining thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) using the water jet[0047 of Pace]; and after[0062] cutting, etching[0038][0016 of Pace] through the remaining thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI).
Re claim 14 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 9, wherein the copper layer(508/402A/402B) is a first copper layer(508/402A/402B) and the method further comprises: coupling a heat sink comprising a second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) with a thickness thicker than 1 mm[col 15,lines35-50 of Pace]; to the dielectric substrate(505)[0036]; and cutting a trench(412)[0046 of Pace] partially through the thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) leaving a remaining thickness of the second metal layer(13 of YALAMANCHILI) using the water jet[0047 of Pace] to form a fin of the heat sink.
Re claim 15 YALAMANCHILI discloses in Fig 1C/4/5 a method of forming an insulated copper feature comprising: providing a copper layer(508/402A/402B) comprising a thickness[0023]; forming a plurality of trench(412)es through the thickness;
YALAMANCHILI does not disclose permanently filling the plurality of trench(412)es with at least one polymer material immediately after[0062] forming the plurality of trench(412)es.
Pace disclose permanently filling the plurality of trenches(trenches within 514) with at least one polymer material immediately after[0062] forming the plurality of trenches[col9, lines 10-25].
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 Pace to the teachings of YALAMANCHILI in order to have high packaging efficiency [col 3, lines 10-20, Pace].
Re claim 16 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 15, further comprising coupling the copper layer(508/402A/402B) with a dielectric substrate(505)[0036].
Re claim 17 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 15, wherein permanently filling the trench(412)[0046 of Pace]es further comprises printing the at least one polymer material into the plurality of trench(412)[0046 of Pace]es.
Re claim 18 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 15, wherein the at least one polymer material[0020 of Pace] extends above the thickness of the copper layer(508/402A/402B).
Re claim 19 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 18, further comprising coupling a thinned semiconductor die to the copper layer(508/402A/402B) where the at least one polymer material extends around one or more edges of the thinned semiconductor die.
Re claim 20 YALAMANCHILI and Pace disclose the method of claim 18, further comprising a submodule to the copper layer(508/402A/402B) where the at least one polymer material[0020 of Pace] extends around one or more edges of the submodule.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
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/PATRICIA D VALENZUELA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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