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
This action is responsive to application No. 18378789 filed on 10/11/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. These IDS has been considered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-16 in the reply filed on 12/11/2025 is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 1-3, 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Choi et al. (US 2024/0096785).
Regarding independent claim 1, Choi et al. teach a semiconductor device comprising:
a frontside structure comprising at least one of a front-end-of-line (FEOL) structure (Fig. 1, element 110, paragraph 0030), a middle-of-line (MOL) structure, and a back-end-of-line (BEOL) structure;
a 1st metal line (Fig. 1, element 175B, paragraph 0053) on the frontside structure; and
a 2nd metal line (Fig. 1, element 175A, paragraph 0053) on the frontside structure,
wherein the 1st metal line has a greater width than the 2nd metal line in a same direction (Fig. 1, paragraph 0049), and
wherein the 1st metal line and the 2nd metal line have an equal height (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 2, Choi et al. teach further comprising a 1st top via (Fig. 1, element 150H, paragraph 0054) on the 1st metal line without an intervening layer.
Regarding claim 3, Choi et al. teach further wherein the 1st top via and the 1st metal line comprise a same material composition (paragraph 0047, 0050 disclose that the vias and metal line comprise of metal).
Regarding claim 7, Choi et al. teach further comprising a 2nd top via (Fig. 1, element 150G, paragraph 0054) on the 2nd metal line without an intervening layer therebetween, wherein the 1st top via and the 2nd top via have an equal height (Fig. 1).
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US 2024/0096785).
Regarding claim 4, Choi et al. teach wherein the 1st top via and the 1st metal line comprise ruthenium (Ru) (Before the effective filling date of the invention it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to select a known metal such as ruthenium as disclosed by Choi in paragraph 0015 , since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the base of its suitability, for its intended use involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416).
Claims 5-6, 8-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US 2024/0096785) in view of Hsu et al. (US 2024/0312840).
Regarding claim 5, Choi et al. teach all of the limitations as discussed above.
Choi et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein a material structure of the 1st top via is different from a material structure of the 1st metal line and the 2ndmetalline.
Hsu et al. teach an interconnect structure comprising using different deposition process to form metal lines and vias in the same interconnect level (paragraph 0050) which would result in the metal line and via having different microstructures.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the teachings of Choi et al. according to the teachings of Hsu et al. with the motivation to improve performance of integrated circuits (ICs) (paragraph 0002).
Regarding claim 6, Choi et al. modified by Hsu et al. teach wherein the 1st top via has an amorphous or polycrystalline structure, and the 1st metal line and the 2nd metal line have a columnar material structure (Hsu teaches different process can be used for the via and metal lines (paragraph 0050). Accordingly, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the via can have different material structure such as amorphous/polycrystalline/columnar structure).
Regarding Independent claim 8, Choi et al. teach a semiconductor device comprising:
a frontside structure comprising at least one of a front-end-of-line (FEOL) structure (Fig. 1, element 110, paragraph 0030), a middle-of-line (MOL) structure, and a back-end-of-line (BEOL) structure;
a 1st metal line (Fig. 1, element 175A, paragraph 0054); and
a 1st top via (Fig. 1, element 150G, paragraph 0054) on the 1st metal line without an intervening layer therebetween,
wherein the 1st metal line and the 1st top via have a same material composition (paragraph 0047, 0050 disclose that the vias and metal line comprise of metal).
Choi et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the 1st metal line and the 1st top via have different material structures.
Hsu et al. teach an interconnect structure comprising using different deposition process to form metal lines and vias in the same interconnect level (paragraph 0050) which would result in the metal line and via having different microstructures.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the teachings of Choi et al. according to the teachings of Hsu et al. with the motivation to improve performance of integrated circuits (ICs) (paragraph 0002).
Regarding claim 9, Choi et al. modified by Hsu et al. teach wherein the 1st metal line has a columnar material structure, and the 1st top via has an amorphous or polycrystalline structure (Hsu teaches different process can be used for the via and metal lines (paragraph 0050). Accordingly, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the via can have different material structure such as amorphous/polycrystalline/columnar structure).
Regarding claim 10, Choi et al. teach a 2nd metal line (Fig. 1, element 175B, paragraph 0053); and a 2nd top via (Fig. 1, element 150H, paragraph 0054) on the 2ndmetalline, wherein the 2nd metal line has a greater width than the1st metal line in a same direction (Fig. 1), and wherein the 1st metal line and the 2nd metal line have a same height (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 11, Choi et al. teach wherein the 1st top via and the2nd top via have an equal height (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 12, Choi et al. modified by Hsu et al. teach wherein the 2nd metal line and the 2nd top via have different material structures (Hsu et al. teach an interconnect structure comprising using different deposition process to form metal lines and vias in the same interconnect level (paragraph 0050) which would result in the metal line and via having different microstructures).
Regarding claim 13, Choi et al. modified by Hsu et al. teach wherein the 1st metal line and the 2nd metal line have a same material structure, and wherein the 1st top via and the 2nd top via have a same material structure (paragraph 0047, 0050 of Choi disclose that the vias and metal line comprise of metal and Hsu et al. teach an interconnect structure comprising using different deposition process to form metal lines and vias in the same interconnect level (paragraph 0050) which would result in the metal line and via having different microstructures).
Regarding claim 14, Choi et al. modified by Hsu et al. teach wherein the 1st metal line and the 2nd metal line have a columnar material structure, and the 1st top via and the 2nd top via have an amorphous or polycrystalline structure (Hsu teaches different process can be used for the via and metal lines (paragraph 0050). Accordingly, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the via can have different material structure such as amorphous/polycrystalline/columnar structure).
Regarding claim 15, Choi et al. modified by Hsu et al. teach wherein the 1st metal line, the2nd metal line, the 1st top via, and the 2nd top via have a same material composition (paragraph 0047, 0050 of Choi disclose that the vias and metal line comprise of metal).
Regarding claim 16, Choi et al. modified by Hsu et al. teach wherein the 1st metal line, the2nd metal line, the 1st top via, and the 2nd top via comprise ruthenium (Ru) (Before the effective filling date of the invention it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to select a known metal such as ruthenium as disclosed by Choi in paragraph 0015 , since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the base of its suitability, for its intended use involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416).
Conclusion
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/SHAHED AHMED/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2813