DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/20/2023 and 4/8/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention II in the reply filed on 4/13/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-6 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/13/2026.
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 claimed subject matter of claims 7-12 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). For example, claim 7 recites the limitations “A gate all around (GAA) complementary field effect transistor (CFET) device circuit, comprising… a dummy fill deposited based on a target depth height into the S/D canyon… and an isolator deposited in a void at the target depth height, wherein the void is created by etching away the dummy fill in the S/D canyon” (emphasis added), however the Drawings do not show a single state of the device in which it comprises the dummy fill and the isolator together. There is no moment within the manufacturing process wherein the device comprises both the dummy fill and the isolator together, because the dummy fill is removed initially to form a void and then isolator is deposited in said void. This is seen in Figure 1 of the Drawings which depicts multiple stages of the manufacturing process of the device including where the dummy fill 101, 110 is formed in the device, but then is removed at the end of the manufacturing process to form a void for which isolator 111 is formed within. Claims 8-11 recite limitations which describe elements which do not coincide with another within a single device. For example, claim 8 recites “an NP dummy filler” which is not present in the device at the same as the claimed isolator as described in claim 7, which claim 8 depends from. Claims 11-12 recite “an NP void” and “an NP dielectric material”, respectively, which do not exist at the same time within the same device structure as the “NP dummy filler” as described in claim 8, which claims 11-12 depends from, because the NP dummy filler is removed to form the NP void and then the NP dielectric material is formed within the NP void. In summary, claims 7-12 contain subject matter which do not appear to be shown in the Drawings of the current application, because the claims present both elements such as the dummy fill and the NP dummy filler which are only present in the intermediate stages of the manufacturing process of the device, but are at some staged removed before the final structure of the device is completed, with elements such as the isolator and the NP dielectric material which are only present in the device structure after the “dummy” elements have been removed. 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 the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 7-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 7 recites the limitations “A gate all around (GAA) complementary field effect transistor (CFET) device circuit, comprising… a dummy fill deposited based on a target depth height into the S/D canyon… and an isolator deposited in a void at the target depth height, wherein the void is created by etching away the dummy fill in the S/D canyon” (emphasis added), which does not appear to be supported by the originally filed specification, because the disclosure does not support a single state of the device in which it comprises the dummy fill and the isolator together. There is no moment within the manufacturing process wherein the device comprises both the dummy fill and the isolator together, because the dummy fill is removed initially to form a void and then isolator is deposited in said void. As described in paragraph [0028] of the Specification the dummy fill 101, 110 is formed in the device, but then is removed at the end of the manufacturing process to form a void for which isolator 111 is formed within. Claims 8-11 recite limitations which describe elements which do not coincide with another within a single device. For example, claim 8 recites “an NP dummy filler” which is not present in the device at the same as the claimed isolator as described in claim 7, which claim 8 depends from. Claims 11-12 recite “an NP void” and “an NP dielectric material”, respectively, which do not exist at the same time within the same device structure as the “NP dummy filler” as described in claim 8, which claims 11-12 depends from, because the NP dummy filler is removed to form the NP void and then the NP dielectric material is formed within the NP void. In summary, claims 7-12 contain subject matter which do not appear to be supported by the originally filed Specification of the current application, because the claims present both elements such as the dummy fill and the NP dummy filler which are only present in the intermediate stages of the manufacturing process of the device, but are at some staged removed before the final structure of the device is completed, with elements such as the isolator and the NP dielectric material which are only present in the device structure after the “dummy” elements have been removed. There is no support for a device structure comprising both the “dummy” elements and the elements which replaces the “dummy” elements, such as the isolator and/or NP dielectric material.
Note the dependent claims 8-12 do not cure the deficiencies of the claims on which they depend.
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 7-12 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.
Claim 7 recites the limitations “a dummy fill deposited based on a target depth height into the S/D canyon” and “an isolator deposited in a void at the target depth height, wherein the void is created by etching away the dummy fill in the S/D canyon”, which appear to be contain contradicting subject matter, because it is unclear how the “isolator” can coexist at same time with the “dummy filler” within the same device structure when the isolator is deposited in a void which is formed by the etching away of the dummy fill.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “an NP void created by etching away the NP dummy filler”, which appears to contradict the subject matter of claim 8, which claim 11 depends from, because it is unclear how the “NP void” can coexist at same time with the “NP dummy filler” in claim 8 within the same device structure when the NP void is formed by the etching away of the NP dummy filler.
Claim 12 recites the limitation “an NP dielectric material deposited in the NP void”, which appears to contradict the subject matter of claim 8, which claim 12 depends from, because it is unclear how the “NP dielectric material” can coexist at same time with the “NP dummy filler” in claim 8 within the same device structure when the NP dielectric material is deposited in the NP void which is formed by the etching away of the NP dummy filler as detailed in claim 11, which claim 12 depend from.
Note the dependent claims 8-12 necessarily inherit the indefiniteness of the claims on which they depend.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
You et al. (US 2022/0013410 A1), which discloses a semiconductor device comprising an isolator formed in a source/drain canyon.
Chien et al. (US 2024/0047553 A1), which discloses a semiconductor device comprising an isolator formed in a source/drain canyon.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY C CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-6132. The examiner can normally be reached Mon- Fri 12pm-10pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eliseo Ramos-Feliciano can be reached at (571)-272-7925. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAY C CHANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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