DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/18/2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-10 in the reply filed on May 4, 2026 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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6-7, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ge (US 20180058943 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ge discloses (Fig. 1) An integrated circuit (IC) (102) structure comprising:
a substrate (116);
a terminal (Gate G) of an active/passive device (FinFET 120) in the substrate;
a floating contact field plate (106) above the terminal; and
a dielectric layer (MOL 108) between the floating contact field plate and the terminal of the active/passive device.
Regarding claim 3, Ge discloses (Fig. 1) the IC structure of claim 1, in which the active/passive device comprises a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), diffusion resistor, a CMOS (FinFET), polysilicon resistor, and/or a CMOS capacitor (MOSCAP).
Regarding claim 6, Ge discloses the IC structure of claim 1, in which the floating contact field plate comprises tungsten (W) (¶ [0027]), cobalt (Co), or ruthenium (Ru).
Regarding claim 7, Ge discloses (Fig. 1) the IC structure of claim 1, further comprising a first (M1) (METAL 1) layer coupled to the floating contact field plate.
Regarding claim 10, Ge discloses (Fig. 1) the structure of claim 1, further comprising a direct thermal contact between the terminal and the contact field plate (the dielectric is in contact with the terminal and the contact field plate, such that direct thermal contact is made).
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Ge (US 20180058943 A1) in view of Mohan (EP 3682207 B1)
Regarding claim 2, Ge discloses the structure of claim 1 but is silent regarding the active/passive device comprises a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) and the terminal comprises an emitter.
Mahon discloses (¶ [0024]) an IC structure (Fig. 2A) comprising a substrate (105) a BJT ([0010]) with terminal (emitter 140), a floating contact field plate (205) above terminal 140 (¶ [0024]), and a dielectric layer (202, ¶ [0022]) between terminal 140 and contact field plate 205.One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have applied the structure of Ge to the structure Mahon for diversities of IC designs and productions.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Ge (US 20180058943 A1) in view of Tu (US 20230081508 A1)
Regarding claim 5, Ge discloses the structure of claim 1 but is silent regarding the dielectric layer comprises silicon nitride (SiN), silicon dioxide (SiO2), or titanium nitride (TiN).
Tu discloses the contact field plate (114P) comprising tungsten (¶ [0032]). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have substituted the contact field plate of Tu for Lojek by routine optimization.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Ge (US 20180058943 A1) in view of Sheu (US 20070210328 A1)
Regarding claim 4, Ge discloses the structure of claim 1 but is silent to the active/passive device being a diode and the terminal comprises an anode or a cathode.
Sheu discloses (Fig. 1) a diode (211) comprising a terminal anode (216) separated with floating contact field plate (226) by a dielectric layer 210).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have substituted the structure of Lojek to the anode device of Sheu for the diversity of IC package design.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Mohata (US 12027616 B1), Then (US 11658217 B2) disclose IC structure with floating contact field plate above a device’s terminal and a dielectric layer between the terminal and the contact field plate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 8 is allowable for disclosing a metal layer comprising a thermal emitter. The prior arts disclose the metal connects to the field plate but fail to disclose the metal comprising a thermal emitter.
Claim 9 is allowable because it depends on claim 8.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DZUNG T HOANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5622. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 - 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Leonard Chang can be reached at 571-270-3691. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DTH/Examiner, Art Unit 2898
/Leonard Chang/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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