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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application KR 10-2023-0113340 filed in Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on August 29, 2023 and receipt of a certified copy thereof.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on December 26, 2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS is considered by the examiner.
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 1-4, 7, 8 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee US 2021/0217769.
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device (e.g., Figs. 8-16, [103]-[157]), the method comprising:
forming a polishing stop layer (e.g., 205, Fig. 8A) on a substrate (e.g., 203, Fig. 8A);
forming a stack (e.g., stack including 211 and 213, Fig. 8A) on the polishing stop layer;
forming channel structures (e.g., channel structures including 220A and 220B, Fig. 11) extending through the stack and the polishing stop layer extending into the substrate, wherein at least two channel structures among the channel structures have different heights (e.g., 220A, 220B, Fig. 11);
polishing the substrate and the channel structures to expose the polishing stop layer (e.g., Fig. 16B, [151]); and
removing the polishing stop layer (e.g., Fig. 16B, [152], [153]).
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches the method of claim 1, wherein polishing the substrate and the channel structures comprises polishing the channel structures so that the channel structures have substantially the same height (e.g., the term “substantially the same height” does not necessarily mean --the same height--, thus, arbitrary heights of the polished channel structures of Lee are considered to be substantially the same).
Regarding claim 3, Lee teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: forming a source structure (e.g., 423, Fig. 16C) connected to the channel structures on the stack after removing the polishing stop layer.
Regarding claim 4, Lee teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the substrate includes a first region (e.g., first region of 203 in which 205 and the channel structures (discussed above) are formed, Fig. 16A) and a second region (e.g., second region of 203 in which 261 is formed, Fig. 16A), the polishing stop layer is formed in the first region, and a gap fill layer (e.g., 261, Fig. 16A) is formed in the second region.
Regarding claim 7, Lee teaches the method of claim 4, wherein the first region is a cell region, and the second region is a peripheral circuit region (e.g., Fig. 16A).
Regarding claim 8, Lee teaches the method of claim 7, wherein the channel structures are formed in the cell region (e.g., Fig. 16A).
Regarding claim 11, Lee teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: forming a buffer layer (e.g., 201, Fig. 8A) before forming the polishing stop layer.
Claims 21-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Okina US 2020/0258816.
Regarding claim 21, Okina teaches a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device (e.g., Fig. 1-17, Fig. 23; [51]-[119], [143]-[180]; also see Fig. 22 and the description thereof for additional details), the method comprising:
forming a buffer layer (e.g., 102, Fig. 23A, [144]; Fig. 1);
forming a polishing stop layer (e.g., 104, Fig. 23A, [144]; Fig. 1) on the buffer layer;
forming a stack (e.g., stack including 32 and 42, Fig. 2, [144]) on the polishing stop layer;
forming channel structures (e.g., 58, Fig. 5, Fig. 6, [88]) extending into the buffer layer through the stack and the polishing stop layer;
polishing the buffer layer and the channel structures to expose the polishing stop layer (e.g., Fig. 23B, [150]); and
removing the polishing stop layer (e.g., Fig. 23C, [151], [152]).
Regarding claim 22, Okina teaches the method of claim 21, further comprising: forming a source structure (e.g., 218, Fig. 23E, Fig. 23F, [157]) connected to the channel structures on the stack after removing the polishing stop layer.
Regarding claim 23, Okina teaches the method of claim 21, wherein the polishing the buffer layer and the channel structures comprises polishing the channel structures so that the channel structures have substantially the same height (e.g., the term “substantially the same height” does not necessarily mean --the same height--, thus, arbitrary heights of the polished channel structures of Okina are considered to be substantially the same).
Regarding claim 24, Okina teaches the method of claim 21, wherein the polishing stop layer (e.g., 104, [144]) includes a material having a selectivity to oxide.
Regarding claim 25, Okina teaches the method of claim 21, wherein the polishing stop layer (e.g., 104, [144]) includes at least one of nitride, tungsten, cobalt silicide, aluminum oxide, and titanium silicide.
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 10 is rejected are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee US 2021/0217769 in view of Jones, Jr. US 5,313,089.
Regarding claim 10, Lee teaches the method of claim 1 as discussed above.
Lee does not explicitly teach wherein the polishing stop layer comprises at least one of nitride, tungsten, cobalt silicide, aluminum oxide, and titanium silicide.
Lee, however, recognizes that the layer 205 (considered as a polishing stop layer in removing/polishing of 203, [151]) includes an oxide layer (e.g., [105]).
Jones, Jr. teaches that the polishing stop layer includes an oxide such as aluminum oxide (e.g., col. 7, lines 52-53).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Lee to include wherein the polishing stop layer comprises aluminum oxide as suggested by Jones, Jr. for the purpose of the conventional use of aluminum oxide for example.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6 and 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.
Claims 12-20 are allowed at this time, pending updated search before the Examiner's next response, because the prior art of record neither anticipates nor render obvious the limitation of the base claim 12 that recites “forming a substrate including a first region and a second region; forming a polishing stop layer having stress of a first type in the first region of the substrate; forming a gap fill layer having stress of a second type different from the first type in the second region of the substrate; forming a stack on the polishing stop layer and the gap fill layer; forming channel structures extending through the stack and the polishing stop layer and having different heights; and polishing the substrate and the channel structures to expose the polishing stop layer” in combination with other elements of the base claim 12.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bo Bin Jang whose telephone number is (571) 270-0271. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Eva Montalvo can be reached at (571) 270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BO B JANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818 March 4, 2026