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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I in the reply filed on 06/05/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 06/05/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/13/2024 was filed after the mailing date of the application on 02/13/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph [0044] line 4, the following limitations are described: “… balk end of line (BEOL) processing” (emphasis added). The examiner believes that this is a misspelled word and that the correct format should be "… back end of line (BEOL) processing.".
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-5, 7 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu, US 20230335407 A1 (Wu ‘407).
Regarding claim 1; Wu teaches a semiconductor device (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: 200), comprising:
a first metal line (210); and
a second metal line (210) adjacent and coplanar to the first metal line (210), wherein: the first metal line (210) and the second metal line (210) have a common patterning level; and
the first metal line (210) and the second metal line (210) are separated by a cut region (First Cut Region) parallel to a length of the first metal line (210) and the second metal line (210).
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Regarding claim 2; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 1.
Further, Wu ‘407 teaches wherein the cut region (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: First Cut Region)along the first metal line (210) and the second metal line (210) form two line features from a same mask ([0062]: Referring to FIG. 8, a first photomask (not shown in the figure) is formed on a top surface of the first dielectric layer. A part of the first dielectric layer is removed through etching based on the first photomask, and the independently disposed first line structures 210 are formed in the reserved first dielectric layer.”).
Regarding claim 3; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 1.
Further, Wu ‘407 teaches wherein the cut region (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: First Cut Region) isolates the first (210) and second (210) metal lines.
Regarding claim 4; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 1.
Further, Wu ‘407 teaches wherein the cut region (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: First Cut Region) is parallel to the first metal line (210).
Regarding claim 5; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 1.
Further, Wu ‘407 teaches wherein the cut region (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: First Cut Region) isolates one or more line segments between the first (210) and second (210) metal lines.
Regarding claim 7; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 1.
Further, Wu ‘407 teaches wherein the cut region (Wu: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: First Cut Region) has a rectangular shape.
Regarding claim 15; Wu ‘407 teaches a semiconductor device (Wu: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: 200), comprising:
a first metal line (210), the first metal line (210) comprising a first part (210) and a second part (210), wherein the first part (210) is separated from the second part (210) by a first cut region (First Cut Region); and
a second metal line (220), wherein the second metal line (220) changes level to extend around the second part of the first metal line (210, as can be seen in Fig (7) the second line extends above the second parts of the first line 210 which meets the limitations recited in the instant claim).
Regarding claim 16; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 15.
Further, Wu ‘407 teaches wherein the first cut region (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: First Cut Region) is parallel with the first part (210) and the second part (210) of the first metal line (210).
Regarding claim 17; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 15.
Further, Wu ‘407 teaches wherein the first cut region (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: First Cut Region) is located between the first part (210) and the second part (210).
Regarding claim 18; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 15
Wu ‘407 teaches further comprising a second cut region (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: Second Cut Region) in the second metal line (220), wherein the second cut region (Second Cut Region) is perpendicular to the first cut region (First Cut Region).
Regarding claim 19; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 18
Further, Wu ‘407 teaches wherein the first cut region (Wu ‘407: Annotated Fig (7) shared in this OA: First Cut Region) and the second cut region (Second Cut Region) have a rectangular shape.
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.
Rejection Note: Italicized claim limitations indicate limitations that are not explicitly disclosed in the primary reference, but disclosed in the secondary reference(s).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu, US 20230335407 A1 (Wu ‘407) in view of Lee, US 20090104768 A1 (Lee).
Regarding claim 6; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 1
However, Wu ‘407 does not teach wherein a width of the cut region is smaller than a width of the first metal line prior to being cut by the cut region.
Lee teaches wherein a width of the cut region (Lee: Figs (2A) to (2E): 72) is smaller than a width of the first metal line (64) prior to being cut by the cut region (72, paragraphs [0012] – [0017] describe the process by which a metal layer/line 64 get separated into line segments by the cut region 72 which is visibly smaller than the original width of the metal layer/line 64 prior to being cut as can be seen in Fig (2A).
Wu ‘407 and Lee are considered analogous art. Thus, it would have been obvious, prior to the effective filing date of the instant application, to a persona having ordinary skill int e art, to modify Wu ‘407 by introducing the smaller width of the cut region as disclosed by Lee to improve the ability to connect different parts of the circuits while protecting against the possibilities of short circuits.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu, US 20230335407 A1 (Wu ‘407) in view of Wu, CN 117410268 A (Wu ‘268).
Regarding claim 20; Wu ‘407 teaches all the limitations of the semiconductor device of claim 15.
However, Wu ‘407 does not teach wherein at least one of the first cut region or the second cut region has an L-shape.
Wu ‘268 teaches wherein at least one of the first cut region (Wu ‘268: Annotated Fig (2) shared in this OA: 120) or the second cut region has an L-shape.
Wu ‘407 and Wu ‘268 are considered analogous art. Thus, it would have been obvious prior to the effective filing date of the instant application, to a person having ordinary skill in the art, to modify Wu ‘407 by constructing the cut to have an L-shape as disclosed in Wu ‘268 to create more line segments using the same cut which improves the density of conductive lines in the circuit and improves the efficiency of making them.
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Conclusion
Prior art made of record but not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Kuo et al, US 20230352404 A1 (Kuo); discloses metal lines and cuts between them.
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/M.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/Kretelia Graham/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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