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 .
Attorney Docket Number: P202300459US01
Filling Date: 08/11/2023
Inventor: Cohoes et al
Examiner: Bilkis Jahan
DETAILED ACTION
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8-11 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al (US 2022/0384620 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses a semiconductor device fabrication method (Para. 32), comprising: building first 20N (Para. 42) and second 20P (Para. 42) nanosheet devices (Para. 15); locating a dielectric bar 214 (Para. 19) between the first 20N and second 20P nanosheet devices; forming, in the first nanosheet device 20N, a first work function metal (WFM) 230 (Para. 32); and forming, in the second nanosheet device 20P, a second WFM 234 (Para. 38) that extends across the dielectric bar 214 and the first WFM 230.
Regarding claim 2, Huang discloses the semiconductor device fabrication method according to claim 1, wherein: one of the first and second nanosheet devices comprises an n-doped field effect transistor (NFET) device 20N (Para. 42), and the other of the first and second nanosheet devices comprises a p-doped field effect transistor (PFET) device 20P (Para. 42).
Regarding claim 8, Huang discloses a semiconductor device (Fig. 32), comprising: a first nanosheet device 20N comprising a first work function metal (WFM) 230; a second nanosheet device 20P; and a dielectric bar 214 located between the first 20N and second 20P nanosheet devices, the second nanosheet device 20P comprising a second WFM 234 that extends across the dielectric bar 214 and the first WFM 230.
Regarding claim 9, Huang discloses the semiconductor device according to claim 8, wherein: one of the first 20N and second nanosheet devices comprises an n-doped field effect transistor (NFET) device (Para. 42), and the other of the first and second nanosheet devices comprises a p-doped field effect transistor (PFET) device 20P (Para. 42).
Regarding claim 10, Huang discloses the semiconductor device according to claim 8, further comprising a conformal dielectric liner 212 (Para. 43) defining an interior space in which the dielectric bar 214 is disposed.
Regarding claim 11, Huang discloses the semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein the dielectric bar 214 comprises a second dielectric material different from the conformal dielectric liner (Fig. 27, Para. 19).
Regarding claim 16, Huang discloses a semiconductor device (Fig. 32), comprising: a p-doped field effect transistor (PFET) device 20P comprising a first work function metal (WFM) 234; an n-doped field effect transistor (NFET) device 20N; and a dielectric bar 214 located between the PFET 20P and NFET 20N devices, the NFET device 20N comprising a second WFM 230 that extends across the dielectric bar 214 and the first WFM 234.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 12-15, 17-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BILKIS JAHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5022. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 am-5 Pm.
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BILKIS . JAHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2817
/BILKIS JAHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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