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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed (see MPEP § 606.01).
This may result in slightly longer titles, but the loss in brevity of title will be more than offset by the gain in its informative value in indexing, classifying, searching, etc.
The following title is suggested: “SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE HAVING A PLURALITY OF HETEROJUNCTION STRUCTURES STACK.”
If Applicant does not agree with the suggested title above, Applicant must provide a new title that clearly reflects the invention to which the claims are directed.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because of following formal matters:
In lines 4 and 5, substitute “a first heterojunction structure, … and an n-th heterojunction structure” with --first through n-th heterojunction structures--.
In line 7, substitute “a first barrier layer, … the n-th heterojunction structure” with --a first barrier layer, and the n-th heterojunction structure--.
In lines 8 and 9, substitute “at least one of the first barrier layer, … or the n-th barrier layer is doped” with --at least one of the first barrier layer through the n-th barrier layer is doped--.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claims 1-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 7, substitute “a first heterojunction structure, a second heterojunction structure, … and an n-th heterojunction structure” with --a first heterojunction structure, a second through an n-th heterojunction structure--.
In claim 1, lines 10 and 11, substitute “a second barrier layer, …, the n-th heterojunction structure” with --a second barrier layer, and the n-th heterojunction structure--.
In claim 1, lines 12 and 13, substitute “at least one of the first barrier layer, the second barrier layer, … or the n-th barrier layer is/are doped with an N-type element” with --at least one of the first barrier layer through the n-th barrier layer is doped with an N-type element--.
In claim 3, line 3, substitute “any one of the second barrier layer, … and the n-th barrier layer” with --any one of the second barrier layer through the n-th barrier layer--.
In claim 3, lines 5 and 6, substitute “any one of the first barrier layer, the second barrier layer, … and the (n-1)-th barrier layer” with --any one of the first barrier layer through the (n-1)-th barrier layer--.
In claim 6, lines 1 and 2, substitute “at least one of the first barrier layer, the second barrier layer, … or the n-th barrier layer comprises” with --at least one of the first barrier layer through the n-th barrier layer comprises--.
In claim 6, lines 2 and 3, substitute “a first N-type ion doped region, a second N-type ion doped region, … and an m-th N-type ion doped region” with --a first N-type ion doped region, a second N-type ion doped region, through an m-th N-type ion doped region--.
In claim 7, lines 1 and 2, substitute “at least two of the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, … and the m-th N-type ion doped region” with --at least two of the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, through the m-th N-type ion doped region--.
In claim 8, lines 1 and 2, substitute “the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, … and the m-th N-type ion doped region” with --the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, through the m-th N-type ion doped region--.
In claim 9, lines 1 and 2, substitute “the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, … and the m-th N-type ion doped region” with --the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, through the m-th N-type ion doped region--.
In claim 10, lines 2 and 3, substitute “the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, … and the m-th N-type ion doped region” with --the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, through the m-th N-type ion doped region--.
In claim 11, lines 2 and 3, substitute “the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, … and the m-th N-type ion doped region” with --the first N-type ion doped region, the second N-type ion doped region, through the m-th N-type ion doped region--.
In claim 14, line 4, delete a comma (,).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saptharishi (US Pub. 2020/0411663) in view of Cho et al. (US Pub. 2013/0119347).
Regrading Claim 1, Saptharishi discloses a semiconductor structure, comprising: a substrate 62; a protrusion structure 60 comprises a source region 90, a drain region 90, and a channel region (66, 72, 78) between the source region 90 and the drain region 90 (see fig. 4); the protrusion structure 60 comprises: a first heterojunction structure (66, 68) (channel/barrier layers form a heterojunction structure; page 3, paragraph 35), a second (72, 74) through an n-th heterojunction structure (78, 80) sequentially stacked along a direction away from the substrate 62 (see fig. 4), wherein n is an integer greater than or equal to 2 (see fig. 4); the first heterojunction structure (66, 68) comprises a first channel layer 66 and a first barrier layer 68, the second heterojunction structure (72, 74) comprises a second channel layer 72 and a second barrier layer 74, and the n-th heterojunction structure (78, 80) comprises an n-th channel layer 78 and an n-th barrier layer 80 (see fig. 4), and at least one of the first barrier layer 68 through the n-th barrier layer 80 is doped with an N-type element (page 4, paragraph 41; page 5, paragraph 53); a source electrode 84 covered on the source region 90 (page 5, paragraph 54; see fig. 4); a drain electrode 88 covered on the drain region 90 (page 5, paragraph 54; see fig. 4); and a gate structure 86 covered on the channel region (66, 72, 78) (see fig. 4).
Saptharishi fails to disclose explicitly wherein an insulation layer on the substrate; and the protrusion structure protruding out of the insulation layer.
However, Cho discloses a channel layer 42 (page 3, paragraph 49) is protruding out of an insulation layer 32 (see fig. 5), and a barrier layer 46, a gate electrode, a source electrode 60 and a drain electrode 62 are formed on the channel layer 42 (see fig. 7). The first channel layer 66 of Saptharishi can be modified to protrude from an insulation layer, as shown in Cho.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form a protrusion structure protruding out of an insulation layer, as taught by Cho, in order to reduce short-channel effects and parasitic capacitance enhancing device performance.
Regarding Claim 2, Saptharishi discloses wherein the N-type doped element comprises at least one of Si, Ge, Sn, Se or Te (page 4, paragraph 41; page 5, paragraph 53).
Regarding Claim 3, Saptharishi discloses wherein a concentration of the N-type doped element in the first barrier layer is greater than a concentration of the N-type doped element in any one of the second barrier layer through the n-th barrier layer; or a concentration of the N-type doped element (Si; page 5, paragraph 53) in the n-th barrier layer 80 is less than the concentration of the N-type doped element in any one of the first barrier layer 68 through the (n-1)-th barrier layer 74 (page 5, paragraph 53).
Regarding Claim 5, Saptharishi discloses wherein a doping manner of the N-type doped element is uniform doping, gradually changed doping, delta-doping or modulation doping (gradually changed doping; page 4, paragraph 41).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 6-14 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:
Claim 4 recites the concentrations of the N-type doped element in the first barrier layer, the second barrier layer and the n-th barrier layer gradually decrease layer by layer.
Claim 6 recites at least one of the first barrier layer through the n-th barrier layer comprises a first N-type ion doped region, a second N-type ion doped region, through an m-th N-type ion doped region which are sequentially arranged, wherein m is an integer greater than or equal to 2.
Claim 12 recites a plurality of protrusion structures; the source electrode is covered on a plurality of source regions; the drain electrode is covered on a plurality of drain regions; and the gate structure is covered on a plurality of channel regions.
These features in combination with the other elements of the base claim are neither disclosed nor suggested by the prior art of record.
Claims 7-11, 13 and 14 variously depend from claim 6 or 12, so they are objected for the same reason.
Conclusion
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/CHEUNG LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812 January 10, 2026