Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 1, the limitation “wherein the source contact layer comprises a horizontally-extending portion and a vertically-extending portion having a greater vertical extent than the horizontally-extending portion, having an inner cylindrical sidewall contacting a bottom portion of the vertical semiconductor channel, and contacting a bottommost insulating layer within the alternating stack” is open to multiple interpretations, such as:
“wherein the source contact layer comprises a horizontally-extending portion and a vertically-extending portion having a greater vertical extent than the horizontally-extending portion, the vertical portion having an inner cylindrical sidewall contacting a bottom portion of the vertical semiconductor channel, and the vertical portion contacting a bottommost insulating layer within the alternating stack”
or:
“wherein the source contact layer comprises a horizontally-extending portion and a vertically-extending portion having a greater vertical extent than the horizontally-extending portion, the source contact layer having an inner cylindrical sidewall contacting a bottom portion of the vertical semiconductor channel, and the source contact layer contacting a bottommost insulating layer within the alternating stack.”
The multiple reasonable interpretations render the claim indefinite. Based on the description, drawings, and the further limitation of Claim 2, the former interpretation is assumed for examination purposes.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 1, U.S. Pat. No. 9824966 to Kanakamedala et al. teaches in Fig. 18 at least, memory device, comprising:
source-level material layers including a source-level semiconductor layer 61, a source contact layer 146;
an alternating stack of insulating layers 32 and electrically conductive layers 46 located over the source-level material layers;
a memory opening vertically extending through the alternating stack and into an upper portion of the source-level material layers; and
a memory opening fill structure located in the memory opening and comprising a memory film 50 and a vertical semiconductor channel 60,
wherein the source contact layer comprises a horizontally-extending portion and a vertically-extending portion having a greater vertical extent than the horizontally-extending portion (sideways T shape of 146), and contacting a bottommost insulating layer within the alternating stack (146 and lowermost 32 are in contact, see Fig. 18).
Kanakamedala does not teach a lower and upper source layer, or the source contact having an inner cylindrical sidewall contacting a bottom portion of the vertical semiconductor channel.
In analogous art, U.S. Pat. No. 10916556 to Sakakibara et al. teaches in Fig. 18B at least, a source contact layer 114 having a vertical 114C and horizontal 114A portion in between a lower source-level semiconductor layer 112 and an upper source-level semiconductor layer 116. Furthermore, the inner sidewall of the vertical portion 114C of the source contact directly contacts the channel 60. It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to rearrange the single source layer 61 of Kanakamedala to the upper and lower source-level layers of Sakakibara to benefit from a greater contact area between the source contact and the source layer, decreasing resistance and increasing efficiency, as shown by Sakakibara in Fig. 28 and the associated text.
However, neither Kanakamedala nor Sakakibara teach that the vertical portion contacting a bottommost insulating layer.
Claims 2-6 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, as Claim 2 alleviates the indefiniteness of Claim 1.
Claims 7-12 are rejected as being dependent on an indefinite base claim.
Conclusion
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/EVREN SEVEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812