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 claims 15-21 in the reply filed on 06/05/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 22-34 are withdrawn, because the subject matter of these claims is not present in the elected claims as presented. Claims 22 and 29 require that supporting structure to be formed over the gate. This is not present in the elected claims. Furthermore, the specification does not show at all that element 318 (supporting structure) to be over the channel region (312).
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) 15,21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang et al (US Patent No. 9929194).
With respect to claim 15, Yang et al discloses of forming a photosensor (Fig.3) comprising : forming a photo-detecting column (203) in a substrate (200) having a first doping type (202), the photo- detecting column having a second doping type opposite to the first doping type (201); forming a channel structure over the photo-detecting column along a vertical direction (210); forming a gate structure (208) over the photo-detecting column along the vertical direction in a manner that the gate structure is insulated from the channel structure (by 206) ; forming a supporting structure over the gate structure along the vertical direction (217) ; and forming a floating node structure on the supporting structure along the vertical direction (C2) .
With respect to claim 21, Yang et al discloses wherein the gate structure (208) is formed to surround a lower portion of the channel structure (210).
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.
Claim(s) 16-20 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US Patent No. 9929194), in view of (US Pub No. 20220059600).
With respect to claim 16, Yang et al does not explicitly disclose further comprising, prior to forming the gate structure, forming an opening in the substrate and penetrating into the photo-detecting column, wherein in forming the gate structure, the gate structure formed around the channel structure and fills the opening in a manner that the gate structure is insulated from the channel structure and the photo-detecting column. On the other hand, Wang et al discloses prior to forming the gate structure (Fig.4), forming an opening (where 230 is formed) in the substrate (260) and penetrating into the photo-detecting column (420), wherein in forming the gate structure (230, 250) the gate structure formed around the channel structure (around 235,para 36) and fills the opening in a manner that the gate structure is insulated from the channel structure and the photo-detecting column (Fig.4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the invention to modify Yang et al according to the teachings of the Wang et al such that trench gate region is formed in order to improve the performance of the device, by removing short channel effect.
With respect to claim 17, Yang et al in view of Wang et al discloses, further comprising, prior to forming the gate structure and after forming the channel structure and the opening (Fig.4), forming a gate dielectric layer (250) along an inner surface of the opening (where 230 is formed) and an outer surface of the channel structure to cover the photo-detecting column (Fig.4 in wang and Fig.3 in Wang et al) such that the gate structure is formed to be insulated from the channel structure and the photo-detecting column through the gate dielectric layer (Fig.4,Fig.3).
With respect to claim 18, Wang et al in Fig.4 does not explicitly disclose wherein the photo-detecting column includes multiple regions that are spaced apart from each other, and the channel structure includes multiple channel regions that are respectively formed over the multiple regions of the photo- detecting column. On the other hand, Wang et al discloses wherein the photo-detecting column includes multiple regions (120,Fig.1) that are spaced apart from each other (Fig.1), and the channel structure includes multiple channel regions that are respectively formed over the multiple regions of the photo- detecting column (Fig.1, para 23-24). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the invention to modify Wang et al and Yang et al according to the teachings of Wang et al in Fig.1 such that multiple of the photo diode regions are formed in order to increase the sensitivity of the device; therefore, making a better picture.
With respect to claim 19, Yang et al in view of Wan et al discloses wherein the floating node structure includes multiple regions that interface the multiple channel regions of the channel structure, respectively (Fig.1,Fig.3).
With respect to claim 20, Wang et al discloses forming an isolation structure (110,Fig.1) in the substrate (Fig.1) between two adjacent ones of the multiple regions of the photo- detecting column (Fig.1).
Conclusion
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/ALI NARAGHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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