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 Group II in the reply filed on 03/03/2026 is acknowledged.
Newly submitted claims 24-33 directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: The openings in the first and second dielectric layers of group II do not require different widths of the first and second dielectric layers of claim 24. The first and second metal bonding structures of group II do not require the first and second metal bonding structures to be laterally offset.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claims 24-33 is withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
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.
Claim(s) 14, 17, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enquist, US 20170062366 in view of Chou et al, US 20140264948.
Regarding claim 14, Enquist discloses : A method of fabricating a vertically stacked semiconductor device, comprising: forming a first dielectric layer over a first device structure(Fig.2, #3 on #30 [0036]); forming a plurality of openings through the first dielectric layer(#5 formed in #3 [0027]); forming a plurality of first metal bonding structures within the openings through the first dielectric layer using an electroless deposition process(Fig 3 and 4, #6 and #7 is a part of the metal bonding structure #1 and #6 and 7 may be formed with electro-less nickel electroplating [0033], bringing the first device structure into contact with a second device structure such that the first dielectric layer contacts a second dielectric layer of the second device structure and each of the first metal bonding structures contacts a corresponding second metal bonding structure of the second device structure(Fig 5 and 6, #30 and #32 are brought together where #3 of both substrates are in contact and #7 are strongly joined [0036-0037]).
Enquist does not disclose : performing an annealing process to promote interdiffusion between the first metal bonding structures and the corresponding second metal bonding structures and form a plurality of metal bonds between the first device structure and the second device structure with void areas located between each of the metal bonds and side surfaces of the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chou teaches : performing an annealing process to promote interdiffusion between the first metal bonding structures and the corresponding second metal bonding structures(Improvement of bonding strength through annealing at a temperature between 300 – 400 degrees Celsius [0023]) and form a plurality of metal bonds between the first device structure and the second device structure with void areas located between each of the metal bonds and side surfaces of the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer(Fig. 10, #116 between #110 and #112 and #216 between #210 and #212).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the teachings of Chou to Enquist to include voids between the metal bonds and side surfaces of dielectric layers to allow metal pads to expand freely without applying stress to dielectric layers (Chou [0026]).
Regarding claim 17, Enquist as modified by Chou discloses : The method of claim 14.
Chou teaches : wherein a maximum lateral width of each of the void areas is 100 nm or more(Fig. 3, W1 may be between 0.1 um and 2um [0014]).
Regarding claim 18, Enquist as modified by Chou discloses : The method of claim 14.
Enquist teaches : wherein each of the metal bonds comprises at least 1 at % of boron, phosphorous and/or sulfur, including oxides thereof(Metals for conductors may include boron [0028]).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enquist, US 20170062366 in view of Chou et al, US 20140264948 in further view of Chen et al, US 20140175655
Regarding claim 15, Enquist as modified by Chou discloses : The method of claim 14.
Enquist as modified by Chou does not disclose : wherein forming the plurality of first metal bonding structures comprises forming first metal bonding structures having a convex upper surface that extends above a plane of an upper surface of the first dielectric layer by 1 nm or more.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chen teaches : wherein forming the plurality of first metal bonding structures comprises forming first metal bonding structures having a convex upper surface that extends above a plane of an upper surface of the first dielectric layer by 1 nm or more(Fig. 3d, #304b having a convex structure above #302 where in #h may be controlled to be between 50 angstrom to 4000 angstrom.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the teachings of Chen to Enquist and Chou to include a convex upper surface of a metal bond to improve bonding of metal bonds (Chen [003-004]).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enquist, US 20170062366 in view of Chou et al, US 20140264948 in further view of Tsao et al, US 20050085066.
Regarding claim 16, Enquist as modified by Chou discloses : The method of claim 14.
Enquist as modified by Chou does not disclose : wherein prior to the annealing process, the plurality of first metal bonding structures have a Young's modulus that is at least 5% less than the Young's modulus of the metal bonds formed during the annealing process.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Tsao teaches : wherein prior to the annealing process, the plurality of first metal bonding structures have a Young's modulus that is at least 5% less than the Young's modulus of the metal bonds formed during the annealing process(Due to the nature of electroless plating process, the density of metal is less than or equal to a density after annealing step [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a metal bonding structure with a lower Young’s modulus before an anneal process due to electroless deposition with routine experiment and optimization. In re Woodruff, 16 USPQ2d 1935, 1937 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Claim(s) 19, 21, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enquist, US 20170062366 in view of Chou et al, US 20140264948 in further view of Huang, US 20210242166.
Regarding claim 16, Enquist as modified by Chou discloses : The method of claim 14.
Regarding claim 19, Enquist as modified by Chou discloses : The method of claim 14.
Enquist as modified by Chou does not disclose : wherein the first dielectric layer comprises a dielectric polymer material.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Huang teaches : wherein the first dielectric layer comprises a dielectric polymer material(dielectric layer used for bonding may be polymers [0006]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to substitute the dielectric layers polymer layers of Huang for the dielectric layers of Enquist and Chou because they are known equivalents and it would have yielded the predictable results. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Regarding claim 21, Enquist as modified by Chou and Huang discloses : The method of claim 19.
Huang teaches : wherein the dielectric polymer material comprises one of benzocyclobutene (BCB), parylene, or polyimide(dielectric materials may include BCB [0006]).
Regarding claim 22, Enquist as modified by Chou and Huang discloses : The method of claim 19.
Huang teaches : wherein the second dielectric layer comprises a dielectric polymer material(Dielectric for hybrid bonding of substrates may include BCB [0006]).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enquist, US 20170062366 in view of Chou et al, US 20140264948 in further view of Huang, US 20210242166 in further view of Wuu et al, US 20220189921.
Regarding claim 20, Enquist as modified by Chou and Huang discloses : The method of claim 19.
Enquist as modified by Chou and Huang does not disclose : wherein forming the plurality of openings through the first dielectric layer comprises lithographically patterning the first dielectric layer by selectively exposing regions of the dielectric polymer material to optical radiation.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wuu teaches : wherein forming the plurality of openings through the first dielectric layer comprises lithographically patterning the first dielectric layer by selectively exposing regions of the dielectric polymer material to optical radiation(removing or altering of dielectric materials may be done by ultraviolet processing [0038]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to alter dielectric materials using ultraviolet processing because the known technique of patterning was recognized as part of ordinary capabilities of one skilled in the art. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enquist, US 20170062366 in view of Chou et al, US 20140264948 in further view of Huang, US 20210242166 in further view of Yang, US 20220216167.
Regarding claim 23, Enquist as modified by Chou and Huang discloses : The method of claim 22.
Enquist as modified by Chou and Huang does not disclose : wherein each of the void areas is bounded by a first concave surface defined by the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer and a second concave surface defined by a respective metal bond.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Yang teaches : wherein each of the void areas is bounded by a first concave surface defined by the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer and a second concave surface defined by a respective metal bond(Fig 5c, #26 formed on 16 with the same fabrication method applied to a second substrate creating a concave shape [0027]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the teachings of Yang to Enquist, Chou, and Huang to modify the shape of a void between dielectric layers and metal bonds to reduce parasitic capacitance [0050]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure : US 20220352441 – Low temperature annealing and bonding
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVE TAN whose telephone number is (571)272-6841. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8-4 PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CHAD DICKE can be reached at (571) 270-7996. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/D.T./Examiner, Art Unit 2897 /CHAD M DICKE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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