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 Group II, Species 13, Fig. 5E, claims 18-37, in the reply filed on March 4, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-17 have been cancelled by the Applicant. Action on the merits is as follows:
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 18-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 18 recites “the gate structure is substantially perpendicular to the sidewalls of the fin structures”.
The TERM, ‘Substantially’
The term "substantially" is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite; it is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. “Substantially” is defined as "being largely but not wholly that which is specified” (see Merriam Webster online dictionary). This language is indefinite as the specification does not describe how much the value can deviate from being perpendicular to the sidewalls of the fin structures. The term “substantially” modifies a target, and implicitly requires boundaries at some maximum value above the target and at some minimum value below the target beyond which one is not “substantially” the target any more. Neither the claims, nor the specification, defines these boundaries. Thus, it is unclear whether one must be within some small percentage of deviation of the target (such as 0.01 %, 0.1 %, 1 %, 2 %, 5 %, 10 %, or some other percentage) or within a certain number of units of the target (in this case, the target is the sidewalls of the fin structures), and specifically which of these possible values defines the boundaries. If one were to poll 100 people having ordinary skill in the art, there would be many different responses for the boundaries. Thus, determining whether one is infringing the limitation is subjective, rather than objective, and thus the claim is unclear. Therefore, the claim is rejected as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. For purpose of examination, the Examiner is taking “substantially perpendicular” to be “perpendicular”.
Appropriate correction is required. Claims 19-25 inherit these deficiencies due to their dependence.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ahn (KR 2019 0113192 A also known as KR 102416099 B1).
In regards to claim 18, Ahn (Figs. 1a, 2a, 2b, 12a-13a and associated text and items) method of manufacturing a semiconductor device (Fig. 1a, 13a), comprising: forming a plurality of fin structures (item 20) on a substrate (item 10) by an etching process; exposing sidewalls of the fin structures (item 20) from the substrate (item 10); and forming a gate structure (item 50) on the fin structures (item 20), the gate structure (item 50) is substantially perpendicular to the sidewalls of the fin structures (item 20), wherein each of the fin structures (item 20) comprises a first source/drain region (item S/D) and a second source/drain region (item S/D), the gate structure (item 50) is located between the first source/drain region (item S/D) and the second source/drain region (item S/D); wherein in at least one of the fin structures (item 20), the first source/drain region (item S/D) and the second source/drain region (item S/D) are electrically floated from each other (by way of item FB).
Claim(s) 26-28 and 30-32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by RACHMADY et al. (RACHMADY) (US 2019/0148512 A1).
In regards to claim 26, RACHMADY (Figs. 8-11 and associated text) discloses a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device (Fig. 11), comprising: forming a plurality of fin structures (items 240 plus 250, 240 plus 255) extending along an extension direction on a substrate (item 210); forming a gate structure on the fin structures (items 240 plus 250, 240 plus 255) and the gate structure (item 285 plus 290) extending along a direction perpendicular to the extension direction; and cutting a first fin (items 230A plus 240A or 230B plus 240B)of the fin structures (items 230A plus 240A, 230B plus 240B)to form a first groove (items 252A, 252B, 257A, 257B) on the first fin (items 230A plus 240A, 230B plus 240B), wherein the first fin (items 230A plus 240A, 230B plus 240B) comprises a first source/drain region (items 250A/250B or 255A/ 255B), and the first (items 252A, 252B, 257A, 257B) is located between the first source/drain region (items 250A/250B or 255A/ 255B) and the gate structure (item 285 plus 290).
In regards to claim 27, RACHMADY (Figs. 8-11 and associated text) discloses further comprising: disposing a first source/drain contact (items 295A, 295B) on the fin structures (items 230A plus 240A, 230B plus 240B), wherein the first source/drain contact (items 295A, 295B) doesn't span the first fin (items 230B plus 240B).
In regards to claim 28, RACHMADY (Figs. 8-11 and associated text) discloses wherein a number of the first source/drain contact is multiple (items 295A, 295B), and the first source/drain contacts (items 295A, 295B) respectively span a first number of fin structures (items 230A plus 240A, 230B plus 240B).
In regards to claim 30, RACHMADY (Figs. 8-11 and associated text) discloses further comprising: cutting the first fin (items 230A plus 240A or 230B plus 240B) of the fin structures (items 230A plus 240A, 230B plus 240B) to form a second groove (items 252A, 252B, 257A, 257B) on the first fin (items 230A plus 240A or 230B plus 240B), wherein the first fin (items 230A plus 240A or 230B plus 240B) comprises a second source/drain region (items 250A/250B or 255A/ 255B) opposite to the first source/drain region (items 250A/250B or 255A/ 255B), and the second groove (items 252A, 252B, 257A, 257B) is located between the second source/drain region (items 250A/250B or 255A/ 255B) and the gate structure (items 285 plus 290).
In regards to claim 31, RACHMADY (Figs. 8-11 and associated text) discloses further comprising: disposing a second source/drain contact (items 295A, 295B) on the fin structures, wherein the second source/drain contact (items 295A, 295B) doesn't span the first fin (items 230B plus 240B).
In regards to claim 32, RACHMADY (Figs. 8-11 and associated text) discloses wherein a number of the second source/drain contact (items 295A, 295B) is multiple, and the second source/drain contacts (items 295A, 295B) respectively span a second number of fin structures.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 34-37 are allowed.
In regards to claim 34, none of the current prior art of record discloses “wherein the first source/drain contact spans a first number of fin structures, the second source/drain contact spans a second number of fin structures, and the second number is different from the first number”.
Claim 29 and 33 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 TELLY D GREEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3204. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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TELLY D. GREEN
Examiner
Art Unit 2898
/TELLY D GREEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898 May 1, 2026
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