DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the application No. 18/821,569 filed on November 28, 2023.
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 .
Acknowledgment
This is responsive to the application filed on 11/28/2023. Accordingly, pending in this Office action are claims 16-35.
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 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 30-32 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US 2022/0216340) in view of Hafez (US 2021/0183857).
Regarding Claim 30, Song (see, e.g., Fig. 20), teaches a stacked device structure comprising:
a first upper transistor 400 (i.e., left transistor 400) having a first gate stack 264/266N, wherein the first gate stack 264/266N includes a first gate dielectric 264 and a first gate electrode 266N (see, e.g., par. 0033);
a first lower transistor 300 (i.e., left transistor 300) having a second gate stack 264/266P, wherein the first upper transistor 400 is vertically stacked over the first lower transistor 300 and the second gate stack 264/266P includes a second gate dielectric 264 and a second gate electrode 266P (see, e.g., par. 0033);
a second upper transistor 400 (i.e., middle transistor 400) having a third gate stack 264/266N, wherein the third gate stack 264/266N includes a third gate dielectric 264 and a third gate electrode 266N (see, e.g., par. 0033);
a second lower transistor 300 (i.e., middle transistor 300) having a fourth gate stack 264/266P, wherein the second upper transistor 400 is vertically stacked over the second lower transistor 300 and the fourth gate stack 264/266P includes a fourth gate dielectric 264 and a fourth gate electrode 266P (see, e.g., par. 0033); and
wherein:
the first gate dielectric 264 includes a first metal (i.e., Hf), oxygen (see, e.g., par. 0033),
the second gate dielectric 264 includes the first metal (i.e., Hf), a second metal (i.e., Ti), oxygen (see, e.g., par. 0033),
the third gate dielectric 264 includes the first metal (i.e., Hf) and oxygen (see, e.g., par. 0033), and
the fourth gate dielectric 264 includes the first metal (i.e., Hf), the second metal (i.e., Ti), and oxygen (see, e.g., par. 0033).
Lin is silent with respect to the claim limitation that the first and second gate dielectrics 264 further include nitrogen.
Hafez (see, e.g., Fig. 2B), in similar semiconductor devices to Lin, on the other hand, teaches that in order to tune the threshold voltage of the transistors, the first and second gate dielectrics 212P/212N further include nitrogen (see, e.g., pars. 0036, 0039).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have in Lin’s device, the first and second gate dielectrics further including nitrogen, as taught by Hafez, to tune the threshold voltage of the transistors.
Regarding Claim 31, Lin and Hafez teach all aspects of claim 30. Lin (see, e.g., Fig. 20), teaches that:
the first metal is hafnium (see, e.g., par. 0033); and
the second metal is aluminum, titanium or zinc (see, e.g., par. 0033).
Regarding Claim 32, Lin and Hafez teach all aspects of claim 30. Lin (see, e.g., Fig. 20), teaches that:
the first metal is hafnium (see, e.g., par. 0033); and
the second metal is lanthanum, yttrium, strontium, or lutetium (see, e.g., par. 0033).
Regarding Claim 35, Lin and Hafez teach all aspects of claim 30. Lin (see, e.g., Fig. 20), teaches that the first upper transistor 400 (i.e., left transistor 400) is a first p-type transistor, the first lower transistor 300 (i.e., left transistor 300) is a first n-type transistor, the second upper transistor 400 (i.e., middle transistor 400) is a second p-type transistor, and the second lower transistor 300 (i.e., middle transistor 300) is a second n-type transistor (see, e.g., par. 0027).
Claims 33 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US 2022/0216340) in view of Hafez (US 2021/0183857) and further in view of Jung (US 2021/0294451).
Regarding Claim 33, Lin and Hafez teach all aspects of claim 30. Lin (see, e.g., Fig. 20), teaches that the first metal is zirconium (see, e.g., par. 0033).
Lin is silent with respect to the claim limitation that the second metal is aluminum, titanium, or zinc.
Lin discloses the claimed invention except for the use of Ba instead of titanium for the second metal. Jung (see, e.g., par. 0012), on the other hand teaches that ZrTiO4 and BaZrO3 are equivalent materials known in the art. Therefore, because these dielectric materials were art-recognized equivalents at the time of the invention, one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute titanium for Ba since the substitution would yield predictable results. See Supreme Court decision in KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. _, 82 YSPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Regarding Claim 34, Lin and Hafez teach all aspects of claim 30. Lin (see, e.g., Fig. 20), teaches that:
the first metal is zirconium (see, e.g., par. 0033); and
Lin is silent with respect to the claim limitation that the second metal is lanthanum, yttrium, strontium, or lutetium.
Lin discloses the claimed invention except for the use of Ba instead of strontium for the second metal. Jung (see, e.g., par. 0012), on the other hand teaches that SrZrO3 and BaZrO3 are equivalent materials known in the art. Therefore, because these dielectric materials were art-recognized equivalents at the time of the invention, one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute strontium for Ba since the substitution would yield predictable results. See Supreme Court decision in KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. _, 82 YSPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-29 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nelson Garcés whose telephone number is (571)272-8249. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
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/Nelson Garces/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814