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 Species 1, claims 1-7 in the reply filed on 6/29/26 is acknowledged.
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) 1, 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Chen et al (US 2022/0093766).
1. A semiconductor structure, comprising:
a first source/drain (S/D) (Fig.28B (66) and [0095]) epitaxially grown in a device layer;
a frontside contact (Fig.28 B( 92) and [0092]) contacting a frontside of the first S/D (Fig.28B (66) and [0095]);
a backside contact (Fig.28B (128) and [0095]) contacting a backside of the first S/D (Fig.28B (66) and [0095]); and
a via contact (Fig.28B (128w- left side) and [0095]) contacting: i) a sidewall of the first S/D (Fig.28B (66) and [0095]), ii) the frontside contact (Fig.28 B( 92) and [0092]), and iii) the backside contact (Fig.28B (128) and [0095]).
6. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, further comprising: a second via contact (Fig.28B (128w- right side) and [0095]) contacting a second sidewall of the first S/D (Fig.28B (66) and [0095]).
7. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, further comprising: a backside power delivery network (BSPDN) [0069] connected to the backside contact (Fig.28B (128) and [0095]); and a back-end-of-line (BEOL) [0010] connected to the frontside contact (Fig.28 B( 92) and [0092]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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.
Prior art fails to teach nor suggest the limitations of claims 1 and 2 in combination as required by claim 2 below:
2. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, further comprising a shallow trench isolation (STI), a STI spacer liner, and a STI liner, wherein the STI spacer liner and the STI liner surround the STI.
Claims 3-5 depend from claim 2 and therefore also contain the allowable subject matter:
3. The semiconductor structure of claim 2, wherein the via contact is etched into the STI spacer liner and not etched into the STI liner.
4. The semiconductor structure of claim 2, further comprising a second STI, wherein the backside contact is confined by the STI liner and the second STI.
5. The semiconductor structure of claim 2, further comprising a second STI liner, wherein the backside contact is confined by the STI liner and the second STI liner.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Reznicek et al (US 2021/0193829) and Xu et al (US 2020/0075772) teach similar front and back side contacts for source drain regions.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA M MENZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1697. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:30.
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/LAURA M MENZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2813
07/09/26
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