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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's amendments and arguments filed 8/4/2026 have been fully considered; the rejection has been updated to address the newly amended limitations.
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.
Claims 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al (U.S. Pub #2021/0305115), in view of Shariff et al (U.S. Pub #2023/0154796), in view of Lyne (U.S. Pub #2008/0153265).
With respect to claim 10, Choi teaches a semiconductor device, comprising:
a chip obtained after a dicing process (Fig. 11, and Paragraph 52), wherein the chip comprises:
a protective layer (Fig. 11, 162 and Paragraph 43) on a substrate (Fig. 11, 100); and
a dielectric layer (Fig. 11, 172) on a top surface and a sidewall of the alternating stack.
Choi does not teach that the protective layer is an alternating stack.
Shariff teaches a protective layer to be formed over IMD layers, the protective layer being an alternating stack (Fig. 1b, 150 and Paragraph 26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the protective layer of Choi as an alternating stack as taught by Shariff in order to protect the die and IMD layers (Paragraph 26).
Choi does not teach that the dielectric layer directly contacts the substrate.
Lyne teaches a dielectric layer (Fig. 8, 410) that is on a sidewall of a protection layer (Fig. 8, 510), and directly contacts the substrate (Fig. 8, 220).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the structure of Choi such that the dielectric layer directly contacts the substrate as taught by Lyne in order to configure the dielectric layer to extend below the depth of the circuitry for protection (Paragraph 23).
With respect to claim 11, Choi teaches an inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer (Fig. 11, 110) on the substrate; and the protective layer/alternating stack on the IMD layer.
With respect to claim 12, Choi teaches a passivation layer (Fig. 11, 182 and Paragraph 49) on the dielectric layer.
With respect to claim 13, Choi teaches that the passivation layer (Fig. 11, 182) is on a sidewall of the dielectric layer (Fig. 11, 172).
With respect to claim 14, Choi teaches sidewalls of the passivation layer (Fig. 11, 182) and the dielectric layer (Fig. 11, 172) are aligned.
With respect to claim 15, Choi teaches that the dielectric layer (Paragraph 46) and the passivation layer (Paragraph 49) comprise different materials.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi, Shariff, and Lyne, in view of Loboda et al (U.S. Pub #2009/0053491).
With respect to claim 16, Choi and Shariff do not teach that the alternating stack comprises ultra low-k (ULK) dielectric layers and barrier layers alternately stacked over one another.
Loboda teaches an alternating stack comprising ultra low-k (ULK) dielectric layers (Paragraph 21, silicon oxycarbide is an example of an ULK material) and barrier layers (Paragraph 21, e.g. titanium, titanium nitride, etc. ) alternately stacked over one another.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the alternating stack from ultra low-k (ULK) dielectric layers and barrier layers as taught by Loboda in order to provide a low water vapor transmission (Paragraph 55).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN P SANDVIK whose telephone number is (571)272-8446. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davienne Monbleau can be reached at (571)-272-1945. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN P SANDVIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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