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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed on April 3, 2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 17, 2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of device embodiment 1 (Fig. 3, claims 1-3, 5-10, 13, and 16-19) in the reply filed on May 27, 2026 is acknowledged.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: Oxide Semiconductor Device With Increased Threshold Voltage and Semiconductor Storage Device.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the second, fourth, and sixth diameter being smaller than their respective first, third, and fifth diameter in the alternative must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-3, 5-10, 13, and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1, lines: 15-16 and 19-20 recite the limitations “a lower end of the first portion and an upper end of the first boundary portion have a second diameter equal to or smaller than the first diameter” and “a lower end of the second portion has a fourth diameter equal to or smaller than the third diameter” from the elected figure 3 it is not clear where the alternative “or smaller” is shown. For purposes of examination this will be interpreted as “a lower end of the first portion and an upper end of the first boundary portion have a second diameter equal to the first diameter” and “a lower end of the second portion has a fourth diameter equal to the third diameter” Claim 6, lines: 7-8 recite the limitation “a lower end of the third portion has a sixth diameter equal to or smaller than the fifth diameter” from the elected figure 3 it is not clear where the alternative “or smaller” is shown. For purposes of examination this will be interpreted as “a lower end of the third portion has a sixth diameter equal to the fifth diameter”
Claim 17, lines: 21-22, 25-26, and 29-30 recite the limitations “the lower end of the first portion and an upper end of the first boundary portion have a second diameter equal to or smaller than the first diameter”, “a lower end of the second portion has a fourth diameter equal to or smaller than the third diameter”, and “a lower end of the third portion has a sixth diameter equal to or smaller than the fifth diameter” from the elected figure 3 it is not clear where the alternative “or smaller” is shown. For purposes of examination this will be interpreted as “the lower end of the first portion and an upper end of the first boundary portion have a second diameter equal to the first diameter”, “a lower end of the second portion has a fourth diameter equal to the third diameter”, and “a lower end of the third portion has a sixth diameter equal to the fifth diameter”
Claim 18, lines: 16-17 and 20-21 recite the limitations “a lower end of the first portion and an upper end of the first boundary portion have a second diameter equal to or smaller than the first diameter” and “a lower end of the second portion has a fourth diameter equal to or smaller than the third diameter” from the elected figure 3 it is not clear where the alternative “or smaller” is shown. For purposes of examination this will be interpreted as “a lower end of the first portion and an upper end of the first boundary portion have a second diameter equal to the first diameter” and “a lower end of the second portion has a fourth diameter equal to the third diameter”
Claim 19, lines: 7-8 recite the limitation “a lower end of the third portion has a sixth diameter equal to or smaller than the fifth diameter” from the elected figure 3 it is not clear where the alternative “or smaller” is shown. For purposes of examination this will be interpreted as “a lower end of the third portion has a sixth diameter equal to the fifth diameter”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 5-10, 13, and 16-19 would be allowed if rewritten to overcome the 112 rejections above.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior art of record, Shiokawa (US 2023/0197857), Saito (US 2019/0237581), fail to disclose (by themselves or in combination) the following limitations in combination with the rest of the claim:
Regarding Claim 1 (from which claims 2-3, 5-10, 13, and 16 depend), from the upper end of the oxide semiconductor toward the lower end thereof, a reduction rate of a diameter of the first boundary portion is larger than a reduction rate of a diameter of each of the first portion and the second portion.
Regarding Claim 17, a second boundary portion between the second and third portions, in the first direction, an upper surface of the gate electrode is farther from the upper end of the oxide semiconductor than a lower end of the first portion, and a lower surface of the gate electrode is closer to the upper end of the oxide semiconductor than an upper end of the third portion…
Regarding Claim 18 (from which claim 19 depends), the upper end of the oxide semiconductor toward the lower end thereof, a reduction rate of a diameter of the first boundary portion is larger than a reduction rate of a diameter of each of the first portion and the second portion…
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shiokawa (US 2023/0197857) discloses (Fig. 19) an oxide semiconductor 16, between a top electrode 14 and bottom electrode 12, a gate 18 in an insulating layer 24/26 surrounding 16. Saito does not explicitly disclose where a boundary portion has a larger reduction rate of a diameter than reduction rate in a first and second portion.
Saito (US 2019/0237581) discloses (Fig. 2) an oxide semiconductor 17, between a top electrode 18 and bottom electrode 11, a gate 14 in an insulating layer 13/15 surrounding 17. Saito does not disclose that 17 has multiple portions and boundary portions with different diameters through the vertical length of 17.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GUSTAVO G RAMALLO whose telephone number is (571)272-9227. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am - 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Partridge can be reached at (571) 270-1402. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GUSTAVO G RAMALLO/Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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