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 .
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (claims 1-14) in the reply filed on 07/14/26 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) 8, 12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by LaJoie et al. (2019/0305081 A1).
As to claim 8, LaJoie et al. disclose in Fig. 3B a semiconductor device, comprising: first and second active regions (see the regions that include “wordlines” WL, Fig. 2) (Fig. 2, para. [0031]); a non-shared gate structure disposed across the first and second active regions (see the regions that include “wordlines” WL, Fig. 2) and comprising first and second metal gate material (see each individual “gate electrode” 116, Fig. 2) in the first and second active regions (see the regions that include “wordlines” WL, Fig. 2), respectively (see Fig. 2, para. [0050], the “gate electrode” may be made of “metal”); and a self-aligned backside dielectric pillar (“isolation material” 136) interposed between the first metal gate material (see a first individual “gate electrode” 116, Figs. 2, 3B) and the second metal gate material (see a second individual “gate electrode” 116, Figs. 2, 3B) (see Fig. 3B, para. [0033], [0035]), the backside dielectric pillar (“isolation material” 136) defining a pinched-off air gap (“gas pocket”140) extending across a width-wise portion (horizontal direction) of the self-aligned backside dielectric pillar (“isolation material” 136) and along a height-wise portion (vertical direction) of the self-aligned backside dielectric pillar (“isolation material” 136) (Fig. 3B, para. [0024]-[0027]).
As to claim 12, as applied to claim 8 above, LaJoie et al. disclose in Fig. 3B all claimed limitations including the limitation: wherein the pinched-off air gap (“gas pocket”140) is ovular and elongate height-wise (Fig. 3B).
As to claim 14, as applied to claim 8 above, LaJoie et al. disclose in Fig. 3B all claimed limitations including the limitation: wherein: side sections (side portions of 136) of the self-aligned backside dielectric pillar (136) have a minimum width corresponding to a maximum width of the pinched-off air gap (140), and respective widths of the side sections (side portions of 136) are up to about 20-33% of a total width of the backside dielectric pillar (136) (Fig. 3B).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-11 and 13 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.
Claims 1-7 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: a semiconductor device, comprising: a shared gate structure disposed across the first and second active regions; a self-aligned backside dielectric pillar interposed between a first portion of the first metal gate material and a first portion of the second metal gate material; and a shared gate plug interposed between a second portion of the first metal gate material and a second portion of the second metal gate material, the self-aligned backside dielectric pillar defining a pinched-off air gap extending across a width-wise portion of the self-aligned backside dielectric pillar and along a height-wise portion of the self-aligned backside dielectric pillar, as recited in independent claim 1. Claims 2-7 are dependent upon independent claim 1 and are also allowed,
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANH Y TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2110. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 10am-10pm (flex) (PST).
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/Thanh Y. Tran/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817 September 18, 2026
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