DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
IDS
The IDS document(s) filed on March 20, 2024 has been considered. Copies of the PTO-1449 documents are herewith enclosed with this office action.
Specification
The specification is objected to because it lacks antecedent basis for reference number 182 in FIG. 10 of the instant Drawings.
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 “contacted on a side opposite the front end of line region, the monolithic device being connected to a front end of line device by a connection through the backside interconnect layer” (emphasis added) as recited in claim 1; “a through via that traverses the front end of line region and connects to the monolithic device through the backside interconnection layer on the backside” as recited in claim 8; and “the front end of line region” of claim 15 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 U.S.C. § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. § 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant, regards as the invention.
As to claim 1, it is unclear where the front end of line region is located because the front end of line region and corresponding front end of line device are not delineated in any of the figures. Paragraphs [0045] and [0065] of the published specification describes the front end of line region including a field effect transistor, presumably 184, 186, 188 or 106, 120 in FIG. 10.
Additionally as to claim 1, it is unclear how the monolithic device 200, 202 is connected to a front end of line device by a connection through the backside interconnect layer 170. The dictionary definition of “through” is ‘movement from one side of an opening or medium to the other’. Here, if the monolithic device is 200 then the connection 190 is formed on top of the backside interconnect layer 170, not through it. Here, if the monolithic device is 202 then the connection 166+182 is formed on top of the backside interconnect layer 170, not through it.
As to claim 8, it is unclear how “a monolithic device including a predominantly monocrystalline body disposed within the backside interlevel dielectric layer, the monolithic device having the body contacted by a contact on a side opposite the front end of line region” (emphasis added). Here, the monolithic device is necessarily 202 and not 200 because monolithic device 200 is not contacted by a contact 166+182. However, the contact 166+182 does not contact the body of the monolithic device on a side opposite the front end of line region because a lateral side of the monolithic device 202 is not opposite the front line region (presumably 106+110+120). Again, the front end of line region is not delineated in corresponding FIG. 10.
Additionally as to claim 8, it is unclear how “a through via that traverses the front end of line region and connects to the monolithic device through the backside interconnect layer on the backside.” Here, the monolithic device is necessarily 202 and not 200 because of the reasons discussed above, e.g. monolithic device 200 is not contacted by a contact 166+182. However, neither 166 nor 182 appears to traverse a front end of line region (presumably 106+110+120) nor connects to the monolithic device 202 through the backside interconnect layer 196 on the backside because 166+182 are instead formed on the backside interconnect layer.
No Prior Art Applied
No prior art has been applied to claims 1-14 in view of the very unclear claim language.
Indication of Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-20 are indicated as being allowable because prior art fails to teach “the field effect transistors of the front end of line region including a source/drain region in contact with a seed material having a width; and a monolithic device including a predominantly monocrystalline body disposed in a backside interlevel dielectric layer disposed between a backside interconnect layer and the front end of line region, the monolithic device having a width greater than the width of the seed material” as recited in claim 15.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUBERR CHI whose telephone number is (571)270-3955. The examiner can normally be reached 10am to 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sue Purvis can be reached on (571) 272-1236. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUBERR L CHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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