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 .
Election
Applicant’s election of claims #1-14 in the reply filed on July 8, 2026 is acknowledged. Because the Applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.03(a)).
IDS
The IDS document(s) filed on April 5, 2024 has been considered. Copies of the PTO-1449 documents are herewith enclosed with this office action.
Specifications
The title is objected to because a more descriptive title is requested.
Claim Objection
As to claim 1, the Examiner suggests “to light incident on the photoelectric conversion region.”
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Mun et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0215890 A1), hereafter “Mun”, and further in view of Ecton et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0204279 A1), hereafter “Ecton”.
As to claim 1, Mun teaches:
A substrate region 201 including a photoelectric conversion region 212, 214, 216 and a floating diffusion region therein, said floating diffusion region configured to receive charges generated in the photoelectric conversion region in response to light incident [on] the photoelectric conversion region. Mun teaches but does not show the floating diffusion regions. See Mun, ¶ [0026], FIG. 2.
First 241 and second 243 horizontal conductive lines extending on the substrate region, but at different heights relative to a surface of the substrate region, said first horizontal conductive line electrically connected to the floating diffusion region. Mun teaches the floating diffusion region electrically connected to the first horizontal conductive line by way of the contact 246 and selection transistors 222, 224, 246. Id.
However, Mun does not teach the first horizontal conductive line having a thickness smaller than a thickness of the second horizontal conductive line.
On the other hand, Ecton teaches interconnect structures 108A having different thicknesses T1, T2. See Ecton, FIG. 1A.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the interconnections having different thicknesses as taught by Ecton into the photodiode structure with interconnections as taught by Mun, in order to yield the predictable benefit of improving device efficiencies. Id. at ¶¶ [0015]-[0016].
As to claim 2, Mun teaches the first horizontal conductive line 241 extends closer to the substrate region than the second horizontal conductive line 243 by dint of being lower than the second horizontal conductive line. See Mun, FIG. 2.
As to claim 3, Mun teaches the photoelectric conversion regions 212, 214, 216 including reset and source-follower transistors which extend on the substrate region, although only selection transistors are shown in FIG. 2. Id. at ¶ [0031]. The Examiner takes Official Notice that the source follower transistor has a gate terminal electrically connected to the first horizontal conductive line and is known in the prior art.
As to claim 4, Mun teaches the photoelectric conversion regions 212, 214, 216 including reset and source-follower transistors which extend on the substrate region, although only selection transistors are shown in FIG. 2. Id. at ¶ [0031]. The Examiner takes Official Notice that the reset transistor has a drain terminal electrically connected to the first horizontal conductive line and is known in the prior ar.
As to claim 5, Ecton teaches a first thickness of the first horizontal conductive line is less than half a second thickness of the second horizontal conductive line (“T1 may be greater than twice T2…T1 may be less than twice T2”). See Ecton, ¶ [0033].
As to claim 6, Mun teaches a plurality of contacts 610, 612, 246 extending on the substrate region, a first via 615 extending between the second horizontal conductive line 623 and the substrate region, wherein one of the plurality of contacts is electrically connected to the first horizontal conductive line 613, and wherein another one of the plurality of contacts is electrically connected to the first via. See Mun, FIG. 6.
As to claim 7, Mun teaches the first via 615 overlaps the first horizontal conductive line 613 along a direction parallel to the top surface of the substrate region.
Claims Allowable If Rewritten in Independent Form
Claims 8-14 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.
As to claim 8, Mun teaches a second via (the other of 615) but it has a same length as the first via. See Mun, FIG. 6.
As to claim 12, neither Mun nor Ecton teaches the limitations of the third conductive line.
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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