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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-19 in the reply filed on 7/2/26 is acknowledged. Also, there is no response to the species restriction, it is assumed that the elected claims read on the species 1 of fig. 1.
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) 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xie et al. (US pub 20230411397).
With respect to claim 1, Xie et al. teach a semiconductor structure, wherein the semiconductor structure comprises (see figs. 1-10, particularly fig. 5 and associated text):
a first stacked transistor cell (middle column), the first stacked transistor cell comprising a first backside contact 160 and the first backside contact having a first contact thickness; and
a second stacked transistor cell (the left column), the second stacked transistor cell comprising a second backside contact 162, the second backside contact having a second contact thickness different from the first contact thickness.
With respect to claim 2, Xie et al. teach the second stacked transistor cell is adjacent to the first stacked transistor cell. See fig. 5 and associated text.
With respect to claim 8, Xie et al. teach the second contact thickness is larger than the first contact thickness. See fig. 5 and associated text.
With respect to claim 9, Xie et al. teach the first stacked transistor cell further comprises a first top epi 127 and a first bottom epi 112; and the second stacked transistor cell further comprises a second top epi 127 and a second bottom epi 112. See fig. 5 and associated text.
With respect to claim 10, Xie et al. teach the first backside contact is directly connected to the first bottom epi; and the second backside contact is directly connected to the second bottom epi. See fig. 5 and associated text.
With respect to claim 11, Xie et al. teach the first transistor cell and the second transistor cell further comprise one or more nanosheets. See fig. 5 and associated text.
Claim(s) 1 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xie et al. (US pub 20230411397).
With respect to claim 1, Xie et al. teach a semiconductor structure, wherein the semiconductor structure comprises (see figs. 1-10, particularly fig. 5 and associated text):
With respect to claim 1, Xie et al. teach a semiconductor structure, wherein the semiconductor structure comprises (see figs. 1-10, particularly fig. 5 and associated text):
a first stacked transistor cell (the left column), the first stacked transistor cell comprising a first backside contact 162 and the first backside contact having a first contact thickness; and
a second stacked transistor cell (the middle column), the second stacked transistor cell comprising a second backside contact 160, the second backside contact having a second contact thickness different from the first contact thickness.
With respect to claim 8, Xie et al. teach the second contact thickness is smaller than the first contact thickness. See fig. 5 and associated text.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xie et al. (US pub 20230411397).
With respect to claim 12, Xie et al. teach a system, wherein the system comprises (see figs. 1-10, particularly fig. 5 and associated text):
the semiconductor structure comprises:
a first stacked transistor cell (the middle column), the first stacked transistor cell having a first contact thickness (of contact 160), wherein the first stacked transistor cell comprises a first backside contact 160, a first bottom epi 112, and a first top epi 127, and wherein the first backside contact is directly connected to the first bottom epi; and
a second stacked transistor cell (the left column), the second stacked transistor cell having a second contact (of contact 162) thickness larger than the first contact thickness, wherein the second transistor cell comprises a second backside contact 162, a second bottom epi 112, and a second top epi 127, and wherein the second backside contact is directly connected to the second bottom epi.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 13-19 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.
Examiner’s Cited References
The cited references generally show the similar or related structure having a first stacked transistor cell having a first backside contact and a second stacked transistor cell having a second backside contact, where the thicknesses of the first and second backside contacts are different as presently claimed by applicant.
Conclusion
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LONG . PHAM
Examiner
Art Unit 2823
/LONG PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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