DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/20/24, 6/13/25, 7/15/25, 11/25/25, 12/18/25, 3/2/26, 3/25/26, 5/6/26, and 6/16/26 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-4, 8-11, and 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen (EP 2672511).
As to claims 1, 2, 8, and 14, Chen teaches a semiconductor device and method of making said semiconductor device (MCM 61, see annotated fig. 18 below), comprising:
a base die (68), a first layer (30), a second layer (30), a first die (70) between the first layer (30) and the second layer (30), and a second die (74) stacked together along a first direction (D1, [0038] – [0039], 68, 70, and 74 all contain active circuitry 20, which can be a memory chip), wherein:
each of the base die (68), the first die (70), and the second die (74) has a conductive layer (24.0/”CL1”, 24.1/”CL2”, and 24.2/”CL3”, respectively, [0038]);
the first die (70) and the second die (74) are bonded through the second layer (30, see fig. below); and
the base die (68) and the first die (70) are bonded through the first layer (30, see fig. below);
a first contact structure (60.0, “CS1”) coupled to the conductive layer (CL1) of the base die (68), wherein the first contact structure extends along the first direction (D1) and contacts the conductive layer (CL1) of the base die (68) without extending through the first layer (30, [0052], see fig. below);
a second contact structure (60.1, “CS2”) coupled to the conductive layer (CL2) of the first die (70), wherein: the second contact structure (CS2) extends through the first layer (30) along the first direction (D1) without extending through the second layer (30); and the second contact structure (CS2) contacts the conductive layer (CL2) of the first die (70) without extending through the conductive layer (CL1) of the base die (68, [0052], see fig. below); and
a third contact structure (60.3, “CS3”) coupled to the conductive layer (CL3) of the second die (74), wherein: the third contact structure (CS3) extends through the first layer (30) and the second layer (30) along the first direction (D1) without extending through the second die (74); and the third contact structure (CS3) contacts the conductive layer (CL3) of the second die (74) without extending through the conductive layer (CL2) of the first die (70, [0052], see fig. below).
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As to claims 3, 4, 9, 10, and 15, Chen further teaches a first end (“E2”) of the conductive layer (CL2) of the first die (70) and a first end (“E3”) of the conductive layer (CL3) of the second die (74) are offset along a second direction (D2) perpendicular to the first direction (D1, see annotated fig. above);
the second contact structure (CS2) is between the first end (E2) of the conductive layer (CL2) of the first die (70) and the first end (E3) of the conductive layer (CL3) of the second die (74) along the second direction (D2, see annotated fig. above); and
the third contact structure (CS3) is between the first end (E2) of the conductive layer (CL2) of the first die (70) and the first end (E3) of the conductive layer (CL3) of the second die (74) along the second direction (D2, see annotated fig. above).
As to claim 11, Chen further teaches the second layer (30) comprises at least one dielectric material and excludes a conductive bonding contact ([0038], it’s a hard mask); and the first layer (30) comprises at least one dielectric material and excludes a conductive bonding contact ([0038], it’s a hard mask as well).
As to claim 13, Chen further teaches the base die (68) comprises an interconnect layer (110) extending along a second direction (D2) perpendicular to the first direction (D1); and each of the first contact structure (CS1), the second contact structure (CS2), and the third contact structure (CS3) is coupled to the interconnect layer (110, [0052], they are connected to active components on layer 110).
As to claim 16, Chen further teaches thinning the first die by thinning a substrate comprised in the first die ([0040]).
As to claim 17, Chen further teaches the first contact structure and the second contact structure are formed by a same process (etching process through a mask 54, figs. 16-18) comprising: forming a first contact hole (1) and a second contact hole (2, fig. 16, [0049]); forming an insulating layer (94) in each of the first contact hole (0) and the second contact hole (1, fig. 16, [0049]); and forming the first contact structure (CS2) and the second contact structure (CS3) by forming a conductive structure (96) in the insulating layer (94) of each of the first contact hole (CS2) and the second contact hole (CS3), wherein the first contact structure (CS2) comprises the insulating layer (94) and the conductive structure (96) in the first contact hole (1), and the second contact structure (CS3) comprises the insulating layer (94) and the conductive structure (96) in the second contact hole (2, fig. 18, [0049]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen.
As to claim 12, Chen doesn’t explicitly teach the first and second layers each have a top dielectric layer and a bottom dielectric layer. However, fabricating hard masks that comprise multiple dielectric layers (such as ONO layers) is known in the art and would have been obvious to use so as to adjust etching profiles and protection parameters.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 and 18-20 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art taken either singularly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of the claims listed above in such a manner that a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103 would be proper.
The prior art fails to teach a combination of all of the features in the claims. As to claims 5 and 18, the prior art fails to teach and the bonding layer(s) comprise(s) conductive bonding contacts and at least one dielectric material isolating the conductive bonding contacts. The bonding layers are hardmasks. They do not, and would not, comprise conductive bonding contacts.
Claims 6, 7, 19, and 20 are allowable at least because they depend from allowable claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Hand-Delivered responses should be brought to:
Customer Service Window
Randolph Building
401 Dulany Street
Alexandria, VA 22313
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN M KUSUMAKAR whose telephone number is (571)270-3520. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday from 7:30a – 4:30p EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Fernando Toledo can be reached on 571-272-1867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAREN KUSUMAKAR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
6/24/26
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