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 .
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 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.
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 1-2, 14, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ho et al. (US publication 2020/0258865 A1), hereinafter referred to as Ho865.
Regarding claim 1, Ho865 teaches a semiconductor device (fig. 7 and related text), comprising: a first layer (134, [0037-0039), a second layer (A/B, examiner markup below), a first die (110, [0021]) between the first layer and the second layer (fig. 7), and a second die (210, [0021]) stacked together along a first direction (vertical, fig. 7), wherein each of the first die and the second die has a conductive layer (108/206, [0015]), and wherein the first die and the second die are bonded through the second layer ([0021], fig. 7); a first contact structure (C, examiner markup below) coupled to the conductive layer (108) of the first die, wherein the first contact structure extends along the first direction and contacts the conductive layer of the first die without extending through the second layer (fig. 7); and a second contact structure (D, examiner markup below) coupled to the conductive layer (206) of the second die, wherein the second contact structure extends through the conductive layer of the first die and the second layer along the first direction (fig. 7) and contacts the conductive layer of the second die without extending through the second die (fig. 7).
Regarding claim 2, Ho865 teaches wherein: the first layer comprises conductive bonding contacts and at least one dielectric material isolating the conductive bonding contacts; and the second layer comprises at least one dielectric material and excludes a conductive bonding contact (fig. 7).
Regarding claim 14, Ho865 teaches a method (fig. 1-7 and related text), comprising: providing a first die (110, [0021]) and a second die (210, [0021]), wherein the first die comprises a first conductive layer (108, [0015]) and at least a first bonding layer (A, examiner markup below), and the second die comprises a second conductive layer (206, [0015]) and at least a second bonding layer (B, examiner markup below); stacking the second die on the first die along a first direction (vertical, fig. 7); bonding the second bonding layer to the first bonding layer ([0021], fig. 7); and forming a first contact structure (C, examiner markup below) and a second contact structure (D, examiner markup below) that extend along the first direction, wherein: the first contact structure contacts the first conductive layer without extending through the first bonding layer (fig. 7); and the second contact structure extends through the first conductive layer, the first bonding layer, and the second bonding layer and contacts the second conductive layer without extending through the second die (fig. 7).
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Regarding claim 17, Ho865 teaches further comprising: forming a third bonding layer (134, [0037-0039) on a surface of the first die opposite to the first bonding layer, wherein the third bonding layer comprises conductive bonding contacts and a dielectric material isolating the conductive bonding contacts (fig. 7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 15-16, 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 claims contain limitations that none of the prior art of record discloses, teaches or fairly suggests, alone or in combinations when taken in combination with all other limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 8-13 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 8, Ho et al. (US publication 2020/0258865 A1) discloses some features of the claimed invention (see claim 1 rejection) however, the prior arts of record, singly or in combination, neither anticipates nor render obvious the limitations (…wherein the first contact structure extends along the first direction and contacts the conductive layer of the base die without extending through the first layer; a second contact structure coupled to the conductive layer of the first die, wherein the second contact structure extends along the first direction and contacts the conductive layer of the first die without extending through the second layer; and a third contact structure coupled to the conductive layer of the second die, wherein the third contact structure extends through the first layer, the conductive layer of the first die, and the second layer along the first direction and contacts the conductive layer of the second die without extending through the second die) when taken in combinations with all other limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mohammed R Alam whose telephone number is 469-295-9205 and can normally be reached between 8:00am-6:00pm (M-F) or by e-mail via Mohammed.Alam1@uspto.gov.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacob Choi can be reached on 469-295-9060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMED R ALAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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