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 Group 1, claims 1-17 and 21-23, in the reply filed on April 27, 2026 is acknowledged.
Accordingly, claims 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on April 27, 2026.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 7, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is 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) 1-7, 9, 10, 15, and 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhao et al (CN 114586176) (English equivalent Zhao et al (US Pub 2024/0047568)).
In re claim 1, Zhao et al discloses a semiconductor apparatus, comprising: a first nitride semiconductor layer (i.e. 22); a second nitride semiconductor layer (i.e. 24) on the first nitride semiconductor layer and having a bandgap greater than that of the first nitride semiconductor layer (i.e. see at least paragraph 0042); an electrode (i.e. 30, 32, 26, or 28) contacting the second nitride semiconductor layer; a dielectric structure (i.e. 116, 118, 120, 130, 132) disposed on the second nitride semiconductor layer and covering the electrode; a field plate (i.e. 122, 123, 124, 125) in the dielectric structure; a plurality of height compensators (i.e. 134, 136, 138, 140, 144) in the dielectric structure and disposed on the electrode and the field plate, respectively; and a plurality of vias (i.e. 142) extending into the dielectric structure (i.e. 132) and contacting top surfaces of the plurality of height compensators (i.e. 144), respectively (i.e. see at least Figures 1-15L; paragraphs 0030-0127).
In re claim 2, Zhao et al discloses wherein the top surfaces of the plurality of height compensators are coplanar (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 3, Zhao et al discloses wherein the plurality of vias have a same length (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 4, Zhao et al discloses wherein each of the plurality of height compensators comprises a lower via portion and an upper connecting portion above the lower via portion, and each of the plurality of vias contacts the upper connecting portion of a respective height compensator (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 5, Zhao et al discloses wherein each of the plurality of vias is in misalignment with the lower via portion of the respective height compensator (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 6, Zhao et al discloses wherein each of the plurality of vias is in alignment with the lower via portion of the respective height compensator (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 7, Zhao et al discloses wherein the upper connecting portion of each of the plurality of height compensators has a width greater than that of a respective via (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 9, Zhao et al discloses wherein for each of the plurality of height compensators, the upper connecting portion has a width greater than that of the lower via portion (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 10, Zhao et al discloses wherein for each of the plurality of height compensators, the upper connecting portion is of a field plate structure (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 15, Zhao et al discloses wherein the plurality of height compensators have different heights (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 21, Zhao et al discloses a semiconductor apparatus, comprising: a first nitride semiconductor layer (i.e. 22); a second nitride semiconductor layer (i.e. 24) on the first nitride semiconductor layer and having a bandgap greater than that of the first nitride semiconductor layer (i.e. see at least paragraph 0042); a plurality of electrodes (i.e. 30, 32, 26, or 28) contacting the second nitride semiconductor layer; a dielectric structure (i.e. 116, 118, 120, 130, 132) disposed on the second nitride semiconductor layer and covering the plurality of electrodes; a field plate (i.e. 122, 123, 124, 125) in the dielectric structure; and a plurality of via structures (i.e. 142) extending into the dielectric structure and disposed on the plurality of electrodes, respectively, wherein each of the via structures comprises a via portion and a height-compensation portion disposed below the via portion (i.e. see at least Figures 1-15L; paragraphs 0030-0127).
In re claim 22, Zhao et al discloses wherein the plurality of via structures are disposed on the plurality of electrodes and the field plate, respectively, and a height of the height-compensation portion of the via structure disposed on the field plate is different from heights of the height-compensation portions of the via structures disposed on the electrodes (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
In re claim 23, Zhao et al discloses wherein top surfaces of the height-compensation portions of the plurality of via structures are coplanar (i.e. see at least Figure 3B).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 11-14, 16, and 17 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY HO whose telephone number is (571)270-1432. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM, Monday-Friday.
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/ANTHONY HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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