DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by YU et al. (US PG Pub 2024/0113195, hereinafter Yu).
Regarding claim 1, figure 1I of Yu discloses a semiconductor device, comprising:
a first stacked set of field effect transistors (FETs)(on the left), including a first top FET and a first bottom FET;
a second stacked set of FETs (in the middle), including a second top FET and a second bottom FET; and
a dielectric barrier (142) between the first stacked set of FETs and the second stacked set of FETs, the dielectric barrier having a narrower width between the first top FET and the second top FET than between the first bottom FET and the second bottom FET.
Regarding claim 7, figure 1I of Yu discloses the dielectric barrier (142) has a stepped profile between a narrower top portion and a thicker bottom portion.
Regarding claim 8, figure 1I of Yu discloses a step of the stepped profile is at a height between the first top FET and the first bottom FET.
Regarding claim 9, figure 1I of Yu discloses a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure (114) in a substrate (102) between the first stacked set of FETs and the second stacked set of FETs that is formed from a dielectric material different from a material of the dielectric barrier (142).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-20 are allowed.
Regarding claim 10, the closest prior art of record, YU et al. (US PG Pub 2024/0113195), either singularly or in combination, does not disclose or suggest the combination of limitations including “a first stacked set of field effect transistors (FETs), including a first top FET with a top work function metal layer and a first bottom FET with a bottom work function metal layer;
a second stacked set of FETs, including a second top FET and a second bottom FET; and
a dielectric barrier between the first stacked set of FETs and the second stacked set of FETs, the dielectric barrier having a narrower width between the first top FET and the second top FET than between the first bottom FET and the second bottom FET, the top work function metal layer having a greater thickness between a channel of the first top FET and the dielectric barrier than a thickness of the bottom work function metal layer between a channel of the first bottom FET and the dielectric barrier”.
Regarding claim 18, the closest prior art of record, YU et al. (US PG Pub 2024/0113195), either singularly or in combination, does not disclose or suggest the combination of limitations including “a semiconductor device, comprising:
a first stacked set of field effect transistors (FETs), including a first top FET with a top work function metal layer and a first bottom FET with a bottom work function metal layer;
a second stacked set of FETs, including a second top FET and a second bottom FET;
a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure in a substrate between the first stacked set of FETs and the second stacked set of FETs; and
a dielectric barrier on the STI structure, between the first stacked set of FETs and the second stacked set of FETs, the dielectric barrier including a dielectric material different from a material of the STI structure and having a narrower width between the first top FET and the second top FET than between the first bottom FET and the second bottom FET, the top work function metal layer having a greater thickness between a channel of the first top FET and the dielectric barrier than a thickness of the bottom work function metal layer between a channel of the first bottom FET and the dielectric barrier”.
Claims 2-6 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
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/YU-HSI D SUN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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