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 .
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) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cheng et al (US 2023/0064457 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Cheng et al discloses a semiconductor structure (Figure 29B, reference 50P), comprising: a fin (Figure 29B, reference 66) comprising a plurality of nanosheets (Figure 29B, references 52A-C) disposed over a substrate (Figure 29B, reference 50); a gate structure (Figure 29B, references 100 and 102) disposed over a channel region of the plurality of nanosheets (Figure 29B, references 52A-C act as channel regions); and a first liner (Figure 29B, reference 83) formed in a gap between a gate sidewall spacer (Figure 29B, reference 81) and an inner spacer (94), wherein the gate sidewall spacer (Figure 29B, reference 81), the inner spacer (Figure 29B, reference 94), and the first liner (Figure 29B, reference 83) shield the gate structure (Figure 29B, references 100 and 102) from source/drain (S/D) features (Figure 29B, reference 92).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al (US 2023/0064457 A1) in view of Kao et al (11,942,549 B2).
Regarding claim 9, Cheng et al discloses a first liner (Figure 29B, reference 83).
However, Cheng et al does not disclose wherein the first liner has a concentration of N of between 2% and 10%.
Kao et al discloses wherein the first liner has a concentration of N of between 2% and 10% (Figure 8A, reference 601; column 12, lines 5-6).
It would have been obvious, prior to the effective filing date of the instant application, for one having ordinary skill in the art, to modify Cheng et al with the teachings of Kao et al for the purpose of having a liner with a concentration between 2% and 10% in order to minimize a negative impact on the semiconductor device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-15 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 does not disclose nor fairly suggest a semiconductor structure, comprising: wherein the gap between the gate sidewall spacer and the inner spacer is 0.3 nm to 1 nm (claim 10), wherein a first critical dimension stop layer gap between a source/drain (S/D) region and an interfacial layer of the gate structure is between 5 nm to 10 nm (claim 11), wherein a first inner spacer distance of between 0.3 nm to 1 nm is defined between an end of an inner spacer to an end of a first spacer of the inner spacer, and a second inner spacer distance of between 5 nm to 8 nm is defined between the end of the inner spacer to an end of a second spacer of the inner spacer (claim 12), wherein the fin comprises an epitaxial stack and a first curvature angle of between 150ºto 165º is defined in an interfacial layer of the gate structure around a border between a gate sidewall spacer and an inner spacer for a lowest sacrificial epitaxial layer in the epitaxial stack (claim 13), wherein the fin comprises an epitaxial stack and a second curvature angle of between 165ºto 170º is defined in an interfacial layer of the gate structure around a border between a gate sidewall spacer and an inner spacer for a second lowest sacrificial epitaxial layer in the epitaxial stack (claim 14), wherein the fin comprises an epitaxial stack and a third curvature angle of between 170º to 180º is defined in an interfacial layer of the gate structure around a border between a gate sidewall spacer and an inner spacer for a third lowest sacrificial epitaxial layer in the epitaxial stack (claim 15) combining claims 10-13, claim 10-12 and 14 or claims 10-12 and 15 into independent claim 8.
Claims 1-7 and 16-20 are allowed over the prior art.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art does not disclose nor fairly suggest fabrication methods, comprising: forming a stop cap layer over the plurality of fins and substrate, the stop cap layer having a substantial concentration of nitrogen (N); forming a sacrificial gate stack on channel regions of the plurality of fins; removing the sacrificial gate stack and sacrificial epitaxial layer; and forming a metal gate, wherein the metal gate is shielded from source/drain features by a gate sidewall spacer, an inner spacer, and a first liner formed from the stop cap layer (claim 1) and the stop cap layer comprising with a concentration of at least 2% nitrogen (N); forming a sacrificial gate stack on channel regions of the fin; and replacing the sacrificial gate stack and a sacrificial epitaxial layer of the fin with a metal gate, wherein the metal gate is shielded from source/drain features by a gate sidewall spacer, an inner spacer, and a first liner formed from the stop cap layer (claim 16) as described in the independent claims and in the context of their recited processes, along with their depending 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 inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONICA D HARRISON whose telephone number is (571)272-1959. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7-4:30pm.
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/MONICA D HARRISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815
mdh
June 24, 2026
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