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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 08/20/24 was/were received by the Examiner before the issuance/mailing date of the first office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) has/have been considered (except for anything in foreign language non-accompanied by an English translation) by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 and 10-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5 should recite “… wherein the first metal plug has…”.
Claim 10 should recite on line 4 “a first metal plug disposed over the substrate and extending through the dielectric layer…”, and on line 7 “a first metal via…”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “…a first metal plug disposed below the connection structure and disposed at least partially in a dielectric layer; a dielectric layer disposed on a sidewall of an upper portion of the first metal plug…” (emphasis added). The underlined limitations are found indefinite as they are not differentiated and lead to confusion in dependent claim 7. Applicants should use expressions like “a first dielectric layer” and “a second dielectric layer” to avoid the confusion.
Claim 1 recites “the sidewall of a lower portion of the first metal plug.” (emphasis added). The is insufficient basis for the underlined limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites “the dielectric layer”. It is unclear which one of the two “a dielectric layer” recited in claim 1 is being referred back to. Revising claim 1 as suggested above would allow to be more specific in claim 7.
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) 10, 12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (US 2021/0082802).
a. Re claim 10, Hung et al. disclose a semiconductor structure, comprising: a dielectric layer 156 (see annotated fig. 3C below, fig. 3C and related text, [0076] and remaining of disclosure for more details) disposed over a substrate 102; a connection structure (the additional interconnect layers including metal lines and vias and dielectric layers disclose in [0086] to be formed over layer 156) disposed over the substrate; a first metal plug 164&162 ([0082]-[0086]) disposed over the substrate extending through the dielectric layer, wherein the first metal plug includes a cobalt layer 164 ([0085]) and a conductive barrier layer 162 ([0084]) surrounding the cobalt layer, wherein the cobalt layer has at least two steps S1&S2 (see annotated fig. 3C) in a cross-sectional view. Huang et al. do not explicitly disclose a first metal via disposed on the first metal plug and connecting the first metal plug to the connection structure, but disclose in [0086], at least a via in the additional interconnect layers including metal lines and vias and dielectric layers formed over layer 156. However, noting that the rationale to modify or combine the prior art does not have to be expressly stated in the prior art but may be expressly or impliedly contained in the prior art or it may be reasoned from knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art, established scientific principles, or legal precedent established by prior case law (see MPEP 2144.I), and further noting from MPEP 2141.03 that “A person of ordinary skill in the art is also a person of ordinary creativity, not an automaton” and that a “hypothetical ‘person having ordinary skill in the art’ to which the claimed subject matter pertains would, of necessity have the capability of understanding the scientific and engineering principles applicable to the pertinent art.”, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have provided a via (which would be the first metal via) of the additional interconnect layers to be on and electrically connected to first metal plug in order to electrically connect said first metal plug and the source/drain feature 108 to the additional interconnect layers as needed or required to make the semiconductor device 300 work as desired. The modification would have resulted in having a first metal via disposed on the first metal plug and connecting the first metal plug to the connection structure.
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b. Re claim 12, the semiconductor structure of claim 10, further comprises: a gate structure 112 ([0018]) between the substrate and the connection structure.
c. Re claim 14, Huang et al. disclose all the limitations of claim 12 as stated above except explicitly for the limitations of claim 14. However, noting that the rationale to modify or combine the prior art does not have to be expressly stated in the prior art but may be expressly or impliedly contained in the prior art or it may be reasoned from knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art, established scientific principles, or legal precedent established by prior case law (see MPEP 2144.I), and further noting from MPEP 2141.03 that “A person of ordinary skill in the art is also a person of ordinary creativity, not an automaton” and that a “hypothetical ‘person having ordinary skill in the art’ to which the claimed subject matter pertains would, of necessity have the capability of understanding the scientific and engineering principles applicable to the pertinent art.”, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have provided via a non-inventive duplication of essential working parts (plug 162&164 in this instance and the underlying connection parts and devices as necessary; see MPEP 2144.04.VI) for the purpose of increasing integration density, the semiconductor structure of claim 12 to further comprise: a second metal plug disposed between the substrate and the connection structure, wherein the second metal plug includes a cobalt layer and a conductive barrier layer surrounding the cobalt layer, wherein the cobalt layer has at least two steps in the cross-sectional view.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 are allowed.
Claims 11, 13 and 14 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.
Claims 1-9 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lee et al. (US 2021/0082814) disclose a structure and method of forming thereof similar to the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PENIEL M GUMEDZOE whose telephone number is (571)270-3041. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00AM - 5:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dale Page can be reached at 5712707877. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PENIEL M GUMEDZOE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899
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