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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 16/533,812, filed on August 7, 2019.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 1, paragraph 1, line 2: After “2023,”, add “now U.S. Pat. No. 12,125,903, issued October 22, 2024,”.
Page 1, paragraph 1, line 3: After “2022,”, add “now U.S. Pat. No. 11,804,544, issued October 31, 2023,”.
Page 1, paragraph 1, line 4: After “2019”, add “, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,264,492, issued March 1, 2022”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6, line 1: Change “comprise” to “comprises” for subject-verb agreement.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 1: This claim requires the following:
A method for fabricating high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), comprising:
forming a buffer layer on a substrate;
forming a barrier layer on the buffer layer;
forming a hard mask on the barrier layer; performing an ion implantation process through the hard mask to form a doped region in the barrier layer and the buffer layer, wherein the doped region comprises a U-shape; and
removing a portion of the hard mask and a portion of the barrier layer to form a first trench, wherein a width of the first trench is less than a width of the doped region.
(emphasis added).
This language is directed to Figure 6.
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396
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The originally filed disclosure describes Figure 6 as follows:
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408
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This language suggests that the doped region is formed in the buffer and barrier layers (14, 16) before the trench (28) is formed, which raises a question as to whether the doped region could comprise a U-shape before the trench (28) is formed. Specifically, per this paragraph, after the trench (28) is formed, followed next by the formation of the gate dielectric layer (30) and the gate electrode (32) and then by the implantation, the U-shape of the dopant region (26) is formed. However, the last two clauses of claim 1 suggest an order of steps of (1) implantation to form the U-shape dopant region, followed by (2) removal of the hard mask and a portion of the barrier layer to form the first trench. This is not supported by the originally filed disclosure. The Office notes that the implantation in the first embodiment, shown in Figure 1, does not form a U-shape, but instead forms a rectangular-shaped doped region, in cross-sectional view. The disclosure suggests that a wider rectangular-shaped doped region is formed in Figure 6, followed by the removal of a portion of the doped region in the barrier layer to form the trench. Because the disclosed method forms a rectangular-shaped doped region in cross-sectional view, and not a U-shape doped region, claim 1 is rejected for failing to meet the written description requirement.
Claims 2-8 are rejected for depending from rejected base claim 1.
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.
Claims 1-8 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.
Regarding claim 1: The discussion of claim 1 from above is incorporated by reference. The Office notes a canon of claim construction regarding the order of steps, in that the last two clauses of claim 1 could be interpreted as being formed in the order listed, or with the step of the second clause performed before the step of the first clause. A method in which the first clause is performed first, followed by the second clause is not supported by the originally filed disclosure as discussed above, but a method in which the second clause is performed first, followed by the second clause, is supported by the originally filed disclosure. Because the claim is unclear as to the order of the steps, claim 1 is rejected as indefinite.
Claims 2-8 are rejected for depending from rejected base claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, which depends from claim 2, which depends from claim 1: Claim 2 requires “forming a source electrode on a first side of the gate electrode and a drain electrode on a second side of the gate electrode, the first side being opposite the second side.” (emphasis added). Claim 3, which depends from claim 2, requires “removing the gate dielectric layer, the hard mask, and the barrier layer to form a second trench and a third trench adjacent to two sides of the gate electrode; and forming the source electrode in the second trench and the drain electrode in the third trench.” (emphasis added). A question arises as to the relationship between the newly defined “two sides of the gate electrode” of claim 1 and the first side of the gate electrode and the second side of the gate electrode of claim 2. Because the relationship is not clear, claim 3 is rejected as indefinite.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 would likely be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112, set forth in this Office action. However, the Office declines to identify specific language that is allowable until applicants’ amendments overcome the Section 112(a) written description rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICTORIA KATHLEEN HALL whose telephone number is (571)270-7567. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Fernando Toledo can be reached at 571-272-1867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Victoria K. Hall/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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