DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-10 and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Green (U.S. Publication No. 20230129179). Green teaches a semiconductor chip 300 comprising at least one Hall sensor 302, the at least one Hall sensor comprising: an electrically conductive well 308 with a first conductivity type in a semiconductor substrate 306 (¶51 “The Hall plate 308 has a first conductivity type; in this example, the Hall plate 308 may be n-type, as indicated in FIG. 3A.”), a plurality of well contacts 328 arranged at a surface of the electrically conductive well, and having the first conductivity type (¶63 teach that n type dopants form a plurality of contact regions 328 for the Hall sensor 302 at the surface of the Hall plate.), a plurality of shallow trench isolation regions 358/312 which are delimiting the well contacts at the surface of the electrically conductive well (¶53 describes the formation of “Isolation trenches 358 for the isolation structure 312” and ¶63 teaches “Each contact region 328 has the isolation structure 312 on two opposite sides”.), wherein an implant 362 of a second conductivity type, opposite to the first conductivity type (¶63 teach that n type dopants form a plurality of contact regions 328), is present on sides 360 of the shallow trench isolation regions 312 such that the Hall sensor comprises a depletion region 364 comprising: a first subregion 364/330 between the implant and the electrically conductive well, and a second subregion between the implant and the well contact 328. (¶¶54-57 describes the formation of a sheath (= protective encapsulation) structure 364 on the sides of the isolation trench 312, by implanting with dopants 362 with a "second conductivity type opposite from the first conductivity type of the Hall plate 308." It is noted that this sheath structure 364 forms unambiguously a depletion region (reducing the noise level (¶¶[0002], [0003], [0012]) of the hall sensor) around the isolation trenches 312 having a first bottom subregion to the hall plate 308 and a second side subregion via a gap 330 to the contact regions 328 (see Fig. 3G).
Regarding claim 2, ¶55 teaches the implant has a thickness smaller than 5 pm. implant energy is sufficient to place the p-type dopants within 10nm (i.e., less than 5μm) of the isolation trenches 358 forming the sheath structure 364.
Regarding claim 3, the first conductivity type is n-type and the second conductivity type is p-type. See ¶¶[0051]-[0066] as well as Figs. 3A-G)
Regarding claim 5. ¶55describes a total dose for implanting p-type dopants 362 of 1e12-1e14 ions/cm2 in a depth of about 10 nm. The dopant concentration can be estimated to be (= total dose I depth) 1 e20cm-3, which exceeds 1e15cm-3.
Regarding claim 6, ¶55 teaches the shallow trench isolation regions have a depth of 200-600 nm which is at least 100 nm.
Regarding claims 7-8, ¶¶[0022]-[0024], [0053], [0063] describes a total dose for implanting n-type dopants 126/326 for the contact region 128/328 of 1e14-1e16 ions/cm2 in a depth of less than the depth of the isolation trench (<200nm) 358/312. Furthermore, (¶ [0024]) "the average dopant concentration of the contact regions 128 may be 10 to 100 times the average dopant concentration of the Hall plate 108". The dopant concentration (= total dose I depth) of the contact region 128/328 can be estimated to be 5e20cm-3 and, therefore, the dopant concentration of the hall plate 108/308 to be 5e18cm-3. Both values exceed the values posed in claims 7 and 8.
Regarding claims 9-10, (Figs. 4-6, and ¶¶[0067]-[0100]) discloses microelectronic devices 400/500/600 with Hall sensors 402/502/602 applying potentials and collecting signals via terminals 470/570/670. For the operation modes according to ¶1 [0098] a processing unit that controls a driver unit is implicitly disclosed for the operation of applying potentials, measuring signals and averaging the differences of signals.
Regarding claim 12, ¶¶69 and 91 disclose at least one hall sensor with a structure of a vertical 408 or a horizontal 608 hall plate.
Regarding claim 13, the examiner notes that the method of making does not affect the structure of the product as claimed. The product is anticipated by Green. However Green teaches (Fig. 3A-G, ¶¶[0051 ]-[0066]) - a method (200) for manufacturing a semiconductor chip 300 according to any of the previous claims, the method comprising: - providing a semiconductor substrate 304/306, - doping the semiconductor substrate with a dopant of a first conductivity type to obtain an electrically conductive well 308 in the semiconductor substrate, - providing shallow trench isolation regions 358/312 in the electrically conductive well 308, - doping 362 the semiconductor substrate with a dopant of a second conductivity type, opposite to the first conductivity type, to provide implants on sides of the shallow trench isolation regions 312 - doping 326 regions between the shallow trench isolation regions 312 with a dopant with the first conductivity type, wherein the implants are provided such that the Hall sensor 302 comprises a depletion region comprising: a first subregion 364_bottom between the implant and the electrically conductive well 308, and a second subregion 364_sides/330 between the implant and the well contact 328.
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Green (U.S. Publication No. 20230129179). Green teaches the salient features of the claimed invention except for
the first conductivity type is p-type and the second conductivity type is n-type. There are a limited number (two) of possible arrangement for the first and second type of conductivity. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize the first conductivity type as p-type and the second conductivity type as n-type. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1397 (2007).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Green (U.S. Publication No. 20230129179) in view of Liu (U.S. Patent No. 10050082). Green teaches the salient features of the claimed invention except for the semiconductor chip comprising at least three Hall sensors sensitive to three linear independent directions. Liu teaches in figs. 5A-E using sensors sensitive to three independent directions has already been employed for the same purpose in a similar 3D Hall sensor device. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize the features of Liu for the purpose of 3D sensitivity.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sun (U.S. Patent No. 10424616) teaches a Hall sensor with conductive taps as well as using P and N type materials.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY whose telephone number is (571)272-2122. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30.
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/CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
