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 .
This Office action is in response to Amendments filed 11/10/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 15, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gotanda (US 2019/0051464 A1) in view of Dandenault et al. (US 2015/0107488 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Gotanda discloses a perovskite light-emitting device (Fig. 1, ¶ 0085) comprising:
a substrate (17 in Fig. 1);
a first electrode (11 in Fig. 1) on the substrate;
a perovskite thin film (13; ¶ 0054) positioned on the first electrode;
a passivation layer (15) positioned on the perovskite thin film; and
a second electrode (16) positioned on the passivation layer.
Gotanda does not disclose that the passivation layer comprises a compound from Applicant’s Chemical Formulas 1 to 4.
However, it was well known in the art that passivation layers may be made from a barrier (“barrier” in ¶ 0071 of Dandenault) which include compounds satisfying Applicant’s Chemical Formula 3 and contain at least one halogen element (“poly(2-chlorostyrene)”, ¶ 0082).
Dandenault discloses a benefit to such a configuration in that it acts as a barrier to moisture (¶ 0071).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form the passivation layer of Gotanda to be a barrier as taught by Dandenault which includes a compound of Applicant’s Chemical Formula 3 for this benefit.
With regards to the passivation layer containing at least one halogen element being configured to stabilize defects of the perovskite thin film by supplementing a deficiency of halogen in the perovskite thin film, Applicant discloses that this occurs when the passivation layer is formed directly on the perovskite layer. While figure 1 of Gotanda shows a buffer layer (“second buffer layer 14”, ¶ 0036) between the passivation layer and the perovskite layer, the text of Gotanda discloses that this buffer layer is optional and, therefore, not required (“buffer layers optionally formed thereon”, ¶ 0086). As such, the broad disclosure of Gotanda discloses to one having ordinary skill in the art that the passivation layer may be placed directly on the perovskite layer which will result in Applicant’s claimed stabilization of defects.
Regarding claim 3, Gotanda discloses forming the passivation layer to have a thickness between 1 and 100 nanometers (¶ 0079).
Regarding claim 4, Gotanda discloses that the perovskite light-emitting device is a light-emitting diode (¶ 0085).
Regarding claim 15, Gotanda discloses that the crystallizability of the perovskite layer may be “improved” (¶ 0098). As such, the preponderance of evidence of the record indicates that the perovskite layer is not perfectly monocrystalline and, therefore, a least somewhat a bulk polycrystalline thin film.
Regarding claim 16, the limitation in this claim only further limits the nanocrystal particle option and not the bulk polycrystalline thin film option and, therefore, Gotanda in view of Dandenault still reads on the claim.
Claim(s) 5 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gotanda (US 2019/0051464 A1) in view of Dandenault et al. (US 2015/0107488 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gao et al. (US 2018/0040769 A1).
Regarding claims 5 and 6, Gotanda does not disclose a hole injection layer as claimed.
However, it was well known in the art to form hole injection layers (¶ 0076 of Gao; “PEDOT:PSS” in Fig. 9) between first electrodes (“ITO”) and perovskite thin films (“CsPbBr3”).
There was a benefit to using hole injection layers as such in that it improves conduction efficiency (¶ 0084 of Gao).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form a hole injection layer between the first electrode and the perovskite thin film of Gotanda for this benefit.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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: claim 2 limits the compound within the passivation layer to be one of 6 listed options. The prior art of record does not disclose any of these six options within a passivation layer of perovskite light-emitting device which satisfies the limitations of claim 1, from which claim 2 depends.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of newly cited reference Dandenault.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT whose telephone number is (571)272-4893. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Benitez can be reached at (571) 270-1435. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT/ Examiner, Art Unit 2815
