DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/19/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection presented below.
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) 13-14 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by US Publication 2016/0035770 to Ahn et al.
In regards to claims 13-14 and 25, Ahn discloses and shows in Figures 3, 5 and 7-8, an optical device, comprising:
light absorption layer (12, 105) (par. 7, 9, 48, 65; wherein a color filter layer is provided in an array of light filters each filtering and transmitting different ranges of wavelengths); and
one or more semiconductor layers (14, 101, 102, 104, 105) including an array of photodetectors (102) and an optical structure (103) formed therein, the optical structure being between the light absorption layer and the array of photodetectors (Figures 3, 5, 7), wherein the optical structure is configured to isolate adjacent photodetectors of the array of photodetectors and form an anti-reflection coating (104) for light within an absorption wavelength range of the light absorption layer (par. 48, 51-53, 65, 68-71; wherein trench isolation structures are utilized to partition and separate a color filtering layer, and anti-reflection layer and a photodetection layer into a plurality of isolated pixels, each with a different wavelength detection range);
[claim 14] further comprising a molding material (11, 106) coupled to the light absorption layer, the molding material configurable to pass a portion of incident light to the light absorption layer (par. 9, 48, 54, 65, 72, 87; wherein a plurality of microlenses may be formed on the color filter layer);
[claim 25] wherein the optical structure includes shallow trench isolation (STI) structures (par. 68, 91).
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) 1, 4-7, 9-11, 21-24 and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Publication 2016/0035770 to Ahn et al. in view of US Publication 2013/0119236 to Lenchenkov.
In regards to claims 1, 4-7, 9-11, 21-24 and 28-30, Ahn discloses and shows in Figures 3, 5 and 7-8, an optical device, comprising:
one or more semiconductor layers (14, 101, 102, 104, 105) including an array of photodetectors (102) and an optical structure (103, 105, 106) formed therein, the optical structure overlapping with the one or more photodetectors (Figures 3, 5, 7; wherein the filtering layer and the microlens layer are partitioned to create individual pixels with different detection wavelength ranges);
wherein the optical structure is configured to isolate adjacent photodetectors of the array of photodetectors and form an anti-reflection coating (104) for light within an absorption wavelength range of the light absorption layer (par. 48, 51-53, 65, 68-71; wherein trench isolation structures are utilized to partition and separate a color filtering layer, and anti-reflection layer and a photodetection layer into a plurality of isolated pixels, each with a different detection wavelength range);
a layer overlapping (11, 12, 13, 104, 105, 106) with the one or more semiconductor layers (12, 105) (par. 7, 9, 48, 65; wherein a color filter layer, an anti-reflection layer and a microlens layer are provided);
[claim 9] wherein further comprising a molding compound covering the layer (par. 9, 48, 54, 65, 72, 87; wherein a plurality of microlenses may be utilized);
[claim 10] wherein the molding compound has a transmittance of incident light that varies with a frequency of the incident light (par. 9, 48, 54, 65, 72, 87; wherein a plurality of microlenses may be formed on the color filter layer);
[claim 11] wherein the molding compound has an anti-reflection coating (ARC) property (par. 9, 48, 54, 65, 72, 87; wherein a plurality of microlenses, color filters and an anti-reflection coating may be utilized to form a plurality of pixels with different detection wavelengths);
[claim 23] wherein the optical structure includes shallow trench isolation (STI) structures (par. 68, 91);
[claim 24] wherein the photodetector includes a photodiode (par. 57).
Ahn differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the apparatus further comprising:
[claim 1] wherein the layer is a metasurface;
[claim 4] wherein the metasurface is embedded in a dielectric material;
[claim 5] wherein the layer includes metal patches or gaps in a metal layer forming the metasurface;
[claim 6] wherein the metasurface is configurable to absorb a portion of an incident light at a frequency range narrower than a frequency spectrum of the incident light;
[claim 7] wherein the layer includes two or more different metasurfaces embedded in a dielectric material;
[claim 21] wherein the layer includes: a metal grid having an array of recesses; and a metal patch in each of the array of recesses.
[claim 22] wherein the metasurface is one of a plurality of metasurfaces that form a stack;
[claim 28] wherein the layer is a first layer, the metasurface is a first metasurface, and the apparatus further comprises a second layer over the first layer, and the second layer including a second metasurface;
[claim 29] wherein the first and second layers are part of an optical filter over the optical structure;
[claim 30] wherein each of the first layer and second layer includes a respective metal layer and a respective dielectric layer.
However, Lenchenkov discloses and shows in Figures 2, 4-5B and 7, an apparatus, comprising:
one or more semiconductor layers (Figure 2; 14, 16, 22) (Figure 4; 54, 58, 66, 64) including a photodiode (28, 56) (par. 3, 19-20, 29), and an optical structure formed in the one or more semiconductor layers, the optical structure overlapping with the photodetector (Figure 2) (par. 20-26; wherein the image sensor includes an array of pixels (18), which include the optical structures of semiconductor layers (14, 16), which are disclosed as being made of silicon or germanium; further the portion of semiconductor layer (22) disposed above the photodiode (28) may be considered an “optical structure”);
shallow trench isolation (STI) structures (68) (applicant’s optical structure) overlapping with the photodiode (Figure 4) (par. 18-19, 29; wherein the plurality of semiconductor layers of the device may be any of: “silicon, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, titanium oxide, tin oxide, or germanium”); and
a metamaterial layer (64, 66) overlapping with the STI structures, the metamaterial layer comprising metasurfaces (par. 15-16, 24-25, 29-31);
[claim 4] wherein the metasurfaces are embedded in the dielectric material of the metamaterial layer (Figures 4-5B) (par. 24, 29-31; wherein par. 24 explicitly discloses “a plasmonic metamaterial may have metal embedded in a dielectric”);
[claim 5] wherein the metasurface includes an array of equally spaced structures, and the structures are metal patches or gaps in a metal layer forming the metasurfaces (par. 24, 30-31);
[claim 6] wherein a size and a spacing of the structures are configured to absorb a portion of an incident light at a frequency range narrower than a frequency spectrum of the incident light (par. 16-18, 24, 30);
[claim 7] wherein the metamaterial layer includes two or more different metasurfaces (64, 66) embedded in the dielectric layer (58) (par. 29-31);
[claim 21] wherein the layer includes: a metal grid having an array of recesses; and a metal patch in each of the array of recesses (par. 24, 30-31);
[claim 22] wherein the metasurfaces form a stack (Figures 4-5B) (par. 24, 29-31);
[claim 28] wherein the layer is a first layer, the metasurface is a first metasurface, and the apparatus further comprises a second layer over the first layer, and the second layer including second metasurface (64, 66) (Figure 4) (par. par. 15-16, 24-25, 29-31);
[claim 29] wherein the first and second layers are part of an optical filter over the optical structure (par. 16-18, 24, 30);
[claim 30] wherein each of the first layer and second layer includes a respective metal layer and a respective dielectric layer (par. 16-18, 24, 30).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Ahn to include the metamaterial layer discussed above for the advantage of enhancing the resonance of the color filtering array (Lenchenkov; par. 16), with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 16-17 and 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lenchenkov, in view of US Publication 2016/0035770 to Ahn et al.
In regards to claims 16-17 and 26-27, Lenchenkov discloses and shows in Figures 2, 4-5B and 7, a light detector system, comprising:
a light source configured to emit a light beam having a wavelength (Figure 7) (par. 35-36); and
a light detector (200) configured to detect an amplitude of the light beam at the wavelength, the light detector including:
one or more semiconductor layers (Figure 2; 14, 16, 22) (Figure 4; 54, 58, 66, 64) including one or more photodiodes (28, 56) (par. 3, 19-20, 29), and an optical structure formed in the one or more semiconductor layers, the optical structure overlapping with the one or more photodetectors (Figure 2) (par. 20-26; wherein the image sensor includes an array of pixels (18), which include the optical structures of semiconductor layers (14, 16), which are disclosed as being made of silicon or germanium; further the portion of semiconductor layer (22) disposed above the photodiode (28) may be considered an “optical structure”);
shallow trench isolation (STI) structures (68) (applicant’s optical structure) overlapping with the photodiode (Figure 4) (par. 18-19, 29; wherein the plurality of semiconductor layers of the device may be any of: “silicon, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, titanium oxide, tin oxide, or germanium”); and
a metamaterial layer (64, 66) overlapping with the semiconductor layer (par. 18, 24-25, 29-31);
wherein the optical structure is between the one or more photodetectors and the metamaterial layer, and is configured to isolate adjacent photodetectors of the one or more photodetectors (Figures 2 and 4) (par. 18-19 , 29; wherein the microlens layer, the color filter layer, the metamaterial layer and the partially reflecting layer are partitioned into separate pixels; and further the trench isolation structures are utilized to guide light to particular photodiodes);
[claim 17] wherein the light detector includes a mold layer (70) on the metamaterial layer (par. 29-31).
[claim 26] wherein the optical structure includes shallow trench isolation (STI) structures (par. 18-19, 29);
[claim 27] wherein the metamaterial layer includes a two-dimensional array of structures having a grid unit smaller than the wavelength (par. 15-16, 24-25, 29-31).
Lenchenkov differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the apparatus further comprising: an anti-reflection coating for light within an absorption wavelength range of the metamaterial layer.
However, Ahn teaches and shows in Figures 3, 5, and 7, an image sensor array having reduced crosstalk between pixels, wherein a plurality of semiconductor layers are partitioned and separated into individual pixels, wherein one of the semiconductor layers is disclosed as “an antireflection layer” and portions of the layer correspond to different light filtering regions of the sensor (par. 48, 51, 65). Further, trench isolation structures are also provided to further isolate the pixels of the sensor (par. 68-72).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Lenchenkov to include the antireflection layer discussed above for the advantage of removing unwanted reflections within a sensor and reducing crosstalk, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn and Lenchenkov, in view of US Publication 2021/0305440 to Zang et al.
In regards to claim 3, Ahn and Lenchenkov, differ from the limitations in that they are silent to the apparatus, wherein the optical structure includes a grating having an anti-reflection property.
However, Zang teaches and shows in Figures 5-6, a sensor diode that has “a diffraction grating light-trapping structure”, which is “a shallow trench structure” (par. 77).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Ahn and Lenchenkov, to include the shallow trench grating structure discussed above for the advantage of improving the light absorption efficiency and providing a maximized detection signal, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn and Lenchenkov, and in view of US Patent 11,796,726 to Houck.
In regards to claim 8, Ahn and Lenchenkov, differ from the limitations in that they are silent to the apparatus, wherein the two or more different metasurfaces include a first metasurface and a second metasurface having different numbers or sizes of equally spaced structures.
However, Houck teaches and shows in Figures 1a-1b, an optical sensor system that utilizes “one or more metamaterial structures”, wherein “the one or more metamaterial structures may include engineered structures (e.g. with an engineered shape, size, geometry, orientation and/or the like” (col. 5, ll. 4-57).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Ahn and Lenchenkov, to include the one or more different metamaterial structures discussed above for the advantage of engineering each metamaterial to a desired wavelength or desired characteristic of propagation, in order to improve the light absorption efficiency and provide a maximized detection signal, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 15 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn and Lenchenkov, in view of US Publication 2019/0360924 to Macrelli et al.
In regards to claims 15 and 18-20, Lenchenkov, differ from the limitations in that they are silent to the optical device:
[claim 15] wherein the frequency spectrum of the incident light corresponds to an infrared (IR) spectrum of light;
[claim 18] wherein the light detector is configured to determine a peak in the amplitude of the light beam;
[claim 19] further comprising a chamber between the light source and the light detector, the chamber configured to contain a gas or a fluid and to allow the light beam to propagate through the chamber from the light source to the light detector;
[claim 20] further comprising a processor coupled to the light detector and configured to determine a type, a composition, or a density of the gas or the fluid based on the peak in the amplitude of the light beam.
However, Marcelli teaches and shows in Figure 1, a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) gas sensor system (par. 1), that utilizes an infrared light source (103), a detector (105) and a gas sample chamber (110), wherein the source and detector may both utilize metamaterial filters, and a processor determines the concentration of the gas within the chamber based upon a detected peak wavelength (par. 21-22, 37-38, 42, 45-46).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Ahn and Lenchenkov, to include the gas sensor system discussed above for the advantage of efficiently analyzing a gas sample under test, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN M HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1736. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm.
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JONATHAN M. HANSEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2877
/JONATHAN M HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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