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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 1 (Figs 3A, 4A) in the reply filed on 11/25/25 is acknowledged. Applicant indicated that claims 1-9 and 14-16 read on the elected embodiment.
Accordingly, claims 10-13 and 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected embodiment, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: “IR pumped UV light emitter”
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.
Claims 1-9, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stokes et al. (2005/0098796), hereinafter ‘796.
Regarding claim 1, Fig 3 of ‘796 discloses a light source for emitting ultraviolet (UV) light comprising:
1. “a UV light emitter [32] comprising:
a first photoconductive layer [p-AlGaN];
at least one quantum well [AlInGaN quantum well] having a band gap [Eg] configured to emit ultraviolet light [UV EL]; and
a second photoconductive layer [n-AlGaN]; and
at least one optical pump [30] configured to direct pump light to said UV light emitter [32],
said pump light having an energy less than the bandgap of said at least one quantum well [20% of bandgap energy, see claim 19 of ‘796],
said pump light configured to increase the conductivity of electrons and holes in said first and second photoconductive layers [p-AlGaN, n-AlGaN] such that said electrons and holes propagate to said at least one quantum well [AlInGaN quantum well] resulting in the emission of UV light [UV EL].” See paragraph 0012 “the broad band light source is used to photoionize acceptor dopant atoms, thereby forming a non-equilibrium excess of holes in the valence band of the p-type material … identifying at least one wavelength to enhance carrier concentration includes observing an enhanced response of some aspect of the semiconductor device, i.e. the enhancement caused by the increased hole concentration in the p-type material” and paragraph 0021 “a plurality of electrons undergo photoexcitation from the valence band to acceptor levels … after being transported by diffusion and drift into the active layers of the device, the plurality of holes then recombine radiatively with electrons from the n-type layer, thereby generating higher intensity electroluminescence emission … semiconductor device 32 emits an ultraviolet electroluminescence.”
Regarding claims 2-9, 15 and 16, ‘796 further discloses:
2. “wherein said at least one quantum well [AlInGaN quantum well] is disposed between said first and second photoconductive layers [p-AlGaN, n-AlGaN].”
3. “wherein said at least one optical pump [30] comprises an infrared pump [Infrared source].”
4. “wherein said first photoconductive layer, said second photoconductive layer, or both comprise semiconductor [p-AlGaN, n-AlGaN].”
5. “wherein said first photoconductive layer, said second photoconductive layer, or both comprise III-N material [p-AlGaN, n-AlGaN].”
6. “wherein said at least one quantum well [AlInGaN quantum well] comprises semiconductor.”
7. “wherein said at least one quantum well [AlInGaN quantum well] comprises III-N material.”
8. “wherein said first photoconductive layer, said second photoconductive layer, or both comprise aluminum nitride (AlN) [p-AlGaN, n-AlGaN].” See paragraph 0013
9. “wherein said first photoconductive layer and said second photoconductive layer comprise aluminum nitride (AlN) [p-AlGaN, n-AlGaN].” See paragraph 0013
15. “wherein said light source [32] comprises a light emitting diode (LED) or laser diode [LED].”
16. “wherein at least some of said electrons and holes combine in said at least one quantum well [AlInGaN quantum well] to produce said emission of UV light.” See paragraph 0021
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over ‘796, as applied to claim 1 above.
‘796 discloses a light source for emitting ultraviolet (UV) light as described above, in addition Fig 3 clearly shows the pump light being transmitted to the p-type and n-type semiconductor layers through the top surface which also contains electrodes. Fig 3 does not explicitly name a transparent or optically transmissive conductor layer. However, the examiner takes an official notice that transparent electrode layers such as ITO, are well known in the art of semiconductor devices. They are commonly used in situations where the optical light needs to travel through the electrode of the semiconductor device unobstructed.
Therefore, it is either inherent that the device of Fig 3 contains a transparent conductor or it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of ‘796 to use one, since the combination would yield the predictable result of not obstructing the pump light.
Thus, the claimed invention would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention because “all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. KSR, 550 U.S. at 416, 82 USPQ2d at 1395.
Regarding claim 14, Fig 3 of ‘796 discloses:
14. “further comprising a transparent or optically transmissive conductor [not numbered on the top surface of p-AlGaN] disposed with respect to said at least one optical pump [30] and said first or second photoconductive layer [p-AlGaN, n-AlGaN] such that pump light from said at least one optical pump [30] passes through said transparent or optically transmissive conductor to said first or second photoconductive layers or both [p-AlGaN, n-AlGaN].” See Fig 3
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicant’s attention is drawn to the references cited on form PTO-892 which lists other references with similar features as the invention.
Contact Info
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to M. A. GOLUB-MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-8602. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-5.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MinSun Harvey can be reached on (571) 272-1835. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M. A. Golub-Miller/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828