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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Status of Claims
Examiner notes that in the instant application:
-Claims 1-10, 12-19, and 21 are pending.
-Claims 11 and 20 are cancelled.
-Claims 1, 13, and 21 are amended.
-Claims 7-10 and 17-19 are withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed April 6, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Paragraph [0113] of Oya “merely discloses- as general background information- that N vacancies can be formed in an n-type n-side nitride semiconductor”. This is found to be untrue as Oya explicitly states in Paragraph [0113] that N vacancies are incorporated “to lower the contact resistance between the n-side electrode and the n-type nitride semiconductor layer”. In fact, this paragraph is introduced as “generally” meaning that it would be known to one of ordinary skill of the art that the introduction of N vacancies to a n-type n-side nitride semiconductor layer lowers the contact resistance between the n-side of an electrode and a n-type nitride semiconductor layer.
In regards to Oya’s paragraph [0115], which Applicant remarks would somehow teach away one of ordinary skill in the art from using N vacancies, Examiner notes that the reported findings of the spectroscopy graphs of Figs. 9 and 10 only relate to the present embodiment referenced, and more particularly only provide evidence of the presence of Ga vacancies and does not at all provide any evidence against the incorporation of N vacancies in order to reduce contact resistance.
Applicant further states that upon reviewing Oya “as a whole”, one of ordinary skill in the art would have no reason or motivation to modify Cho and Kim to include a nitrogen (N) defect for the effect of decreasing the contact resistivity. However, aside from the arguments presented above, Examiner brings Applicant’s attention Paragraph [0013] of Adachi et al. (U.S. 2011/0108853), hereinafter Adachi, which is hereby incorporated by reference, as in Oya Paragraph [0113]. Adachi clearly states the mechanism by which N vacancies (acting as a donor) reduces contact resistance between an n-type nitride semiconductor layer and an electrode. Thus, one of ordinary skill of the art would have been aware of this teaching and would have considered it obvious to incorporate it before the effective filing date of the claimed invention into the devices of Kim and/or Cho.
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.
Claims 1-6 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Kim et al. (U.S. Pub 2009/0159920), hereinafter Kim, in view of Oya et al. (U.S. Pub. 2015/0021653), hereinafter Oya, and Watanabe et al. (U.S. Pub. 2015/0179840), hereinafter Watanabe.
Regarding Claim 1, Kim teaches a light-emitting element ((20); Fig. 2) comprising:
-a first semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant ((21); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]);
-a second semiconductor layer disposed below the first semiconductor layer and doped with a p-type dopant ((23); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]);
-a light-emitting layer ((22); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]) disposed between the first semiconductor layer (21) and the second semiconductor layer (23);
-a first intermediate layer ((25a); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0051]) disposed on the first semiconductor layer (21), the first intermediate layer (25a) including a metal (‘containing Indium (In)’, Paragraph [0051]);
-and an electrode layer ((25b); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0051]) disposed on the first intermediate layer (25a), wherein
-light from the light-emitting layer (22) transmits through the first semiconductor layer (21), the first intermediate layer ((25a); Paragraphs [0053] and [0054]), and the electrode layer ((25b); Fig. 11, Paragraphs [0055] and [0056]) at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70% (Paragraph [0056] of Kim states that there is ‘high light transmittance, notably, in the vertical nitride semiconductor light emitting device’, which is the exemplary device of Fig. 2. Furthermore, Fig. 11 clarifies that ‘high transmittance’ for light emission are values greater than 70%.)
Kim does not teach:
-a surface of the first semiconductor layer includes a defect that improves an interface characteristic between the first intermediate layer and first semiconductor layer.
-the defect decreases contact resistivity between the first intermediate layer and the first semiconductor layer, and the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect.
Oya teaches a light-emitting element featuring a first semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant, wherein:
-a surface ((102a); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [007]) of a first semiconductor layer ((102); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0076]) includes a defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0113]) that improves an interface characteristic (‘lower the contact resistance’; Paragraph [0113]) between a first electrode layer (‘electrode’ (109); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0084]) and first semiconductor layer (102).
-the defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0113]) decreases contact resistivity (Paragraph [0113]) between the first intermediate layer ((109), as to Kim, (25a)) and the first semiconductor ((102) as to Kim, (21)), the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect (Paragraph [0113]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Oya into the device of Kim such that a surface of the first semiconductor layer includes a defect that improves an interface characteristic between the first intermediate layer and first semiconductor layer and the defect decreases contact resistivity between the first intermediate layer and the first semiconductor layer, and the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect. Furthermore, the incorporation necessarily results in a structure wherein the surface of the first semiconductor layer including the defect is overlapped with the light-emitting layer in a thickness direction and is contacted with the first intermediate layer. This is because doing so would improve the electrical characteristics of the device (Oya, ‘lower the contact resistance’; Paragraph [0113])
Kim teaches a contact resistivity of 1.6 x 10-3 Ωcm2 (Fig. 9, Paragraph [0080]), but does not teach:
-a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2.
Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element including an n-type contact layer featuring a first/intermediate and second/electrode layer ((30) consisting of layers (31) and (32); Fig. 1, Paragraph [0076]) wherein:
-a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2 (“1 x 10-4 Ωcm2”, Paragraph [0044])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Watanabe into the device of Kim such that the intermediate (Kim, (25a)) and electrode (Kim, (25b)) layers are formed such that a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2. This is because doing so would provide for “low contact resistance and high light transmittance.” (Watanabe, Paragraph [0021])
Regarding Claim 2, Kim as modified by Oya and Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element of Claim 1 (Kim, (20); Fig. 2), wherein:
-the first intermediate layer (25a) includes at least one selected from a group consisting of indium (In), tin (Sn), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), silver (Ag), gold (Au), palladium (Pd), nickel (Ni), tungsten (W), iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), rubidium (Rb), lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), sodium (Na), and europium (Eu). (Watanabe, e.g. ‘nickel’, Paragraph [0069]).
Regarding Claim 3, Kim as modified by Oya and Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element of Claim 1 ((20); Fig. 2) (Examiner notes the references below are from Kim unless otherwise marked), wherein:
-the first intermediate layer (25a) includes:
-a surface that contacts the first semiconductor layer ((21) in contact with the ‘bottom’ surface of (25a); Fig. 2)
- an opposite surface that contacts the electrode layer ((25b) in contact with the ‘top’ surface of (25a); Fig. 2)
Regarding Claim 4, Kim as modified by Oya and Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element of Claim 1 ((20); Fig. 2) (Examiner notes the references below are from Kim unless otherwise marked), wherein:
-the first intermediate layer (25a) has a work function that is between a work function of the first semiconductor layer (21) and a work function of the electrode layer (25b). (Paragraph [0057] teaches the electrode layer (25b) to be ITO, which matches Watanabe’s corresponding layer (Watanabe Paragraph [0036]). Paragraph [0043] teaches the first semiconductor layer (21) to be n-type GaN, Watanabe Paragraph [0069] teaches that the first layer (Watanabe, (31)) (incorporated as first intermediate layer (25a)) contains zinc or be formed of only zinc, which is known to have a work function of about 4.3 eV. The present application discloses in Paragraph [150] that “ITO may have a work function of about 4.6 eV, and n-GaN may have a work function of about 3.3 eV.”)
Regarding Claim 5, Kim as modified by Oya and Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element of Claim 1 ((20); Fig. 2) (Examiner notes the references below are from Kim unless otherwise marked), wherein
-a thickness of the first intermediate layer (Watanabe, (T1); Paragraph [0045]) is in a range of about 1 nm to about 30 nm (‘3 ≤ T1(nm) ≤ 60’).
Regarding Claim 6, Kim as modified by Oya and Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element of Claim 1 ((20); Fig. 2) (Examiner notes the references below are from Kim unless otherwise marked), wherein
-the electrode layer (25b) includes a metal oxide, and the metal oxide includes at least one selected from a group consisting of ITO (indium tin oxide), AlZO (aluminum zinc oxide), IZO (indium zinc oxide), ZnO (zinc oxide), InxOy (indium oxide), SnxOy (tin oxide), AlOx (aluminum oxide) and GaxOy (gallium oxide) (Watanabe, e.g. ‘ITO’, Paragraph [0036]).
Claims 1, 13-16, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (U.S. Pub 2019/0305035), hereinafter Cho, in view of Kim, Oya, and Watanabe.
Regarding Claim 1, Cho teaches a light-emitting element ((LED); Fig. 6) comprising:
-a first semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant ((201); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0095]);
-a second semiconductor layer disposed below the first semiconductor layer and doped with a p-type dopant ((203); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0097]);
-a light-emitting layer ((202); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0096]) disposed between the first semiconductor layer (201) and the second semiconductor layer (203);
Cho does not teach a light-emitting element (LED) further comprising:
-a first intermediate layer disposed on the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer including a metal;
-and an electrode layer disposed on the first intermediate layer, wherein
-light from the light-emitting layer transmits through the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70%.
Kim teaches:
-a first intermediate layer ((25a); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0051]) disposed on the first semiconductor layer ((21); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]), and including a metal (‘containing Indium (In)’, Paragraph [0051]);
-and an electrode layer ((25b); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0051]) disposed on the first intermediate layer (25a), wherein
-light from the light-emitting layer ((22); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]) transmits through the first semiconductor layer (21), the first intermediate layer ((25a); Paragraphs [0053] and [0054]), and the electrode layer ((25b); Fig. 11, Paragraphs [0055] and [0056]) at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70% (Paragraph [0056] of Kim states that there is ‘high light transmittance, notably, in the vertical nitride semiconductor light emitting device’, which is the exemplary device of Fig. 2. Furthermore, Fig. 11 clarifies that ‘high transmittance’ for light emission are values greater than 70%.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Kim into the device of Cho to include a first intermediate layer disposed on the first semiconductor layer, and including a metal, and an electrode layer disposed on the first intermediate layer, wherein light from the light-emitting layer transmits through the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70%. This would be motivated by the fact that incorporating such ‘ensures injected electrons to be diffused with higher efficiency and current to be distributed uniformly, thereby… increasing emission efficiency of the light emitting device’ (Kim, Paragraph [0050]).
Cho as modified by Kim does not teach:
-a surface of the first semiconductor layer includes a defect that improves an interface characteristic between the first intermediate layer and first semiconductor layer.
-the defect decreases contact resistivity between the first intermediate layer and the first semiconductor layer, and the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect.
Oya teaches a light-emitting element featuring a first semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant, wherein:
-a surface ((102a); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [007]) of a first semiconductor layer ((102); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0076]) includes a defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0113]) that improves an interface characteristic (‘lower the contact resistance’; Paragraph [0113]) between a first electrode layer (‘electrode’ (109); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0084]) and first semiconductor layer (102).
-the defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0113]) decreases contact resistivity (Paragraph [0113]) between the first intermediate layer ((109), as to Kim, (25a)) and the first semiconductor ((102) as to Kim, (21)), the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect (Paragraph [0113]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Oya into the device of Cho and Kim such that a surface of the first semiconductor layer includes a defect that improves an interface characteristic between the first intermediate layer and first semiconductor layer and the defect decreases contact resistivity between the first intermediate layer and the first semiconductor layer, and the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect. Furthermore, the incorporation necessarily results in a structure wherein the surface of the first semiconductor layer including the defect is overlapped with the light-emitting layer in a thickness direction and is contacted with the first intermediate layer. This is because doing so would improve the electrical characteristics of the device (Oya, ‘lower the contact resistance’; Paragraph [0113])
Cho as modified by Kim and Oya does not explicitly teach:
-a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2.
Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element including an n-type contact layer featuring a first/intermediate and second/electrode layer ((30) consisting of layers (31) and (32); Fig. 1, Paragraph [0076]) wherein:
-a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2 (“1 x 10-4 Ωcm2”, Paragraph [0044])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Watanabe into the device of Cho as modified by Kim and Oya such that the intermediate (Kim, (25a)) and electrode (Kim, (25b)) layers are formed such that a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2. This is because doing so would provide for “low contact resistance and high light transmittance.” (Watanabe, Paragraph [0021])
Regarding Claim 13, Cho teaches a display device ((101); Fig. 5), comprising:
-a first electrode ((211); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0088]) and a second electrode ((221); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0088]) each disposed on a substrate ((111); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0071]) and spaced apart from each other (spaced along DR1 direction; Fig. 5);
-a first insulating layer ((137); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0084]) disposed on the first electrode (211) and the second electrode (221) (as disposed from DR3 direction; Fig. 5);
-light-emitting elements ((LED); Fig. 5, Paragraphs [0070] and [0091]) disposed on the first insulating layer (137) and vertically overlapping the first electrode and the second electrode (as shown across the DR1 direction where DR3 is considered the vertical direction; Fig. 5)
-a first connection electrode that contacts an end of each light-emitting elements ((CE1); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0110]);
-and a second connection electrode that contacts an opposite end of each light-emitting elements, ((CE2); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0115])
wherein each of the light-emitting elements ((LED); Fig. 6) includes:
-a first semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant ((201); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0095]);
-a second semiconductor layer disposed below the first semiconductor layer and doped with a p-type dopant ((203); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0097]);
-a light-emitting layer ((202); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0096]) disposed between the first semiconductor layer (201) and the second semiconductor layer (203);
-the second semiconductor layer (203) contacts the first connection electrode (Paragraph [0099] discloses that the LED structure may include only a first electrode layer ((205); Fig. 6), therefore without the second electrode layer ((206); Fig. 6) the first connection electrode (CE1) would be in direct contact with layer (203)) and
-the electrode layer (205) contacts the second connection electrode (CE2).
Cho does not teach a light-emitting element (LED) further comprising:
-a first intermediate layer disposed on the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer including a metal;
-and an electrode layer disposed on the first intermediate layer, wherein
-light from the light-emitting layer transmits through the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70%.
Kim teaches:
-a first intermediate layer ((25a); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0051]) disposed on the first semiconductor layer ((21); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]), and including a metal (‘containing Indium (In)’, Paragraph [0051]);
-and an electrode layer ((25b); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0051]) disposed on the first intermediate layer (25a), wherein
-light from the light-emitting layer ((22); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]) transmits through the first semiconductor layer (21), the first intermediate layer ((25a); Paragraphs [0053] and [0054]), and the electrode layer ((25b); Fig. 11, Paragraphs [0055] and [0056]) at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70% (Paragraph [0056] of Kim states that there is ‘high light transmittance, notably, in the vertical nitride semiconductor light emitting device’, which is the exemplary device of Fig. 2. Furthermore, Fig. 11 clarifies that ‘high transmittance’ for light emission are values greater than 70%.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Kim into the device of Cho to include a first intermediate layer disposed on the first semiconductor layer, and including a metal, and an electrode layer disposed on the first intermediate layer, wherein light from the light-emitting layer transmits through the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70%. This would be motivated by the fact that incorporating such ‘ensures injected electrons to be diffused with higher efficiency and current to be distributed uniformly, thereby… increasing emission efficiency of the light emitting device’ (Kim, Paragraph [0050]).
Cho as modified by Kim does not teach:
-a surface of the first semiconductor layer includes a defect that improves an interface characteristic between the first intermediate layer and first semiconductor layer.
-the defect decreases contact resistivity between the first intermediate layer and the first semiconductor layer, and the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect.
Oya teaches a light-emitting element featuring a first semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant, wherein:
-a surface ((102a); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [007]) of a first semiconductor layer ((102); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0076]) includes a defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0113]) that improves an interface characteristic (‘lower the contact resistance’; Paragraph [0113]) between a first electrode layer (‘electrode’ (109); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0084]) and first semiconductor layer (102).
-the defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0113]) decreases contact resistivity (Paragraph [0113]) between the first intermediate layer ((109), as to Kim, (25a)) and the first semiconductor ((102) as to Kim, (21)), the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect (Paragraph [0113]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Oya into the device of Cho and Kim such that a surface of the first semiconductor layer includes a defect that improves an interface characteristic between the first intermediate layer and first semiconductor layer and the defect decreases contact resistivity between the first intermediate layer and the first semiconductor layer, and the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect. Furthermore, the incorporation necessarily results in a structure wherein the surface of the first semiconductor layer including the defect is overlapped with the light-emitting layer in a thickness direction and is contacted with the first intermediate layer. This is because doing so would improve the electrical characteristics of the device (Oya, ‘lower the contact resistance’; Paragraph [0113])
Cho as modified by Kim and Oya does not explicitly teach:
-a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2.
Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element including an n-type contact layer featuring a first/intermediate and second/electrode layer ((30) consisting of layers (31) and (32); Fig. 1, Paragraph [0076]) wherein:
-a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2 (“1 x 10-4 Ωcm2”, Paragraph [0044])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Watanabe into the device of Cho as modified by Kim and Oya such that the intermediate (Kim, (25a)) and electrode (Kim, (25b)) layers are formed such that a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2. This is because doing so would provide for “low contact resistance and high light transmittance.” (Watanabe, Paragraph [0021])
Regarding Claim 14, Cho as modified by Kim, Oya, and Watanabe teaches:
The display device of Claim 13 ((101); Fig. 5), wherein
-a thickness of the first intermediate layer (Watanabe, (T1); Paragraph [0045]) is in a range of about 1 nm to about 30 nm (‘3 ≤ T1(nm) ≤ 60’).
Regarding Claim 15, Cho as modified by Kim and Oya teaches:
The device of Claim 13 ((101); Fig. 5), wherein the first intermediate layer (Kim, (25a)) includes:
-a surface that contacts the first semiconductor layer (Kim, (21) in contact with the ‘bottom’ surface of (25a); Fig. 2)
- an opposite surface that contacts the electrode layer (Kim, (25b)) in contact with the ‘top’ surface of (25a); Fig. 2)
Regarding Claim 16, Cho as modified by Kim and Oya teaches:
The device of Claim 13 ((101); Fig. 5), wherein
-the first intermediate layer (25a) has a work function that is between a work function of the first semiconductor layer (21) and a work function of the electrode layer (25b). (Paragraph [0057] teaches the electrode layer (25b) to be ITO, which matches Watanabe’s corresponding layer (Watanabe Paragraph [0036]). Paragraph [0043] teaches the first semiconductor layer (21) to be n-type GaN, Watanabe Paragraph [0069] teaches that the first layer (Watanabe, (31)) (incorporated as first intermediate layer (25a)) contains zinc or be formed of only zinc, which is known to have a work function of about 4.3 eV. The present application discloses in Paragraph [150] that “ITO may have a work function of about 4.6 eV, and n-GaN may have a work function of about 3.3 eV.”)
Regarding Claim 21, Cho teaches an electronic device (display device (101); Fig. 5), comprising:
-a first electrode ((211); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0088]) and a second electrode ((221); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0088]) each disposed on a substrate ((111); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0071]) and spaced apart from each other (spaced along DR1 direction; Fig. 5);
-a first insulating layer ((137); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0084]) disposed on the first electrode (211) and the second electrode (221) (as disposed from DR3 direction; Fig. 5);
-light-emitting elements ((LED); Fig. 5, Paragraphs [0070] and [0091]) disposed on the first insulating layer (137) and vertically overlapping the first electrode and the second electrode (as shown across the DR1 direction where DR3 is considered the vertical direction; Fig. 5)
-a first connection electrode that contacts an end of each light-emitting elements ((CE1); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0110]);
-and a second connection electrode that contacts an opposite end of each light-emitting elements, ((CE2); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0115])
wherein each of the light-emitting elements ((LED); Fig. 6) includes:
-a first semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant ((201); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0095]);
-a second semiconductor layer disposed below the first semiconductor layer and doped with a p-type dopant ((203); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0097]);
-a light-emitting layer ((202); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0096]) disposed between the first semiconductor layer (201) and the second semiconductor layer (203);
-the second semiconductor layer (203) contacts the first connection electrode (Paragraph [0099] discloses that the LED structure may include only a first electrode layer ((205); Fig. 6), therefore without the second electrode layer ((206); Fig. 6) the first connection electrode (CE1) would be in direct contact with layer (203)) and
-the electrode layer (205) contacts the second connection electrode (CE2).
Cho does not teach a light-emitting element (LED) further comprising:
-a first intermediate layer disposed on the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer including a metal;
-and an electrode layer disposed on the first intermediate layer, wherein
-light from the light-emitting layer transmits through the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70%.
Kim teaches:
-a first intermediate layer ((25a); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0051]) disposed on the first semiconductor layer ((21); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]), and including a metal (‘containing Indium (In)’, Paragraph [0051]);
-and an electrode layer ((25b); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0051]) disposed on the first intermediate layer (25a), wherein
-light from the light-emitting layer ((22); Fig. 2, Paragraph [0039]) transmits through the first semiconductor layer (21), the first intermediate layer ((25a); Paragraphs [0053] and [0054]), and the electrode layer ((25b); Fig. 11, Paragraphs [0055] and [0056]) at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70% (Paragraph [0056] of Kim states that there is ‘high light transmittance, notably, in the vertical nitride semiconductor light emitting device’, which is the exemplary device of Fig. 2. Furthermore, Fig. 11 clarifies that ‘high transmittance’ for light emission are values greater than 70%.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Kim into the device of Cho to include a first intermediate layer disposed on the first semiconductor layer, and including a metal, and an electrode layer disposed on the first intermediate layer, wherein light from the light-emitting layer transmits through the first semiconductor layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer at a transmittance equal to or greater than about 70%. This would be motivated by the fact that incorporating such ‘ensures injected electrons to be diffused with higher efficiency and current to be distributed uniformly, thereby… increasing emission efficiency of the light emitting device’ (Kim, Paragraph [0050]).
Cho as modified by Kim does not teach:
-a surface of the first semiconductor layer includes a defect that improves an interface characteristic between the first intermediate layer and first semiconductor layer.
-the defect decreases contact resistivity between the first intermediate layer and the first semiconductor layer, and the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect.
Oya teaches a light-emitting element featuring a first semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant, wherein:
-a surface ((102a); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [007]) of a first semiconductor layer ((102); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0076]) includes a defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0113]) that improves an interface characteristic (‘lower the contact resistance’; Paragraph [0113]) between a first electrode layer (‘electrode’ (109); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0084]) and first semiconductor layer (102).
-the defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0113]) decreases contact resistivity (Paragraph [0113]) between the first intermediate layer ((109), as to Kim, (25a)) and the first semiconductor ((102) as to Kim, (21)), the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect (Paragraph [0113]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Oya into the device of Cho and Kim such that a surface of the first semiconductor layer includes a defect that improves an interface characteristic between the first intermediate layer and first semiconductor layer and the defect decreases contact resistivity between the first intermediate layer and the first semiconductor layer, and the defect is a nitrogen (N) defect. Furthermore, the incorporation necessarily results in a structure wherein the surface of the first semiconductor layer including the defect is overlapped with the light-emitting layer in a thickness direction and is contacted with the first intermediate layer. This is because doing so would improve the electrical characteristics of the device (Oya, ‘lower the contact resistance’; Paragraph [0113])
Cho as modified by Kim and Oya does not explicitly teach:
-a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2.
Watanabe teaches a light-emitting element including an n-type contact layer featuring a first/intermediate and second/electrode layer ((30) consisting of layers (31) and (32); Fig. 1, Paragraph [0076]) wherein:
-a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2 (“1 x 10-4 Ωcm2”, Paragraph [0044])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Watanabe into the device of Cho as modified by Kim and Oya such that the intermediate (Kim, (25a)) and electrode (Kim, (25b)) layers are formed such that a contact resistivity of the light-emitting element is equal to or less than about 10-3 Ωcm2. This is because doing so would provide for “low contact resistance and high light transmittance.” (Watanabe, Paragraph [0021])
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho, Kim, Oya, Watanabe, and in further view of An et al. (WIPO Pub 2021/054551), hereinafter An. In the of remainder of this Office Action, the US version of An (U.S. Pub 2022/0376144) is used for references and quotations. This is solely for translational purposes and all content is held as originally disclosed in the WIPO publication.
Regarding Claim 12, Cho as modified by Kim, Oya, and Watanabe above teaches the limitations of Claim 1 upon which it depends, but does not specifically disclose:
The light-emitting element of Claim 1, further comprising
-an insulating film that surrounds the first semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer, the light-emitting layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer.
An teaches:
- an insulating film ((380); Fig. 5, Paragraph [0087]) that surrounds the first semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer, the light-emitting layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer (the non-film portions of the light-emitting element referred to as ‘the semiconductor core’, Paragraph [0087]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of An into the modified device of Cho to expand the insulating film ((230); Fig. 6, Paragraph [0103]) such that it surrounds the first semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer, the light-emitting layer, the first intermediate layer, and the electrode layer. This would be motivated by the fact doing so would provide protection against short circuits as well as prevent degradation in luminous efficiency (An, Paragraph [0167])
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
U.S. Pub. 2011/0108853, as incorporated via Oya, teaches a LED ((1); Fig. 1, Paragraph [0013]) including a surface of a first semiconductor layer (bottom of (3); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0013]) includes a defect (N vacancy; Paragraph [0013]) that improves an interface characteristic (‘lower contact resistance’; Paragraph [0013]) between a first electrode layer (‘n-electrode’ (13); Fig. 2G, Paragraph [0013]) and first semiconductor layer (3).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/D.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2812
/DAVIENNE N MONBLEAU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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