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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 28, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to Applicant's amendments filed June 26, 2026. Claims 1, and 18-19 have been amended. No claims have been added. No claims have been canceled. Claim 18 stands withdrawn. Currently, claims 1-17, and 19 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 26, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant asserts that the combination of Futagawa and Wunderer fail to disclose the limitations of claim 1 as applied in the previous Office Action. Specifically, that Wunderer discloses “an example VCSEL structure comprising dielectric DBRs 202 and 220” but does not disclose “the dielectric DBR 220 is placed on a backside of removed ELO III-nitride layers, nor does it show that the DBR 220 is placed at one or more of the wing regions separated by an opening area in the SAG mask 14”.
The Examiner disagrees with this assertion. Wunderer discloses, in Figs. 3-10, methods for fabricating GaN-based thin-film devices whereby a growth restrict mask is used to grow an epitaxial film with a portion over the growth restrict masks that is substantially free of defects, see Figs. 3-7. Subsequently, Wunderer discloses creating trenches in the epitaxial film, see Fig. 8, removing the sections of the epitaxial layer over the opening areas leaving only the wing regions that are substantially free of defects. Further processing is used to remove the growth restrict mask, see Fig. 10, leaving only an individual GaN-based chiplet consisting of an active zone 26, an n-GaN layer 27 and a p-GaN layer 29, ¶ [0043-045]. Wunderer then discloses, in Fig. 24 and ¶ [0051], “a VCSEL fabricated according to various embodiments described herein” which consists of an active zone 208, an n-GaN layer 206 and a p-GaN layer 210. The Examiner asserts that one of ordinary skill would identify that the GaN-based chiplet shown in Fig. 10 corresponds to the VCSEL shown in Fig. 24, and that the position of the DBR 220 corresponds to the wing regions in Figs. 5-10.
Therefore, the Examiner asserts that Futagawa and Wunderer disclose the limitations of claim 1 as applied in the previous Office Action.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the newly amended limitations of claims 1 and 19 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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, 3, 5-7, 9, 14-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Futagawa et al. (US 20150044795 A1) herein after “Futagawa” in view of Wunderer et al. (US 20150340223 A1) herein after “Wunderer” and Hata et al. (US 20070292979 A1) herein after “Hata”.
Regarding claim 1, Figs. 1A-6 of Futagawa disclose a method (Figs. 1A-6, “the method of manufacturing a light emitting element”, ¶ [0057]), comprising:
forming one or more epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) III-nitride layers (Fig. 1B, “a first compound semiconductor layer 21 formed from a GaN-based compound semiconductor,”, ¶ [0096]) on a growth restrict mask (Fig. 1B, mask layer for selective growth 12, ¶ [0105]) deposited on a host substrate (Fig. 1B, substrate for manufacturing a light emitting element 11, ¶ [0105]);
removing the ELO III-nitride layers (21) from the host substrate (11) (Fig. 4, “the substrate for manufacturing a light emitting element 11 is removed”, ¶ [0109]); and
placing one or more dielectric distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors (Fig. 4, first light reflecting layer 41, ¶ [0110]) for a resonant cavity of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) on a backside (Fig. 4, first surface 21a, ¶ [0096]) of the removed ELO III-nitride layers (21).
Futagawa fails to disclose wherein growth of the ELO III-nitride layers occurs first in an opening area in the growth restrict mask and then laterally from the opening area over the growth restrict mask, resulting in wing regions separated by the opening area;
the one or more dielectric distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors for a resonant cavity of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) on a backside of the removed ELO III- nitride layers at one or more of the wing region of the removed ELO III-nitride layers.
In the similar field of endeavor of gallium nitride-based devices, Figs. 7 and 24 of Wunderer disclose wherein growth of the ELO III-nitride layers (Fig. 7, epitaxial film 20, ¶ [0038]) occurs first in an opening area in the growth restrict mask (Fig. 7, SAG mask 14 , ¶ [0036]) and then laterally from the opening area over the growth restrict mask (“the epitaxial film 20 of GaN is planarized by utilizing SAG growth parameters that encourage two-dimensional growth”, ¶ [0038]), resulting in wing regions (“The resulting epitaxial film 20 includes an upper portion 22 substantially free of TDs”, ¶ [0038]);
the one or more dielectric distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors (Fig. 24, distributed Bragg reflector 220, ¶ [0051]) at one or more of the wing region of the removed ELO III-nitride layers (Fig. 24, GaN region 206 free of TDs, ¶ [0051]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the DBR placement as disclosed by Wunderer, to increase device performance and lifetime (see Wunderer, ¶ [0028]).
Wunderer fails to disclose the wing regions separated by the opening area.
In the similar field of endeavor of semiconductor laser devices, Fig. 5 of Hata discloses the wing regions (Fig. 5, area of n-type GaN layer 1a that is not region 8, ¶ [0092]) separated by the opening area (Fig. 5, spaces between the mask layers 24, ¶ [0092]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the fabrication such that the wing regions were separated by the opening area as disclosed by Hata, to stabilize optical output and improve stability (see Hata, ¶ [0112]).
Regarding claim 3, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, and Fig. 2 of Futagawa further discloses wherein the wing region has a roughness value less than 2 nm (“the value of the surface roughness Ra of the flat region 21A is 0.2 nm”, ¶ [0121]).
Regarding claim 5, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, and Fig. 6 of Futagawa further discloses wherein the dielectric DBR mirrors (41) are placed on the backside of the removed ELO III-nitride layers (21) at a distance of at least 1 µm away from a coalesced region of the ELO III-nitride layers (21) and an edge of the open area of the growth restrict mask (Fig. 6 of Futagawa shows that the dielectric DBR mirrors are separated from a coalesced region and open area edge by the layers 21, 22, and 23. Futagawa discloses in ¶ [0103] that “the first compound semiconductor layer 21 is formed from a 1 .mu.m thick n-GaN layer”, therefore the dielectric DBR mirrors are separated from a coalesced region and open area edge by at least 1 µm).
Regarding claim 6, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, and Fig. 6 of Futagawa further discloses wherein the removed ELO IIl-nitride layers (21) contain at least a partially processed portion of the VCSEL (“The light emitting element may have a structure formed from a surface-emitting laser element (vertical resonator laser, VCSEL)”, ¶ [0080]).
Regarding claim 7, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, and Fig. 6 further discloses wherein a thickness of the removed ELO III-nitride layers (21) are controlled epitaxially to realize a functional version of the VCSEL (“it is possible to suppress… the occurrence of thickness variations the first compound semiconductor layer…, it is possible to achieve stability in the characteristics of the obtained light emitting element “, “the first compound semiconductor layer is formed using horizontal growth using a method in which epitaxial growth is caused in the horizontal direction, such as an epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) method”, ¶ [0010] and [0069]).
Regarding claim 9, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, and Fig. 4 of Futagawa further discloses wherein the resonant cavity of the VCSEL does not contain a substantial portion of the host substrate (11) (Fig. 4, “the substrate for manufacturing a light emitting element 11 is removed”, ¶ [0109]).
Regarding claim 14, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, and Futagawa further discloses wherein the growth restrict mask (12) is placed using a sputter-like deposition system (“the method of forming the mask layer… a sputtering method”, ¶ [0093]).
Regarding claim 15, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, and Futagawa further discloses wherein the host substrate (11) is a semiconducting substrate (“the substrate for manufacturing a light emitting element 11 formed from a GaN substrate”, ¶ [0105]).
Regarding claim 16, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 15 as applied above, and Futagawa further discloses wherein the semiconducting substrate (11) is a III-nitride substrate (11) (“the substrate for manufacturing a light emitting element 11 formed from a GaN substrate”, ¶ [0105]).
Regarding claim 17, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 15 as applied above, and Futagawa further discloses wherein the semiconducting substrate (11) has any crystal orientation (“it is possible to use any of the main surfaces of the GaN substrate in forming the compound semiconductor layer”, ¶ [0083]).
Regarding claim 19, Figs. 1A-6 of Futagawa disclose a method for fabricating a quality and manufacturable aperture for light emitting elements (Figs. 1A-6, “the method of manufacturing a light emitting element”, ¶ [0057]), comprising:
forming IIl-nitride semiconductor layers (Fig. 1B, “a first compound semiconductor layer 21 formed from a GaN-based compound semiconductor,”, ¶ [0096]) on a substrate (11) using a growth restrict mask (12) deposited on a host substrate (11),
wherein the III-nitride semiconductor layers (21) are formed as a bar of one or more devices (Fig. 1B, “a layered structure body 20 formed by layering a first compound semiconductor layer 21 formed from a GaN-based compound semiconductor”, ¶ [0096]); and
fabricating one or more light emitting resonating cavities on the bar, wherein the light emitting resonating cavities are defined by distributed Bragg reflectors (41) formed on the removed III-nitride semiconductor layers (“the first compound semiconductor layer is formed using horizontal growth using a method in which epitaxial growth is caused in the horizontal direction, such as an epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) method”, “a surface-emitting laser element (vertical resonator laser, VCSEL) that emits light from the top surface of the first compound semiconductor layer 21 via the first light reflecting layer 41”, ¶ [0069] and [0098]).
Futagawa fails to disclose wherein epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of the III-nitride layers occurs first in an opening area in the growth restrict mask and then laterally from the opening area over the growth restrict mask, resulting in wing regions separated by the opening area, and
the light emitting resonating cavities are defined by distributed Bragg reflectors formed on the one or more wing regions.
In the similar field of endeavor of gallium nitride-based devices, Figs. 7 and 24 of Wunderer disclose wherein epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of the III-nitride layers (20) occurs first in an opening area in the growth restrict mask (14) and then laterally from the opening area over the growth restrict mask(“the epitaxial film 20 of GaN is planarized by utilizing SAG growth parameters that encourage two-dimensional growth”, ¶ [0038]), resulting in wing regions (“The resulting epitaxial film 20 includes an upper portion 22 substantially free of TDs”, ¶ [0038]), and
the light emitting resonating cavities (Fig. 24, VCSEL 200, ¶ [0051]) are defined by distributed Bragg reflectors (220) formed on the one or more wing region (Fig. 24, GaN region 206 free of TDs, ¶ [0051]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the DBR placement as disclosed by Wunderer, to increase device performance and lifetime (see Wunderer, ¶ [0028]).
Wunderer fails to disclose the wing regions separated by the opening area.
In the similar field of endeavor of semiconductor laser devices, Fig. 5 of Hata discloses the wing regions (Fig. 5, area of n-type GaN layer 1a that is not region 8, ¶ [0092]) separated by the opening area (Fig. 5, spaces between the mask layers 24, ¶ [0092]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the fabrication such that the wing regions were separated by the opening area as disclosed by Hata, to stabilize optical output and improve stability (see Hata, ¶ [0112]).
Claims 2, 4, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Futagawa (US 20150044795 A1), Wunderer (US 20150340223 A1) and Hata (US 20070292979 A1) in further view of David et al. (US 20200366067 A1) herein after “David”.
Regarding claim 2, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, but the combination fails to disclose further comprising forming additional ELO III-nitride layers on the at least one of the dielectric DBR mirrors.
In the similar field of endeavor of VCSEL, Fig. 2 of David discloses further comprising forming additional ELO III-nitride layers (Fig. 2, top n-doped GaN, ¶ [0068]) on the at least one of the dielectric DBR mirrors (Fig. 2, intermediate mirror, ¶ [0064]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with additional nitride layers as disclosed by David, to obtain the desired electrical properties (see David, ¶ [0189]).
Regarding claim 4, Futagawa, Wunderer, Hata and David together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, but Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata fail to disclose wherein the at least one of the dielectric DBR mirrors are sandwiched between the removed ELO III-nitride layers and the additional ELO III-nitride layers.
In the similar field of endeavor of VCSEL, Fig. 2 of David discloses wherein the at least one of the dielectric DBR mirrors (intermediate mirror) are sandwiched between the removed ELO III-nitride layers (Fig. 2, bottom n-doped GaN, ¶ [0068]) and the additional ELO III-nitride layers (top n-doped GaN).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with additional nitride layers as disclosed by David, to obtain the desired electrical properties (see David, ¶ [0189]).
Regarding claim 8, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, and Futagawa discloses the need to extract heat from the VCSEL during device operation (see Futagawa, ¶ [0176]), but Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata fail to explicitly disclose wherein at least one of the removed ELO III-nitride layers is used to extract heat from the VCSEL during device operation.
In the similar field of endeavor of VCSEL, David discloses wherein at least one of the removed ELO III-nitride layers is used to extract heat from the VCSEL during device operation (“utilize the thermal conductivity of the epitaxial layers and nitride-containing substrate (or other substrate with high thermal conductivity) to spread the heat laterally first and increase the area for heat extraction out of the device”, ¶ [0288]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the using the ELO III-nitride layers for heat extraction as disclosed by David, to facilitate good performance (see David, ¶ [0287]).
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Futagawa (US 20150044795 A1), Wunderer (US 20150340223 A1) and Hata (US 20070292979 A1) in further view of Zhu et al. (US 20020163688 A1) herein after “Zhu”.
Regarding claim 10, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, but the combination fails to disclose wherein the backside of the removed ELO III- nitride layers has a non-planar shape.
In the similar field of endeavor of VCSEL, Fig. 5 of Zhu discloses wherein the backside of the removed ELO III-nitride layers (514) has a non-planar shape (“a long laterally overgrown spacer 514… may be constructed upon a concave mesa”, ¶ [0075]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the non-planar shape as disclosed by Zhu, to reduce diffraction and geometrical losses (see Zhu, ¶ [0031]).
Regarding claim 11, Futagawa, Wunderer, Hata and Zhu together disclose the method of claim 10, but Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata fail to disclose wherein the non-planar shape comprises a curvature, the backside of the removed ELO III-nitride layers has a finite radius of the curvature, and a center of the curvature is on a side of the host substrate's surface.
In the similar field of endeavor of VCSEL, Fig. 5 of Zhu discloses wherein the non-planar shape comprises a curvature (Fig. 5, “the VCSEL substrate is curved”, ¶ [0069]), the backside of the removed ELOIII-nitride layers (514) has a finite radius of the curvature, and a center of the curvature is on a side of the host substrate's (Fig. 5, substrate 512, ¶ [0073]) surface.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the curved shape as disclosed by Zhu, to reduce diffraction and geometrical losses (see Zhu, ¶ [0031]).
Regarding claim 12, Futagawa, Wunderer, Hata and Zhu together disclose the method of claim 10, but Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata fail to disclose wherein the host substrate is pre-patterned to realize the non-planar shape.
In the similar field of endeavor of VCSEL, Fig. 8 of Zhu discloses wherein the host substrate (512) is pre-patterned to realize the non-planar shape (Fig. 8, “process will be to smooth out the rough edges and form the desired concave shape 854”, ¶ [0074]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the curved shape as disclosed by Zhu, to reduce diffraction and geometrical losses (see Zhu, ¶ [0031]).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Futagawa (US 20150044795 A1), Wunderer (US 20150340223 A1) and Hata (US 20070292979 A1) in further view of Izumi et al. (US 20170373468 A1) herein after “Izumi”.
Regarding claim 13, Futagawa, Wunderer and Hata together disclose the method of claim 1 as applied above, but the combination fails to disclose wherein the growth restrict mask comprises a multi-layer structure.
In the similar field of endeavor of light emitting devices, Fig. 3C of Izumi discloses wherein the growth restrict mask (Fig. 3C, selective growth mask layer 44, ¶ [0167]) comprises a multi-layer structure (Fig. 3C, “the selective growth mask layer 44 includes the dielectric multilayer film 43B”, ¶ [0174]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filling date of the invention to modify the method of Futagawa with the multi-layer structure as disclosed by Izumi, to achieve desired dimensions and electrical properties (see Izumi, ¶ [0037]).
Conclusion
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/C.A.N./Examiner, Art Unit 2893
/YARA B GREEN/Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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