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 .
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) 1, 4-8, 15-17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oohira (2007/0290682A1).
Oohira discloses the claimed invention as follows1:
Regarding claims 1, 4-8 and 15-17, 20 and part of claim 12: A method of manufacturing a sensor chip, the method comprising:
providing a semiconductor substrate (11) and having a first main surface (upper surface of 11, see Fig. 1B) and a second main surface (lower surface of 11 in Fig. 1B) opposite to the first main surface;
forming a sensor main (Nwell; see Figs. 13 and 1B) region of a vertical Hall sensor element (lower 10 in Fig. 13) in the semiconductor substrate, wherein the sensor main region vertically extends into the semiconductor substrate from the first main surface towards the second main surface and is of a first conductivity type (n-type), and wherein the vertical Hall sensor element is configured to generate a first sensor signal in response to a first magnetic field (Bx, By, Fig. 13) impinging thereon from a first direction;
forming a plurality of sensor contacts (14a-14f of lower 10, Fig. 13; also see Figs. 1A and 1B) in the sensor main region, wherein the plurality of sensor contacts are of a second conductivity type (n-type; see “N+” in Fig. 1B);
forming a detector main region (N- in Figs. 13, 27A and 27B) of an asymmetry detector (40) in the semiconductor substrate, wherein the detector main region vertically extends into the semiconductor substrate from the first main surface towards the second main surface (see Fig. 27B) and is of a third conductivity type (n-type) having a first doping concentration, wherein the detector main region includes a first peripheral edge (Fig. 13, left edge of the main region) and a second peripheral edge (Fig. 13, right edge of the main region) oppositely arranged from the first peripheral edge in the first direction, and wherein the asymmetry detector is configured to detect an asymmetric characteristic of the vertical Hall sensor element2; and
forming at least three detector contacts (44a-44d, Figs. 13 and 27A; see 44a and 44c in Fig. 27B) in the detector main region, wherein the at least three detector contacts are ohmic contacts (see last sentence of [0006]) of a fourth conductivity type (n-type) having a second doping concentration that is higher (N+ doping has higher concentration than normal N well) than the first doping concentration, wherein the first conductivity type, the second conductivity type, the third conductivity type, and the fourth conductivity type are a same conductivity type (n type),
wherein a first pair (44a and 44c) of detector contacts of the at least three detector contacts (inherently) have a first resistance therebetween,
wherein a second pair (44d and 44b) of detector contacts of the at least three detector contacts (inherently) have a second resistance therebetween,
wherein a first detector contact (44a) of the first pair of detector contacts is arranged from the first peripheral edge by a first distance,
wherein a first detector contact (44b) of the second pair of detector contacts is arranged from the second peripheral edge by a second distance,
wherein the first resistance and the second resistance are (inherently) equal on a condition that the first distance and the second distance are equal,
wherein the first resistance is (inherently) greater than the second resistance on a condition that the first distance is less than the second distance, and
wherein the first resistance is (inherently) less than the second resistance on a condition that the first distance is greater than the second distance.
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) 3 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oohira.
Oohira further discloses the claimed invention as follows: wherein each of the at least three detector contacts have a first shape defining a first longitudinal axis that extends along the first main surface in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and wherein the first longitudinal axes of the at least three detector contacts are parallel to each other.
Oohira does not disclose the detector contacts being elongated as claimed. However, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious that rectangular contacts elongated along the second direction would have been equally suitable, in place of what appear to be square contacts in Oohira. Changing the shape of the contacts to be rectangular would not have affected the manner in which the device functions.
Claim(s) 2, 9-14, 18 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oohira in view of Lee (US2017/0271399A1).
Oohira does not mention applying a mask to form in a same doping process all of the sensor contacts and detector contacts at a same time and having the same doping concentration profile, and applying another mask to form in a same doping process the sensor main region and detector main region and having the same doping concentration profile.
The base substrate of Oohiras is a P-type. All of the n-type features formed in the substrate are, therefore, formed by doping. Performing a simultaneous doping through a same mask to form a plurality of areas is conventional. See 14 and 15 of Lee, and [0064]. A mask is used to form a plurality of deep n-wells 1404 for a plurality of Hall sensors. A second implant mask is used for forming N+ regions 1408. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to use a same mask to form all of the N-wells for both sensors 10 and sensor 40 of Oohira, and to use a second mask to form the contacts for the sensors 10 and 40 at the same time, with predictable results. Further, elements formed in a same doping process would have the same doping concentration profile.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIVIUS R CAZAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8032. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday noon-8:30 pm ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LIVIUS R. CAZAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
1 The rejection is based on the embodiment of Fig. 13. However, vertical Hall sensors 10 are shown in more detail Fig. 1A and 1B, and horizontal Hall element 40 is shown in more detail in Figs. 27A and 27B. Reference is, therefore, also made to these figures.
2 Regarding the language in italics, structurally, the Hall element 40 is the same as asymmetry detector 200x of Fig. 3 of the present application. The structure can be used to detect asymmetry, depending on what signals are applied and how they are processed.