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 .
Status of Application
Claims 1-5, 7 and 9-12 (13 and 19-35 are withdrawn) are pending and presented for examination. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 29 June 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks dated 29 June 2026 (hereinafter, “Remarks at __”) are acknowledged and entered.
The rejection of claims 1, 2, 4-6, 8 and 10-12 under 35 U.S.C. 103 over Wang is WITHDRAWN over the instant amendment as Wang does not disclose or reasonably suggest x+y<=0.70, 0.25<=x<=0.45 and 0.25<=y<=0.45. The dependent rejection of claim 3 over the same in further view of Saliba is WITHDRAWN as the base rejection was withdrawn.
The rejection of claims 1-3 and 5-10 under 35 U.S.C. 103 over Stoddard in view of Ma is WITHDRAWN over the instant amendment as neither Stoddard or Ma disclose or reasonably suggest x+y<=0.70, 0.25<=x<=0.45 and 0.25<=y<=0.45. The dependent rejection of claim 3 over the same in further view of Saliba is WITHDRAWN as the base rejection was withdrawn. As si the dependent rejection of the same for claim 11 in further view of Yuan as the base rejection was withdrawn.
Applicant’s request for rejoinder is noted, but is premature as claim 1 does not yet contain allowable subject matter that is carried through to the independent claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-5, 7 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PG Pub No. 20190312155 to Saliba et al. (hereinafter, “Saliba at __”) in view of Ma (claim 11 is evidenced by Yuan).
Regarding claims 1-5, 7 and 9, Saliba discloses a composition comprising:
A triple cation perovskite of Ai1aAi2bAi3cAogMX3 wherein a, b, c, and g are all greater than 0 and Ai1, Ai2, and Ai3 (Saliba at [0062], [0063] & [0073]-[0075]) can be cations selected from the group consisting of Na, K, Rb, or Cs (Saliba at [0054], all components are selected from a finite group of ingredients which is prima facie obvious per KSR v Teleflex 550 US 398 (2007)) and the organic can be Ao=MA, FA, or GUA) such that all of the possibilities for the inorganic and organic cations are covered and the values for x and y are broadly covered such that a prima facie case of obviousness exists (see MPEP 2144.05), so x+y can be <=0.70, x and y can both be between 0.25 and 0.45 or 0.33 exactly, and X can be I or Br (Saliba at [0061]) and M=Pb can be present (Saliba at [0037]).
However, Saliba does not expressly state the presence a non-perovskite phase in the layer.
Ma also in a solar cell PV material discloses that a mixed a/d (perovskite/non-perovskite) phase
may be formed (Ma at "Abstract") utilizing the trihalide perovskite.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the phase of the material of Saliba to produce the mixed phase of Ma. The teaching or suggested motivation in doing so being lower wavelength of NIR
emissions and structural stability (Ma at 800 R col).
Turning to claim 10, the perovskite is present at 1.2 times the non-perovskite which is thusly less than 50% (Ma at "Abstract"). While the claim says "by volume", given the mass difference the volume difference would be equally expected to be below 50%.
As to claim 11, ion migration is suppressed with a decrease in grain size (Ma at 800 R col) as
evidenced by Yuan (at "Figure 5").
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saliba in view of Ma as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of “An optimized perovskite solar cell designs for high conversion efficiency” to Hima et al. (hereinafter, “Hima at __”).
Regarding claim 12, neither Saliba or Ma expressly state a composition thickness.
Hima, also in solar cell perovskite materials, discloses thicknesses between 200 and 200 and 800 nm (Hima at “Fig. 2(d)”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to set the thickness of Hima in the composition of Saliba. The teaching or suggested motivation in doing so being maximizing PCE (Id.).
Conclusion
Claims 1-5, 7 and 9-12 are rejected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD M RUMP whose telephone number is (571)270-5848. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 06:45 AM to 04:45 PM.
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RICHARD M. RUMP
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1759
/RICHARD M RUMP/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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