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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 12-16, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn et al. (KR 20020096336 A) hereafter referred to as Ahn in view of Kenichi (US 20100237390 A1). Morimoto et al. (US 20110221045 A1) hereafter referred to as Morimoto is provided as evidence of Gaussian implant equation. King (US 20040110336 A1) is provided as evidence.
In regard to claim 1 Ahn teaches a novel photodiode structure [see Fig. 7], comprising:
a substrate having [“semiconductor substrate 100 doped with low concentration p-type impurities”] a first doping type, wherein the substrate has a first doping concentration;
a functional doping area [“n-type impurity region 111”] having a second doping type and [see Fig. 7] formed in the substrate;
a surface doping area [“potential fixing layer 120 doped with the p-type impurity”] having the first doping type and formed in the functional doping area from a top surface of the functional doping area, wherein the surface doping area has a second doping concentration;
a gate structure [“gate electrode 150 of the reset transistor 13”] disposed on the substrate; and
an auxiliary doping area [“Source / drain regions 131 and 140 doped with a high concentration of n-type impurities in a predetermined width are formed on both surfaces of the gate electrode 150 in the surface layer. The source region 131 of the reset transistor is formed to partially overlap with the n-type impurity region 111 constituting the photodiode region”] having the second doping type and formed in the functional doping area, wherein the auxiliary doping area connects [see Fig. 7] the gate structure to the functional doping area and is spaced by an [see Fig. 7] interval from the surface doping area, wherein the auxiliary doping area has a doping concentration greater [see it is “high concentration of n-type impurities” versus “n-type impurity region 111”, see also that it “source region 131 of the reset transistor is formed to partially overlap with the n-type impurity region 111”, thus the overlapped portion has an even higher concentration] than a doping concentration of the functional doping area
but does not actually state “wherein the functional doping area has a non-uniform doping concentration distribution, wherein a doping concentration of the functional doping area increases along a horizontal direction”.
See that Ahn teaches ion implantation to form doping, see “high concentration N-type ion implantation step”.
Morimoto et al. (US 20110221045 A1) is provided as evidence see paragraph 0055, 0056 “As a general formula of an n-type impurity concentration (doping profile) c by ion implantation, Gaussian distribution represented by Equation 1 was assumed”. c=n.sub.1.times.exp(-(x-d.sub.1).sup.2/(2.sigma..sub.1.sup.2)) Equation 1: “x is a depth below a silicon surface. n.sub.1, d.sub.1 and .sigma..sub.1 are parameters. n.sub.1 indicates a maximum concentration in each Gaussian distribution. d.sub.1 indicates a depth to provide the maximum concentration n.sub.1 in each Gaussian distribution. .sigma..sub.1 is a deviation in depth”.
However, see Kenichi paragraph 0101 “FIG. 3 is a graph schematically illustrating an impurity profile with respect to a horizontal direction location (substrate surface direction location) in the solid-state image capturing element 1 of Embodiment 1” “As illustrated in FIG. 3, the photodiode section 4 includes the electric charge transfer gate proximal N region 41, the N- region 42 and the N-- region 43 incrementally provided so that the impurity concentration becomes lower according to the distance from the transfer gate 9. The N type impurity concentration of the N-- region 43 on the one end of the photodiode 4 is equal to the impurity concentration of the N type silicon substrate 2. As previously described, although the impurity ion implantation is performed into the area of the P well region 3 to form the P well region 3, the area of the N-- region 43 remains the same as the area of the N type silicon substrate 2 where the impurity ion implantation is not performed” “Since the impurity concentration is incrementally and successively increased from the N-- region 43 to the N- region 42 and further to the electric charge transfer gate proximal N region 41, as it gets closer to the transfer gate 9, the potential inclination is provided in the substrate surface direction towards the transfer gate 9 as illustrated in FIG. 4. Therefore, the signal charges obtained by photoelectric conversions on incident light can be moved to the stronger potential, that is, to the location proximal to the transfer gate 9 of the photodiode 4, without residing on the way. Thus, even if the pixel size is enlarged to 6.times.6 .mu.m to widen the photodiode area particularly for an IP camera used for a monitoring camera and a television telephone device since such a camera mainly takes video shooting and needs to achieve sensitivity and wide dynamic range, the complete electric charge transferring can be more easily performed”.
Thus, it 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 to modify Ahn to include “wherein the functional doping area has a non-uniform doping concentration distribution, wherein a doping concentration of the functional doping area increases along a horizontal direction”.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is to assist charge movement in the device of Ahn to obtain good performance.
In regard to claim 3 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches wherein the first doping type [see claim 1 see substrate is p type, 111 is n type and 120 is p-type] is p-type, and the second doping type is n-type, wherein the surface doping area, the functional doping area and the substrate form a PNP-type structure.
In regard to claim 4 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches wherein the doping concentration distribution of the functional doping area includes [see that diffusion causes Gaussian distribution which has dependence of inversely proportional to square root of variance] any one of linear distribution, square root distribution.
In regard to claim 12 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches [see Ahn Fig. 7] wherein top surfaces of the substrate, the functional doping area, the surface doping area, and the auxiliary doping area are flush with each other.
In regard to claim 13 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches wherein a depth of the functional doping area [see Ahn Fig. 7] is less than a depth of the substrate; wherein a depth of the surface doping area [see Ahn Fig. 7] is less than the depth of the functional doping area; wherein a depth of the auxiliary doping area [see Ahn Fig. 7] is less than the depth of the functional doping area.
In regard to claim 14 Ahn and Kenichi as combined does not specifically teach the depth of the surface doping area is equal to the depth of the auxiliary doping area.
However it is noted that they perform different roles and are different doping types and are optimized differently and shallow source/drains are standard in the art.
See King is provided as evidence, see paragraph 0072 “Again, these features are all common to most standard MISFETs; additional conventional features (such as retrograde substrate doping, "halo" or "pocket" doping, gate-sidewall spacers, shallow source and drain junctions) are not shown for purposes of better illustrating the nature of the invention”.
It 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 to use “the depth of the surface doping area is equal to the depth of the auxiliary doping area ”, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233
In regard to claim 15 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches wherein an edge of the surface doping area at an end facing away from the gate structure is flush [see left side in Ahn Fig. 7] with an outer edge of the functional doping area,
but does not show wherein an edge of the gate structure near the functional doping area is flush with an edge of the functional doping area near the gate structure, and they are located on the same plane without overlapping.
However see that the bottom of gate dielectric 160 is on the same plane as the top of “n-type impurity region 111” in Fig. 7 , now see Ahn in Fig. 4 wherein 110 aligns with the edge of the gate 150 however see Ahn explains misalignment can cause a width 190 which is undesirable i.e. Ahn says ideally 190 should be zero.
The Examiner notes that claim 1 is a structure claim, not a method claim.
Thus, it 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 to modify Ahn to include wherein an edge of the gate structure near the functional doping area is flush with an edge of the functional doping area near the gate structure, and they are located on the same plane without overlapping.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is that Ahn teaches that this is the desired structure when the dopants are properly aligned.
In regard to claim 16 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches wherein an edge of the auxiliary doping area near the gate structure is flush [see combination claim 15, see that this is the desired structure when the dopants are properly aligned] with the edge of the functional doping area near the gate structure.
In regard to claim 18 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches wherein a doping concentration of the auxiliary doping area is greater [“Source / drain regions 131 and 140 doped with a high concentration of n-type impurities in a predetermined width are formed on both surfaces of the gate electrode 150 in the surface layer. The source region 131 of the reset transistor is formed to partially overlap with the n-type impurity region 111 constituting the photodiode region” compare the “high concentration” to “n-type impurity region 111 is formed” “most of the photodiode region is uniformly doped with low concentration N-type impurities” see Abstract “A photodiode region is formed in the surface of the semiconductor substrate layer in a partial region of the pixel, doped with relatively low density impurities of the second conductivity type”, thus Ahn is saying that the source/drain are more heavily doped] than the doping concentration of the functional doping area at any location,
but does not state and the two concentrations are in different orders of magnitude.
However see the description of the concentrations. Similarly see Kenichi Fig. 3 see paragraphs 0035-0038 concentrations.
It 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 to use “and the two concentrations are in different orders of magnitude ”, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233
In regard to claim 19 Ahn and Kenichi as combined does not specifically teach wherein the second doping concentration is greater than the first doping concentration.
However see that these two doping perform different roles, see Ahn Fig. 7 the substrate doping adjusts the threshold voltage and if the doping is too high, then inversion is more difficult to achieve, however “the potential fixing layer 120 doped with the p-type impurity” is “a potential pinning layer(120)” and needs to be high concentration in order to fix the potential.
It 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 to use “wherein the second doping concentration is greater than the first doping concentration”, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233
In regard to claim 20 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches wherein the doping concentration of the functional doping area increases [see combination, see Kenichi Fig. 3 ] along the horizontal direction, and the horizontal direction points from the surface doping area [see combination, see Kenichi Fig. 3 ] toward the auxiliary doping area but does not state linearly.
However this is simply based on the number of steps used see Kenichi Fig. 2 shows 41, 42, 43 however if the number is increased, the change becomes linear.
It 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 to use “linearly”, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233
Claim(s) 2, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn and Kenichi as combined and further in view of Watanabe et al. (US 20170133419 A1) hereafter referred to as Watanabe
In regard to claim 2 Ahn and Kenichi as combined does not teach wherein the surface doping area and the auxiliary doping area both have a loop shape, wherein the gate structure is located within the auxiliary doping area having the loop shape, and the gate structure has a loop shape, wherein an internal doping area is formed in the functional doping area and is located whithin an area surrounded by an inner edge of the loop shape formed by the gate structure, wherein the internal doping area and the auxiliary doping area have the same doping type and doping concentration.
See Watanabe Fig. 1, Fig. 2 see loop shape, see “In the plan view of FIG. 1, although continuous belt-like shapes, in which both the outer-contour side shape and the inner-contour side shape of the transparent electrode 21.sub.i,j have an octagonal shape, and furthermore, both the outer-contour side shape and the inner-contour side shape of the reset-gate electrode 22.sub.i,j have the octagonal shape, are illustrated as examples of an annular topology, the annular topology is not limited to the shapes illustrated in FIG. 1. That is, when seen as a planar pattern, since a closed geometric shape in which a starting point and a terminating point of the continuous belt coincide with each other is an “annular form,” the shape of the transparent electrode 21.sub.i,j and the reset-gate electrode 22.sub.i,j may be another continuous shape that the electrode is surrounded by an outer-contour line and an inner-contour line of a circle or another polygon having an approximately fixed width of the belt”, see the “reset-drain region 16.sub.i,j” in the center.
Thus, it 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 to modify Ahn to include wherein the surface doping area and the auxiliary doping area both have a loop shape, wherein the gate structure is located within the auxiliary doping area having the loop shape, and the gate structure has a loop shape, wherein an internal doping area is formed in the functional doping area and is located whithin an area surrounded by an inner edge of the loop shape formed by the gate structure, wherein the internal doping area and the auxiliary doping area have the same doping type and doping concentration.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is that this symmetric shape is known to give good results for detection of light.
In regard to claim 17 Ahn and Kenichi as combined does not teach wherein the gate structure, the surface doping area and the auxiliary doping area form concentric rings.
See Watanabe Fig. 1, Fig. 2 see loop shape, see “In the plan view of FIG. 1, although continuous belt-like shapes, in which both the outer-contour side shape and the inner-contour side shape of the transparent electrode 21.sub.i,j have an octagonal shape, and furthermore, both the outer-contour side shape and the inner-contour side shape of the reset-gate electrode 22.sub.i,j have the octagonal shape, are illustrated as examples of an annular topology, the annular topology is not limited to the shapes illustrated in FIG. 1. That is, when seen as a planar pattern, since a closed geometric shape in which a starting point and a terminating point of the continuous belt coincide with each other is an “annular form,” the shape of the transparent electrode 21.sub.i,j and the reset-gate electrode 22.sub.i,j may be another continuous shape that the electrode is surrounded by an outer-contour line and an inner-contour line of a circle or another polygon having an approximately fixed width of the belt”, see the “reset-drain region 16.sub.i,j” in the center.
Thus, it 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 to modify Ahn to include wherein the gate structure, the surface doping area and the auxiliary doping area form concentric rings.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is that this symmetric shape is known to give good results for detection of light.
Claim(s) 10, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn and Kenichi as combined in view of Atlas et al. (WO 2008108884 A1) hereafter referred to as Atlas
In regard to claim 10 Ahn and Kenichi as combined does not teach a circuit structure comprising the novel photodiode structure as in claim1, wherein the circuit structure comprises:the novel photodiode structure, wherein the surface doping area of the novel photodiode structure is grounded; a charge receiving module, electrically connected to a drain structure of the novel photodiode structure, receiving charges stored in the novel photodiode structure during reset, wherein the charge receiving module comprises an integrating capacitor and a control switch; an amplifier module, wherein two input ends of the amplifier module are electrically connected to a comparison voltage and to the drain structure, respectively, and an output end of the amplifier module outputs the amplified signal, wherein the amplifier module comprises a charge amplifier and a control switch.
See Atlas Fig. 3A see “light sensing device 501” grounded on anode, cathode has “reset transistor 502 controlled by a reset signal 503 for resetting photodiode 501 to a predefined voltage. Photodiode 501 integrates photon- generated charge down from the reset level”, see “capacitor 504” “amplifier 505” “row select 507 signal controlling output”, see row select for plurality of pixels “Cell 500 may be connected to additional cells contained in the array via a column output bus 508”, “S = Signal + Vp + kTC + FPN + 1/f” see the standard kTC noise “output sample with reduced kTC, FPN, and 1/f noise” where k is Boltzman constant.
Thus, it 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 to modify Ahn to include a circuit structure comprising the novel photodiode structure as in claim1, wherein the circuit structure comprises:the novel photodiode structure, wherein the surface doping area of the novel photodiode structure is grounded; a charge receiving module, electrically connected to a drain structure of the novel photodiode structure, receiving charges stored in the novel photodiode structure during reset, wherein the charge receiving module comprises an integrating capacitor and a control switch; an amplifier module, wherein two input ends of the amplifier module are electrically connected to a comparison voltage and to the drain structure, respectively, and an output end of the amplifier module outputs the amplified signal, wherein the amplifier module comprises a charge amplifier and a control switch.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is that this is a standard pixel circuit known to give good results for detection.
In regard to claim 11 Ahn, Kenichi and Atlas as combined teaches wherein the output end of the amplifier module is connected [see combination Atlas, see circuit Fig. 3A, see output of kTC noise] to a column output of pixels, and a noise function at the column output of pixels is Equation clm 11, wherein k is Boltzman’s constant, T is temperature, Cdiode is capacitance of voltage reference.
Claim(s) 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn et al. (KR 20020096336 A) hereafter referred to as Ahn in view of Kenichi (US 20100237390 A1) . Morimoto et al. (US 20110221045 A1) hereafter referred to as Morimoto is provided as evidence of Gaussian implant equation.
In regard to claim 5 Ahn teaches a method for preparing a novel photodiode structure [see Fig. 7], comprising:
providing a substrate having [“semiconductor substrate 100 doped with low concentration p-type impurities”] a first doping type, wherein the substrate comprises a fist surface [top] and a second surface [bottom] opposite to the first surface, and the substrate has a first doping concentration;
forming a functional doping area [“An n-type impurity region 111 is formed on the surface side of a portion of the active region constituting an individual pixel to form a photodiode together with a region doped with P-type impurities of the substrate 100”] having a second doping type in the substrate;
forming a surface doping area [“the potential fixing layer 120 is not separately formed near the reset transistor, and the potential fixing layer 120 doped with the p-type impurity is formed on the far side from the reset transistor”] having the first doping type and formed in the functional doping area, wherein the surface doping area has a second doping concentration;
forming a gate structure [“In FIG. 7, the gate electrode 150 of the reset transistor spaced apart from the substrate 100 and the gate insulating layer 160 is formed on the right side outside the photodiode region”] on the first surface of the substrate; and
forming an auxiliary doping area [“Source / drain regions 131 and 140 doped with a high concentration of n-type impurities in a predetermined width are formed on both surfaces of the gate electrode 150 in the surface layer. The source region 131 of the reset transistor is formed to partially overlap with the n-type impurity region 111 constituting the photodiode region”] having the second doping type in the functional doping area from the first surface, wherein the auxiliary doping area connects [see Fig. 7] the gate structure to the functional doping area and is spaced by [see Fig. 7] an interval from the surface doping area, wherein the auxiliary doping area has a doping concentration greater [see it is “high concentration of n-type impurities” versus “n-type impurity region 111”, see also that it “source region 131 of the reset transistor is formed to partially overlap with the n-type impurity region 111”, thus the overlapped portion has an even higher concentration] than a doping concentration of the functional doping area
but does not actually state “from the first surface, wherein the functional doping area has a non-uniform doping concentration distribution, wherein a doping concentration of the functional doping area increases alonq a horizontal direction” and “from the top surface”.
However see Fig. 7 see that the 111, 120, 131, 140 are at the top surface, see the shape of the regions suggests forming from the top, see that Ahn teaches ion implantation to form doping, see “high concentration N-type ion implantation step”. Thus for the case ion implantation, a person of ordinary skill in the art knows that it is “from the first surface” and “from the top surface”.
Morimoto et al. (US 20110221045 A1) is provided as evidence see paragraph 0055, 0056 “As a general formula of an n-type impurity concentration (doping profile) c by ion implantation, Gaussian distribution represented by Equation 1 was assumed”. c=n.sub.1.times.exp(-(x-d.sub.1).sup.2/(2.sigma..sub.1.sup.2)) Equation 1: “x is a depth below a silicon surface. n.sub.1, d.sub.1 and .sigma..sub.1 are parameters. n.sub.1 indicates a maximum concentration in each Gaussian distribution. d.sub.1 indicates a depth to provide the maximum concentration n.sub.1 in each Gaussian distribution. .sigma..sub.1 is a deviation in depth”.
However, see Kenichi paragraphs 0096-0104 “FIG. 3 is a graph schematically illustrating an impurity profile with respect to a horizontal direction location (substrate surface direction location) in the solid-state image capturing element 1 of Embodiment 1” “As illustrated in FIG. 3, the photodiode section 4 includes the electric charge transfer gate proximal N region 41, the N- region 42 and the N-- region 43 incrementally provided so that the impurity concentration becomes lower according to the distance from the transfer gate 9. The N type impurity concentration of the N-- region 43 on the one end of the photodiode 4 is equal to the impurity concentration of the N type silicon substrate 2. As previously described, although the impurity ion implantation is performed into the area of the P well region 3 to form the P well region 3, the area of the N-- region 43 remains the same as the area of the N type silicon substrate 2 where the impurity ion implantation is not performed” “Since the impurity concentration is incrementally and successively increased from the N-- region 43 to the N- region 42 and further to the electric charge transfer gate proximal N region 41, as it gets closer to the transfer gate 9, the potential inclination is provided in the substrate surface direction towards the transfer gate 9 as illustrated in FIG. 4. Therefore, the signal charges obtained by photoelectric conversions on incident light can be moved to the stronger potential, that is, to the location proximal to the transfer gate 9 of the photodiode 4, without residing on the way. Thus, even if the pixel size is enlarged to 6.times.6 .mu.m to widen the photodiode area particularly for an IP camera used for a monitoring camera and a television telephone device since such a camera mainly takes video shooting and needs to achieve sensitivity and wide dynamic range, the complete electric charge transferring can be more easily performed” “phosphorus (P) ions are implanted .... Conversely, it is also possible to implant arsenic (As) ions as impurities to form the N- region 42 as illustrated in FIG. 1(c), and next to implant phosphorus (P) ions as impurities .... arsenic (As)) as N type impurities are difficult to diffuse compared to phosphorus (P) after ion implantation whereas phosphorus (P) as N type impurities are easy to diffuse compared to arsenic (As). Therefore, it is more preferable to implant arsenic (As)) ions into the electric charge transfer gate proximal N region 41, where the potential for determining the accumulating capacity of the signal charges is the strongest, and to implant phosphorus (P) into the N- region 42 to diffuse the ions evenly in a wider area” .
Thus, it 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 to modify Ahn to include “from the first surface, wherein the functional doping area has a non-uniform doping concentration distribution, wherein a doping concentration of the functional doping area increases alonq a horizontal direction” and “from the top surface”.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is to assist charge movement in the device of Ahn to obtain good performance and because ion implantation from the surface is standard, easy to use and is known to give good results to form doping such as that used by Ahn.
In regard to claim 6 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches [see claim 5 see combination Kenichi, see doping concentration] wherein the functional doping area has a predetermined concentration distribution and is formed by ion implantation and diffusion [see claim 5 see combination, see Kenichi uses diffusion also] of implanted ions.
In regard to claim 7 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches limitations and equation of claim 7, see that this is simply the standard Gaussian distribution of ion implantation.
In regard to claim 8 Ahn and Kenichi as combined teaches limitations and equation of claim 8, see that this is simply the standard known equation for diffusion known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, see combination Kenichi ion implantation followed by diffusion.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn and Kenichi as combined and further in view of McIntyre et al. (US 4463368 A) hereafter referred to as McIntyre.
In regard to claim 9 Ahn and Kenichi as combined does not specifically teach the limitations and equation of claim 9.
However masking is common in the art, see McIntyre “APDs were fabricated as described above in a Si substate having a resistivity of 5,000 ohm-cm and a {100} crystallographic surface orientation. The p-type region was formed by ion implantation of boron through a patterned oxide mask to a total dose of 5.times.10.sup.12 acceptors/cm.sup.2 of the surface implanted followed by a diffusion for 256 hours at 1168.degree. C.” “p-type region 20 is formed by masking of the surface 14 with a material such as SiO.sub.2, and then introducing an acceptor such as boron, preferably by ion implantation, through an opening in the mask” “the n-type region is formed by suitable masking and prediffusion of phosphorus into the surface from a phosphorus-doped glass (PDG) deposited in an opening in the mask” , see combination Kenichi ion implantation followed by diffusion, it is noted that under broadest reasonable interpretation a hole in a mask is “loop shape”, see that in Ahn the shape of 120 is “nested” in 111.
Thus, it 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 to modify Ahn to include limitations of claim 9.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is that plurality of masking and implantation and diffusion steps is common in the art and deriving the equation of claim 9 is known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/9/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 2 the Applicant argues “Applicant has amended independent claims 1, and 5 to recite, in part, "wherein a doping concentration of the functional dopinq area increases along a horizontal direction", which is not disclosed or taught by the cited references. Take for Ahn and Morimoto for example, the concentration variations therein are in along the depth direction, while the doping concentration of the functional doping area as claimed increases along the horizontal direction (i.e., parallel to the substrate, as shown in FIG. 4 of the present application and its accompanying description)”.
The Examiner responds that see amended rejection, the new limitations are shown by secondary reference Kenichi.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lafferty et al. (JP 2009506543 A) hereafter referred to as Lafferty is provided as evidence, see “If the doping is produced by ion implantation, such a graded doping profile can occur naturally, but its effect can be improved by appropriate selection of implantation energy and dose”.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SITARAMARAO S YECHURI whose telephone number is (571)272-8764. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-4:30 PM.
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/SITARAMARAO S YECHURI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893