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 .
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.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 18 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection, as necessitated by amendment.
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 1-3, 5-6, 8-11, 14-16, 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Riley Jr. et al. (US 2019/0064532 - Riley; of record) in view of Miyauchi et al. (US 2004/0125266 - Miyauchi) and Gu (US 2018/0067369; of record).
As to claim 1, Riley teaches a display panel comprising a display panel main body (Riley Fig. 7 - 72, 74; Fig. 11 - 102, 104, p1, p2; para. [0244]) and a light modulation structure located on a light emitting side of the display main body (Riley Fig. 7 - 62; Fig. 11 - 100; para. [0244], [0233]), wherein
the display panel main body comprises a plurality of pixels arranged in an array (Riley Fig. 11 - p1, p2; Fig. 7 - 74; para. [0233], [0244]);
the light modulation structure comprises a substrate (Riley Fig. 7 - 66), a first medium (Riley Fig. 7 - 62; para. [0233] - metasurface elements), and a second medium (Riley Fig. 7 - 70; para. [0233] - air), and a cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 64), the first medium and the second medium being disposed between the substrate and the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 62, 70, 66, 64), and the light modulation structure is configured to modulate phase, amplitude, and polarization of light wave (Riley para. [0003]);
the first medium comprises a metasurface structure (Riley Fig. 7 - 62; para. [0233]), the metasurface comprises a plurality of metasurface structural units arranged in an array and directly arranged on a surface of the substrate facing the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 62; Fig. 11 - MS1, MS2…MSN, 100, 104), the plurality of metasurface structural units is in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of pixels (Riley Fig. 7 - 62, 74; [0233]; Fig. 11 - MS1, MS2, p1, p2…MSN, pn), at least one of the metasurface structural units comprises a plurality of nano-pillars spaced apart (Riley Fig. 7 - 62; Figs. 4A-C; para. [0184], [0228], [0229]);
the second medium comprises a gas layer filling between the substrate and the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 70; para. [0233] - air);
the substrate and the cover layer are spaced from each other by support pillars (Riley Fig. 7 - 68; para. [0233]), and a height of the support pillars is greater than a height of the nano-pillars in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate facing the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 68, 62);
wherein the nano-pillars are made of a silicon nitride (Riley para. [0020]) each of the plurality of metasurface structural units is spaced from the cover layer by the gas layer (Riley Fig. 7; para. [0233] - units (62) spaced from cover layer (64) by gas (70));
a bottom edge of the support pillar is attached to the surface of the substrate facing the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 68, 66).
While Riley states the support pillars (68) can be any suitable material (Riley para. [0234]), Riley doesn’t specify the pillars are silicon nitride and a cross-section shape of the pillars is a trapezoid.
In the same field of endeavor Miyauchi teaches support pillars of silicon nitride (Miyauchi Fig. 2 - 201; Fig. 4 - 402, 403; para. [0051], [0066], [0067]).
In the same field of endeavor Gu teaches providing support pillars with trapezoid cross-section (Gu Fig. 1 - 108; para. [0028]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to provide the support pillars as silicon nitride since, as taught by Miyauchi, such material is well known in the art for creating such spacers (Miyauchi Fig. 2 - 201; Fig. 4 - 402, 403; para. [0051], [0066], [0067]) and to provide a trapezoid pillar since, as taught by Gu, such trapezoid shapes are well known in the art for separating pixel units (Gu Fig. 1 - 108; para. [0028]).
As to claim 2, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches a refractive index of the nano-pillars is greater than a refractive index of the gas layer (Riley para. [0020], [0233] - nano-pillars of silicon nitride (n ≈ 2.0) vs. air (n ≈ 1.0)).
As to claim 3, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 2, and Riley further teaches the difference between the refractive index of the nano-pillars and the refractive index of the gas layer is greater than 0.7 (Riley para. [0020], [0233] - nano-pillars of silicon nitride (n ≈ 2.0) vs. air (n ≈ 1.0)).
As to claim 5, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches a thickness of the substrate is greater than a thickness of the metasurface in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate facing the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 66, 62; para. [0003], [0224], [0267]-[0269]).
As to claim 6, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches a distance between two adjacent metasurface structural units of the metasurface surface structural units is greater than a distance between two adjacent nano-pillars in each of the metasurface structural units (Riley Fig. 7 - 69, 62; Fig. 11 - MS1, p1; para. [0244]-[0245]).
As to claim 8, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches a crosse-section shape of the nano-pillars in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate facing the cover layer comprises one or more of a rectangle, circular arc, and a trapezoid (Riley Fig. 2B - 20; Fig. 7 - 62; Fig. 12A; para. [0251]).
As to claim 9, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley/Gu further teach in the direction perpendicular to the substrate, a cross-section of the nano-pillars is a rectangle (Riley Fig. 7 - 62, 60; Fig. 11 - 100, 106) and Gu teaches a slope angle of the support pillars is less than a slope angle of the nano-pillars (Gu Fig. 1 - 108; para. [0028]).
As to claim 10, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches a width of the support pillar is wider than the width the nano-pillar (Riley Fig. 7 - 60, 62, 68), but doesn’t provide additional dimensional information to determine which pillar has the greater area.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to provide the support pillar (68) with greater area than the nano-pillar (60, 62), since such a modification would involve only a mere change in size of a component. Scaling up or down of an element which merely requires a change in size is generally considered as being within the ordinary skill in the art. In re Rinehart, 189 USPQ 143 (CCAP 1976). As discussed by Riley, the nano-pillars are to have small areas/sizes (Riley Figs. 4A-C) for the purpose of achieving the desired light control (Riley para. [0003]).
As to claim 11, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches each of the pixels comprises a plurality of sub-pixels (Riley Fig. 11; para. [0244] - three colors (e.g. red, green, blue) that are then repeated periodically within the array), each of the metasurface structural units comprises a plurality of substructural units (Riley Fig. 11; para. [0244] - Because each illuminator comprising array may have unique properties, it may also be advantageous to have an array of metasurface elements, each with uniquely designed properties), at least one of the sub-structural units comprises a plurality of nano-pillars spaced apart (Riley Fig. 7 - 60, 62; Fig. 11 - 100), and the plurality of sub-structural units are in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of sub-pixels (Riley Fig. 11).
As to claim 14, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 11, and Riley further teaches at least one of the support pillars is disposed on a peripheral edge of at least one of the sub-structural units (Riley Fig. 7 - 68; Fig. 11 - 108).
As to claim 15, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 11, and Riley further teaches the substrate comprises a central area where multiple metasurface structural units of the metasurface structural units are disposed (Riley Fig. 11 - MS1, MS2…MSN, 104), and an edge portion at the periphery of the central area (Riley Fig. 11 - 108), and multiple support pillars of the support pillars are uniformly disposed in the edge area (Riley Fig. 11 - 108).
As to claim 16, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches the gas layer is an air layer (Riley para. [0233]).
As to claim 19, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches at least one support pillars is disposed on a periphery of each of first metasurface structural units located at an edge of the substrate (Riley Fig. 7 - 68; Fig. 11 - 108), and while Riley shows each metasurface structural unit includes support pillars, Riley doesn’t explicitly show the support pillars between the adjacent units - i.e. pillars between units MS1, MS2….
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the supports between units since, since it has been held that a mere duplication of working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Harza 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). Such pillars allow for separating the units MS1, MS2…MSN.
As to claim 20, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 15, and Riley further teaches the multiple support pillars are connected to an integral structure to form a supporting dam at the periphery of the metasurface structural units (Riley Fig. 7 - 64, 66, 68; Fig. 11 - 108, 104).
Claims 7, 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Riley, Miyauchi, Gu as applied to claims 1, 11 above, and further in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0020963 - Lee; of record).
As to claim 7, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Riley further teaches and while the nano-pillars in each metasurface structural unit appear symmetrically arranged about a center of the corresponding structural unit (Riley Figs. 2A,B - 20), Riley’s specification does explicitly say whether the pillars are symmetric about the center.
In the same field of endeavor Lee teaches metasurfaces with nano-pillars being symmetrical about a center (Lee Fig. 3 - 41; Fig. 5 - mn1, mn2; para. [0094]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide such symmetry since, as taught by Lee, such symmetry allows for polarization independence (Lee para. [0094]).
As to claim 12, Riley in view of Miyauchi and Gu teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 11, and Riley further teaches the pixel comprises a plurality of different colored sub-pixels (Riley Fig. 11; para. [0244]), and the nano-pillars within the metasurface structural unit correspond to different colored sub-pixels (Riley para. [0244]). While Riley states the metasurface structural units are uniquely designed for the different colors (Riley para. [0244]), Riley doesn’t specify the unique design is having different arrangement spacings.
In the same field of endeavor Lee teaches metasurfaces with nano-pillars for colored display sub-pixels (Lee Fig. 1; Fig. 5; Fig. 8), the nano-pillars having different arrangement spacings for the sub-pixels (Lee Fig. 5 - mn1, mn2; Fig. 8 - 30p, 30q, 30r; para. [0075], [0076]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to provide different spacings since, as taught by Lee, such spacings allow for controlling which wavelength(s) is controlled by the metasurface (Lee Fig. 8; para. [0075], [0076], [0102]-[0103]).
As to claim 13, Riley in view of Miyauchi, Gu, Lee teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 12, and Riley further teaches the pixel comprises a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel, and a blue sub-pixel (Riley para. [0244]);
the metasurface structural unit comprises a first sub-structural unit corresponding to the red sub-pixel, and the arrangement spacing of the plurality of nano-pillars in the first sub-structural unit is 300-700 nm (Riley Figs. 4B,C);
the metasurface structural unit comprises a second sub-structural unit corresponding to the green sub-pixel, and the arrangement spacing of the plurality of nano-pillars in the second sub- structural unit is 270-550 nm (Riley Figs. 4B, C);
the metasurface structural unit comprises a third sub-structural unit corresponding to the blue sub-pixel, and the arrangement spacing of the plurality of nano-pillars in the third sub- structural unit is 230-450 nm (Riley Figs. 4B, C).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Riley (cited above), Miyauchi (cited above), Gu (cited above) and further view of Schwartz et al. (US 2016/0087246 - Schwartz; of record).
As to claim 18, Riley teaches a method for manufacturing a display panel (Riley Fig. 3), wherein the display pane comprises a display panel main body (Riley Fig. 7 - 72, 74; Fig. 11 - 102, 104, p1, p2; para. [0244]) and a light modulation structure located on a light emitting side of the display main body (Riley Fig. 7 - 62, 60; Fig. 11 - 100; para. [0244], [0233]);
the display panel main body comprises a plurality of pixels arranged in an array (Riley Fig. 11 - p1, p2; Fig. 7 - 74; para. [0233], [0244]);
the light modulation structure comprises a substrate (Riley Fig. 7 - 66), a first medium (Riley Fig. 7 - 62; para. [0233] - metasurface elements), and a second medium (Riley Fig. 7 - 70; para. [0233] - air), and a cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 64), the first medium and the second medium being disposed between the substrate and the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 62, 70, 66, 64), and the light modulation structure is configured to modulate phase, amplitude, and polarization of light wave (Riley para. [0003]);
the first medium comprises a metasurface structure (Riley Fig. 7 - 62; para. [0233]), the metasurface comprises a plurality of metasurface structural units arranged in an array and directly arranged on a surface of the substrate facing the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 62; Fig. 11 - MS1, MS2…MSN, 100, 104), the plurality of metasurface structural units are in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of pixels (Riley Fig. 7 - 60, 62, 74; [0233]; Fig. 11 - MS1, MS2, p1, p2…MSN, pn), at least one of the metasurface structural units comprises a plurality of nano-pillars spaced apart (Riley Fig. 7 - 62, 60; Figs. 4A-C; para. [0184], [0228], [0229]);
the second medium comprises a gas layer filling between the substrate and the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 70; para. [0233] - air);
the substrate and the cover layer are spaced from each other by support pillars (Riley Fig. 7 - 68; para. [0233]), and a height of the support pillars is greater than a height of the nano-pillars in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate facing the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 68, 60, 62);
the method comprising
providing the display panel main body and the light modulation structure (Riley Figs. 1A-3; Fig. 7; Fig. 11);
attaching the light modulation structure to the light-emitting side of the display panel main body (Riley Figs. 1A-3; Fig. 7; Fig. 11); or
forming the substrate on the display panel main body (Riley Figs. 1A-3; Fig. 7; Fig. 11);
forming the metasurface structure on the substrate;
forming the support pillars on the substrate (Riley Figs. 1A-3; Fig. 7; Fig. 11);
forming on the substrate a filling layer filling between the adjacent nano-pillars, between the adjacent support pillars (Riley Figs. 1A-3; Fig. 7; Fig. 11), and/or between the adjacent nano-pillar and support pillar (Riley Figs. 1A-3; Fig. 7; Fig. 11), a side surface of the filling layer away from the substrate being flush with an end surface of the support pillars away from the substrate (Riley Fig. 7 - 68, 66, 64; Fig. 11 - 108, 104), wherein the filling layer is formed using a pore-forming agent material (Riley para. [0234]);
forming a cover layer on the filling layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 64; Fig. 11);
forming a frame sealing adhesive around the substrate and the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 68; Fig. 11 - 108; para. [0037], [0208]);
wherein the nano-pillars are made of a silicon nitride (Riley para. [0020]);
each of the plurality of metasurface structural units is spaced from the cover layer by the gas layer (Riley Fig. 7; para. [0233] - units (62) spaced from cover layer (64) by gas (70)).;
a bottom edge of the support pillar is attached to the surface of the substrate facing the cover layer (Riley Fig. 7 - 68, 66).
While Riley states the support pillars (68) can be any suitable material (Riley para. [0234]), Riley doesn’t specify the pillars are silicon nitride, a cross-section shape of the pillars is a trapezoid, and heating to a preset temperature, causing the filling layer to gasify and escape through the cover layer while outside air enters between the substrate and the cover layer.
In the same field of endeavor Miyauchi teaches support pillars of silicon nitride (Miyauchi Fig. 2 - 201; Fig. 4 - 402, 403; para. [0051], [0066], [0067]).
In the same field of endeavor Gu teaches providing support pillars with trapezoid cross-section (Gu Fig. 1 - 108; para. [0028]).
In the same field of endeavor Schwartz teaches manufacturing nano pillar optics (Schwartz para. [0002]) including a filling layer (Schwartz Fig. 2 - 12; Fig. 3; Fig. 4 - 12; para. [0053]), a cover layer on the filling layer (Schwartz Fig. 2 - 65; Fig. 4 - 5, 65), heating to a preset temperature (Schwartz para. [0012], [0013], [0039], [0040], [0064]), causing the filling layer to gasify and escape through the cover layer while outside air enters between the substrate and the cover layer (Schwartz Fig. 2 - 12; Fig. 3; Fig. 4 - 12; para. [0057], [0063], [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to provide the support pillars as silicon nitride since, as taught by Miyauchi, such material is well known in the art for creating such spacers (Miyauchi Fig. 2 - 201; Fig. 4 - 402, 403; para. [0051], [0066], [0067]), to provide a trapezoid pillar since, as taught by Gu, such trapezoid shapes are well known in the art for separating pixel units (Gu Fig. 1 - 108; para. [0028]), and to provide such manufacturing steps since, as taught by Schwatrz, such “bake-out” processes are well known in the art for removing sacrificial layers and forming voids within nano optical elements (Schwartz para. [0002]).
Conclusion
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 ZACHARY W WILKES whose telephone number is (571)270-7540. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4 (Pacific).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Mack can be reached at 571-272-2333. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZACHARY W WILKES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 October 5, 2026
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