DETAILED ACTION
1. 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
2. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
3. Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over YUEN et al. (US 20190305522 ) and further in view of KROPP et al. (US 20170373471).
Regarding claim 1, YUEN et al. discloses figs. 1A, 2A and specification a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) array (see, 202, Emitter array, see also, paragraph [0041]), comprising: a substrate (see, paragraph [0003], here, a common substrate); a plurality of VCSEL elements including a first element and a second element (see, 204, fig. 2A) over the substrate; and a trench (see, 206, fig. 2A) surrounding the plurality of VCSEL elements, wherein the first and second elements are adjacent, and the first element includes: a first reflector region (see, 124, fig. 1A, see also, paragraph [0027]) over the substrate; a second reflector region (see, 118, fig. 1A, see also, paragraph [0031]) over the first reflector region; an active region (see, 122, fig. 1A, see also paragraph [0024]) between the first reflector region and second reflector region; a part of a metal layer (see, 218-1, fig. 2A, see also, paragraph [0042]) shared by the first and second elements; and a first output window (see, 210, fig. 2A).
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However, YUEN et al. is silent as to the limitation of “a distance between an inner edge of the trench and a center of the first output window being larger than half a distance between the center of the first output window and a center of a second output window of the second element”.
KROPP et al. discloses that a round trench around a section of the device can be etched down to the semi-insulating substrate thus isolating this section electrically from the rest of the device (see, Abstract). Even though KROPP et al. does not disclose that “a distance between an inner edge of the trench and a center of the first output window being larger than half a distance between the center of the first output window and a center of a second output window of the second element”, as claimed, KROPP et al discloses the limitation regarding the distance can be realized.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at
the time of invention to combine the limitation of the first and second axes are perpendicular to one another” with a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) array of YUEN et al. because the limitation regarding the distance allows for isolating this section electrically from the rest of the device (see, Abstract of KROPP et al.).
Regarding claim 2, YUEN et al. discloses figs. 1A, 2A and specification a
wherein the first element further includes a first oxide aperture (see, 210-3, fig. 2A, between the first reflector region and second reflector region, a distance between the inner edge of the trench and a center of the first oxide aperture is larger than fifty percent of a distance between the center of the first oxide aperture and a center of a second oxide aperture of the second element and smaller than the distance between the centers of the first and second oxide apertures (see, reasoning based on 2nd reference in claim 1).
Regarding claim 3, modified device of YUEN et al. disclose the limitation of claim 1 above. YUEN et al. also disclose wherein the trench is filled with one or more dielectric materials (see, paragraph [0013]).
Regarding claim 4, modified device of YUEN et al. disclose the limitation of claim 1 above. YUEN et al. also disclose a plurality of holes around each of the plurality of VCSEL elements, wherein the trench and holes are arranged for performing an oxidation process to form oxide aperture (see, paragraph [0021], [0029]).
Regarding claim 5, modified device of YUEN et al. disclose the limitation of claim 4 above. YUEN et al. also disclose wherein the plurality of holes are filled with one or more dielectric materials (see, paragraph [0021], [0029]).
Regarding claim 6, claim 6 is rejected for the same reasons applied to the claim 1 since the limitations are regarding to the distance.
Regarding claims 7-11, device claims 7-11 are rejected for the same reasons applied to the claims 1-6 since the limitations of claims 7-11 are implemented by the claims 1-6.
Regarding claims 12-17, method claims 12-17 are rejected for the same reasons applied to the claim 1-6 since the limitations of claims 12-17 are implemented by the claims 1-6.
Conclusion
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kinam Park whose telephone number is (571) 270-1738. The examiner can normally be reached on from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, MINSUN HARVEY, can be reached on (571) 272-1835. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/KINAM PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828