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 .
Drawings
The previous objection to the drawings filed 03/06/2023 has been withdrawn in light of the cancellation of claim 3.
Response to Amendment
Examiner acknowledges the amendment made to claim 1. Claim 3 has been cancelled. New claims 8-10 have been added
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1,2 and 4-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed 12/15/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding the argument that a person of ordinary skill in the art would not have been motivated to combine Ito with the modified device of Kono, Examiner has fully considered but respectfully finds the argument nonpersuasive. Examiner notes that Ito discloses a benefit of including the contact layers in the manner shown in Ito, specifically for improvement of flatness on a main surface of the semiconductor stack (see claim 1 rejection below) and to provide ohmic contact with the electrode structure of Ito. (Ito Paras. [0080,0096])
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1,2,4, and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kono et al. (hereinafter Kono) (WO 2022130806 A1) in view of Nagatomo (US 20090225805 A1) and Ito et al. (hereinafter Ito) (US 20220037849 A1).
(Examiner notes the US publication (US 20240047944 A1) of Kono will be used for the claim mapping of Kono for the remainder of the Office Action. See PTO-892 form.)
Regarding claim 1, Kono discloses
A surface-emitting semiconductor laser [100 Fig. 1] (Para. [0052]) based on a photonic crystal structure (Para. [0052]), comprising:
a P-type electrode [26 Fig. 1] (Para. [0053]);
a P-type contact layer [22 Fig. 1] (Para. [0054]);
a P-type cladding layer [20 Fig. 1] (Para. [0054]);
a photonic crystal layer [14 Fig. 1] (Para. [0052]);
an active layer [18 Fig. 1] (Para. [0052]);
an N-type cladding layer [12 Fig. 1] (Para. [0054]);
an N-type substrate [10 Fig. 1] (Para. [0054]); and
an N-type electrode [24 Fig. 1] (Para. [0053]);
the photonic crystal layer [14 Fig. 1] is formed by a plurality of square unit cells [Figs. 4A,4B] arranged periodically (Paras. [0058,0059]); each of the plurality of square unit cells [Fig. 4B] has a first air hole [32 Fig. 4B] (Para. [0057]), and a second air hole [30 Fig. 4B] (Para. [0057]);
Kono fails to disclose,
A surface-emitting semiconductor laser based on a triple-lattice photonic crystal structure,
an N-type contact layer;
wherein the P-type electrode, the P-type contact layer, the P-type cladding layer, the photonic crystal layer, the active layer, the N-type cladding layer, the N-type contact layer, the N-type substrate, and the N-type electrode are arranged sequentially from top to bottom; and the photonic crystal layer has a triple-lattice photonic crystal structure; and
a first air hole and a second air hole, and a third air hole; the first air hole, the second air hole, and the third air hole are the same;
and a distance between a center of the first air hole and a center of the second air hole is (0.5 ± 0.1) a, wherein a is a lattice constant
and a distance between a center of the third air hole and the center of the second air hole is (0.5 ± 0.1) a,
wherein the center of the third air hole is located on a diagonal of the square unit cell
Nagatomo discloses in Fig. 3B,
a triple-lattice photonic crystal structure [Fig. 3B] (Para. [0025]),
the photonic crystal structure including a first air hole [1015 top right] (Para. [0024]), a second air hole [1015 top left] (Para. [0024]) and a third air hole [1015 bottom left] (Para. [0024]) (see Examiners Markup below); the first air hole [1015 top right], the second air hole [1015 top left] and the third air hole [1015 bottom left] are the same (Para. [0024]),
wherein a center of the third air hole [1015 bottom left] is located on a diagonal of a square unit cell [3000] (Para. [0025])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the structure of a photonic crystal triple lattice in a square unit shown in Nagatomo in the device of Kono for the purpose of modulating the resonance efficiency of the photonic crystal structure. (Nagatomo Para. [0025])
Examiner notes that paragraph [0065] of Kono discloses a vertical and horizontal distance [d Fig. 4B] can be equated to a value of 0.5a where [a] is the lattice constant. Therefore, with a three hole structure in a single square lattice as shown in Fig. 3B of Nagatomo, the distance [d] of Kono can be understood to be the distance between the neighboring air holes [1015] of Nagatomo.
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Kono in view of Nagatomo fails to disclose,
an N-type contact layer;
wherein the P-type electrode, the P-type contact layer, the P-type cladding layer, the photonic crystal layer, the active layer, the N-type cladding layer, the N-type contact layer, the N-type substrate, and the N-type electrode are arranged sequentially from top to bottom;
Ito discloses in Fig. 15C,
an n-type contact layer [16] (Para. [0090])
wherein a P-type contact layer [11] (Para. [0083]), a P-type cladding layer [12] (Para. [0084]), a photonic crystal layer [13] (Paras. [0085, 0110]) an active layer [14] (Para. [0078]), an N-type cladding layer [15] (Para. [0089]), and the N-type contact layer [16] (Para. [0090]), are arranged sequentially from top to bottom (Para. [0133]);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the layer stack of Kono in view of Nagatomo in the order shown in Ito above the n-type substrate of Kono in view of Nagatomo for the purpose of having both an N and P type contact layer to allow for ohmic contact on each respective side of the device and improved flatness on a main surface of the stack. (Para. [0080])
Regarding claim 2, Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito as applied to claim 1 above further discloses
wherein a cross-section of each of the first air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top right], the second air hole [1015 top left], and the third air hole [1015 bottom left] is circular, triangular, or elliptical (Kono Para. [0059]).
Using the circular shape of the first hole of Kono [30 Fig. 4B] for each of the three air holes [1015] of Nagatomo.
Regarding claim 4, Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito as applied to claim 1 above further discloses,
wherein an air filling factor of each of the first air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top right], the second air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top left], and the third air hole [Nagatomo 1015 bottom left] in each of the plurality of square unit cells is 4-10% (Kono Para. [0059]).
Using the filling ratio (4%) of the first air hole of Kono [30 Fig. 4B] for each of the three air holes [1015] of Nagatomo.
Regarding claim 6, Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito as applied to claim 1 above further discloses in Kono,
wherein the P-type electrode [26 Fig. 1] and the N-type electrode [24 Fig. 1] are coplanar or opposed (Para. [0053]).
The P-type and N-type electrodes are opposed in Fig. 1
Regarding claim 7, Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito as applied to claim 1 above further discloses,
wherein the first air hole, the second air hole and the third air hole are formed on a surface of the photonic crystal layer by etching; and an etching depth is 50-100% of a thickness of the P-type cladding layer [Kono 20 Fig. 1].
Paragraph [0060] of Kono discloses a thickness [T4] of the p-type cladding layer [20] is 7.5a, with [a] being the lattice constant (Paras. [0059,0060]). Paragraph [0076] of Kono discloses the depth [D1] of the hole [30] to be preferably at most 5 times the lattice constant. Therefore, with the depth [D1] of the hole [30] being 5a, and the thickness [T4] of the p-type cladding layer [20] being 7.5a, the etch depth of the holes are about 67% of the thickness of the p-type clad layer.
Using the etch depth [D1] of the first hole of Kono for the three hole structure shown in Nagatomo, the etch depth of first, second and third air holes will be within the range of 50-100% of a thickness of the P-type cladding layer.
Examiner notes claim 7 as a Product-by-Process claim, as described in MPEP § 2113. Therefore, the limitation of the first, second and third air holes being formed by the process of etching has been fully considered but has not been given patentable weight. See MPEP § 2113.
Regarding claim 8, Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito discloses the device outlined in the rejection of claim 1 above and further discloses,
wherein the center of the second air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top left] is offset from the center of the first air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top right] by a distance [d Kono Fig. 4B] of (0.5 ±0.1)a along an x direction (Kono Para. [0065]) , and the center of the third air hole [Nagatomo 1015 bottom left] is offset from the center of the second air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top left] by a distance [d Kono Fig. 4B] of (0.5 ± 0.1)a along a y direction orthogonal to the x direction (Kono Para. [0065]).
Regarding claim 9, Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito discloses the device outlined in the rejection of claim 1 above and further discloses,
wherein the center of the second air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top left] is offset from the center of the first air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top right] by a distance [d Kono Fig. 4B] of 0.5a along an x direction (Kono Para. [0065]) , and the center of the third air hole [Nagatomo 1015 bottom left] is offset from the center of the second air hole [Nagatomo 1015 top left] by a distance [d Kono Fig. 4B] of 0.5a along a y direction orthogonal to the x direction (Kono Para. [0065]).
Regarding claim 10, Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito discloses the device outlined in the rejection of claim 9 above and further discloses,
wherein a modulation factor has an amplitude of 3.
Examiner notes that paragraph 2 of page 9 of the specification of the claimed application states that the amplitude of the modulation factor reaches a maximum value of 3 when the offset of the two air holes (in reference to air holes 2 and 3) is (±0.5a , ±0.5a), (±0.5a, 0) and (0, ±0.5a). Kono discloses the horizontal and vertical spacing of 0.5a (see rejection of claim 8 above) and Nagatomo discloses the same three air hole structure as shown in the claimed application. Therefore, the three hole structure with the spacing of 0.5a as noted in the rejection of claim 8 above is capable of achieving an amplitude of a modulation factor of 3 as recited on page 9 of the specification of the claimed application.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ohnishi et al. (hereinafter Ohnishi) (US 20090279579 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Kono in view of Nagatomo and Ito discloses the device outlined in the rejection of claim 1 above but fails to disclose,
wherein a side length of the photonic crystal layer is 40-500 μm.
Ohnishi discloses,
An electrode [36] with a length spacing of 400µm (Para. [0085])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the electrode length spacing of Ohnishi into the modified device of Kono for the purpose of having a high current density at the active layer. (Ohnishi Para. [0086])
Examiner notes the electrode [24] of Kono in Fig. 1 is formed to the edges of the device structure, therefore when the 400µm electrode spacing of Ohnishi is implemented into the modified device of Kono, the entire device will have the 400µm size.
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 HUNTER J NELSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5318. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 8:30am-5:00 ET.
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/H.J.N./Examiner, Art Unit 2828 /TOD T VAN ROY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828