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 Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 9, line 5, the examiner suggests rewriting “do l” to --dol-- to provide consistency in the claim language.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5-7 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura (US2023/0336143 A1) in view of Komatsu et al. (USPAT 9,748,924 B2).
In regards to claim 1, Kimura teaches in Figs. 7 and 8 an acoustic resonator comprising:
A substrate (33B);
A piezoelectric plate (14) supported by the substrate;
A diaphragm comprising a portion of the piezoelectric plate spanning a cavity (33c2) in the substrate;
An interdigital transducer (IDT) (25) at the piezoelectric plate, the IDT comprising interleaved IDT fingers (28 and 29) extending from first (26) and second (27) busbars respectively, wherein overlapping portions of the interleaved IDT fingers define an aperture of the acoustic resonator; and
One or more dielectric strips (17A and 17B), each of the one or more dielectric strips overlapping at least a portion of each of the IDT fingers and extending into a gap (G1 and G2) between a margin of the aperture and a corresponding one of the first busbar or the second busbar.
In regards to claim 2, based on paragraph [0096], a distance between a tip of each of the finger and its respective busbar is equal to 2 µm.
In regards to claim 6, based on paragraph [0110], the piezoelectric plate (14) is made from a Z-cut lithium niobate.
In regards to claim 7, based on Fig. 8, the one or more dielectric strips include:
A first dielectric strip (17A) that overlaps the IDT fingers in a first margin of the aperture, extends in a length direction over an entire length of the IDT, and extends in a width direction into a first gap (G1) between the first margin and the first busbar (25); and
A second dielectric strip (17B) that overlaps the IDT fingers in a second margin of the aperture, extends in a length direction over an entire length of the IDT, and extends into a second gap (G2) between the second margin and the second busbar (27).
In regards to claim 9, based on Fig. 8 and Table 1, each of the one or more dielectric strips (17A and 17B) includes a first portion overlapping the IDT fingers (Based on Table 1, located below paragraph [0096], each dielectric strips have an overlap portion measuring 0.5 µm or 1 µm); and
A width dol of the width portion has a following relationship to a thickness td of the diaphragm: 0.6td ≤ dol ≤ 3.0td (based on Paragraph [0086], the piezoelectric has thickness of td = 500 nm, which would be same thickness as the diaphragm, therefore expression 0.6td ≤ dol ≤ 3.0td would be equal to 0.36 µm ≤ dol ≤ 1.5 µm, hence both values of dol = 0.5 µm or 1 µm would meet the claimed expression).
In regards to claim 10, based on Table 1, a width ds of each of the one or more dielectric strips is equal to 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 6 or 7, and a thickness td of the diaphragm is equal to 500 nm (see Paragraph [0086]), therefore for expression 4.0td ≤ ds ≤ 15.0td would equal to 2 µm ≤ ds ≤ 7.5 µm, hence multiple values of ds in Table 1 are located with the claimed expression.
In regards to claim 11, based on paragraph [0042], the piezoelectric plate and the IDT are configured such that a radio frequency signal applied to the IDT excites a primary shear acoustic mode in the piezoelectric plate.
Kimura does not teach: in regards to claim 1, one or more dummy fingers, each of the dummy fingers extending from one of the first busbar or the second busbar at a position between neighboring IDT fingers and extending into the gap toward one of the one or more dielectric strips; in regards to claim 2, wherein a distance between a tip of each of the one or more dummy fingers and a corresponding one of the one or more dielectric strips toward which the respective dummy finger extends is 0-3 µm; and in regards to claim 5, wherein a width of each of the one or more dummy fingers is between 75% and 125% of a width of the IDT fingers.
Komatsu et al. teaches in Fig. 24A and 24B an acoustic wave device comprising an IDT electrode (3) located on top of a piezoelectric plate (2). Based on Figs. 24A and 24B, the IDT electrode comprises: a plurality of electrode fingers (423); a dielectric strip (12); and a plurality of dummy fingers (522) having a same width as the plurality of electrode fingers, in which each dummy fingers extends from one of a first (521) and second (421) busbars towards the dielectric strip. Based on related Fig. 16D, the plurality of dummy fingers can be omitted.
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the invention of Kimura and have includes a plurality of dummy fingers in the IDT of Kimura, each of the dummy fingers having the same width as the plurality of fingers and the plurality of dummy fingers extending into the gap towards a respective dielectric strip as exemplary taught by Komatsu et al. (See Fig. 24B) because such a modification would have been a well-known in the art substitution of equivalent design for an IDT (i.e. to include dummy fingers or not) which is able to perform the same function of exciting an acoustic wave (See Komatsu Fig. 16D in which the IDT excludes dummy fingers, and Fig. 24A/24B which includes dummy fingers). As an obvious consequence of the modification: in regards to claim 2, a distance between a tip of each of the one or more dummy fingers and a corresponding one of the one or more dielectric strips toward which the respective dummy finger extends will necessarily be between 0-3 µm, since the overall respective gap regions G1 and G2 is equal to 2 µm (see paragraph [0096]); and in regards to claim 5, a width of each of the one or more dummy fingers is equal to 100% with a width of the IDT fingers, since both the dummy fingers and IDT fingers have the same width.
Claims 12, 13, 16-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura (US2023/0336143 A1) in view of Komatsu et al. (USPAT 9,748,924 B2) and Plesski et al. (USPAT 10,491,192 B1, Cited by Applicant).
In regards to claim 12, Kimura teaches in Figs. 7 and 8 an acoustic resonator/filter comprising:
A substrate (33B);
A piezoelectric plate (14) supported by the substrate;
A diaphragm comprising a portion of the piezoelectric plate spanning a cavity (33c2) in the substrate;
An interdigital transducer (IDT) (25) at the piezoelectric plate, the IDT comprising interleaved IDT fingers (28 and 29) extending from first (26) and second (27) busbars respectively, wherein overlapping portions of the interleaved IDT fingers define an aperture of the acoustic resonator; and
One or more dielectric strips (17A and 17B), each of the one or more dielectric strips overlapping at least a portion of each of the IDT fingers and extending into a gap (G1 and G2) between a margin of the aperture and a corresponding one of the first busbar or the second busbar.
In regards to claim 13, based on paragraph [0096], a distance between a tip of each of the finger and its respective busbar is equal to 2 µm.
In regards to claim 17, based on paragraph [0110], the piezoelectric plate (14) is made from a Z-cut lithium niobate.
In regards to claim 18, based on Fig. 8, the one or more dielectric strips include:
A first dielectric strip (17A) that overlaps the IDT fingers in a first margin of the aperture, extends in a length direction over an entire length of the IDT, and extends in a width direction into a first gap (G1) between the first margin and the first busbar (25); and
A second dielectric strip (17B) that overlaps the IDT fingers in a second margin of the aperture, extends in a length direction over an entire length of the IDT, and extends into a second gap (G2) between the second margin and the second busbar (27).
In regards to claim 20, based on paragraph [0042], the piezoelectric plate and the IDT are configured such that a radio frequency signal applied to the IDT excites a primary shear acoustic mode in the piezoelectric plate.
Kimura does not teach: in regards to claim 12, a plurality of diaphragms and one or more dummy fingers, each of the dummy fingers extending from one of the first busbar or the second busbar at a position between neighboring IDT fingers and extending into the gap toward one of the one or more dielectric strips; in regards to claim 13, wherein a distance between a tip of each of the one or more dummy fingers and a corresponding one of the one or more dielectric strips toward which the respective dummy finger extends is 0-3 µm; and in regards to claim 16, wherein a width of each of the one or more dummy fingers is between 75% and 125% of a width of the IDT fingers.
Komatsu et al. teaches in Fig. 24A and 24B an acoustic wave device comprising an IDT electrode (3) located on top of a piezoelectric plate (2). Based on Figs. 24A and 24B, the IDT electrode comprises: a plurality of electrode fingers (423); a dielectric strip (12); and a plurality of dummy fingers (522) having a same width as the plurality of electrode fingers, in which each dummy fingers extends from one of a first (521) and second (421) busbars towards the dielectric strip. Based on related Fig. 16D, the plurality of dummy fingers can be omitted.
Plesski et al. teaches in Fig. 1 an acoustic wave resonator/filter comprising: an IDT electrode (130) located above a piezoelectric plate (110), a cavity (125) located in a substrate (120), in which a portion of the piezoelectric plate (110) located above the cavity form a diaphragm. Based on related Fig. 14, the acoustic wave resonator/filter can be used in a ladder filter to form a bandpass filter comprising a plurality of series and shunt resonators (i.e. the filter would comprise a plurality of diaphragm for each of the resonators in the ladder filter).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the invention of Kimura and have includes a plurality of dummy fingers in the IDT of Kimura, each of the dummy fingers having the same width as the plurality of fingers and the plurality of dummy fingers extending into the gap towards a respective dielectric strip as exemplary taught by Komatsu et al. (See Fig. 24B) because such a modification would have been a well-known in the art substitution of equivalent layout of an IDT (i.e. to include dummy fingers or not) which is able to perform the same function of exciting an acoustic wave (See Komatsu Fig. 16D in which the IDT excludes dummy fingers, and Fig. 24A/24B which includes dummy fingers). As an obvious consequence of the modification: in regards to claim 13, a distance between a tip of each of the one or more dummy fingers and a corresponding one of the one or more dielectric strips toward which the respective dummy finger extends will necessarily be between 0-3 µm, since the overall respective gap regions G1 and G2 is equal to 2 µm (see paragraph [0096]); and in regards to claim 16, a width of each of the one or more dummy fingers is equal to 100% with a width of the IDT fingers, since both the dummy fingers and IDT fingers have the same width.
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the combination of Kimura and Komatsu et al. and have used the acoustic wave resonator/filter of the combination in a ladder filter because such a modification would have provided the benefit of forming a bandpass filter as taught by Plesski et al. (See Fig. 14). As an obvious consequence of the modification, the combination will comprise a plurality of diaphragm (i.e. each resonator would include its own respective diaphragm).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 4, 8, 14, 15 and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/JORGE L SALAZAR JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843