DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after 16 March 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08 June 2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and has been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dahal et al. (U.S. Pub. 2014/0252520) in view of Jiang et al. (U.S. Pub. 2013/0292687).
Claim 1: Dahal et al. discloses a radiation-detecting structure, in Fig. 4F, comprising:
a substrate (406; paragraph 61), the substrate (406) comprising at least one trench (416; paragraph 63) extending into the substrate (406) from an upper surface (upper surface of 406) thereof;
at least one mask (408; paragraphs 62 and 72) formed on the upper surface (upper surface of 406) of the substrate (406) adjacent the at least one trench (416); and
a layer (424 and 426; paragraphs 67 and 69) disposed over one or more sidewalls (sidewalls of 416) of the at least one trench (416) of the substrate (406) such that the layer (424 and 426) fills the at least one trench (416) without extending outwards from the at least one trench (416) past the at least one mask (408), the layer (424 and 426) comprising a radiation-responsive semiconductor material that is responsive to incident radiation by generating charge carriers therein.
Dahal et al. appears not to explicitly disclose the layer is an epitaxial layer.
Jiang et al., however, in paragraph 53, discloses an epitaxial layer (hBN layer) comprising a radiation-responsive semiconductor material (hBN) produces high optical quality.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Dahal et al. with the disclosure of Jiang et al. to have made the layer an epitaxial layer in order to have high optical quality (paragraph 53 of Jiang).
Claim 2: Examiner notes that Applicant’s specification, in paragraph 6, discloses “the epitaxially forming includes forming the radiation-responsive semiconductor material layer with a sidewall-aligned crystal axis aligned parallel to the one or more sidewalls of the at least one trench of the substrate, where a mobility of the charge carriers along the sidewall-aligned crystal axis of the radiation-responsive semiconductor material layer is greater than another mobility of the charge carriers along another crystal axis thereof, where the greater mobility of the charge carriers along the sidewall-aligned crystal axis of the radiation-responsive semiconductor material layer facilitates detection of incident radiation.” It appears that the epitaxial layer having a sidewall-aligned crystal axis aligned parallel to the sidewalls of the trench of the substrate, and a mobility of the charge carriers along the sidewall-aligned crystal axis of the radiation-responsive semiconductor material is greater than another mobility of the charge carriers along another crystal axis thereof, the greater mobility of the charge carriers along the sidewall-aligned crystal axis of the epitaxial layer facilitating detection of the incident radiation, is a result of the layer being epitaxially formed. Therefore, since Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. discloses the layer is an epitaxial layer, Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. would disclose the radiation-detecting structure of claim 1, wherein the epitaxial layer comprises a sidewall-aligned crystal axis aligned parallel to the one or more sidewalls of the at least one trench of the substrate, and a mobility of the charge carriers along the sidewall-aligned crystal axis of the radiation-responsive semiconductor material is greater than another mobility of the charge carriers along another crystal axis thereof, the greater mobility of the charge carriers along the sidewall-aligned crystal axis of the epitaxial layer facilitating detection of the incident radiation.
Claim 3: Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. discloses the radiation-detecting structure of claim 1, and in paragraph 54, Dahal et al. further discloses wherein the one or more sidewalls (sidewalls of 416) of the at least one trench (416) of the substrate (406) comprise a (111) surface of the substrate (406) (suitable crystallographic orientation, see [0060]).
Since Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. disclose the layer is an epitaxial layer, Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. would disclose the radiation-responsive semiconductor material being in crystalline alignment with the (111) surface of the at least one trench.
Claim 4: Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. discloses the radiation-detecting structure of claim 1.
Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al., as applied to claim 1, appears to not explicitly disclose wherein the radiation-responsive semiconductor material of the epitaxial layer comprises hexagonal boron nitride, the hexagonal boron nitride comprising an a-axis, and the a-axis of the hexagonal boron nitride being aligned parallel to the one or more sidewalls of the trench of the substrate.
Jiang et al., however, in Fig. 5a and in paragraphs 53 and 57, further discloses the radiation-responsive semiconductor material (hBN) of the epitaxial layer comprises hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), the hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) comprising an a-axis (horizontal axis), and the a-axis (horizontal axis) of the hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) being aligned parallel to the one or more sidewalls (upper sidewall) of the substrate (AlN bulk crystal) in order to have high optical quality.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al., as applied to claim 1, with the further disclosure of Jiang et al. to have made the radiation-responsive semiconductor material of the epitaxial layer comprises hexagonal boron nitride, the hexagonal boron nitride comprising an a-axis, and the a-axis of the hexagonal boron nitride being aligned parallel to the one or more sidewalls of the trench of the substrate in order to have high optical quality (paragraph 53 of Jiang).
Claim 5: Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. discloses the radiation-detecting structure of claim 1, and in Fig. 4F, Dahal et al. further discloses wherein the one or more sidewalls (sidewalls of 416) of the at least one trench (416) comprise a first sidewall (left sidewall of 416) and a second side wall (right sidewall of 416), and the epitaxial layer (424 and 426) of the radiation-responsive semiconductor material is disposed over the first and second sidewalls (left and right sidewalls of 416, respectively) of the at least one trench (416).
Claim 6: Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. discloses the radiation-detecting structure of claim 1, and in Fig. 4F, Dahal et al. further discloses comprising contact structures (427 and 428; paragraph 72), the contact structures (427 and 428) being disposed above and below the substrate (406) and in electrical contact with the radiation-responsive semiconductor material of the epitaxial layer (426), the contact structures (427 and 428) facilitating detecting the incident radiation by collecting the charge carriers generated within the radiation-responsive semiconductor material due to the incident radiation.
Claim 7: Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. discloses the radiation-detecting structure of claim 1, and in Fig. 4F, Dahal et al. further discloses comprising a conformal buffer layer (422; paragraph 65) disposed between the one or more sidewalls (sidewalls of 416) of the at least one trench (416) and the epitaxial layer (424 and 426) of the radiation-responsive semiconductor material, the conformal buffer layer (422) inhibiting chemical reaction of the radiation-responsive semiconductor material layer with the substrate (406).
Examiner notes that the recitation “the conformal buffer layer inhibiting chemical reaction of the radiation-responsive semiconductor material layer with the substrate” has been considered and determined to be functional language, making the claim scope not distinguish over a layer capable of inhibiting chemical reaction between adjacent layers. See M.P.E.P. § 2114, and precedents cited therein.
Claim 8: Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. discloses the radiation-detecting structure of claim 1, and in paragraph 69, Dahal et al. further discloses wherein the radiation-detecting structure (424 and 426) comprises a neutron-detecting structure (424 and 426), and the radiation-responsive semiconductor material comprises a neutron-responsive semiconductor material.
Claim 9: Dahal et al. in view of Jiang et al. discloses the radiation-detecting structure of claim 1, and in paragraph 67, Dahal et al. further discloses wherein the radiation-responsive semiconductor material layer (424 and 426) includes n-type dopants or p-type dopants, the n-type or p-type dopants increasing an amount of the charge carriers to facilitate detection of the incident radiation.
Since Applicant’s specification, in paragraph 9, discloses “the n-type or p-type dopants increasing an amount of the charge carriers to facilitate detection of the incident radiation,” Dahal et al. would disclose “the n-type or p-type dopants increasing an amount of the charge carriers to facilitate detection of the incident radiation.”
Conclusion
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/J.L/ Examiner, Art Unit 2815 /JOSHUA BENITEZ ROSARIO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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