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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on March 13, 2023, June 29, 2023, and December 6, 2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on March 13, 2023. These drawings are accepted.
Specification/Claim Objections
The disclosure/claims are objected to because of the following informalities:
(i) With regard to page 1, line 3 of paragraph [0002], the phrase "inclined c-axis and a" should be a completed sentence.
(ii) With regard to claim 16 (line 2), the term "a first c-axis tilt" should be changed to the term --the first c-axis tilt-- since the term has been previously referenced in independent claim 14.
(iii) With regard to claim 16 (lines 2-3), the term "a second c-axis tilt" should be changed to the term --the second c-axis tilt-- since the term has been previously referenced in independent claim 14.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-6, 8-10, 15, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Dependent claims 2-6, 8-10, 15, and 18 are rejected as being indefinite, since each of the dependent claims 2-6, 8-10, 15, and 18 include overlapping ranges for pressures, or thickness or incidence angles, in the same claim, in the alternative. The resulting claims do not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the claim. It is uncertain if the narrower ranges or limitations in each of the claims is a restriction or limitation on the broader range or limitation.
For purposes of examination, the Examiner (using BRI - broadest reasonable interpretation) will assume the broader range as being sufficient to meet the claimed ranges set forth in each of claims 2-6, 8-10, 15, and 18
Examiner Comments
The Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers, paragraphs, or figures in the reference(s) as applied to the claims for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the Applicant, in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed 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.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deinz et al. (US 2019/0296710 A1).
As per claim 1, Deinz et al. (US 2019/0296710 A1) discloses a method of depositing material onto a substrate (e.g., 4), and a structure formed thereby, as per claim 14, the method comprising: depositing a first seed material (e.g., 31) onto a wafer substrate (e.g., 4), the wafer substrate (4) having a face that defines a normal (e.g., a perpendicular line) to the substrate (4), wherein the first seed material (31) is deposited at a pressure of 10 milliTorr (mTorr) to 20 mTorr (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0072]) to form a pre-seed layer (31) on the wafer substrate (4), wherein the pre-seed layer (31) has a surface roughness (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0078]); depositing a second seed material (e.g., 51 - which is considered a seed layer since its texture and incidence of its c-axis is adopted by the bulk piezoelectric layer (52)) onto at least a portion of the pre-seed layer (31) at an off- normal incidence angle (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraphs [0065, 0066, 0074]) to form a seed layer (e.g. 51) on at least a portion of the pre-seed layer (31); and depositing a bulk piezoelectric material (e.g., 52) onto at least a portion of the seed layer (51) to form a bulk piezoelectric layer having a c-axis tilt of about 35 degrees or greater (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0080]) and a surface roughness (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0078]).
As per claim 1 (and analogously, claim 14), Deinz et al. (US 2019/0296710 A1) remains silent with respect to wherein the pre-seed layer has a surface roughness from 1 nanometer (nm) to 10 nm, and wherein the surface roughness of the bulk piezoelectric material is 4.5 nm or less.
As per claim 3 (and analogously, claim 15), Deinz et al. (US 2019/0296710 A1) remains silent with respect to wherein the surface roughness of the pre-seed layer is from 3 nm to 5 nm, or even from 3 nm to 4 nm.
Deinz et al. (US 2019/0296710 A1), however, readily recognizes that the surfaces of the corresponding pre-seed layer and the bulk piezoelectric material can be "roughened" in order to advantageously "improve the ability of the subsequently grown bulk layer crystals to orient during the deposition." See paragraph [0078] of Deinz et al. (US 2019/0296710 A1).
As such, as per claims 1, 3, 14, and 15, the Examiner maintains that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the instant invention to satisfy the claimed range(s) and/or dimension(s) (i.e., the surface roughness from 1 nanometer (nm) to 10 nm, and wherein the surface roughness of the bulk piezoelectric material is 4.5 nm or less) as set forth in claim 1 as well as claim 3 (and claims 14 and 15), particularly in light of the teachings of Deinz et al. (US 2019/0296710 A1) as a whole, through routine optimization/experimentation. "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Additionally, it has been held that determining the optimal value of a result effective variable would have been obvious and ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 276, 205 USPQ 215, 219 (CCPA 1980).
As per claim 2, wherein the first seed material (31) is deposited at a pressure of 12 mTorr to 18 mTorr, 14 mTorr to 16 mTorr, or even about 15 mTorr (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0072]).
As per claim 4, wherein the second seed material (e.g., 51) is deposited at a pressure of less than 5 mTorr, less than 3 mTorr, less than 2 mTorr, or even about 1.5 mTorr (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0075]).
As per claim 5, wherein the second seed material (e.g., 51) is deposited at an off-normal incidence angle of greater than 10 degrees, greater than 27 degrees, greater than 30 degrees, greater than 32 degrees, greater than 33 degrees, greater than 34 degrees, greater than 35 degrees, greater than 36 degrees, or greater than 40 degrees (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0066]).
As per claim 6, wherein the second seed material (e.g. 51) is deposited at an off-normal incidence angle of up to about 85 degrees, up to about 75 degrees, up to about 65 degrees, up to about 56 degrees, up to about 52 degrees, up to about 50 degrees, up to about 49 degrees, or up to about 48 degrees (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0066]).
As per claim 7, wherein the bulk piezoelectric material (52) is deposited at an off-normal angle of incidence (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0066]) (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0080]).
As per claim 8, wherein the bulk piezoelectric material (52) is deposited at an angle of about 0 degrees, up to about 5 degrees, up to about 10 degrees, up to about 15 degrees, up to about 20 degrees, up to about 25 degrees, up to about 30 degrees, up to about 35 degrees, or up to about 40 degrees (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0080]).
As per claim 9, wherein the bulk piezoelectric material is deposited at a pressure of less than 5 mTorr, less than 3 mTorr, less than 2 mTorr, or even about 1.5 mTorr (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0081]).
As per claim 10 (and analogously, claim 18), wherein the bulk piezoelectric layer (52) comprises a hexagonal crystal structure piezoelectric material (e.g., see having a c- axis having an orientation distribution predominantly in a range of from 12 degrees to 52 degrees, or in a range of from 27 degrees to 37 degrees, or in a range of from 75 degrees to 90 degrees, relative to the normal of the face of the substrate (4) (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraphs [0003, 0023, 0026, 0084]).
As per claim 11 (and analogously, claim 19), wherein the bulk piezoelectric layer (52) is about 1,000 Angstroms to about 30,000 Angstroms thick (e.g., see paragraph [0017]) - as per claim 11 and claim 19, although Deinz et al. (US 2019/0296710 A1) does not set forth that the thickness varies by less than 2 % over an area of the bulk piezoelectric layer (52), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to provide a consistent bulk layer thickness (such that the thickness varies by less than 2%) in order to simply provide a high-yield production method, that yields more uniform chips derived from the wafer during production.
As per claim 12 (and analogously, claim 20), wherein the first seed material (pre-seed layer) (e.g., 31), the second seed material (seed layer) (e.g., 51) and the bulk piezoelectric material (layer) (e.g., 52) are the same or different and are selected from metal nitrides, metal oxides, metal oxynitrides, metal carbides, refractory metals, and combinations thereof (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraphs [0071, 0082, 0086]).
As per claim 13, wherein materials of the first seed material (e.g., 31), the second seed material (e.g., 51) and the bulk piezoelectric material (e.g., 52) are the same or different and are selected from aluminum nitride, titanium nitride, hafnium nitride, tantalum nitride, zirconium nitride, vanadium nitride, niobium nitride, gallium nitride, zinc oxide, tungsten oxide, hafnium oxide, molybdenum oxide, hafnium oxynitride, titanium oxynitride, tantalum oxynitride, titanium carbide, niobium carbide, tungsten carbide, tantalum carbide, zirconium, hafnium, tungsten, molybdenum, and combinations thereof (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraphs [0071, 0082, 0086]).
As per claim 16, wherein the seed layer (e.g. 51) has the first c-axis tilt and the bulk piezoelectric layer (e.g., 52) has the second c-axis tilt that substantially aligns with the first c-axis tilt. (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraph [0013]).
As per claim 17, wherein the second c-axis tilt is about 35 degrees to about 52 degrees (e.g., see, inter alia, paragraphs [0013, 0016]).
Citation of Prior or Relevant Art on enclosed PTO-892
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The cited art made of record (see the enclosed PTO-892), not applied to the rejection of the claims, supra, each disclose aspects of the claimed invention, including wherein piezoelectric materials include layers that are formed with offset or inclined c-axis deposition techniques. See PTO-892.
The best prior art has been applied to the claimed invention (see the rejection of the claims on the applied prior art, supra). However, if Applicant chooses to amend the claims in a manner to obviate the applied prior art, as noted in the rejection, supra, the Applicant is advised to not only carefully review the applied prior art for all it teaches and/or suggests, but also the cited prior art of record in order to obviate any potential rejections based on potential amendment(s); by doing so, compact prosecution on the merits can be enhanced.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William J Klimowicz whose telephone number is (571)272-7577. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 8:00AM-6PM, ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Lim can be reached at (571)270-1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM J KLIMOWICZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688