Non-Final Rejection
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . By preliminary amendment, claims 1, 3, 5, 8-9, and 11-18 are amended, and claims 2 and 6-7 are cancelled. Claims 1, 3-5, and 8-18 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2010-212654 (“JP ‘654”).1
Regarding claim 1, JP ‘654 describes a semiconductor device ([0003], [0066]) in Figs. 1-4, discussion starting at [0025], comprising:
a base body 4 which has a first face (top of 4 in Fig. 2, where 4d is pointing though 4d is something else) and a second face (bottom of 4 in Fig. 2) on an opposite side to the first face and in which a through hole 4c penetrating from the first face to the second face is formed;
a lead 2 which passes through the through hole and which extends to a side of the first face of the base body;
a sealing body 5 which fills a space between the lead and a side surface of the base body forming the through hole;
a dielectric (alumina, [0039]) substrate 1 which has a first main surface (left of Figs. 2-3, front of Fig. 4) being provided in a state of being erected with respect to the first face of the base body and a second main surface (right of Figs. 2-3) being a face on an opposite side to the first main surface and being provided in a state of being erected with respect to the first face of the base body;
a semiconductor laser 7 ([0066]) which is provided on a side of the first main surface of the dielectric substrate;
a signal line (either of 1b, see Fig. 4) which is provided on the first main surface of the dielectric substrate and which is electrically connected to the semiconductor laser;
a connecting member 3 which electrically connects the signal line and the lead to each other; and
a rear surface conductor 1d which is provided on the second main surface of the dielectric substrate, wherein
the sealing body is provided directly below the rear surface conductor as viewed from a direction perpendicular to the first face (this is apparent in Fig. 1 and 3. Sealing body 5 is directly below rear surface conductor 1d as claimed, if you go straight down from 1d in Fig. 3 you will hit the sealing body 5.),
the sealing body is provided in a region on an opposite side to the dielectric substrate with respect to the rear surface conductor as viewed from the direction perpendicular to the first face (this is also apparent in Figs. 1 and 3, the sealing body is also on the other side of the substrate 1 when looking down, i.e. on the left side past where the laser 7 is mounted), and
the connecting member is a bonding material (solder, [0028], which is also used in this application).
Regarding claim 8, the lead 2 and the signal line 1b oppose each other in a direction perpendicular to the first main surface of the dielectric substrate, see Figs. 3-4, a portion opposing the signal line among the lead and the signal line are electrically connected to each other by the connecting member 3 which again is a bonding material.
Regarding claim 9, Figs. 1-4 plainly show a pair of the leads 2 which respectively pass through a pair of the through holes formed in the base body and which extend to the side of the first face of the base body ([0028], both are in through holes with sealing material); and a pair of the signal lines 1b (one on each side of the laser 7, see Fig. 4) which are electrically connected to the semiconductor laser and which transmit a differential signal from the pair of leads to the semiconductor laser.
Regarding claim 10, the signal lines are impedance matched to 40 Ω or more.
Regarding claim 11, the length of the dielectric in a direction along the first face of the base body, i.e. its thickness, is less than 3 mm. [0041].
Regarding claim 12:
A semiconductor device, comprising:
a base body which has a first face and a second face on an opposite side to the first face and in which a pair of through holes penetrating from the first face to the second face are formed;
a pair of leads which respectively pass through the pair of through holes and which extend to a side of the first face of the base body;
a pair of sealing bodies each filling a space between the lead and a side surface of the base body forming the through hole;
a dielectric substrate which has a first main surface being provided in a state of being erected with respect to the first face of the base body and a second main surface being a face on an opposite side to the first main surface and being provided in a state of being erected with respect to the first face of the base body;
a semiconductor laser which is provided on a side of the first main surface of the dielectric substrate;
a pair of signal lines which are provided on the first main surface of the dielectric substrate, electrically connected to the semiconductor laser and transmit a differential signal from the pair of leads to the semiconductor laser;
a pair of connecting members each electrically connecting the signal line and the lead to each other; and
a rear surface conductor which is provided on the second main surface of the dielectric substrate,
All of the above is found in claim 1 and claim 9, and is rejected as above. It is also apparent in Figs. 1 and 3 that the pair of sealing bodies are provided directly below the rear surface conductor as viewed from a direction perpendicular to the first face, as in claim 9.
and a midpoint of a line segment connecting centers of the pair of leads and an emission point of the semiconductor laser overlap with each other as viewed from a direction in which the pair of leads extends. As is clear in Fig. 1, the leads 2 are in a line and the laser is directly above that line. This is confirmed by the side views in Figs. 2-3, laser 7 is right above leads 2, where they will be in a line into the page. Fig. 4 further shows us that the laser is located at a midpoint of that line, as claimed, it is right in the center between the two leads 2.
Regarding claim 13, the substrate 1 may be alumina. [0039].
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 5 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP ‘654 in view of US 2007/0120134 (“Oshima”).
Regarding claim 5, it is not shown that the distance from the first face to the dielectric substrate is greater than the distance from the first face to the end i.e. top of the lead. Oshima shows a similar can-type package for a laser and in some embodiments the leads extend up higher than the block where the laser would be mounted (Figs. 1-3) and in other embodiments the leads end below the block where the laser would be mounted (Fig. 9-11), i.e. like claim 5. Oshima teaches a reason for doing this, as the shorter projecting part of the lead reduces high-frequency propagation loss. [0090]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have the top of the lead lower than the substrate for this reason.
Regarding claim 17, the material of the lead is not given. Oshima is a similar device and shows the lead may be kovar as claimed. [0050]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use this known material that is known to be useable for this same purpose. See MPEP 2144.07. We need to choose some material for the lead, so it is natural to look to the materials used in similar devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 4, 14-16, and 18 are allowed.
Regarding claim 3, many of the limitations are taught as in the rejections above, but there is not taught or disclosed in the prior art such a device, where the rear surface conductor has a contact portion with the conductor block, the contact portion being provided in a portion which overlaps with the semiconductor laser as viewed from a direction perpendicular to the first main surface of the dielectric substrate, and a separated portion which is provided on at least one side of the contact portion in a direction along the first face of the base body and which is separated from the conductor block. This is more clearly shown in Fig. 7 of the present application, with separated portion where the conductor block 6a and dielectric block 5 are separate, to the side of where the laser is contacted.
Claims 4, 14-16, and 18 are allowed as depending on claim 3.
Conclusion
Other references are cited with some similarities, but none that meet the claims.
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/JAMES A MENEFEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828
1 This reference is similar to the reference cited in the WIPO and other foreign applications, and on applicant’s IDS. They would appear to stand or fall together.
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