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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/27/26 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 8-17 is/are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 9/17/25.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 2, 5-7 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 8,063,378 (Bolotnikov) in view of U.S. Patent No. 7,223,982 (Chen).
Bolotnikov discloses (at least Fig. 3B)
1. (Currently Amended) A radiation detection element comprising:
a single-crystal semiconductor substrate 310 configured to convert incident radiation into an electric charge (any substrate can be “configured” to perform this type of conversion);
a first electrode 330 provided on a first main surface 332 of the single-crystal semiconductor substrate 310, the first electrode 330 having a first thickness;
a second electrode 334 provided directly on and in contact with a side surface 312 / 336 of the single-crystal semiconductor substrate 310, without an insulating layer interposed between the second cathode electrode 350 and the side surface 312 / 336; and
an anode electrode 350 provided on a second main surface 352 of the single-crystal semiconductor substrate 310, the second main surface 352 being on an opposite side of the first main surface 332.
Bolotkinov fails to explicitly disclose
the second electrode having a second thickness that is smaller than the first thickness.
Chen teaches (at least Fig. 13)
A radiation detection element comprising:
a cathode electrode 21 on a top surface (first electrode) and a side surface (second electrode) of a single-crystal semiconductor substrate 3; and
an anode electrode 23 on a bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate 3,
the second electrode having a second thickness that is smaller than the first thickness (column 13, lines 21-62).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a semiconductor substrate having a cathode electrode with a side thickness smaller than the top thickness in Bolotkinov. The motivation would be to provide enhanced electric field focusing impacting both edge and next closest inner pixels, reduced surface leakage from tile edges, and also reduced pixel and device variability and improved yields as taught by Chen (column 14, lines 24-35).
Chen teaches (Summary)
2. The radiation detection element according to claim 1, wherein the first cathode electrode (top) and the second cathode electrode (side) are integrated (continuous).
Bolotnikov discloses (column 4, lines 36-46)
5. The radiation detection element according to claim 1, wherein the single-crystal semiconductor substrate 310 includes cadmium telluride.
Bolotnikov discloses (column 4, lines 36-46)
6. The radiation detection element according to claim 1, wherein the single-crystal semiconductor substrate 310 includes cadmium zinc telluride.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bolotnikov in view of Chen as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 8,344,331 (Call).
The combination of references fails to teach
7. The radiation detection element according to claim 1, wherein the single-crystal semiconductor substrate includes any of cadmium tungstate, sodium iodide, and cesium iodide.
Call teaches ([column 4, lines 54-63])
A radiation detection element comprising:
wherein the single-crystal semiconductor substrate 14 includes any of cadmium tungstate, sodium iodide, and cesium iodide.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide select the optimum material in the modified device of Bolotnikov. The motivation would be based on its suitability for the intended use as discussed in Call. See MPEP 2144.07.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2008/0224055 (Nariyuki), 2010/0084730 (Bui), and U.S. Patent No. 7,955,992 (Chen) teach a radiation detector element having one cathode electrode thicker than another cathode electrode.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERESA M ARROYO whose telephone number is (703)756-1576. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday (8:30 A.M. E.T. - 5:00 P.M. E.T.).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sue Purvis can be reached at 571.272.1236. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TERESA M. ARROYO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
Prosecution Insights