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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-16, 23-30 in the reply filed on 10/22/25 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim(s) 1-16, 23-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RODRIGUEZ (USPGPUB DOCUMENT: 2021/0265245, hereinafter RODRIGUEZ) in view of Yabuta (USPGPUB DOCUMENT: 2020/0251423, hereinafter Yabuta).
Re claim 1 Rodriguez discloses a method for sintering a die(11) to a substrate(16)[0037], the method comprising: forming a plurality of locking features(18) in a metal layer of the substrate(16)[0037]; laminating(since 26 overlays or covers 11 this may be interpreted as laminating) a die-transfer film(26) to the die(11); placing the die(11) and the die-transfer film(26) on the substrate(16)[0037] to form a stack-up including the die-transfer film(26) directly between the metal layer and the die(11);
Rodriguez does not disclose adhering the stack-up to form a tacked-stack-up; and sintering the tacked-stack-up so that the die(11) is bonded to the substrate(16)[0037].
Yabuta disclose adhering the stack-up to form a tacked-stack-up[0045,0056]; and sintering the tacked-stack-up so that the die(3) is bonded to the substrate (1)[0057].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Yabuta to the teachings of Rodriguez in order to have an improved bonding strength as well as an improved product life [0026, Yabuta].
Re claim 2 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of locking features(18) make a bond strength of the tacked-stack-up thatis stronger than without the plurality of locking features(18).
Re claim 3 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 2, further comprising:transporting the tacked-stack-up before sintering, wherein the transportation transporting causes a force on the tacked-stack-up, the bond strength being stronger than the force.
Re claim 4 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein:the substrate(16)[0037] is a direct bonded copper (DBC) substrate(16)[0037] including a ceramic layer in between a first copper layer[0057 of Yabuta] and a second copper layer[0057 of Yabuta]; andthe metal layer is the first copper layer[0057 of Yabuta].
Re claim 5 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein:the substrate(16)[0037] is an active matrix brazing (AMB) substrate(16)[0037] including a ceramic layer in between a first copper layer[0057 of Yabuta] and a second copper layer[0057 of Yabuta]; andthe metal layer is the first copper layer[0057 of Yabuta].
Re claim 6 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein:the metal layer is silver plated; and the die-transfer film(26) includes silver nanoparticles[0057 of Yabuta] in an adhesive matrix.
Re claim 7 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein forming the plurality of locking features(18) in the metal layer includes:stamping the metal layer to form the plurality of locking features(18).
Re claim 8 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein forming the plurality of locking features(18) in the metal layer includes:laser[0024,0025 of Yabuta] etching the metal layer to form the plurality of locking features(18).
Re claim 9 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of locking features(18) are arranged on the metal layer of the substrate(16)[0037] in a repeating pattern.
Re claim 10 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of locking features(18) includes a plurality of cavities in the metal layer.
Re claim 11 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 10, wherein each cavity of the plurality of cavities has a depth[0118 of Yabuta] in a range of 10 to 20 microns.
Re claim 12 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 10, wherein each cavity of the plurality of cavities has an edge that is raised above a surface of the metal layer by a height[0118 of Yabuta] that is less than 10 microns.
Re claim 13 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of locking features(18) includes a plurality of slots[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] in a first direction and in a second direction, the first direction at an angle with the second direction so that the plurality of slots[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] form a crosshatch pattern[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] over the metal layer of the substrate(16)[0037].
Re claim 14 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 13, wherein the crosshatch pattern[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] has a first period in the first direction of approximately 1000 microns and a second period in the second direction of approximately 1000 microns.
Re claim 15 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 13, wherein each slot of the plurality of slots[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] includes has a width[0084 of Yabuta] in a first range of 10 to 20 microns and a depth[0118 of Yabuta] in a second range of 10 to 20 microns.
Re claim 16 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method according to claim 13, wherein each slot of the plurality of slots[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] has an edge that is raised above a surface the metal layer by a height[0118 of Yabuta] that is less than 10 microns to prevent cracking the die(11) during the sintering.
Re claim 23 Rodriguez discloses a method for tacking a die(11) to a substrate(16)[0037], the method comprising: forming a plurality of locking features(18) in a metal layer of the substrate(16)[0037];laminating(since 26 overlays or covers 11 this may be interpreted as laminating) a die-transfer film(26) to the die(11);placing the die(11) and the die-transfer film(26) on the substrate(16)[0037] to form a stack-up including the die-transfer film(26) directly between the metal layer and the die(11);
Rodriguez does not disclose applying a force to the die(11) so that the stack-up is pressed together for a hot-tack period; and heating the substrate(16)[0037] so that a temperature of the stack-up is raised during the hot-tack period, the die(11) tacked to the substrate(16)[0037] to form a tacked-stack-up at a conclusion of the hot-tack period.
Yabuta disclose applying a force to the die(3) so that the stack-up is pressed together for a hot-tack period[0058-0065]; and heating the substrate so that a temperature of the stack-up is raised during the hot-tack period[0058-0065], the die(3) tacked to the substrate(1)[0057] to form a tacked-stack-up at a conclusion of the hot-tack period[0045,0056].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Yabuta to the teachings of Rodriguez in order to have an improved bonding strength as well as an improved product life [0026, Yabuta].
Re claim 24 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method for tacking the die(11) to substrate(16)[0037] according to claim 23, further comprising:transporting the tacked-stack-up, wherein the plurality of locking features(18) result in a bond strength of the tacked-stack-up that is sufficient to hold the stack-up in tact while transporting the die(11) tacked to the substrate(16)[0037].
Re claim 25 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method for tacking the die(11) to the substrate(16)[0037] according to claim 23, wherein:the substrate(16)[0037] is a direct bonded copper (DBC) substrate(16)[0037] including a ceramic layer in between a first copper layer[0057 of Yabuta] and a second copper layer[0057 of Yabuta]; andthe metal layer is the first copper layer[0057 of Yabuta].
Re claim 26 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method for tacking the die(11) to the substrate(16)[0037] according to claim 23, wherein: the substrate(16)[0037] is an active matrix brazing (AMB) substrate(16)[0037] including a ceramic layer in between a first copper layer[0057 of Yabuta] and a second copper layer[0057 of Yabuta]; andthe metal layer is the first copper layer[0057 of Yabuta].
Re claim 27 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method for tacking the die(11) to the substrate(16)[0037] according to claim 23, wherein:the metal layer is silver plated; andthe die-transfer film(26) includes silver nanoparticles[0057 of Yabuta] in an adhesive matrix.
Re claim 28 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method for tacking the die(11) to the substrate(16)[0037] according to claim 23, wherein the plurality of locking features(18) are arranged on the metal layer of the substrate(16)[0037] in a repeating pattern.
Re claim 29 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method for tacking the die(11) to the substrate(16)[0037] according to claim 23, wherein:the plurality of locking features(18) includes a plurality of cavities in the metal layer;each cavity of the plurality of cavities has a depth[0118 of Yabuta] in a range of 10 to 20 microns; and each cavity in the plurality of cavities has an edge that is raised above a surface of the metal layer by a height[0118 of Yabuta] that is less than 10 microns.
Re claim 30 Rodriguez and Yabuta disclose the method for tacking the die(11) to the substrate(16)[0037] according to claim 23, wherein:the plurality of locking features(18) includes a plurality of slots[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] in a first direction and in a second direction, the first direction at an angle with the second direction so that the plurality of slots[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] form a crosshatch pattern[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] over the metal layer of the substrate(16)[0037];the crosshatch pattern[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] has a first period in the first direction of approximately 1000 microns and a second period in the second direction of approximately 1000 microns;each slot of the plurality of slots[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] has a width[0084 of Yabuta] in a first range of 10 to 20 microns and a depth[0118 of Yabuta] in a second range of 10 to 20 microns; andeach slot of the plurality of slots[Fig 3,10 of Yabuta] has an edge that is raised above a surface of the metal layer by a height[0118 of Yabuta] that is less than 10 microns.
Conclusion
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/PATRICIA D VALENZUELA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812