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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
The last line of claim 1 includes an extraneous “or.”
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.
Claims 1-21 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 regards as the invention.
The term “minimizes” (as it relates to the transfer of anions or cations) in claims 1, 7, 10, 15, 19 and 21 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “minimizes” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claims 2-6, 8-9, 11-14, 16-18 and 20 are rejected for failing to correct the deficiencies of the claims upon which they depend.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-15 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ergen et al. (US 2018/0366539 A1)(Ergen).
Ergen teaches a perovskite solar film. See the title. The solar film includes a first perovskite layer (115), a second perovskite layer (125) and a diffusion barrier (120)(corresponding to the claimed third layer) disposed therebetween. See the abstract, paragraph [0024] and Figure 1.
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The first perovskite layer may be CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx. See paragraph [0032]. In this instance, the first cation is CH3NH3 (i.e., methyl ammonium)(corresponding to A) and the second cation is Pb (corresponding to B).
The second perovskite layer comprises CH3NH3SnI3 or CH3NH3SnI3-xBrx. See paragraph [0036]. When the second perovskite is CH3NH3SnI3, the first cation is CH3NH3 (i.e., methyl ammonium) (corresponding to A’) and the second cation is Sn (corresponding to B’).
The diffusion barrier 125 prevents the first cation from diffusing into the second perovskite layer, and the second cation of the second perovskite layer from diffusing into the first perovskite layer. See paragraph [0033].
Ergen discloses the diffusion layer may be a monolayer. See paragraph [0034]. One of ordinary skill in the art recognizes that a “monolayer” is a 2D material.
As to claim 2, Ergen discloses the diffusion barrier is a monolayer, and may be graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), silicene or a transition metal dichalcogenide. See paragraph [0034].
As to claim 3, Ergen discloses the transition metal dichalcogenide may be “MX2 (M: Hf, Mo, or W and X: S, Se, or Te, such as MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, MoTe2, HfS2).” Id. “A reference that clearly names the claimed species anticipates the claim no matter how many other species are named.” MPEP 2131.02 II.
As to claim 4, Ergen discloses the diffusion layer (corresponding to the claimed third layer) may be a monolayer. See paragraph [0034].
As to claim 5, Ergen discloses the first perovskite has a thickness of 30 to 120 nm (paragraph [0032]) which indicates to the ordinary skilled artisan that the layer is a 3D material.
As to claim 6, Ergen teaches the A of the first perovskite layer is CH3NH3 (i.e., methyl ammonium) (paragraph [0032]), and the A’ of second perovskite layer comprises CH3NH3 (i.e, methyl ammonium) (paragraph [0036]).
The limitations of instant claims 7 and 10 can be found in Ergen in paragraph [0033].
As to claims 8 and 9, Ergen teaches the first perovskite comprises Pb which must be 2+ in the formula in paragraph [0032]. The second perovskite comprises Sn which must be 2+ in the formulas in paragraph [0036].
As to claim 11, Ergen discloses the first and second perovskites are halides. See paragraphs [0032] and [0036].
Claim 12 is rejected as applying when a pseudohalide is selected in claim 11, and Ergen teaches a halide. Claim 12 does not require that X or X’ be a pseudohalide.
As to claims 13 and 14, Ergen discloses the first perovskite layer is a halide of bromine and iodine. See paragraph [0032]. Ergen discloses the second perovskite is a halide of iodine. See paragraph [0036]. Thus, a portion of X (i.e., the bromine portion) is different than X’ (i.e., iodine).
The property of claims 15 and 19 are presumed to be inherent to the structure of Ergen because Ergen discloses a layer structure, and composition of the layers, that are identical to the presently claimed structure.
As to claim 18, Ergen discloses the first perovskite is CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx and the second perovskite is CH3NH3SnI3. See paragraphs [0032] and [0036]. Thus, these compounds result in a portion of X in the first perovskite (i.e., I) that is the same as X’ in in the second perovskite layer (i.e., I). The stoichiometries are different because the first layer contains an amount of bromine whereas the second layer does not contain bromine.
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.
Claimz 16-17 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ergen et al. (US 2018/0366539 A1)(Ergen) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Seok et al. (US 2018/0248052 A1)(Seok).
Ergen anticipates claims 1 and 14 for the reason described above.
Ergen discloses the first layer may have the formula CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx. See paragraph [0032]. Ergen discloses the second layer may have the formula CH3NH3SnI3-xBrx. See paragraph [0036]. In each instance, Ergen fails to disclose the value for x. Lacking a teaching for such a value, one of ordinary skill in the art must seek out a value for x.
Seok teaches a perovskite compound CH3NH3PbIyBrx in which x is between 0 and 3, y is between 0 and 3 and x+y=3. See paragraph [0193]. This compound is the same as the Ergen compound and suggests to the ordinary skill artisan that x in Ergen may be 0 to 3.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified compound CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx and CH3NH3SnI3-xBrx in Ergen to have a value of x which is independently between 0 and 3 as suggested by Seok. The rationale for doing so is the simple substitution of one element (i.e., an express value for x) for another (a non-disclosed value for x) to obtain predictable results (a perovskite layer).
When x is 3 for the first layer, and x=0 for the second layer, the first layer is an ABI3 layer and the second layer is a A’B’Br3 layer. These layers are of the same composition as recited in claim 16.
When x is greater than 0 and less than 3 in each instance of Ergen, the first layer has the formula CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx (which is an ABI3-xBrx layer) and the second layer has the formula CH3NH3SnI3-xBrx (which is an A’B’I3-xBrx layer). These formulas are the same as the formulas in claim 20.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have formulated the structure of Ergen to have formed the first layer of Ergen as CH3NH3PbIyBrx and the second layer as CH3NH3SnI3-xBrx, where x is any value between 0 and 3 in each instance. The rationale for doing is selecting known materials (i.e., CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx and CH3NH3SnI3-xBrx with a value for x which is independently anywhere between 0 and 3) based upon their suitability for their intended purpose as perovskite layers.
As to claims 17 and 20, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the layer structure of Ergen to prevent the transfer of the iodine or bromine from the first layer to the second layer or vice versa because Ergen teaches materials for the diffusion barrier that are the same as presently claimed.
Conclusion
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/David Sample/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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