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
During a telephone conversation with Hui Zhang on January 21, 2026 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of group I, claims 1-8. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claims 9-11 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS)s submitted on August 11, 2023 and August 4, 2025 were filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim 3 is 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.
Claim 3 recites the limitation “wherein the main body portion of the movable portion includes a loss portion formed by partially losing the main body portion,” on page 2 lines 13-15, this limitation renders claim 3 indefinite because it is unclear how the main body portion includes the loss portion. The examiner first notes that this limitation is a product by process limitation. The examiner next notes that the main body portion does not reasonably include the loss portion after the loss portion is removed from the main body portion. Therefore, it is unclear how the main body portion includes the loss portion. For examination purposes, the main body portion will be interpreted as not including material removed from the main body portion.
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 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kano et al. (US 6,388,300) in view of Milligan et al. (US 9,571,008)
Regarding Claims 1 and 8:
Kano discloses MEMS sensor comprising:
a semiconductor chip (acceleration sensor, See figs. 27-29 and col. 16 lines 13-23) that has a first principal surface (top surface of the acceleration sensor, See fig. 27) and a second principal surface (bottom surface of the acceleration sensor, See fig. 27) on a side opposite to the first principal surface and that has a cavity (hallow area, See figs. 28-29, ref. no. 2 and col. 16 lines 24-43) formed in an inside of the semiconductor chip;
a frame portion (rectangular frame portion and buried oxide film, See figs. 27-29, ref. no. 5, 202, and col. 16 lines 16-43) that is formed on the side of the second principal surface of the semiconductor chip and that forms a bottom portion and a side portion of the cavity (the rectangular frame portion and the buried oxide film define the bottom portion and the side portion of the hollow area, See fig. 27, ref. no. 5 and figs. 28-29, ref. nos. 2, 5); and
a movable portion (beam structure, See fig. 27-29, ref. no. 6 and col. 16 lines 24-43) that is formed on the side of the first principal surface of the semiconductor chip and that is supported by the frame portion in a floating state with respect to the cavity (the beam structure is supported in a floating state with respect to the hallow area by two anchor portions that are protruded from the rectangular frame portion, See fig. 27, ref. nos. 6-8, figs. 28-29, ref. no. 6, and col. 16 lines 23-53), and
the movable portion includes a main body portion (mass portion, See figs. 27-29, ref. no. 11 and col. 16 lines 23-53) facing the cavity in a first direction that is a thickness direction of the semiconductor chip and an extension portion (beam portion, See fig. 27, ref. no. 10 and col. 16 lines 23-53. The examiner notes that the beam portion extends from the mass portion toward the two longer sides of the rectangular frame portion.) that extends from the main body portion in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
Kano does not disclose wherein the frame portion has a stepped surface formed at a height position between the bottom portion of the cavity and the first principal surface.
Milligan discloses wherein the frame portion has a stepped surface (shoulder positioned on a side of a cavity with a second wafer formed from material suitable for forming a proof mass and associated structures, See fig. 2C, ref. no. 230, figs. 2D, ref. nos. 233, 237, fig. 2E, ref. nos. 233, 237-1, 237-2, 237-3, 237-4, col. 6 lines 31-60, and col. 7 lines 3-32. The examiner notes that Milligan discloses forming shoulders on multiple sides around the cavity.) formed at a height position between the bottom portion (bottom surface of cavity, See fig. 2C, ref. no. 230) of the cavity and the first principal surface (top of the second wafer, See figs. 2D, ref. no. 237 and fig. 2E, ref. nos. 233, 237-1, 237-2, 237-3, 237-4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify MEMS sensor of Kano to include wherein the frame portion has a stepped surface formed at a height position between the bottom portion of the cavity and the first principal surface as taught by Milligan in order to preserve reliability of the MEMS sensor by restricting out-of-plane travel. (See Milligan col. 1 lines 49-67 and col. 2 lines 1-8.) (The examiner notes that in the above stated combination of Kano and Milligan the beam portion 10 extends from the mass portion toward the backside and the longer two sides of the rectangular frame portion and thus will extend toward an upper region of the shoulder in the backside and the longer two sides of the rectangular frame portion and will face the shoulders in the first direction. The examiner further notes the both the x-direction and the y-direction are perpendicular to the vertical direction.)
Regarding Claim 2:
The above stated combination of Kano and Milligan discloses wherein the frame portion has a concave portion (interior of the rectangular frame portion near the beam portion, See Kano fig. 27, ref. nos. 5 and 10), that has a bottom surface (bottom surface of cavity, See Milligan, fig. 2C, ref. no. 230 and figs. 2D-2E) formed of the stepped surface (shoulder positioned on first side of cavity, See Milligan, fig. 2D-2E, ref. no. 233) and a side surface (interior sides of the rectangular frame portion, See Kano, fig. 27, ref. no. 5) extending from the bottom surface toward the first principal surface and that is open toward the side of the main body portion of the movable portion (empty space between the beam structure and interior sides of the rectangular frame portion, See Kano fig. 27, ref. nos. 5 and 6), and
the extension portion includes a first projection portion (portion of the beam portion that extends to the right from the mass portion, See Kano fig. 27, ref. no. 10) that is housed in the concave portion while selectively protruding from the main body portion and that has a side surface (the side surface of the portion of the beam portion that extends to the right from the mass portion faces an interior side of the rectangular frame portion, See Kano fig. 27, ref. nos. 5 and 10) facing the side surface of the concave portion at a distance from the side surface of the concave portion.
Regarding Claim 3:
Kano discloses wherein the main body portion of the movable portion includes a loss portion formed by partially losing the main body portion (empty space around the mass portion, See fig. 27, ref. no. 11),
and the frame portion includes a second projection portion (fixed electrode extends from the rectangular frame portion, See fig. 27, ref. no. 23d and col. 16 lines 54-59) that is housed in the loss portion while selectively protruding toward the loss portion and that has a side surface facing a side surface (the fixed electrode has a side surface facing a side surface of the mass portion, See fig. 27, ref. no. 11, 23d) of the loss portion at a distance from the side surface of the loss portion.
Regarding Claim 4:
Kano discloses wherein the extension portion of the movable portion is formed thinner than the main body portion of the movable portion (beam portion of the beam structure are thinner than the mass portion of the beam structure, See fig. 27, ref. nos. 6, 9, 10).
Regarding Claim 5-6:
The above stated combination of Kano and Milligan discloses the above stated MEMS sensor. The above stated combination of Kano and Milligan further discloses wherein the semiconductor chip includes a first layer (first substrate material, See Milligan figs. 2A-2D, ref. no. 225 and col. 6 lines 18-48) made of a first semiconductor material and a second layer (second wafer, See Milligan fig. 2D, ref. no. 237 and col. 7 lines 3-22) that is formed on the first layer and that is made of a second semiconductor material, and the stepped surface of the frame portion is formed by an upper surface (the upper surface of the shoulder, See Milligan fig. 2C, ref. no. 230, figs. 2d-2E, ref. no. 233, col. 6 lines 31-60, and col. 7 lines 12-32) of the first layer that is continuous with a boundary surface (bottom surface of bond layer, See fig. 2E, ref. no. 221-2 and col. 6 lines 18-48) between the first layer and the second layer, and the movable portion is formed by the second layer (the second wafer is formed from materials suitable for forming a proof mass and associated structures, See col. 7 lines 9-11), and the extension portion of the movable portion is formed thinner than the main body portion of the movable portion (beam portion of the beam structure are thinner than the mass portion of the beam structure, See Kano fig. 27, ref. nos. 6, 9, 10), and faces the stepped surface at a distance (separation distance from the top of the shoulder, See fig. 2D-2E, ref. no. 239 and col. 7 lines 12-22) from the stepped surface.
The above stated combination of Kano and Milligan does not disclose the first layer is made of a first semiconductor material and a second layer is made of a second semiconductor material.
Kano discloses the first layer and the second layer are made of a same semiconductor material (the support substrate and the semiconductor layer are made of monocrystalline silicon, See fig. 27, ref. nos. 201, 203, and col. 16 lines 21-22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify MEMS sensor of Kano and Milligan to include the first layer and the second layer are made of a same semiconductor material as taught by Kano in order to simplify fabrication of the MEMS sensor by reduces the number of types materials needed for fabrication.
Regarding Claim 7:
Kano discloses a fixed electrode (fixed electrodes, See fig. 27, ref. nos. 16a-16d, 17a-17d, 22a-22d, and 23a-23d, See col. lines 54-59) having a cantilever structure formed integrally with the frame portion,
wherein the movable portion includes a movable electrode (movable electrodes, See fig. 27, ref. nos. 12a-12d and 13a-13d, and col. 16 lines 44-53) that has a cantilever structure extending from the main body portion in parallel with the fixed electrode and that is displaced with respect to the fixed electrode.
Conclusion
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/CALEEN O SULLIVAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899
/B.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2899