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 1-2, 4-7, 9, and 11-12 according to Species 2 in the reply filed on 02/02/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 11 objected to because of the following informalities:
The claim recites “A electronic device…” instead of “An electronic device…”
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-2 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Johnson et al. [US Patent 9728667] (hereinafter Johnson).
Regarding claim 1, referring to Fig. 1 of Johnson (viewed flipped 90º counterclockwise), Johnson teaches a single-photon avalanche diode comprising:
a heavily doped region (20, Fig. 1);
a first lightly doped region (4, Fig. 1) covering the heavily doped region (Fig. 1);
a guard ring (10, Col. 4, lines 51-52) provided on a side surface of the first lightly doped region (Fig. 1);
a first well (6, Fig. 1 –at least in view of portions of region 4 extending into region 6) covering the first lightly doped region and the guard ring (Fig. 1); and
a contact (16, Fig. 1) electrically connected to the first well (Fig. 1 –where layers 6, 12, and 16 are all n-type layers);
wherein the heavily doped region, the first lightly doped region, and the guard ring have a first conductivity type (p-type, Fig. 1),
wherein the first well and the contact have a second conductivity type (n-type, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 2, Johnson teaches a single-photon avalanche diode further comprising:
a relief area (12, Fig. 12) provided between the first well and the contact (Fig. 29);
wherein the relief region has the second conductivity type (n-type, Fig. 1) and has a lower doping concentration than the contact (Fig. 1 n+ compared to n).
Regarding claim 11, referring to Fig. 1 of Johnson (viewed flipped 90º counterclockwise), Johnson teaches an electronic device comprising:
a single-photon avalanche diode (abstract) including a heavily doped region (20, Fig. 1), a first lightly doped region (4, Fig. 1) covering the heavily doped region (Fig. 1), a guard ring (10, Col. 4, lines 51-52) provided on a side surface of the first lightly doped region (Fig. 1), a first well (6, Fig. 1 –at least in view of portions of region 4 extending into region 6) covering the first lightly doped region and the guard ring (Fig. 1), and a contact (16, Fig. 1) electrically connected to the first well (Fig. 1 –where layers 6, 12, and 16 are all n-type layers),
wherein the heavily doped region, the first lightly doped region, and the guard ring have a first conductivity type (p-type, Fig. 1),
wherein the first well and the contact have a second conductivity type (n-type, Fig. 1).
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 6-7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Rohrer [US PGPUB 20220238744].
Regarding claim 6, Rohrer teaches a single-photon avalanche diode comprising:
a heavily doped region (27, Fig. 2D);
a first lightly doped region (28, Fig. 2D) covering the heavily doped region (Fig. 2D);
a guard ring (29, Fig. 2D) provided on a side surface of the first lightly doped region (Fig. 2D);
a first well (40, Fig. 2D) covering the first lightly doped region and the guard ring (Fig. 2D); and
a contact (36, Fig. 2D) electrically connected to the first well (Fig. 2D; in view of layers 35, 36, and 40 are p-type materials);
wherein the heavily doped region and the guard ring have a first conductivity type (n type),
wherein the first lightly doped region, the first well, and the contact have a second conductivity type (p-type, Fig. 2D).
Regarding claim 7, Rohrer teaches a single-photon avalanche diode further comprising:
a second well (25, Fig. 2D) provided on the first lightly doped region (Fig. 2D),
wherein the second well has the second conductivity type (Fig. 2D).
Regarding claim 9, Rohrer teaches a single-photon avalanche diode further comprising:
a relief region (35, Fig. 2D) provided between the first well and the contact (Fig. 2D),
wherein the relief region has the second conductivity type and has a lower doping concentration than the contact (Fig. 2D; p doped compared to p++ doped).
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.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson in view of Droz et al. [US PGPUB 20200169701] (hereinafter Droz).
Regarding claim 12, referring to Fig. 1 of Johnson (viewed flipped 90º counterclockwise), Johnson teaches:
an electronic device (device, abstract) including a single-photon avalanche diode (abstract),
wherein the single-photon avalanche diode includes a heavily doped region (20, Fig. 1), a first lightly doped region (4, Fig. 1) covering the heavily doped region (Fig. 1), a guard ring (10, Col. 4, lines 51-52) provided on a side surface of the first lightly doped region (Fig. 1), a first well (6, Fig. 1 –at least in view of portions of region 4 extending into region 6) covering the first lightly doped region and the guard ring (Fig. 1), and a contact (16, Fig. 1) electrically connected to the first well (Fig. 1 –where layers 6, 12, and 16 are all n-type layers),
wherein the heavily doped region, the first lightly doped region, and the guard ring have a first conductivity type (p-type, Fig. 1),
wherein the first well and the contact have a second conductivity type (n-type, Fig. 1).
Johnson does not specifically disclose a LiDAR device.
Referring to the invention of Droz, Droz discloses implement photon avalanche diodes or SPADs in LIDAR receiver to detect a returning light pulse within a relatively short time window (Para 125).
In view of such teaching by Droz, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to at least combine the invention of Johnson and Droz at least based on the rationale of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (MPEP 2143.I.A), such as preventing image smearing (Croz, Para 125)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 4-5 are allowable because all prior arts on record on record either singularly or in combination fail to anticipate or render obvious a single-photon avalanche diode comprising:
a second lightly doped region provided on the first lightly doped region; and
a second well provided between the second lightly doped region and the first well,
wherein the second lightly doped region and the second well have the second conductivity type (as claimed in claim 4), in combination with the rest of claim limitations as claimed and defined by the Applicant.
Conclusion
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/ISMAIL A MUSE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812