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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed April 14, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 3-20 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-11, filed April 14, 2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-3, 7, 9-10, and 18 under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(1) and to the rejections of claims 4-6, 8, 11-17 and 19-20 under 35 U.S.C 103 have been fully considered and some of the grounds are persuasive.
Specifically, the Applicant’s argument (1) in response for claim 1 that Ohmura does not disclose “etching a substrate to form a trench” is not persuasive. The Applicant’s argument relies upon feature 11 of Ohmura being the substrate; however, the Examiner has cited the combined features 11 plus 13 of Ohmura as the substrate, and does not find definition in the specification or limitation in the claim language to exclude such interpretation. “Substrate” is defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary as substratum, an underlying support or foundation. In the art, it is typically the base material upon which devices are formed, for example a wafer, which may be a single uniform material layer or a plurality of materials and/or layers; the instant application contains a substrate (an epitaxial substrate) which may comprise a plurality of materials and or layers (a single crystal layer disposed in a trench of another material and/or layer). In the Remarks, the Applicant cites paragraph [0030-31]. Paragraph [0031] discloses materials which the substrate may optionally be made of, but the Examiner does not find these paragraphs or others to preclude the interpretation applied to Ohmura.
The similar argument in regards to “substrate” in claims 18 and 19 is not persuasive for the same reason as for claim 1. Similarly, the term “trench” has not been defined or limited beyond its common meaning. Applicant’s further argument in response to claims 18-20 is directed towards how the cited trench of Ohmura was formed; whereas the claim language is directed only towards structure, and disposition of structure features. For these reasons, the rejections of claims 18-20 are maintained.
The Applicant’s argument (2) in response for claim 1 that Ohmura does not disclose the claimed “shape of the trench” as including a shape of a cross-section parallel to the substrate plane, as per the Amended claim language, is persuasive and the rejection is hereby withdrawn.
Please see the updated claim rejections below.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested:
“MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR AN EPITAXIAL SUBSTRATE WITH <111> SINGLE CRYSTAL LAYER FORMATION BASED UPON THE SHAPE OF A SUBSTRATE TRENCH, EPITAXIAL SUBSTRATE AND SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Ohmura; Yamichi et al. (US 4500388; hereinafter Ohmura).
Regarding claim 18, Ohmura discloses an epitaxial substrate, comprising:
a substrate (13 plus 11; Figs 1-2; Col 3, line 33 – Col 4, line 15), wherein a trench (between the portions 13 of the substrate, where 11 is exposed by photoetching {Col 3, lines 53-57) is disposed in the substrate; and
a single crystal layer (the annealed semiconductor film 14, for example, silicon; Fig 2; Col 4 lines 30 – 60, Col 3, lines 3 line 57 – Col 4, line 8), wherein the single crystal layer is disposed in the trench, and a surface, away from the substrate, of the single crystal layer, is a (111) crystal plane (the disclosure is applicable to more than one crystal plane, as desired; a specific (111) crystal plane example is provided in EXAMPLE 1 { Col 5, lines 30 – 65}).
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 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohmura; Yamichi et al. (US 4500388; hereinafter Ohmura) in view of Kreiner; Laura et al. (US 2025/0007246; hereinafter Kreiner).
Regarding claim 19, Ohmura discloses a semiconductor structure, comprising a substrate, comprising:
a substrate (13,11; Figs 1-2; Col 3, line 33 – Col 4, line 15), wherein a trench (between the portions 13 of the substrate, where 11 is exposed by photoetching {Col 3, lines 53-57) is disposed in the substrate; and
a single crystal layer (the annealed semiconductor film 14, for example, silicon; Fig 2; Col 4 lines 30 – 60, Col 3, lines 3 line 57 – Col 4, line 8), wherein the single crystal layer is disposed in the trench, and a surface, away from the substrate, of the single crystal layer, is a (111) crystal plane (the disclosure is applicable to more than one crystal plane, as desired; a specific (111) crystal plane example is provided in EXAMPLE 1 { Col 5, lines 30 – 65}).
Ohmura does not disclose an epitaxial structure layer, wherein the epitaxial substrate layer is disposed on a side, away from the substrate, of the single crystal layer.
In the same field of endeavor, Kreiner discloses a laser diode comprising an epitaxial structure layer (4/42; Fig 4; ¶ [0062]) on a side, away from a substrate (1; Fig 4; ¶ [0062]), of a crystalline layer (3; Fig 4; ¶ [0062,0011-13]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have combined the epitaxial structure layer of Kreiner with that of Ohmura to arrive at the semiconductor structure of claim 13. One would have been motivated to do this in order to take advantage of Ohmura’s method of forming the (111) single crystal layer to form a semiconductor device, such as the laser diode disclosed by Kreiner, and would have had a reasonable expectation of success because it is well-known in the art to form a structure layer for a device on an epitaxial substrate (sometimes known in the art as a growth substrate).
Regarding claim 20, Ohmura in view of Kreiner discloses the semiconductor structure according to claim 19, wherein the epitaxial structure layer (Kreiner; 4/42; Fig 4) comprises a first semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor layer that have opposite conductivity types, and an active region disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer (¶ [0014, 0062]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 3-17 allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record, either singularly or in combination, does not disclose or suggest the combination of limitations including “etching substrate to form a trench; manufacturing a transition layer in the trench, and performing crystal plane transformation processing on the transition layer based on a shape of the trench, so as to transform the transition layer into a single crystal layer, wherein a surface, away from the substrate, of the single crystal layer is a (111) crystal plane, and the shape of the trench comprises a shape of a cross-section of the trench that is parallel to a plane where the substrate is located”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Chou; Hsiao-Pang et al. (US 2020/0194252; the prior art discloses etching a substrate to form a trench, and single crystal layer formed in the trench);
Wei; Yang et al. (US 2013/0255567; the prior art discloses a method of making an epitaxial base, comprising etching a substrate to form a patterned substrate, wherein a shape of the pattern may include triangles, hexagons or others, and forming a single crystal layer on the patterned substrate).
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/B.A.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/ELISEO RAMOS FELICIANO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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