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 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.
Claims 5, 16, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakazawa et al (U.S. Pub #2021/0084249).
With respect to claim 5, Nakazawa teaches a photoelectric conversion device (embodiment in Figs. 40-41; Fig. 7 is referenced for side view details) comprising:
a first component (Fig. 7, 10) comprising: a first semiconductor substrate (Fig. 7, 11 and Paragraph 127) having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface;
a first photoelectric conversion portion (Fig. 41, PD1; Fig. 7, 41) arranged to receive light from the second surface;
a second photoelectric conversion portion (Fig. 41, PD3) arranged to receive light from the second surface;
a first transfer gate (Fig. 41, TG1) disposed on a side including the first surface and transferring signal charges generated in the first photoelectric conversion portion;
a second transfer gate (Fig. 41, TG3) disposed on the side including the first surface and transferring signal charges generated in the second photoelectric conversion portion; and
a floating diffusion portion (Fig. 41 FD) to which the signal charges are transferred through the first transfer gate and the second transfer gate, and
a second component (Fig. 7, 20) comprising: a second semiconductor substrate (Fig. 7, 21) having a third surface and a fourth surface opposite to the third surface; and
multiple insulators (Fig. 41, 53; Fig. 7, 53; Paragraph 134) each having a band shape and penetrating through the second semiconductor substrate, the second component and the first component being laminated to each other (Fig. 7, 10 and 20),
wherein each of the insulators is filled into a through-hole formed in the second semiconductor substrate and includes a first contact (Fig. 41, 48 and Paragraph 136; e.g. Fig. 7, 54) connected to the first transfer gate and a second contact (Fig. 41, 48) connected to the second transfer gate, the second contact being positioned closest to the first contact, and
the first transfer gate and the second transfer gate (Fig. 41, TG1 and TG3) are line-symmetric with respect to a longitudinal direction of the insulator in a plan view (Fig. 41, V direction).
With respect to claim 16, Nakazawa photoelectric conversion system comprising: the photoelectric conversion device (Fig. 68, 1) according to Claim 5; and a signal processing unit (Fig. 68, 144 and Paragraph 284) configured to generate an image (Fig. 68, 146) based on a signal output from the photoelectric conversion device.
With respect to claim 17, Nakazawa teaches a moving body comprising: the photoelectric conversion device according to Claim 5, wherein the moving body includes a control unit configured to control movement of the moving body based on a signal output from the photoelectric conversion device (Fig. 71 and Paragraph 305-309).
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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakazawa, in view of Nakazawa et al (U.S. Pub #2022/0271070).
With respect to claim 11, Nakazawa2021 does not teach that the first transfer gate and the second transfer gate are made of polysilicon.
Nakazawa2022 teaches that a first transfer gate and a second transfer gate are made of polysilicon (Paragraph 320).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to form the transfer gates of Nakazawa2021 of polysilicon as taught by Nakazawa2022 in order to achieve predictable result of providing a patterned gate conductor material (Paragraph 320, Figs. 19A-19C).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 9, 10, and 12-15 are allowed.
Claims 6-8 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the best prior art of record does not teach or fairly suggest
in claim 1:
wherein the insulator includes a first contact connected to the first transfer gate and a second contact connected to the second transfer gate, the second contact being positioned closest to the first contact, and a direction in which the first contact and the second contact are aligned intersects a longitudinal direction of the insulator at an acute angle.
in claim 3:
wherein the insulator includes a first contact connected to the first transfer gate and a second contact connected to the second transfer gate, the second contact being positioned closest to the first contact, and a direction in which the first contact and the second contact are aligned intersects at an acute angle a direction in which the first photoelectric conversion portion and the second photoelectric conversion portion are aligned.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN P SANDVIK whose telephone number is (571)272-8446. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davienne Monbleau can be reached at (571)-272-1945. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN P SANDVIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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