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 § 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.
Claims 1, 2, 18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chou et al, US 20170301718, hereafter ‘Chou’ in view of Lin, US 20210358985, hereafter ‘Lin’ in further view of Zhang et al, US 20170272642, hereafter ‘Zhang’.
Regarding claim 1, Chou discloses : A solid-state image sensor, comprising: photoelectric conversion elements(Fig. 2, #220a and #220b); a color filter layer disposed above the photoelectric conversion elements and having a first color filter segment and a second color filter segment adjacent to the first color filter segment(#102a, #104a, #106a overlapping #220a and #220b that can filter different spectrums of radiation [0023]), wherein the first color filter segment and the second color filter segment correspond to different colors(Color filters may correspond to red, blue, green light [0023]); a shielding grid structure disposed between the first color filter segment and the second color filter segment(#206 disposed between #102a, #104a, and #106a), wherein the shielding grid structure is divided into a first shielding segment and a second shielding segment(#206a and #206b).
Chou does not disclose : a meta structure disposed above the color filter layer, wherein in a top view, the second shielding segment is formed as a triangle, a rectangle, or a combination thereof.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Lin teaches : a meta structure disposed above the color filter layer(Fig. 3a, #130 on top of #120).
Zhang teaches : the second shielding segment is formed as a triangle, a rectangle, or a combination thereof(Fig. 9, Pixels shown to have a triangular or rectangular shape #911 and #912 in that the interface between #911 and #912 is at angle with respect between the center of the pixel and the pixel-array center [0048-0050].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the geometry of Zhang’s photodiode boundary to the shielding segment of Chou to provide a position dependent aperture for phase detection (Zhang, [0035]) and the meta structure of Lin to Chou to direct incident light (Lin [0030-0031]).
Regarding claim 2, Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 1.
Chou teaches : wherein in a cross-sectional view, a first width of the first shielding segment is different from a second width of the second shielding segment(Fig. 4a, #206a and #206b shown to be different in width).
Regarding claim 18, Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 1.
Chou teaches : wherein the first color filter segment is a blue color filter segment or a red color filter segment and the second color filter segment is a green color filter segment(#104 may be red and #106 may be green [0023]).
Regarding claim 19, Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 18.
Chou teaches : wherein there are multiple first color filter segments, second color filter segments, first shielding segments, and second shielding segments(Fig. 1, multiple color filters and figure is extendable to any suitable size [0015]), and a pair of second shielding segments correspond to the second color filter segments, or a pair of second shielding segments correspond to the first color filter segment(Fig. #206 to divide up color filters #102a, #104b, and #102a).
Claims 3-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chou et al, US 20170301718, hereafter ‘Chou’ in view of Lin, US 20210358985, hereafter ‘Lin’ in further view of Zhang et al, US 20170272642, hereafter ‘Zhang’ in further view of Park et al, US 20220384507, hereafter ‘Park’.
Regarding claim 3, Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 1.
Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang does not disclose : wherein in the top view, the first color filter segment or the second color filter segment is divided into four sub-segments along an X-axis and a Y-axis that is perpendicular to the X-axis.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Park teaches : wherein in the top view, the first color filter segment or the second color filter segment is divided into four sub-segments along an X-axis and a Y-axis that is perpendicular to the X-axis(Fig. 4b color filter separated into 4 segments as shown [0079]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the teachings of Park to Chou, Lin, and Zhang to include a color filter with four segments.
Regarding claim 4, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang and Park discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 3.
Zhang teaches : wherein the second shielding segment is symmetrical with respect to a symmetry axis, and an included angle between the symmetry axis and the X-axis or between the symmetry axis and the Y-axis is 45°(Fig. 9, #912 based on positioning of pixel in relation to #900AC [0047]).
Regarding claim 5, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang and Park discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 3.
Zhang teaches : wherein the second shielding segment is formed as a right triangle, and an included angle between a hypotenuse of the right triangle and the X-axis is between 20° and 80°(Fig. 9, #912 based on positioning of pixel in relation to #900AC [0047]).
Regarding claim 6, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang and Park discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 5.
Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Park does not explicitly disclose : wherein the relationship between the hypotenuse of the right triangle and the X-axis and Y-axis conforms to the following formula: Y=±mX+b wherein m=0.36~5.67, and b=±(0.05~0.5)×a width of the first color filter segment.
However, Zhang teaches : wherein the relationship between the hypotenuse of the right triangle and the X-axis and Y-axis conforms to the following formula: Y=±mX+b wherein m=0.36~5.67, and b=±(0.05~0.5)×a width of the first color filter segment(Fig. 9, Triangles ranging from #900(1,1) to #900AC).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust a color segment with respect to a pixel array center (Zhang, [0049-0051]) with routine experiment and optimization. In re Woodruff, 16 USPQ2d 1935, 1937 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Claims 7-17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chou et al, US 20170301718, hereafter ‘Chou’ in view of Lin, US 20210358985, hereafter ‘Lin’ in further view of Zhang et al, US 20170272642, hereafter ‘Zhang’ in further view of Yang et al, US 20220173138, hereafter ‘Yang’.
Regarding claim 7, Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 1.
Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang does not disclose : further comprising: an isolation structure disposed between the photoelectric conversion elements.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Yang teaches : further comprising: an isolation structure disposed between the photoelectric conversion elements(#11 disposed between #13).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the teachings of Yang to Chou, Lin, and Zhang to include isolation structures between photoelectric conversion elements to improve image signal quality (Yang [0005]).
Regarding claim 8, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 7.
Yang teaches : wherein the isolation structure has first isolation segments that correspond to the shielding grid structure and second isolation segments that divide the first color filter segment and the second color filter segment into sub-segments(Fig. 2a #11 corresponding to #40 and #50. Fig. 11, #11 divides #70 into segments of #20 [0123]).
Regarding claim 9, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 8.
Yang teaches : wherein each of the sub-segments defines a pixel(Fig. 11, #20 to include #20s4, #20s5, and #20s6), and a height of the shielding grid structure is in a range from 20 nm to 0.5×a width of the pixel(Fig. 2d, #50s3 shown to have a smaller height than #13).
Regarding claim 10, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 9.
Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang does not explicitly teach : wherein from a cross-sectional view, a first width of the first shielding segment is below 0.25×the width of the pixel, and a second width of the second shielding segment is (0.5~1.5)×the width of the pixel.
However, Yang teaches : wherein from a cross-sectional view, a first width of the first shielding segment is below 0.25×the width of the pixel, and a second width of the second shielding segment is (0.5~1.5)×the width of the pixel(#50s1 is a different width than #50s3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust the width of a shielding segment to determine the aperture of each pixel (Yang [0084]), since it has been held that the provision of adjustability, where needed, involves only routine skill in the art. In re Stevens, 101 USPQ 284 (CCPA 1954). See MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 11, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 9.
Zhang teaches : wherein in the top view, the second shielding segment has a horizontal width along a first direction and a vertical width along a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction, and a difference between the horizontal width and the vertical width is (0~1)×the width of the pixel(Fig. 9, #912 to have a variety of horizontal and vertical widths dependent on the position [0050]).
Regarding claim 12, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 8.
Zhang teaches : wherein some of the sub-segments partially correspond to the second shielding segment and other of the sub-segments fully correspond to the second shielding segment(Fig. 9, #912 to have a variety of horizontal and vertical widths dependent on the position [0050]).
Regarding claim 13, Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 1.
Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang does not disclose : further comprising: a dielectric grid structure disposed on the shielding grid structure.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Yang teaches : further comprising: a dielectric grid structure disposed on the shielding grid structure(Fig. 2a, #50s3 shown to have a trapezoid shape with #40s3 disposed on top and #40 may include a dielectric material[0076]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the teachings of Yang to Chou, Lin, and Zhang to include a dielectric grid structure to adjust the refractive index (Yang [0076]).
Regarding claim 14, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 13.
Yang teaches : wherein the dielectric grid structure fully covers the shielding grid structure(Fig. 2a, #40s3 shown to fully cover #50s3).
Regarding claim 15, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 13.
wherein the dielectric grid structure is divided into a first grid segment that is disposed on the first shielding segment and a second grid segment that is disposed on the second shielding segment(Fig. 2d, #40s3 disposed on #50s3 and #40s1 disposed on #50s1).
Regarding claim 16, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 15.
Yang teaches : wherein in a cross-sectional view, the first grid segment and the second grid segment have the same width(Fig. 2h, #40 same width throughout #100 [0091]).
Lin teaches : a portion of the second shielding segment extends beyond the second grid segment(Fig. 4b, #111b shown extending beyond #113b).
Regarding claim 17, Chou as modified by Lin, Zhang, and Yang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 15.
Chou teaches : wherein a width of the first grid segment is equal to a first width of the first shielding segment, and a width of the second grid segment is equal to a second width of the second shielding segment(Fig. 2, #206a same width as #206b).
Regarding claim 20, Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang discloses : The solid-state image sensor as claimed in claim 19.
Chou as modified by Lin and Zhang does not disclose : wherein in a cross-sectional view, widths of the second shielding segments become narrower from a central region of the solid-state image sensor to an edge of the solid-state image sensor.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Yang teaches : wherein in a cross-sectional view, widths of the second shielding segments become narrower from a central region of the solid-state image sensor to an edge of the solid-state image sensor(Width of grid is different in different pixel regions [0080]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust the width of second shielding segments to adjust aperture ratio in different pixel regions of a solid-state image sensor (Yang [0079-0080]), since it has been held that the provision of adjustability, where needed, involves only routine skill in the art. In re Stevens, 101 USPQ 284 (CCPA 1954). See MPEP 2144.04.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 20220246657 : Solid state image sensor.
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/D.T./Examiner, Art Unit 2897 /CHAD M DICKE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2897