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 Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: In claim 18 ll. After “claim” add a space. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-6 and 8-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto et al. (US 6,163,037) (“Matsumoto”) in view of Takayama et al. (US 2023/0021325) (“Takayama”).
With regard to claim 1, figs. 1(a)-1(b) of Matsumoto discloses a light-emitting device, comprising: a semiconductor epitaxial structure (“epitaxially grown”, col. 3 ll. 49) that has a first surface (bottom of 2) and a second surface opposite (top of 7) to said first surface (bottom of 2), and that includes a first semiconductor layer (3, 2), an active layer 4, and a second semiconductor layer (7, 6, 5) sequentially disposed in such order in a direction (bottom to top in fig. 1(a)) from said first surface (bottom of 2) to said second surface (top of 7), said active layer 4 having an upper surface (top of 4) that is adjacent to said second semiconductor layer (7, 6, 5) and a lower surface (bottom of 4) that is opposite to said upper surface (top of 4), wherein said first semiconductor layer (3, 2) is doped with an n-type dopant (“n-type cladding layer 3”, col. 3 ll. 54), said n-type dopant (“n-type dopant”, col. 4 ll. 14) having a first concentration of 5E17/cm3 (“5x10^17 cm^-3”, col. 3 ll. 59) at a first point (5x10^17 cm^-3 in n-type cladding layer 3) in said first semiconductor layer (3, 2), said first point (5x10^17 cm^-3 in n-type cladding layer 3) of said first semiconductor layer (3, 2) and said lower surface (bottom of 4) of said active layer 4 having a first distance (top of 3 in fig. 1(a) is 8e15 cm^-3, bottom of 3 is 1e18 cm^-3, and thickness of 3 is .9 um then distance from top of 3 to 5e17cm^-3 is .441 um, fig. 1(b) and col. 3 ll. 58-61) therebetween, said first distance (.441 um) ranging from 150 nm to 500 nm (e.g. .441 um).
Matsumoto does not disclose that said active layer including well layers and barrier layers that are alternately stacked.
However, fig. 2A of Takayama disclose that said active layer 41 including well layers (“multiple quantum well structure”, par [0090]) and barrier layers that are alternately stacked.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the active layer of Matsumoto with the multi-quantum well active layer as taught in Takayama in order to provide a high-power semiconductor laser. See par [0090] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 2, figs. 1(a)-1(b) of Matsumoto discloses that said n-type dopant contains Si (“n-type dopant may employ Si”, col. 4 ll. 14), Ge, Sn, Te, or combinations thereof.
With regard to claim 3, figs. 1(a)-1(b) of Matsumoto discloses said n-type dopant contains Te (“Te”, col. 4 ll. 14) and said first distance ranges from 200 nm to 500 nm (e.g. .441 um).
With regard to claim 4, figs. 1(a)-1(b) of Matsumoto discloses said first semiconductor layer (3, 2) includes a first cladding layer 3, said first cladding layer 3 including a first sublayer (bottom portion of 3 with doping concentration greater than 8e17/cm^3, col. 3 ll. 56-61) and a second sublayer (top portion of 3 in fig. 1(a)), said first sublayer (bottom portion of 2, fig. 1(a)) having a doping concentration no smaller than 8E17/cm3, said second sublayer (top portion of 3 with doping concentration greater than 8e17/cm^3) having a concentration that gradually decreases in the direction from said first surface (bottom of 2) of said semiconductor epitaxial structure (“epitaxially grown”, col. 3 ll. 49) to said second surface (top of 7) of said semiconductor epitaxial structure (“epitaxially grown”, col. 3 ll. 49).
With regard to claim 5, Matsumoto does not discloses said first sublayer has a thickness that is one-third to two-thirds of a thickness of said first cladding layer.
However, fig. 16A of Takayama discloses said first sublayer (1x10^19/cm^-3 concentration portion of N-type cladding layer in fig. 16C) has a thickness that is one-third to two-thirds of a thickness of said first cladding layer (N-type cladding layer in fig. 16C).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the cladding layer of Matsumoto with the concentration profile as taught in Takayama in order to improve the high-temperature high-output operation of semiconductor laser device. See par [0291] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 6, figs. 1(a)-1(b) of Matsumoto discloses said n-type dopant contains Si (“n-type dopant may employ Si “, col. 4 ll. 14) and said first distance ranges from 150 nm to 300 nm (top of 3 in fig. 1(a) is 8e15 cm^-3, bottom of 3 is 1e18 cm^-3, and thickness of 3 is .5 um then distance from top of 3 to 5e17cm^-3 is .2 um, fig. 1(b) and col. 3 ll. 58-61).
With regard to claim 8, figs. 1(a)-1(b) of Matsumoto discloses said first cladding layer 3 is made of AlGaInP (“n-type cladding layer 3 is grown of an AlGaInP”, col. 3 ll. 54-55).
With regard to claim 9, Matsumoto does not disclose a first spacing layer disposed between said first cladding layer and said active layer, said first spacing layer being made of AlGaInP.
However, figs. 16C and 23 of Takayama discloses a first spacing layer (N-type guiding layer, fig. 16C disposed between said first cladding layer (N-type cladding layer, fig. 16C) and said active layer (Well layer, fig. 16C), said first spacing layer (N-type guiding layer, fig. 16C) being made of AlGaInP (“AlGaInP-based semiconductor material”, par [0363]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form in between the active layer and n-type cladding layer of Matsumoto a N-type guiding layer as taught in Takayama in order reduce an increase in waveguide loss. See par [0093] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 10, Matsumot does not disclose said first spacing layer has a single layered structure or a multilayered structure.
However, fig. 16C of Takayama discloses said first spacing layer 30 has a single layered structure or a multilayered structure 30.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form in between the active layer and n-type cladding layer of Matsumoto a N-type guiding layer as taught in Takayama in order reduce an increase in waveguide loss. See par [0093] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 11, Matsumoto does not disclose said first spacing layer has the multilayered structure, said first spacing layer having an aluminum content that first decreases and then remains constant in the direction from said first surface of said semiconductor epitaxial structure to said second surface of said semiconductor epitaxial structure.
However, figs. 2A and 4 of Takyama disclose said first spacing layer 30 has the multilayered structure, said first spacing layer 30 having an aluminum content (“Al composition” par [0144]) that first decreases (Al composition slope at Interface region between N-type cladding layer and N-type guiding layer, 0.32 -> 0.24, fig. 4) and then remains constant in the direction from said first surface (bottom of 20, fig. 2A) of said semiconductor epitaxial structure to said second surface (top of 60, fig. 2A) of said semiconductor epitaxial structure.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form in between the active layer and n-type cladding layer of Matsumoto a N-type guiding layer as taught in Takayama in order reduce an increase in waveguide loss. See par [0093] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 12, figs. 1(a)-1(b) of Matsumoto disclose said second semiconductor layer (7, 6, 5) is doped with a p-type dopant (“p-type”, col. 4 ll. 26), said p-type dopant having a second concentration of 1E17/cm3 (between “7x10^15/cm^-3” and “5x10^17”, col. 4 ll. 3-4) at a second point (interface of 5a and 5b) in said second semiconductor layer (7, 6, 5), said second point (interface of 5a and 5b) of said second semiconductor layer (7, 6, 5) and said upper surface (top of 4 in fig. 1(a)) of said active layer 4 having a second distance therebetween.
Matsumoto does not disclose that second distance ranging from 40 nm to 400 nm.
However, Matsumoto does disclose the second sublayer 5b with a thickness of approximately 0.5-1 um. See col. 4 ll. 3 of Matsumoto.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the thickness of the second sublayer layer of Matsumoto at approximately 0.4 um in order to small AlGaInP light emitting device. See col. 3 ll. 55 of Matsumoto.
Moreover, there is no evidence indicating the ranges of 40 nm to 400 nm is critical and the Federal Circuit has held that it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable range of a result-effective variable within given prior art conditions by routine experimentation. See MPEP § 2144.05 II. Note that the specification contains no disclosure of either the critical nature of the claimed dimensions or any unexpected results arising there from. Where patentability is said to be based upon particular chosen dimensions or upon another variable recited in a claim, the Applicants must show that the chosen dimensions are critical. In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936 (Fed. Cir. 1990); In re Geisler, 116 F.3d 1465, 1469-71, 43 USPQ2d 1362, 1365-66 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
With regard to claim 13, Matsumoto does not disclose that said second semiconductor layer includes a second cladding layer and a second spacing layer, said second spacing layer being disposed between said active layer and said second cladding layer.
However, fig. 2A of Takayama discloses that said second semiconductor layer (60, 50) includes a second cladding layer 60 and a second spacing layer 50, said second spacing layer 50 being disposed between said active layer 40 and said second cladding layer 60.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form in between the active layer and p-type cladding layer of Matsumoto a p-type guiding layer as taught in Takayama in order reduce an increase in waveguide loss. See par [0097] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 14, Matsumoto does not disclose said second spacing layer is made of AlGaInP and has a doping concentration no greater than 1E17/cm3.
However, fig. 23 of Takayama discloses said second spacing layer 50 is made of AlGaInP (“AlGaInP”, par [0363]) and has a doping concentration no greater than 1E17/cm3 (“1×10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 “, par [0261]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form in between the active layer and p-type cladding layer of Matsumoto a p-type guiding layer as taught in Takayama in order reduce an increase in waveguide loss. See par [0097] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 15, Matsumoto does not that said second spacing layer has a thickness no greater than 400 nm.
However, fig. 23 of Takayama discloses said second spacing layer 50 has a thickness no greater than 400 nm (“0.2 um”, par [0261]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form in between the active layer and p-type cladding layer of Matsumoto a p-type guiding layer as taught in Takayama in order reduce an increase in waveguide loss. See par [0097] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 16, Matsumoto discloses said p-type dopant (“p-type”, col. 3 ll. 66) contains Mg, Zn (“Zn”, col. 4 ll. 1), Ca, Sr, Ba, or combinations thereof.
With regard to claim 17, Matsumoto does not disclose that each of said well layers and a corresponding one of said barrier layers that is adjacent to said each of said well layers constitute a layer unit, a number of layer unit ranging from 2 to 100.
However, fig. 23 of Takayama discloses that each of said well layers (“multiple quantum well structure including quantum well layers”, par [0090]) and a corresponding one of said barrier layers that is adjacent to said each of said well layers constitute a layer unit, a number of layer unit ranging from 2 to 100 (“multiple quantum well structure”, par [0090]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the active layer of Matsumoto with the multi-quantum well active layer as taught in Takayama in order to provide a high-power semiconductor laser. See par [0090] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 18, Matsumoto does not disclose each of said well layers has a thickness ranging from 2 nm to 25 nm, and each of said barrier layers has a thickness ranging from 2 nm to 25 nm.
However, fig. 23 of Takayama discloses each of said well layers 41 has a thickness ranging from 2 nm to 25 nm (“well layer 41 is thick and has, for example, a thickness of at least 6 nm”, par [0090]), and each of said barrier layers 43a has a thickness ranging from 2 nm to 25 nm (“P-side first barrier layer 43a may have a thickness of at least 5 nm”, par [0097]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the active layer of Matsumoto with the quantum well active layer as taught in Takayama in order to provide a semiconductor laser. See par [0011] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 19, Matsumoto does not disclose that said active layer emits light having a wavelength ranging from 550 nm to 950 nm.
However, fig. 23 of Takayama discloses that said active layer 40 emits light (“laser light”, par [0082]) having a wavelength ranging from 550 nm to 950 nm (“900 nm“, par [0082]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the active layer of Matsumoto with the quantum well active layer as taught in Takayama in order to provide a semiconductor laser. See par [0011] of Takayama.
With regard to claim 20, fig. 1(a)-1(b) of Matsumoto discloses a light-emitting apparatus (“outdoor displays”, col. 1 ll. 11-12) comprising the light-emitting device (“semiconductor light emitting device “, col. 2 ll. 6-7) as claimed in claim 1.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto et al. (US 6,163,037) (“Matsumoto”), Takayama et al. (US 2023/0021325) (“Takayama”), and Hiramatsu et al. (US 2020/0176633) (“Hiramatsu”).
With regard to claim 7, Matsumoto and Takayama do not discloses comprising a first cladding layer, said first cladding layer having a doping concentration no smaller than 5E17/cm3.
However, fig. 1 of Hiramatsu discloses comprising a first cladding layer 32 , said first cladding layer 32 having a doping concentration no smaller than 5E17/cm3 (“high-concentration Si is not less than 8×10.sup.18 atm/cm.sup.3”, par [0019]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the cladding layer of Matsumoto with the high-concentration of Si as taught in Hiramatsu in order to reduce the resistance of the n-type cladding. See par [0019] of Hiramatsu.
Conclusion
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/BENJAMIN TZU-HUNG LIU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893