Attorney’s Docket Number: 10780003.00176
Filing Date: 11/28/2023
Claimed Priority Date: 01/31/2023 (PRO 63/482,348)
Applicants: Iftikhar et al.
Examiner: Younes Boulghassoul
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the Amendment filed on 04/28/2026.
Remarks
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Acknowledgment
The Amendment filed on 04/28/2026, responding to the Office action mailed on 01/28/2026, has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this application are claims 1-17.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome the claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112, as previously formulated in the Non-Final Office action mailed on 01/28/2026. However, Applicant’s amendments have introduced new issues, and new grounds of rejections are presented below, as necessitated by Applicant’s amendments to the claims.
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities:
- L. 4: amend “Ga2O3” to --Ga2O3--
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Amended claim 14 recites the limitation “wherein the uppermost β-Ga2O3 layer comprises gallium oxide”. However, claim 10 recites “at least one uppermost β-Ga2O3 layer” at L. 4, thus already identifies a layer of β-phase Ga2O3, which by definition, is a particular phase of gallium oxide material. As such, claim 14 fails to further limit claim 10, from which it depends.
Claim 17 recites the limitation “wherein trimethylaluminum, ammonia, and ultra-high purity oxygen are used as aluminum, nitrogen, and oxygen precursors” which is broader in scope than now amended claim 16 reciting “wherein the in-situ metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor comprises trimethylaluminum, ammonia, and ultra-high purity oxygen as aluminum, nitrogen, and oxygen precursors used to form the uppermost β-Ga2O3 layer.”. As such, claim 17 fails to further limit claim 16, from which it depends.
Applicant may cancel the claims, amend the claims to place the claims in proper dependent form, rewrite the claims in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 and 15-16 are allowable.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a method for forming a metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor comprising: employing a single process step in-situ metal-organic chemical vapor phase epitaxy using nitrogen as a carrier gas; wherein at least one ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor is deposited via metal-organic chemical vapor deposition onto at least one high-electron-mobility transistor heterostructure to form at least one in-situ metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor.
Regarding claim 10, the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor comprising: at least one uppermost β-Ga2O3 layer formed above a AlGaN barrier layer that is formed above an AlN spacer layer formed above a GaN layer formed over a second AlN layer; wherein the metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor is formed in situ in a single reactor.
Examiner’s Note: The closest identified art, to Lai et al. (US11,799,000) or Chiu et al. (US2015/0060873), discloses methods of forming a metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor and the corresponding metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor structure, comprising the steps of employing an in-situ metal-organic chemical vapor phase epitaxy process to provide for vertical metal-organic chemical vapor deposition; wherein at least Ga2O3 is deposited via metal-organic chemical vapor deposition onto AlGaN/GaN atop at least one sapphire substrate to form a metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor. However, the references are silent about the carrier gas used or the particular phase of Ga2O3 formed, as well as the transistor as a whole being an in-situ metal oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor, formed in situ in a single reactor, as identified in the claims supra.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims filed on 04/28/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Younes Boulghassoul whose telephone number is (571) 270-5514. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-6pm EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wael Fahmy can be reached on (571) 272-1705. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/YOUNES BOULGHASSOUL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
Prosecution Insights