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 .
Status of Claims
The following is in response to the communication filed 7/7/2026.
Claims 1-14 and 21-26 are currently pending.
Claims 15-20 have been canceled.
Claims 1-14 and 21-26 have been examined.
Priority
Applicant' s claim for the benefit of prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) is acknowledged. The applicant' s claim for benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/430,953, entitled "Enhanced Area Getter Architecture for Wafer-level Vacuum Packaged Uncooled Focal Plane Array," filed on December 7, 2022 has been received and acknowledged.
Election/Restriction
Applicant's election without traverse of claims 1-14 of Group I, in the reply filed on 7/7/2026, is acknowledged. Claims 21-26 have been added which fall under Group I.
Claims 15-20 were drawn to a nonelected Group II, and canceled prior to this action.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 6/27/2024, 10/15/2024, and 7/31/2026, are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-14 and 23-26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schimert et. al. US 20060124831 A1 (hereinafter Schimert) in view of Gooch et al. US 20150321905 A1 (hereinafter Gooch).
Regarding claim 1, Schimert discloses:
A focal plane array (FPA) assembly (Fig. 3A, [0028]) comprising:
a device die (die element 104) having a first device surface, (top surface of die element 104) an infrared detector array (active pixel focal plan array 114) disposed on the first device surface, (See Fig. 3A) and an infrared reference pixel array i(reference pixel array 108) disposed on the first device surface; (See Fig. 3A)
a window die (wafer element 102) bonded to the device die, (See Fig 3A, wafer element 102 bonded to die element 104) wherein the window die includes a recess
and comprises:
a first die surface ( anti-reflection surface 112 of wafer element 102) that overlies the infrared detector array; (See Fig. 3A)
a second die surface (blocking layer 106) that overlies the infrared reference pixel array; and
a die wall surface (angled inner surface 154) joining the first die surface and the second die surface, (See Fig. 3A)
wherein the die wall surface forms a perimeter of the recess; and (See Fig. 3A)
getter material ([003], blocking layer 106)
Schimert does not appear to disclose:
a getter material disposed on at least one of the die wall surface or the first die surface.
Gooch, which teaches antireflection coatings for MEMs devices (Gooch, [0010]), discloses:
a getter material (Fig. 1B, getter material 46 and piece of titanium 39) disposed on at least one of the die wall surface or the first die surface. (Fig. 1B, [0027] the getter material is disposed on the sidewalls of the groves 38.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Schimert to have a getter material disposed on at least one of the die wall surface or the first die surface as taught by Gooch for purposes of reducing the reflective properties and increase the infrared transmission properties of the lid. (Gooch, [0009].)
Regarding claim 2, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the recess extends into the window die along a first direction and the first die surface overlaps the infrared detector array in a plane orthogonal to the first direction. (See Fig. 3A.)
Regarding claim 3, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 2.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the getter material is disposed on a portion of the second die surface. (See Fig. 3A.)
Regarding claim 4, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 3.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the second die surface overlaps the infrared reference pixel array in the plane orthogonal to the first direction. (See Fig. 3A.)
Regarding claim 5, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the perimeter of the recess is defined by four die wall surfaces (Fig. 5, overhead cross section of the device of 3A, showing that there would be four die walls.)
Gooch further discloses
the getter material is disposed on the four die wall surfaces. (Fig. 1B, [0027] the getter material is disposed on the sidewalls of the groves 38.)
Regarding claim 6, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
further comprising a seal ring disposed between the device die and the window die and encircling the recess. (Fig. 3A, [0037] solder seal 120, 122.)
Regarding claim 7, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 6.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the window die, the device die, and the seal ring form a hermetic cavity overlapping the infrared detector array. ([0028], the package formed is a vacuum packaged FPA assembly.)
Regarding claim 7, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 6.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the seal ring comprises solder ring metallization and solder joints. (Fig. 3A, [0037] solder seal 120, 122 made of gold-tin and gold-platinum-titanium metallization.)
Regarding claim 9, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
the infrared reference pixel array is disposed outside of the perimeter of the recess. (See Fig. 3A. )
Regarding claim 10, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the getter material comprises titanium. ([0035], blocking layer 106, made in part of titanium)
Regarding claim 11, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the getter material is non-optically transmissive. ([0035] titanium is non-optically transmissive.)
Regarding claim 12, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein the getter material forms an optical blocking structure (blocking layer 106) for the infrared reference pixel array. (Fig. 3A)
Regarding claim 13, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein pixel elements of the infrared reference pixel array are identical in configuration to pixel elements of the infrared detector array. ([0033], reference pixel array 108 is substantially identical to the active pixel array 114.)
Regarding claim 14, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Schimert further discloses:
wherein a pixel element of the infrared detector array comprises a microbolometer detector pixel element. ([0031] the detector FPA 114 isa a microbolometer infrared absorbing detector FPA.)
Regarding claim 23, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Gooch further discloses:
further comprising a first anti- reflection (ARC layer 50) coating disposed on a planar side of the window die. (Fig. 1B)
Regarding claim 24, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 24.
Gooch further discloses:
further comprising a second anti- reflection coating (getter material 46) disposed on a bonding side surface of the window die. (Fig. 1B)
Regarding claim 25, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Gooch further discloses:
further comprising a plurality of bond pads (Fig. 1B, lower portion 22b) disposed on the first device surface of the device die. (See Fig. 1B)
Regarding claim 26, Schimert and Gooch disclose all element of claim 25,
Gooch further discloses:
further comprising a plurality of solder ring metallizations disposed on the first device surface of the device die. (Fig. 1B, [0026], soldering structure 26 including a seal ring.)
Claims 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schimert and Gooch as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gooch et al. US 20070170360 A1 (hereinafter Gooch2).
Regarding claim 25, Schimert and Gooch disclose all the elements of claim 1.
Gooch further discloses:
the window die (cover wafer 16) comprises … a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) die. ([0022], made of oxide in an SIO wafer).
However, Schimert and Gooch does not appear to disclose a separate handle die and silicon-on-insulator die.
Gooch2, which teaches an infrared detector array that operates at ambient temperatures (Gooch2, [0006]), discloses:
the window die (Fig. 4A, including mid-SiN layer 320, amorphous silicon a-Si 322 and 324 bottom SiN layer) comprises a handle die (mid-SiN layer 320) and a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) die. (amorphous silicon a-Si 322 and 324 bottom SiN layer)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Schimert and Gooch to have the window die comprises a handle die and a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) die as taught by Gooch2 for purposes of having an the handle being made primarily of an easy to fabricate material such as silicon and smaller layer of an harder to fabricate material.
Regarding claim 22, Schimert, Gooch, and Gooch2 disclose all the elements of claim 21.
Gooch2 further discloses:
wherein a portion of a bonding side of the handle die (mid-SiN layer 320) is disposed inside the recess. (Fig. 4A, mid-SiN layer 320 has a bonding side that faces the openings 211.)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HEIM KIRIN GREWAL whose telephone number is (703)756-1515. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. EST.
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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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/HEIM KIRIN GREWAL/ Examiner, Art Unit 2812
/DAVIENNE N MONBLEAU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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