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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending and have been examined.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for domestic benefit based on provisional application 63/480,263 filed on 01/17/2023.
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.
Notes: when present, semicolon separated fields within the parenthesis (; ;) represent, for example, as (30A; Fig 2B; [0128]) = (element 30A; Figure No. 2B; Paragraph No. [0128]). For brevity, the texts “Element”, “Figure No.” and “Paragraph No.” shall be excluded, though; additional clarification notes may be added within each field. The number of fields may be fewer or more than three indicated above. These conventions are used throughout this document.
Claims 1, 6, 11, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (US 20150303655 A1 - hereinafter Han) in view of Wang et al. (US 20150311673 A1 - hereinafter Wang).
Regarding Claim 1, Han teaches a method of fabricating a semiconductor device (see the entire document; Claims 17-32, Figs. 2H-2I; specifically, [0049]-[0074], and as cited below), comprising:
forming, above a substrate (105 – Fig. 2H – [0049]) surface, a plurality of distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) layers to form a DBR ({212, 222} – [0051], [0073]);
forming, above the DBR, a first light emitting diode (LED) (comprising: {n-conductive 224, active 230, p-conductive 240} – [0054], [0056], [0057] – hereinafter LED) configured to emit light ([0047]); and
forming, above the first LED, a first reflector (280 – Fig. 2H - [0069]), such that the first reflector and the DBR define a first resonant cavity ([0074] – “The bottom-side DBR and top-side reflector 280 may form a vertical, optical resonant cavity”) having a length effective to collimate a first wavelength of the light emitted by the first LED and propagate the collimated light of the first wavelength through the DBR ([0074] teaches “the resonant cavity comprises an optical microcavity that has a length on the order of up to a few wavelengths of radiation produced in the device's active region”).
But Han does not expressly disclose the reflector having a higher reflectance than the DBR.
However, it is well known in the art to have a reflector having its reflectance higher than the DBR as is also taught by Wang (Wang – paras. [0086]-[0087] with respect to Fig. 12 teach the third reflector 1246 having a reflectivity higher than the reflectivity of the top DBR).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to integrate the forming of a reflector having a higher reflectance than the DBR as taught by Wang into Han.
An ordinary artisan would have been motivated to integrate Wang structure into Han structure in the manner set forth above for, at least, for the obvious benefit of allowing laser emission out of the first reflector – see claim 12).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Han and Wang teaches the method of claim 1, wherein forming the DBR comprises: applying electrochemical etching to the plurality of DBR layers, thereby transforming at least one DBR layer of the plurality of DBR layers into a nanoporous structure (see [0045]).
Regarding Claim 11, Han teaches a semiconductor device (see the entire document; Claims 17-32, Figs. 2H-2I; specifically, [0049]-[0074], and as cited below), comprising:
a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) comprising a plurality of DBR layers ({212, 222} – [0051], [0073]);
a first light emitting diode (LED) ) (comprising: {n-conductive 224, active 230, p-conductive 240} – [0054], [0056], [0057] – hereinafter LED) above the DBR configured to emit light ([0047]); and
a first reflector (280 – Fig. 2H - [0069]) above the first LED, such that the first reflector and the DBR define a first resonant cavity ([0074] – “The bottom-side DBR and top-side reflector 280 may form a vertical, optical resonant cavity”) having a length effective to collimate a first wavelength of the light emitted by the first LED and propagate the collimated light of the first wavelength through the DBR ([0074] teaches “he resonant cavity comprises an optical microcavity that has a length on the order of up to a few wavelengths of radiation produced in the device's active region”).
But Han does not expressly disclose the reflector having a higher reflectance than the DBR.
However, it is well known in the art to have a reflector having its reflectance higher than the DBR as is also taught by Wang (Wang – paras. [0086]-[0087] with respect to Fig. 12 teach the third reflector 1246 having a reflectivity higher than the reflectivity of the top DBR).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to integrate the forming of a reflector having a higher reflectance than the DBR as taught by Wang into Han.
An ordinary artisan would have been motivated to integrate Wang structure into Han structure in the manner set forth above for, at least, for the obvious benefit of allowing laser emission out of the first reflector – see claim 12).
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of Han and Wang teaches the semiconductor device of claim 11, wherein at least one DBR layer of the plurality of DBR layers comprises a nanoporous structure ([0045]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5, 7-10, 12-15, 17-20 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 the Examiner’s Reasons for Allowance:
The prior art fails to disclose and would not have rendered obvious:
Regarding claim 2: The method of claim 1, further comprising: forming an n-GaN layer above the DBR; and forming a first LED p-GaN layer above the first LED.
Claims 3-5, 7-10.
Regarding claim 12: The semiconductor device of claim 11, further comprising: an n-GaN layer between the DBR and the first LED; and a first LED p-GaN layer between the first LED and the first reflector.
Claims 13-15, 17-20 depend from claim 11.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wang et al. (US 20090001389 A1) teaches “HYBRID VERTICAL CAVITY OF MULTIPLE WAVELENGTH LEDS”.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD A. RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571) 270-0168 and email is mohammad.rahman5@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julio J. Maldonado can be reached on (571) 272-1864. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMAD A RAHMAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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