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 .
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) The claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kevin Finch (Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy Element Mapping: Elucidation of the Underlying Mechanisms and Development Toward Nanoparticle Characterization, (Dissertation, August 2022).
Finch discloses, in figs. 2.1-A.31, Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy Element Mapping for identifying one or more characteristics of particles, which includes
Regarding claim 1,
placing the particles on a surface (see fig. 6.6, “drop-casting sample preparation” which includes nanoparticles in page 139);
exposing the particles to an ion to result in emissions from the particles (see figs. 4.8A, 4.8B, 5.4, 6.4, 6.5, A.7, A.14, drop-casted in section 6.2 including nanoparticles NPs exposed to GDOES to result in emission from the NPs, pages 5-7, 104, 125, 134-136, 147, 259);
measuring the emissions from the particles (see figs. 5.1, 6.5, pages 241, 275, 279);
generating an emission profile from the measured emissions (see figs. 6.1, 6.4, 6.5, A.4, A. 22, pages 101, 134-137, 148, 182, 191, 193, 195-197, 203, 205, 206, 211, 224, 238, 243); and
correlating the generated emission profile to one or more characteristics of the particles (see pages 65, 217, 239, 250-252, 266).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the particles comprise nanoparticles (see abstract, section 1.2.5, section 6.1 in pages 125, 150, 151, 152).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the surface is a component of a chamber of a glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy elemental mapping (GDOES EM) device (see fig. 2.4, pages 5, 26, 60, 103, 112, section 6.2, 138, 140).
Regarding claim 4, wherein the exposure of the particles to the ion gradually ablates particle layers to result in emissions from different layers of the particles (see last paragraph of page 103).
Regarding claim 5, wherein the exposure of the particles to the ion occurs in a chamber of a glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy elemental mapping (GDOES EM) device (see abstract, figs. 6.3, pages 1, 3-7, 93, 94, 109, 110, 117, 118, 122, 126-137, 146, 148-152, 258-262, 264-265, 268, 270, 274-276, 278-279).
Regarding claim 6, wherein the ion comprises argon ion (see Ar in pages 26, 27, 29, 32, 33, 36, 38, 39, 41, 58, 62, 63, 91, 103, 111, 120, 121, 138, 261).
Regarding claim 7, wherein the emissions from the particles are measured by glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) (see abstract, figs. 6.3, pages 1, 3-7, 93, 94, 109, 110, 117, 118, 122, 126-137, 146, 148-152, 258-262, 264-265, 268, 270, 274-276, 278-279).
Regarding claim 8, wherein the emissions from the particles are measured continuously as a function of time (see figs. 6.4, 6.5, abstract, pages 7, 33, 35-37, 52, 127, 134, 136, 137, 140, 141, 145-147).
Regarding claim 9, wherein the generated emission profile represents emissions from the particles as a function of time (see figs. 6.4, 6.5, abstract, pages 7, 33, 37, 52, 127, 134, 136, 137, 140, 141, 145-147, 150).
Regarding claim 10, wherein the generated emission profile comprises an emission pattern as a function of time, emission changes as a function of time, optical emission changes as a function of time, emission intensities as a function of time, emission peak intensity as a function of time, a peak delay time, an emission profile peak intensity time, an average pixel intensity, or combinations thereof (see figs. 6.4, 6.5, abstract, pages 7, 33, 37, 52, 127, 134, 136, 137, 140, 141, 145-147, 150).
Regarding claim 11, wherein the one or more characteristics of the particles is selected from the group consisting of particle mass, particle elemental composition, particle size, particle shape, particle spatial distribution, or combinations thereof (see abstract, pages 7, 101, 102, 103, 106, 125, 126, 127, 137, 138, 150, 151).
Regarding claim 12, wherein the one or more characteristics of the particles comprise particle size (see pages 7, 125, 126, 127, 134, 135, 136, 138, 145, 147, 150, 151, 171).
Regarding claim 13, wherein the one or more characteristics of the particles comprise particle elemental composition (see abstract, pages 7, 101, 102, 103, 106, 125, 126, 127, 137, 138, 150, 151).
Regarding claim 14, wherein the correlation of the generated emission profile to the one or more characteristics of the particles comprises comparing the generated emission profile from the particles to emission profiles of particles that have been correlated to the one or more characteristics of the particles (see fig. A.23a, pages 65, 197, 239, 250, 251, 252, 266).
Regarding claim 15, wherein the correlation of the generated emission profile to the one or more characteristics of the particles comprises comparing the generated emission profile from the particles to a calibration curve that represents the one or more of the characteristics (see abstract, figs. 3.6, 6.3, 6.4, 6.8, pages 43, 65, 70, 74, 76, 86, 101, 107, 112, 118, 126, 130, 132, 134, 141, 143, 144, 150, 259).
Regarding claim 16, wherein the correlation of the generated emission profile to the one or more characteristics of the particles comprises feeding the generated emission profile from the particles into an algorithm that implements the correlation (see figs. A.12, A.13, A.26, A.27, A.28, A.29, A.30, A.31, page 107, 112, 114, 176, 178, 179, 189, 192, 193, 195-198, 202-208, 210-213, 235, 258, 264, 267-274, 276, 278, 279) .
Regarding claim 17, wherein the correlation of the generated emission profile to the one or more characteristics of the particles comprises at least one of correlating a peak delay time of the generated emission profile to particle size, correlating a peak delay time of the generated emission profile to particle size distribution, correlating a peak intensity of the generated emission profile to particle mass, correlating optical emission changes of the generated emission profile as a function of time to particle elemental composition, correlating optical emission changes of the generated emission profile as a function of time to particle size, correlating optical emission changes of the generated emission profile as a function of time to internal dimensions, or combinations thereof (see pages 65, 217, 239, 250, 251, 252, 266).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chang et al. (2008/0118966) discloses a system and/or method using an ion beam to irradiate nanoparticles.
Tolk et al. (3,644,044) discloses an apparatus and/or method for detecting sputtered particles ejected from a solid surface to result photon emissions characteristic of the sputtered particles (found by Tracker).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIET TUAN NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2479. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8-6.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert H. Kim can be reached on 571-272-2293. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-872-9306.
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/KIET T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2881