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 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.
Claim 1, 2 and 4-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Sridhar (US. Pat. 6,621,135) in view of Wallis (US20070236313).
Regarding claim 1, Sridhar teaches a microelectromechanical switching element comprising: a carrier substrate with a carrier layer 24, an electrically insulating layer 56, and a semiconductor layer (52, 54) (col. 3, lines 45-60); a deflectable bending element (52, 54) formed by a freed subregion of the semiconductor layer; and an cover substrate (20, 22) connected to the carrier substrate; wherein the carrier layer defines a first cutout (cutout defined by 24 and 22) in the region of the bending element; and the cover substrate comprises a second cutout (area between the cover 20 and the layer 24) and/or an encircling spacer layer in the region of the bending element; the first cutout and the second cutout define a superordinate hollow space in which the bending element is arranged so as to be deflectable; the superordinate hollow space is delimited by the carrier layer and by the cover substrate to provide a hermetically encapsulation from the external environment (col. 6, lines 37-42); and the carrier substrate comprises a silicon-on-insulator layer system (Figs. 1-2 and col. 3, lines 15-30).
Sridhar does not teach the semiconductor layer applied to the electrically insulating layer. However, Wallis teaches a similar carrier substrate that comprises a carrier layer 110, an electrically insulating layer 1200 and a semiconductor layer 1300; wherein the electrically insulating layer is applied to the carrier layer, and the semiconductor layer applied to the electrically insulating layer (Fig. 4). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the movable MEMS structure from an SOI substate as taught by Wallis to simplify the MEMS fabrication.
Regarding claim 8, Sridhar teaches an apparatus comprising: an array of multiple microelectromechanical switching elements (col. 5, lines 13-20), wherein each microelectromechanical switching element comprises: a carrier substrate 24 with a carrier layer 24, an electrically insulating layer 56, and a semiconductor layer 52/54 (col. 3, lines 45-60); a deflectable bending element (52, 54) formed by a freed subregion of the semiconductor layer; and an cover substrate (20, 22) connected to the carrier substrate; wherein the carrier layer defines a first cutout (cutout defined by 24 and 22) in the region of the bending element; and the cover substrate comprises a second cutout (area between the cover 20 and the layer 24) and/or an encircling spacer layer in the region of the bending element; the first cutout and the second cutout define a superordinate hollow space in which the bending element is arranged so as to be deflectable; the superordinate hollow space is delimited by the carrier layer and by the cover substrate to provide a hermetically encapsulation from the external environment (col. 6, lines 37-42); and the carrier substrate comprises a silicon-on-insulator layer system (Figs. 1-2 and col. 3, lines 15-30).
Sridhar does not teach the semiconductor layer applied to the electrically insulating layer. However, Wallis teaches a similar carrier substrate that comprises a carrier layer 110, an electrically insulating layer 1200 and a semiconductor layer 1300; wherein the electrically insulating layer is applied to the carrier layer, and the semiconductor layer applied to the electrically insulating layer (Fig. 4). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the movable MEMS structure from an SOI substate as taught by Wallis to simplify the MEMS fabrication.
Regarding claim 2, Sridhar teaches the switching element wherein a deflection direction of the bending element (52, 54) is oriented perpendicularly with respect to the layer plane of the carrier substrate (the carrier substrate is planar, while the bending element is deflectable downward/upward, see Figs. 1, 6).
Regarding claim 4, Sridhar teaches the switching element wherein the hermetic encapsulation of the superordinate hollow space includes a permanent, fluid-tight, areal connection between the carrier substrate 24 and the cover substrate 20 (the anodic bonding between the carrier substrate 24 and the cover 20/22 creates a permanent, fluid-tight and areal connection, see col. 6, lines 37-42, and col. 5, lines 65-67).
Regarding claim 5, Sridhar teaches the switching element wherein the cover substrate 20 comprises an electrically insulating cover substrate comprising glass or silicon (the glass cover is inherently electrically insulating, see col. 6, lines 48-50).
Regarding claim 6, Sridhar teaches the switching element wherein: a switching contact 58 is arranged on the bending element (52, 54); and the cover substrate (20, 22) bears at least one mating contact (32, 34) which is able to be contacted with the switching contact of the bending element by a deflection of the bending element 52/54 (Fig. 1 and coil. 4, lines 1-15).
Regarding claim 7, Sridhar teaches the switching element wherein the cover substrate (20, 22) comprises a control electrode 44 to influence the deflection of the bending element 52/54 (Fig. 1 and coil. 4, lines 1-15).
Regarding claim 9, Sridhar teaches the apparatus comprising a switching apparatus (contacts 52/54 and 32/34 forms a switch, see (Fig. 1 and coil. 4, lines 1-15).
Regarding claim 10, Sridhar teaches the apparatus comprising a surface- mountable component (the solder ball terminal 36/38 indicate that the MEMS device is mountable to external devices such as PCB, see Fig. 1 and col. 3, lines 35-40).
Regarding claim 11, Sridhar teaches the apparatus wherein the cover substrate (20, 22) and/or the carrier substrate 24 comprises one or more lead throughs (28, 40, 42, 48, 50, 68) for electrical contacting of the at least one switching element (30, 36, 38, 46, 66, see Fig. 1).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sridhar and Wallis as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Wilson (US20100065946).
Regarding claim 3, Sridhar does not teach the cutout in the carrier layer being formed by a prefabricated cavity in the silicon-on-insulator layer (SOI) system. However, Wilson teaches a method for manufacturing a silicon-on-insulator wafer (paragraphs 2, 11, 51), in which a cavity 20b is formed in the handle wafer (carrier) 12b as part of the SOI wafer fabrication itself (Fig. 1b, 5a, and paragraph 36, 51). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a prefabricated cavity SOI substrate as thought by Wilson in the MEMS device of Sridhar to provide a defined cutout beneath the movable element while reducing backside processing and improving manufacturability.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 8 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 AHMED M SAEED whose telephone number is (571)270-7976. The examiner can normally be reached 10-8pm.
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/AHMED M SAEED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833
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