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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 04/27/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 7-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/27/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Min et al (US 5,141,721).
Min et al teaches a horizontal crystal growing system comprising: a controller; a horizontal growth furnace (HGF furnace) (Fig 1-2; col 3, ln 4 to col 4, ln 67 teaches a horizontal zone melting single crystal growth furnace 1) comprising: an insulating wall surrounding an interior of the HGF furnace and extending along a horizontal growth direction thereof (double quartz tube 5); a plurality of temperature measurement devices in data communication with the controller and configured to measure temperatures at a plurality of locations within the interior of the HGF furnace (col 3, ln 1-67 teaches thermocouples for controlling temperatures in two temperature zones); and a plurality of heating elements (main heating wires 7 and sub-heater 11) within the interior of the HGF furnace, the heating elements being configured to control both an average temperature and a temperature gradient in the horizontal growth direction when energized by the controller (Fig 1-4; col 3, ln 5-67 and col 4, ln 35-65 teaches precise temperature control is achieved by a furnace integrated control system and thermocouples for controlling temperatures in two temperatures zones to form flat temperature zones); and an optical system (CCD camera) external to the HGF furnace and configured to optically monitor melted precursor material through an observation section of the insulating wall 5 as the precursor material 19 crystallizes in a crystal growing region of a crystal growth boat (reaction container 18) that is located within the interior of the HGF furnace and aligned with the horizontal growth direction (abstract; Fig 1-4 and col 4, ln 1-68; col 5, ln 1-25 teaches the entire crystal growth procedure can be directly observed through the high temperature section-direct monitoring furnace, with the naked eye or with the CCD camera tube 27; and monitoring liquid-solid interface during the growth procedure of GaAs single crystals with the CCD camera tube device; and the furnace comprising a double quartz tube made of a transparent material is disposed in the high temperature section of the grower, thereby enabling the observation of the entire crystal growth procedure with the naked eye or with a CCD (charge coupled device) camera tube, enabling high-speed variation of temperature gradient as well as high-speed heating, and thus enabling the single crystal growth of GaAs with low defects and high uniformity, and thus enabling the single crystal growth of GaAs with low defects and high uniformity in the axial direction of growth).
Referring to claim 2, Min et al teaches precise temperature control is achieved by a furnace integrated control system and thermocouples for controlling temperatures in two temperatures zones to form flat temperature zones; and enabling high-speed variation of temperature gradient as well as high-speed heating, thus enabling the single crystal growth of GaAs with low defects and high uniformity in the axial direction of growth (abstract; Fig 1-4; col 3, ln 5-67 and col 4, ln 35-65), which reads on the controller is configured to: receive the measured temperatures from the temperature measurement devices cause the heating elements to establish an average temperature within the interior of the HGF furnace that will cause a precursor material located within the crystal growing region of the crystal growth boat to melt because the controller receives temperature measurements from thermocouples and establishes a solid-liquid interface for crystallization; establish a crystalizing temperature gradient extending in the horizontal growth direction within the interior of the HGF furnace (temperature in the two zones of a solid-liquid interface); and reduce the average temperature within the interior of the HGF furnace at a predetermined temperature reduction rate that causes the melted precursor material to crystalize (controller establishes a temperature gradient for crystal growth in the solid-liquid interface); said crystalizing of the melted precursor material being characterized by a horizontal traversing of a solid/liquid interface across the crystal growing region in the horizontal growth direction, wherein the solid/liquid interface divides crystalized material from melted precursor material within the crystal growing region, said traversing of the solid/liquid interface being at a traversing rate that corresponds to an actual growth rate of the crystalized material.
Referring to claim 4-5, Min et al teaches the observation of the entire crystal growth procedure with the naked eye or with a CCD (charge coupled device) camera tube, enabling high-speed variation of temperature gradient and high uniformity in the axial direction of growth; and observation of the liquid-solid interface with the CCD camera tube, thereby enabling optimum crystal growth conditions to be easily found; and the sub-heater 11 is slowly moved in horizontal to shift the spike zone, the liquid-solid interface 28 slowly moves left to grow GaAs single crystals (Abstract; col 4, ln 1-68;col 5, ln 1-25), which reads on the optical system is a machine vision system that is configured to determine the traversing rate of the solids/liquids interface in near real time as the melted precursor is crystalized and the controller is configured to adjust and regulate the temperature reduction rate in near real time as the melted precursor is crystalized according to the determined traversing rate because the liquid-solid interface with the CCD and moving the sub-heater 11 is slowly moved in horizontal to shift the spike zone, the liquid-solid interface 28 slowly moves (traversing rate) left to grow GaAs single crystals.
Referring to claim 6, Min et al teaches the direct monitoring furnace which comprises a double quartz tube coated with a gold film; and the double quartz tube made of a transparent material is disposed in the high temperature section of the grower, thereby enabling the observation of the entire crystal growth procedure with the naked eye or with a CCD (charge coupled device) camera tube (abstract; col 3, ln 1-67).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Min et al (US 5,141,721), as applied to claims 1, 2, and 4-6 above, and further in view of Asahi et al (JP 7-291782), an English computer translation is provided.
Min et al teaches all of the limitations of claim 3, as discussed above, except the optical system comprises an optical recorder configured to create a recording of the crystalizing of the melted precursor. Min et al teaches a CCD camera and a monitor, however does not explicitly teach a recording for creating a recording.
In a crystal growth apparatus, Asahi et al teaches observing the state of the raw material molten surface is to film it with a video camera 8 and observe it by connecting it to a video tape recorder 10 and/or a monitor television; and the method for measuring the temperature distribution of the raw material molten surface is to input the video signal from the video camera to a computer via an image processing board and convert the visible-range video signal into temperature to measure the temperature distribution of the raw material molten surface; and the image signal captured by the video camera 8 was input to the personal computer 12 via the television monitor 9, the video tape recorder 10, and an image processing board, and the surface temperature distribution was displayed on the computer monitor 11 simultaneously with the television monitor (CT [0007]-[0010], [0022]; Fig 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Min et al by providing the optical system with an optical recorder configured to create a recording of the crystalizing of the melted precursor, as taught by Asahi et al, to record the observations so the data can be reviewed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Schunemann et al (US 5,611,856) teaches a transparent horizontal gradient freeze furnace; the transparent furnace includes a plurality of cylindrical quartz tubes concentrically located within a cylindrical PYREX tube having a partially transparent layer of gold coated on the inside thereof for reflecting heat back into the furnace; heating coils 31, 32, create separate heating zones 33, 34 in their respective halves; the temperature of each heating zone 33, 34 is measured by a control thermocouple 35, 36 which provides feedback to a microprocessor temperature controller which adjusts the output power to each heating coil 31, 32; and the temperature gradient in use enables a slow growth rate of 1 mm/hr or less (Fig 1-3; col 4, ln 1 to col 7, ln 67).
CN2900557Y teaches a horizontal gradient solidification apparatus comprising multiple heating elements to control the temperature gradient across each cross section and horizontally, and a transparent observation window (quartz) on the insulation layer corresponding to the upper heating element to adjust the temperature at various points in the field and observe the growth status of the crystal, which helps to improve the yield of crystals and ensure product quality (computer translation [0006]-[0013]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J SONG whose telephone number is (571)272-1468. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10AM-6PM.
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MATTHEW J. SONG
Examiner
Art Unit 1714
/MATTHEW J SONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1714
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