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 .
Priority
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) / (a)(2) as being anticipated by Hinohara (US 2019/0160708).
With respect to the limitations of claim 1, Hinohara teaches a wafer thinning method (title, abstract) for a wafer having a first surface (Figs 1-4, end face 54, 0030) and a second surface (end face 52, 0030) that is opposite to the first surface, the method comprising: a first support substrate bonding step of bonding a first support substrate (Fig 2, cylindrical holding table 14, 0025) to the first surface of the wafer (0032, the ingot 50 may be fixed to the chuck table 66 by interposing an adhesive); a separation start point (Figs 4A, 4B, modified portions 70, 0032) forming step of positioning a focused spot of a laser beam with a wavelength transmittable through the wafer from the second surface side of the wafer inside the wafer (Figs 4A, 4B, focal point FP, 0032), and applying the laser beam while moving the focused spot (focusing device 68, 0031) and the wafer relative to each other in a direction parallel (0032, while moving the chuck table 66 in the x-axis direction aligned with the direction orthogonal to the direction A in which the off angle α is formed, a peel-off layer forming processing is carried out in which a pulsed laser beam LB of such a wavelength as to be transmitted through single crystal SiC is applied through the focusing device 68 to the ingot 50) to the second surface, thereby forming separation start points each including a modified layer parallel to the second surface and cracks extending from the modified layer (Fig 4B, modified portion 70); a first ultrasonic wave applying step of, after the first support substrate bonding step and the separation start point forming step are carried out, applying an ultrasonic wave to the wafer from the second surface side of the wafer (Fig 6, ultrasonic wave oscillating unit 6, end face 6a, layer of water LW, 0034); a second support substrate bonding step of, after the first ultrasonic wave applying step is carried out, bonding a second support substrate to the second surface of the wafer (Fig 7, peeling unit 10, end face 52, 0034) ; and a thinning step of, after the second support substrate bonding step is carried out, separating the wafer at the separation start points into a first wafer having the first surface and a second wafer having the second surface, thereby thinning the wafer (Fig 8, lifting means 34, wafer 76, 0035-0036).
With respect to the limitations of claim 2, Hinohara teaches further comprising: a second ultrasonic wave applying step of, after the second support substrate bonding step is carried out and before the thinning step is carried out, applying the ultrasonic wave to the wafer from the second support substrate side of the wafer (Figs 1, 6, 0034, the holding table 14 is rotated and the first moving piece 20 is moved in the Y-axis direction such that the ultrasonic wave oscillating unit 6 passes over the whole area of the first end face 52, whereby the ultrasonic wave is applied to the whole part of the peel-off layer 74).
Claim 3 is also rejected because it is dependent upon claim 1.
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Hinohara (US 2019/0160708) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Nao (US 2018/03101378).
With respect to the limitations of claim 4, Hinohara teaches the wafer is a substrate including single crystal SiC or formed from other material than single crystal SiC, such as Si (silicon) or GaN (gallium nitride). Hinohara discloses the claimed invention except for the wafer is a substrate including lithium tantalate. However, Nao discloses that the wafer is a substrate including lithium tantalate (0025, 0041, lithium thatalate) is known in the art. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to adapt the SiC wafer substrate of Hinohara with the wafer is a substrate including lithium tantalate of Nao for the purpose of using a known alternative ceramic substrate material to the SiC semiconductor substrate material.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN S TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7745. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday [8:00-4:00].
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/THIEN S TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 10/1/2026
