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 claims 1-15 in the reply filed on 7/29/2026 is acknowledged.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Or-Bach (20230187397).
Regarding claim 1, Or-Bach teaches a structure, comprising:
an electromagnetic interference (EMI) immunity layer (fig. 42: 4220) having a first resistivity (par. 312 teaches this layer can be an oxide and par. 154, 186, 246, 276, 317 teaches this oxide can be silicon oxide; it is known that quality SiO₂ is considered to have a resistivity ≈ 10¹⁴ Ω·cm at room temperature; upper range (10²³–10²⁷ Ω·cm) and a first thickness (par. 312 teaches 4220 can be anything less than 10 mum); and
a doped epitaxial layer (fig. 42F: 4306 + 4204 i.e. active layer; par. 76 teaches that the active layer can be any one of the following single crystalline Si, Ge, SiGe or Si:C and par. 77 teaches doping this layer to be n type or p type) on the EMI immunity layer (please see fig. 42F), the doped epitaxial layer having a second resistivity (it is known in the art that at room temperature, intrinsic single‑crystalline germanium has ρ ≈ 0.46 Ω·cm, intrinsic silicon ≈ 2.3 × 10⁵ Ω·cm, and SiGe/Si:C resistivities and when doped 0.001–10 Ω·cm) and a second thickness (par. 76 teaches thickness can be 10 nm to 2 mum),
wherein a sum of thicknesses is defined by a combination of the first thickness and the second thickness (in these examples, the sum of thickness would be 3 mum),
wherein a first ratio is the sum of thicknesses to the second thickness (e.g. first ratio = 3) and a second ratio is the second resistivity to the first resistivity (e.g. second ratio = 10 Ω·cm/10¹⁴ Ω·cm), and
wherein a product of the first ratio and the second ratio is equal to or less than about 1 (based on the equation product = (sum thickness)/(epi thickness)*(epi = resistivity)/(oxide resist), the product would be less than 1).
Regarding claim 2, Or-Bach teaches a structure of claim 1, wherein the first resistivity is over 100,000 times greater than the second resistivity (please see rejection for claim 1).
Regarding claim 3, Or-Bach teaches a structure of claim 1, wherein the first thickness is over 3 times less than the second thickness (please see rejection for claim 1).
Regarding claim 5, Or-Bach teaches a structure of claim 1, further comprising a support substrate (fig. 2A or 42F: 202/4222) having a third thickness and a third resistivity (par. 75), wherein the EMI immunity layer is disposed on the support substrate (please see rejection for claim 1).
Regarding claim 9, Or-Bach teaches a semiconductor device, comprising:
a support substrate comprising an electromagnetic interference (EMI) immunity layer having a first resistivity and a first thickness (please see rejection for claim 1); and
a device layer in contact with a top surface of the support substrate and comprising one or more circuit elements disposed in a doped epitaxial silicon layer having a second resistivity and a second thickness (please see rejection for claim 1),
wherein a sum of thicknesses is defined by a combination of the first thickness and the second thickness (please see rejection for claim 1),
wherein a first ratio is the sum of thicknesses to the second thickness and a second ratio is the second resistivity to the first resistivity (please see rejection for claim 1), and
wherein a product of the first ratio and the second ratio is equal to or less than about 1 (please see rejection for claim 1).
Regarding claim 10, Or-Bach teaches a semiconductor device of claim 9, wherein the one or more circuit elements comprise a passive device, a transistor device, and an interconnect (par. 76 and 77).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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.
Claim 6 (please note dependency) 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.
Claim 7 (please note dependency) 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.
Claim 8 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.
Claim 11 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.
Claim 12 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.
Claim 13 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.
Claim 14 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.
Claim 15 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 CALEB E HENRY whose telephone number is (571)270-5370. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eva Montalvo can be reached at (571) 270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CALEB E HENRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
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