DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I in the reply filed on 05/08/2026 is acknowledged.
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(s) 1-3, 10, 11, 16, 17, 21, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. PGPub 2024/0176085 A1 by Ecton et al.
Regarding claim 1, Ecton teaches an integrated circuit (IC) device (Fig. 2A), comprising: a substrate structure (package substrate/circuit board 131); a dielectric structure adjacent the substrate structure (core 103 made of a dielectric material, ¶[0069], [0037]); a plurality of dies (PICs 104-1, 104-2 formed on bulk silicon or SOI structure, ¶[0078]) disposed over the substrate structure (131), the plurality of dies comprising: a first die (104-1) comprising a first optical waveguide structure (each of the PICs 104 includes a part of an active surface 105 of the PIC 104, which further includes a waveguide 164, Fig. 1B); and a second die comprising a second optical waveguide structure (each of the PICs 104 includes a part of an active surface 105 of the PIC 104, which further includes a waveguide 164, Fig. 1B); and a third optical waveguide structure (optical pathway 160-3) disposed in the dielectric structure (103) and external to the plurality of dies (below the dies as show in Fig. 2A), the third optical waveguide structure optically coupling the first optical waveguide structure to the second optical waveguide structure (active surfaces 105 of PICs 104 are optically aligned with the optical pathways 160).
Regarding claim 2, Ecton further teaches the dielectric structure is disposed between the substrate structure and the plurality of dies (in a vertical direction, Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 3, Ecton further teaches the third optical waveguide structure (160) is disposed under the first die (104-1), the second die (104-2), and at least a third die (128) of the plurality of dies.
Regarding claim 10, Ecton further teaches the substrate structure comprises an interposer structure (interconnects 190 may be coupled to an interposer instead of the substrate 131, ¶[0082]).
Regarding claim 11, Ecton further teaches the dielectric structure (103) is disposed over the substrate structure (131) and laterally among the plurality of dies (104, 128), as illustrated in Figs. 2A, 2B.
Regarding claim 13, Ecton further teaches the third optical waveguide structure (160) is routed laterally within interstices among the plurality of dies (104), as illustrated in Figs. 1C, 2B.
Regarding claim 16, Ecton further teaches the substrate structure comprises one of an interposer structure or a package substrate structure (interconnects 190 may be coupled to an interposer or the substrate 131, ¶[0082]).
Regarding claim 17, Ecton further teaches the first die further comprises an electrical-to-optical (E-O) signal converter optically coupled to the first optical waveguide structure; and the second die comprises an optical-to-electrical (O-E) signal converter optically coupled to the second optical waveguide structure (each of the PICs 104 includes an electromagnetic radiation source 166, an electro-optical device 168, and a waveguide 164, and the electromagnetic radiation source 166 can enable generating optical signals and may include lasers, the electro-optical device 168 can enable receiving, transforming, and transmitting optical signals and may be any device or component configured to encode information in/onto the electromagnetic signals, such as photodetector, ¶[0073]-[0074]).
Regarding claim 21, Ecton teaches an integrated circuit (IC) device, comprising: a first dielectric structure (RDL 148-1 made with a dielectric material) disposed over a substrate structure (131); a plurality of dies (104, 128) disposed over the first dielectric structure, the plurality of dies comprising: a first die (104-1) comprising a first optical waveguide structure (164 as a part of 105); and a second die (104-2) comprising a second optical waveguide structure (164 as a part of 105); a second dielectric structure (103) disposed over the first dielectric structure and laterally between the first die and the second die (Fig. 2B); and a third optical waveguide structure (160-3) disposed in the second dielectric structure (103), the third optical waveguide structure optically coupling the first optical waveguide structure to the second optical waveguide structure (active surfaces 105 of PICs 104 are optically aligned with the optical pathways 160).
Regarding claim 22, Ecton further teaches the first die further comprises an electrical-to-optical (E-O) signal converter optically coupled to the first optical waveguide structure; and the second die comprises an optical-to-electrical (O-E) signal converter optically coupled to the second optical waveguide structure (each of the PICs 104 includes an electromagnetic radiation source 166, an electro-optical device 168, and a waveguide 164, and the electromagnetic radiation source 166 can enable generating optical signals and may include lasers, the electro-optical device 168 can enable receiving, transforming, and transmitting optical signals and may be any device or component configured to encode information in/onto the electromagnetic signals, such as photodetector, ¶[0073]-[0074]).
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(s) 8, 9, 14, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ecton et al.
Regarding claim 8, Ecton teaches the IC device comprising the first, second, and third waveguide structure but does not specify that the first optical waveguide structure and the second optical waveguide structure comprise silicon; and the third optical waveguide structure comprises silicon nitride. Ecton, however, states that the waveguides can be formed from silicon, doped silicon, silicon nitride, glasses such as silica, borosilicate and so forth (¶[0042]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to select among the waveguide materials identified by Ecton to manufacture the first, second, and third waveguide structures, and perform routine experimentations to determine their suitability in the IC device based on their known optical properties, e.g., index or index contrast, transparency range, manufacturing flexibility considerations.
Regarding claim 9, Ecton teaches the IC device comprising the first, second, and third waveguide structure but does not specify that the first optical waveguide structure and the second optical waveguide structure comprise silicon; and the third optical waveguide structure comprises poly-Si. Ecton, however, states that the waveguides can be formed from silicon, doped silicon, silicon nitride, glasses such as silica, borosilicate and so forth (¶[0042]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to select among the waveguide materials identified by Ecton to manufacture the first, second, and third waveguide structures, and perform routine experimentations to determine their suitability in the IC device based on their known optical properties, e.g., index or index contrast, transparency range, manufacturing flexibility considerations.
Regarding claim 14, Ecton teaches the IC device comprising the first, second, and third waveguide structure, wherein the third waveguide structure comprises an optical component (182) that may include a polymer material that suitable for optical signal transmission with minimal loss (¶[0070]). but does not specify that the first optical waveguide structure and the second optical waveguide structure comprise silicon or silicon nitride. Ecton, however, states that the waveguides can be formed from silicon, doped silicon, silicon nitride, glasses such as silica, borosilicate and so forth (¶[0042]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to select among the waveguide materials identified by Ecton to manufacture the first and second waveguide structures, and perform routine experimentations to determine their suitability in the IC device based on their known optical properties, e.g., index or index contrast, transparency range, manufacturing flexibility considerations.
Regarding claim 15, Ecton teaches the IC device comprising the first, second, and third waveguide structure but does not specify that the first optical waveguide structure and the second optical waveguide structure and the third optical waveguide structure comprise silicon nitride. Ecton, however, states that the waveguides can be formed from silicon, doped silicon, silicon nitride, glasses such as silica, borosilicate and so forth (¶[0042]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to select among the waveguide materials identified by Ecton to manufacture the first, second, and third waveguide structures, and perform routine experimentations to determine their suitability in the IC device based on their known optical properties, e.g., index or index contrast, transparency range, manufacturing flexibility considerations.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 are allowed 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. Ecton is the closest available prior art to the claimed invention but fails to further teach or suggest the first die further comprises a first optical spot-size coupler structure optically coupled to the first optical waveguide structure; the second die further comprises a second optical spot-size coupler structure optically coupled to the second optical waveguide structure; and the dielectric structure further comprises: a third optical spot-size coupler structure optically coupled to a first end of the third optical waveguide structure and the first optical spot-size coupler structure and disposed below the first die; and a fourth optical spot-size coupler structure optically coupled to a second end of the third optical waveguide structure and the second optical spot-size coupler structure and disposed below the second die, especially in the context of forming spot-size coupler structures coupled to the waveguide (164) of the active surface (105), when considered in view of the rest of the limitations of the claimed invention.
Claims 12 is allowed 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. Ecton is the closest available prior art to the claimed invention but fails to further teach or suggest the first die further comprises a first optical edge coupler structure optically coupled to the first optical waveguide structure; and the second die further comprises a second optical edge coupler structure optically coupled to the second optical waveguide structure; and the dielectric structure further comprises: a third optical edge coupler structure optically coupled to a first end of the third optical waveguide structure and the first optical edge coupler structure; and a fourth optical edge coupler structure optically coupled to a second end of the third optical waveguide structure and the second optical edge coupler structure, especially in the context of forming edge coupler structures coupled to the waveguide (164) of the active surface (105), when considered in view of the rest of the limitations of the claimed invention.
Claim 20 is allowed. Ecton is the closest prior art and discloses the IC device including the dielectric structure (103) that includes a plurality of conductive vias/TGVs (110), but not a conductive structure also disposed in the dielectric structure, such that a first conductive via electrically coupled to the first contact structure, a second conductive via electrically coupled to the second contact structure, and the conductive structure electrically coupling the first conductive via to the second conductive via, when considered in view of the rest of the limitations of the claimed invention. It is the examiner’s position that additional modifications to arrive at the claimed invention in view of Ecton, i.e., the two PICs 104-1, 104-2 in Ecton would be electrically coupled to each other, would not have been obvious to an ordinary artisan.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US20240004129 discloses a PIC having dies (102) coupled by waveguides (108).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLIE PENG whose telephone number is (571)272-2177. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached at (571)270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLIE Y PENG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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