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 1: claims 1-13 in the “Response to Election / Restriction Filed - 07/09/2026”, is acknowledged.
this office action considers claims 1-25 pending for prosecution, of which claims 14-25 are withdrawn, and claims 1-13 are examined on their merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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.
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 of this title, 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.
Notes: when present, semicolon separated fields within the parenthesis (; ;) represent, for example, as (500; Fig 5A; [0088]) = (element 500; Figure No. 5A; Paragraph No. [0088]). For brevity, the texts “Element”, “Figure No.” and “Paragraph No.” shall be excluded, though; additional clarification notes may be added within each field. The number of fields may be fewer or more than three indicated above. These conventions are used throughout this document.
Claim 1-9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Doll; Joseph C. et al (US 20180019724 A1) hereinafter Doll; or in the alternative are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doll as being unpatentable over Jaakkola; Antti et al (US 20160099704 A1), hereinafter Jaakkola in view Bontemps; Joep J.M. (US 20120187507 A1) hereinafter Bontemps.
Regarding claim 1; Doll teaches a MEMS resonator device (200; Fig 2; [0078]) comprising (see the entire document, Figs 5A-5C along with 1B-1E; and 3A-3E, specifically as cited below):
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Doll Figures 5A-5C
a support structure (substrate Field area; [0088]);
a resonator element (500; Fig. 5A-5C; [0088]; first cited in Fig 1B-1E, wherein Fig 1B; [0067] illustrates a DDS resonator including at least one degenerately doped semiconductor layer (“DDS Resonator”) is disposed between two electrode structures (e.g., used for driving and sensing the resonator, respectively) and having one or more anchor points 506a,506b; Fig 1C as a single layer resonator; Fig 1C; [0069]) doped with at least one of N-type or P-type dopants ([0038], degenerately doped semiconductor (DDS) and the manner of its deployment within a monolithic or composite resonant structure are engineered to control the linear TCF and at least one higher order TCF of a resonant mode of the structure; dopant type(s);[0050], degenerately doped silicon),
wherein a doping concentration of the at least one of N-type or P-type dopants causes a closely temperature-compensated mode in which (i) an absolute value of a first order temperature coefficient of frequency of the resonator element (500) is reduced to a first value that is below a threshold value and (ii) an absolute value of a second order temperature coefficient of frequency of the resonator element (201) is reduced to about zero (construed from [0006], equation (l);, [0038], the material properties of a degenerately doped semiconductor and the manner of its deployment ... are engineered to control the liner TCF and at least one higher order TCF of a resonant mode of the structure; for example and without limitation ... dopant type(s) and concentration(s) ... may all be parameterized within a "DDS resonator" design and thus used as adjustable "knobs" for TCF engineering; , [0043], TCP-compensating embodiments disclosed herein compensate not only for the first-order TCF, but also higher-order TCF terms, e.g. the quadratic and cubic TCFs;, [0044], null or otherwise attenuate (e.g. to zero, substantially zero, or an otherwise negligible level) the first, second, third, and fourth order TCF terms or any two of those;, [0058], performance may be substantially be increased through control over at least the first two temperature coefficients) , and
wherein an anchor (anchor 507a,507b; Figs 5A-5B; [0088]; first cited [0067], having one or more anchor points; Fig. lB) decoupler region formed on the resonator element (500) causes the absolute value of the first order temperature coefficient of frequency of the resonator element (500) to be further reduced to a second value smaller than the first value [0044], null or otherwise attenuate (e.g. to zero, substantially zero, or an otherwise negligible level) the first, second, third, and fourth order TCF terms or any two of those); and
at least one anchor (anchor 507a,507b; Figs 5A-5B; [0088]; first cited [0067], having one or more anchor points; Fig. lB) coupling the resonator element (500) to the support structure (substrate Field area; [0088]), wherein the anchor decoupler region (Figs 5A-5B; spring area) is formed on the resonator element (500) at least partially surrounding the at least one anchor (Anchor 507a,507b).
However, assuming arguendo that the claim must be so narrowly construed such that Doll does not expressly disclose wherein a doping concentration of the at least one of N-type or P-type dopants, then alternatively, in the analogous art another prior art Jaakkola teaches adjusting temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of plate resonators. ([0001]), wherein ([0012) a microelectromechanical resonator device comprising a support structure and a semiconductor resonator plate doped to a doping concentration with an n-type doping agent and being capable of resonating in a width-extensional resonance mode. In addition, there is at least one anchor suspending the resonator plate to the support structure and an actuator for exciting the width-extensional resonance mode into the resonator plate. According to the invention, the resonator plate is doped to a doping concentration of 1.2*10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3 or more, in particular 1.3*10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3 or more and has a shape which, in combination with said doping concentration and in said width-extensional resonance mode, provides second order temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF.sub.2) of 12 ppb C or less (in absolute value) at least at one temperature. Preferred shapes are disclosed later in this document.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to accommodate wherein a doping concentration of the at least one of N-type of Jaakkola into Doll’s MEMS resonator device, since this inclusion, at least, at the disclosed doping concentration, one can produce a resonator whose second order TCP is zero or close to zero (i.e. below 12 ppb/C.sup.2) in the width-extensional resonance mode and thus, the resonator has high second order frequency stability at varying temperatures. (Jaakkola [0016]).
Regarding claim 2; Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, further teaches, wherein the anchor decoupler region (Figs 5A-5B; spring area) comprises at least one trench layer comprising one or more trenches etched (trench 512; Fig 5A; [0079]) into the resonator element.
Regarding claim 3, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, further teaches, wherein the threshold value is a first threshold value, and wherein the anchor decoupler region (by trench 512 and spring; [0088]) further reduces an amount of energy transferred to the at least one anchor (507a/507b) during operation of the MEMS resonator device to satisfy a second threshold value.
Regarding claim 4, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, further teaches, wherein the MEMS resonator device is configured to operate as an oscillator ([0090]).
Regarding claim 5, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, further teaches, wherein the MEMS resonator device is configured to operate in an in-plane mode of vibration (construed from [0054] where the resonator structure is constructed of thin layers and only the motion of the material on a single axis is considered; [0090]: For example, vectors (arrows; projecting from the edge of the resonator body illustrate a direction of motion of the resonator during an expansion phase of an oscillation cycle) as well as an out-of-plane mode of vibration (construed from [0088] resonator axis 503 is disposed at a nonzero angle, Φ (i.e., the “resonator angle”), with respect to the crystallographic axis 504).
Regarding claim 6, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, further teaches, wherein the MEMS resonator device is configured to operate in a single mode of vibration comprising an in-plane mode of vibration. (construed from [0054] where the resonator structure is constructed of thin layers and only the motion of the material on a single axis is considered; [0090]: For example, vectors (arrows) projecting from the edge of the resonator body illustrate a direction of motion of the resonator during an expansion phase of an oscillation cycle )
Regarding claim 7, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, further teaches, wherein the MEMS resonator device is configured to operate in a single mode of vibration comprising an out-of-plane mode of vibration (construed from [0088] resonator axis 503 is disposed at a nonzero angle, Φ (i.e., the “resonator angle”), with respect to the crystallographic axis 504). .
Regarding claim 8, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, further teaches, wherein a geometric modification (7; Figs 9-17, 23-24) is applied to the resonator element (202) to, in combination with the anchor decoupler region, cause the absolute value of the first order temperature coefficient of frequency of the resonator element to be further reduced to the second value (Jaakkola [0048] the linear TCF of a resonator fabricated from an anisotropic degenerately doped semiconductor, such as single-crystal silicon, is adjusted by rotating the orientation of the resonator geometry relative to underlying crystal axes; the linear TCF of a resonator is tuned by altering the geometry of the resonator and/or the mode shape; [0050], this composite structure, an example of a DDS resonator, can be engineered to simultaneously achieve targe values or ranges of values for two or more of the TCFs of a particular resonance mode; the first-order and second-order TCFs of a particular resonance mode of the structure as a whole are both within a specified tolerance from zero, thus yielding a temperature-insensitive resonator).
Regarding claim 9, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 8, further teaches, wherein applying the geometric modification comprises adding one or more additional areas to the resonator element (claimed features, structures, or characteristics are construed from: Jaakkola [0066], the invention covers a large number of different resonance frequencies, doping concentrations, geometrical configurations including shape, thickness and orientation of the resonator).
Regarding claim 13, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, further teaches, (the device) further comprising:
at least one driving electrode (electrode 1; [0078]; Fig 3A-3B; cited also in [0042] characterized as electrostatic control electrodes mechanical stress tuning using a piezoelectric material, and fractional-N phase locked loops) for electrostatic actuation of the resonator element; and
at least one sense electrode (Second Electrode fig 5B; [0089]; first cited in [0051] and detailed as electrode 2 in fig 3B) for electrostatic sensing of the resonator element.
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doll; Joseph C. et al (US 20180019724 A1) hereinafter Doll; inview of Jaakkola; Antti et al (US 20160099704 A1), hereinafter Jaakkola; and in further view Bontemps; Joep J.M. (US 20120187507 A1) hereinafter Bontemps.
Regarding claim 10, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 8, does not expressly disclose,, wherein applying the geometric modification comprises subtracting one or more areas from the resonator element.
However, in the analogous art, Bontemps discloses [0060,0063] subtracting one or more areas from the resonator element by eliminate geometrical offset.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate teaching of of Bontemps into (Doll and Jaakkola) so that the combination have having, at least, subtracting one or more areas from the resonator element .
The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Jaakkola’s teching in the manner set forth above because Jaakkola in [0072] suggest the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner and Bontemps provides that step od subtracting process, and the combined structure will work perfectly.
Regarding claim 11, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 8, further teaches, wherein applying the geometric modification comprises adding one or more additional areas to the resonator element (Jaakkola [0057] provided with one or more protrusions or other extensions in order to adjust its properties), and but does not disclose subtracting one or more areas from the resonator element.
However, in the analogous art, Bontemps discloses (0060,0063) subtracting one or more areas from the resonator element by eliminate geometrical offset.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate teaching of of Bontemps into (Doll and Jaakkola)’s device so that the combination have, at least, subtracting one or more areas from the resonator element .
The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Jaakkola’s teaching in the manner set forth above because Jaakkola in [0072] suggest the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner and Bontemps provides that step od subtracting process, and the combination will work perfectly.
Regarding claim 12, Doll alone or the combination of (Doll and Jaakkola), as applied to the MEMS resonator device of claim 1, does not expressly disclose, wherein an angle of an in- plane rotation of the resonator element, in combination with the anchor decoupler region, causes the absolute value of the first order temperature coefficient of frequency of the resonator element to be further reduced to the second value.
However, in the analogous art, Bontemps discloses [0060,0063]) comprises applying the in-plane rotation to the resonator element at an angle that reduces the absolute value of the first order temperature coefficient of frequency of the resonator element to the second value.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate teaching of of Bontemps into (Doll and Jaakkola)’s device so that the combination have, at least, applying the in-plane rotation to the resonator element at an angle that reduces the absolute value of the first order temperature coefficient of frequency of the resonator element to the second value..
The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Jaakkola’s teaching in the manner set forth above because Jaakkola in [0072] suggest the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner and Bontemps provides that step od subtracting process, and the combination will work perfectly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOAZZAM HOSSAIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7960. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:30AM - 6:00 PM.
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/MOAZZAM HOSSAIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
July 24, 2026
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