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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-8 are pending and are currently under examination.
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.
Claims 1-4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ingham et al. (US 2008/0292492).
In regard to claims 1 and 3, Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses tin based solder alloys that would be used for ball grid array having compositions relative to that of the instant invention as set forth below (abstract, [0011-0030] and [0035]).
Element
Instant Claim
(weight percent)
Ingham et al. (‘492)
(weight percent)
Overlap
Ag
0.8 – 1.3
0.1 – 1.5
0.8 – 1.3
Cu
0.50 – 0.75
0.6 – 0.8
0.60 – 0.75
Bi
1.5 – 2.5
0.08 – 3
1.5 – 2.5
Ni
0.03 – 0.10
0.02 – 0.3
0.03 – 0.1
Sn
Balance
Balance
Balance
The Examiner notes that the amounts of silver, copper, bismuth and nickel for the tin based alloys disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492) overlap the amounts of the instant invention, which is prima facie evidence of obviousness. MPEP 2144.05 I. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing of the instant invention to select the claimed amounts of silver, copper, bismuth and nickel from the amounts disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492) because Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses the same utility throughout the disclosed ranges.
In regard to claims 2 and 4, Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses 0 to 0.1 mass percent germanium, which encompasses the range of the instant invention [0016].
In regard to claim 6, Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses tin based solder alloys that would be used for ball grid array arranged between two substrates (upper and lower electronic components) having compositions relative to that of the instant invention as set forth below (abstract, [0003-0005], [0011-0030] and [0035]).
Element
Instant Claim
(weight percent)
Ingham et al. (‘492)
(weight percent)
Overlap
Ag
0.8 – 1.3
0.1 – 1.5
0.8 – 1.3
Cu
0.50 – 0.75
0.6 – 0.8
0.60 – 0.75
Bi
1.5 – 2.5
0.08 – 3
1.5 – 2.5
Ni
0.03 – 0.10
0.02 – 0.3
0.03 – 0.1
Sn
Balance
Balance
Balance
The Examiner notes that the amounts of silver, copper, bismuth and nickel for the tin based alloys disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492) overlap the amounts of the instant invention, which is prima facie evidence of obviousness. MPEP 2144.05 I. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing of the instant invention to select the claimed amounts of silver, copper, bismuth and nickel from the amounts disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492) because Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses the same utility throughout the disclosed ranges.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ingham et al. (US 2008/0292492) as applied to claim 4, and further in view of Kim et al. (Thermal diffusivity of Sn-Ag-Cu-based, Pb-free, micro-and nano-sized solder balls).
In regard to claim 5, Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses forming tin-based alloy solder balls as set forth above, but Ingham et al. (‘492) does not specify wherein the solder balls would have a particle diameter of 10 to 780 micrometers.
Kim et al. teaches that as the solder ball diameter within the range of 170 nm to 140 µm increases so too does the thermal diffusivity of the solder ball (Table 1 and Conclusions). MPEP 2144.05 II.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing of the instant invention to modify the tin-based solder balls as disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492), within a range of 170 nm to 140 µm, as disclosed by Kim et al., in order to achieve the desired thermal diffusivity, as disclosed by Kim et al. since solder ball size is a result-effective variable in achieving the desired thermal diffusivity (Table 1 and Conclusions). MPEP 2144.05 II.
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimodaira (US 2017/0179012) or Nobori (US 6,864,574) in view of Ingham et al. (US 2008/0292492).
In regard to claims 6-7, Shimodaira (‘012) discloses a semiconductor device with a wiring substrate including an electrode (pad), a solder resist, and an opening that exposes the electrode [0003]. Shimodaira (‘012) further discloses forming bumps on the wiring substrate and mounting a semiconductor element, which would inherently have an electrode, on the bumps [0019]. The wiring substrate also includes a lower surface on which bumps are formed to connect to another substrate such as a motherboard with an external connection [0020]. However, Shimodaira (‘017) does not specify the composition of the solder alloy bumps.
Nobori (‘574) discloses a pillared electrode where there is an upper base material with a copper electrode and semiconductor below with a first electrode above and an upper face second electrode with a tin-silver-copper based solder in between the upper materials and the semiconductor material/electrodes below (Figures 14-15 and columns 13-15). However, Nobori (‘574) does not specify the specific composition of the tin-silver-copper based solder.
Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses tin based solder alloys that would be used for ball grid array arranged between two substrates (upper and lower electronic components) having compositions relative to that of the instant invention as set forth below (abstract, [0003-0005], [0011-0030] and [0035]).
Element
Instant Claim
(weight percent)
Ingham et al. (‘492)
(weight percent)
Overlap
Ag
0.8 – 1.3
0.1 – 1.5
0.8 – 1.3
Cu
0.50 – 0.75
0.6 – 0.8
0.60 – 0.75
Bi
1.5 – 2.5
0.08 – 3
1.5 – 2.5
Ni
0.03 – 0.10
0.02 – 0.3
0.03 – 0.1
Sn
Balance
Balance
Balance
The Examiner notes that the amounts of silver, copper, bismuth and nickel for the tin based alloys disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492) overlap the amounts of the instant invention, which is prima facie evidence of obviousness. MPEP 2144.05 I. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing of the instant invention to select the claimed amounts of silver, copper, bismuth and nickel from the amounts disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492) because Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses the same utility throughout the disclosed ranges.
Ingham et al. (‘492) further discloses wherein using the disclosed tin-based solder alloys would provide improved mechanical properties and oxidation resistance [0010].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing of the instant invention to modify the semiconductor device (package), as disclosed by Shimodaira (‘012), by using the tin-based solder alloys, as disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492), in order to provide improved mechanical properties and oxidation resistance, as disclosed by Ingham et al. (‘492) [0010].
In regard to claim 8, Ingham et al. (‘492) discloses using organic coatings (OSP) on substrates in order to improve wetting [0008].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Imamura et al. (‘020).
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/JESSEE R ROE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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