Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/22/25 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Note: claim 1 is rejected twice below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 1, 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu, Jun (CN 110834474) in view of Sun, Yu-meng (CN 111323617). (“Yu” and “Sun”, both provided in the IDS).
5. Regarding claim 1, Yu teaches A method of fabricating a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center quantum sensing device based on electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing [Figures 1-2, Abstract, claim 1 teaches a method of fabricating a structure], comprising the steps of: providing a nanopipette with an aperture at one end and filled with (nanodiamond) suspension ink so the ink is present in a meniscus at an end of the aperture, the (nanodiamond) suspension ink comprising (nanodiamonds and) solvent [Figures 1-2, Abstract, claim 1 teaches providing a nanopipette/spray/needed 3 with an aperture, filled with nano-material ink comprising solvent]; supporting the nanopipette apart from a substrate having a back electrode [Figures 1-2, the nanopipette 3 is supposed apart from a substrate 10 having a back electrode 9/11]; applying a DC pulse between the nanopipette and the back electrode so as to generate an electrostatic attractive force between the meniscus at the nanopipette and the substrate, resulting in the ejection of (nano-diamond-laden) droplets with sub-attoliter volume; allowing the droplet to land on the substrate; and allowing the droplet to dry due to solvent evaporation [Figures 1-2, signal generation device 4 applies a DC pulse between the nanopipette 3 and the back electrode 9/11 to generate an electrostatic attractive force, resulting in ejection of nano-material droplets, allowing droplets to land on the substrate 9/11 and allowing the droplet to dry due to solvent evaporation].
Yu does not explicitly teach nanodiamond suspension ink.
However, Sun teaches nanodiamond suspension ink [Figures 1-3, Abstract teaches nanodiamond waveguide/suspension ink].
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Yu with Sun. Doing so would allow Yu to comprise nanodiamond suspension ink which would help obtain higher sensitivity and yield better manufacturing results.
6. Regarding claim 7, Yu teaches wherein the nanopipette is supported at a fixed separation from a substrate [Figures 1-2, the nanopipette 3 is supported at a fixed position from a substrate 9/11].
7. Regarding claim 9, Yu teaches wherein the substrate is supported by a three-axis stepping motorized stage that keeps the nanopipette and substrate at a fixed separation, but allows the substrate to be moved with respect to the nanopipette so that an array of droplets can be printed on the substrate [Figures 1-2, see stage 11].
8. Claim 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (CN 110834474) in view of Sun (CN 111323617) in further view of Chen et al. (US 2021/0138794). (“Chen”).
9. Regarding claim 2, Yu teaches the method.
Yu and Sun does not explicitly teach wherein the nanopipette is made of glass.
However, Chen teaches wherein the nanopipette is made of glass [Figures 1-2, P(0059) teaches a glass nozzle].
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Yu and Sun with Chen. Doing so would allow Yu and Sun to comprise a glass nozzle which would help the ink meniscus to project further down and improve landing.
10. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rogers et al. (US 2011/0187798) in view of Sun (CN 111323617). (“Rogers”).
11. Regarding claim 1, Rogers teaches A method of fabricating a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center quantum sensing device based on electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing [Figures 1-4, Abstract, P(0097-0099, 0155) teaches a method of fabricating a structure], comprising the steps of: providing a nanopipette with an aperture at one end and filled with (nanodiamond) suspension ink so the ink is present in a meniscus at an end of the aperture, the (nanodiamond) suspension ink comprising (nanodiamonds and) solvent [Figures 1-4 teaches providing a nanopipette/nozzle with an aperture, filled with nano-material ink comprising solvent; see Figure 3]; supporting the nanopipette apart from a substrate having a back electrode [Figures 1-4, the nanopipette is supposed apart from a substrate having a back electrode/support]; applying a DC pulse between the nanopipette and the back electrode so as to generate an electrostatic attractive force between the meniscus at the nanopipette and the substrate, resulting in the ejection of (nano-diamond-laden) droplets with sub-attoliter volume; allowing the droplet to land on the substrate; and allowing the droplet to dry due to solvent evaporation [Figures 1-4, power supply shown applies a DC pulse between the nanopipette and the back electrode/support to generate an electrostatic attractive force, resulting in ejection of nano-material droplets, allowing droplets to land on the substrate and allowing the droplet to dry due to solvent evaporation].
Rogers does not explicitly teach nanodiamond suspension ink.
However, Sun teaches nanodiamond suspension ink [Figures 1-3, Abstract teaches nanodiamond waveguide/suspension ink].
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Rogers with Sun. Doing so would allow Rogers to comprise nanodiamond suspension ink which would help obtain higher sensitivity and yield better manufacturing results.
Allowable Subject Matter
12. Claims 3-6, 8, 10 and 11 are 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.
3. The method of forming nanodiamonds according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the nanodiamonds in the nanodiamond suspension ink are carboxylated.
4. The method of forming nanodiamonds according to any one of claims 1-3 wherein nanodiamonds in the nanodiamond suspension ink comprises 1 ~ 4 NV centers per particle.
5. The method of forming nanodiamonds according to any one of claims 1-4 wherein the nanodiamond suspension ink has an ion strength of 13 pM or less.
6. The method of forming nanodiamonds according to any one of claims 1-5 wherein the nanodiamond suspension ink is prepared by adding TX100.
8. The method of forming nanodiamonds according to any one of claims 1-7 wherein the nanodiamonds in the nanodiamond suspension ink has a concentration of 1-4 pg/mL.
10. The method of forming nanodiamonds according to any one of claims 1-9 wherein the back electrode is an indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass plate and the substrate is silicon.
11. The method of forming nanodiamonds according to any one of claims 1-10 wherein the DC pulse had a voltage amplitude of 350V or more and a length of at least 5 ms.
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Barton et al. (US 9,415,590) teaches a ink jet printing system comprising nozzle/spray, x, y, z translational stages for moving the substrate, voltage supply and so on.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NEEL D SHAH whose telephone number is (571)270-3766. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9AM-5:30PM.
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/NEEL D SHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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