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 .
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.
Claim(s) 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US ‘037 (US PGPub 2016/0047037).
Claim 28 – US ‘037 teaches a film-forming apparatus that performs a mist CVD method (Abstract, PG 0004, 0006), comprising:
a substrate heating means having a substrate mounting portion on which a substrate is mounted (PG 0017) ;
a nozzle that supplies mist containing a raw material solution, a discharge direction of which is perpendicular to a surface of the substrate (PG 0017, Figure 1); and
a position adjusting means for the nozzle and/or the substrate heating means, the position adjusting means being capable of adjusting a position of the substrate mounting portion to a position in the discharging direction of the nozzle and to a position other than the discharging direction of the nozzle (PG 0019, Figures 2-3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 23-27 and 31-34 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Examiner cites US ‘037 (U.S. PGPub 2016/0047037), US ‘511 (U.S. PGPub 2016/0222511), JP ‘396 (JP 2020-002396), and JP ‘426 (JP 2020-002426) as the most relevant art to the claimed inventive concept.
US ‘037 is drawn to a film formation method involving mist spray of a compound onto a substrate, followed by plasma treatment (Abstract). Zinc oxide is disclosed at e.g. PG 0042; gallium oxide is claimed. Heating the substrate is disclosed at PG 0024. Heating the nozzle is not disclosed. The required orientation for film forming is depicted in Figure 2. The film is formed while the substrate is beneath the nozzle (Fig 2, PG 0018-0019).
US ‘511 is drawn to mist CVD (Abstract). Gallium compounds are contemplated at PG 0047, oxidizers at PG 0048; gallium oxide is contemplated at PG 0057. Heating the substrate is disclosed at PG 0039-0040. Heating the nozzle is not disclosed. The required orientation for film forming is not disclosed (Figure 1, gas inlet is parallel to deposition surface and not vertically above it).
JP ‘396 is drawn to mist CVD with excellent uniformity (machine abstract). Gallium is contemplated for deposition, as are oxidizers (The raw material solution is not particularly limited as long as it contains a material that can be converted into a mist, and may be an inorganic material or an organic material. A metal or a metal compound is suitably used, and one containing one or more metals selected from gallium, iron, indium, aluminum, vanadium, titanium, chromium, rhodium, nickel and cobalt can be used. … Further, additives such as hydrohalic acid and oxidizing agents may be mixed in the raw material solution. Examples of the hydrohalic acid include hydrobromic acid, hydrochloric acid, and hydroiodic acid, and among them, hydrobromic acid or hydroiodic acid is preferable. Examples of the oxidizing agent include hydrogen peroxide (H .sub.2 O .sub.2 ), sodium peroxide (Na .sub.2 O .sub.2 ), barium peroxide (BaO .sub.2 ), and benzoyl peroxide (C .sub.6 H .sub.5 CO) .sub.2 O .sub.2. Peroxides, hypochlorous acid (HClO), perchloric acid, nitric acid, ozone water, and organic peroxides such as peracetic acid and nitrobenzene.) Gallium oxide is contemplated (Next, the ultrasonic vibrator 106 was vibrated at 2.4 MHz, and the vibration was propagated through the water 105a to the raw material solution 104a, whereby the raw material solution 104a was converted into a mist to generate mist. This mist was introduced into the film forming chamber 107 through the supply pipe 109 by the carrier gas. Then, the mist was thermally reacted in the film formation chamber 107 under the condition of 500 ° C. under the atmospheric pressure to form a gallium oxide (α-Ga .sub.2 O .sub.3 ) thin film having a corundum structure on the substrate 110. The film formation time was 30 minutes.). Substrate heating is disclosed (see above). Nozzle heating is not disclosed. The required orientation for film forming is depicted in Figure 1. The film is formed while the substrate is beneath the nozzle (Fig 1).
JP ‘426 is drawn to Mist CVD (Abstract). Gallium oxide is disclosed (Next, the ultrasonic vibrator 106 was vibrated at 2.4 MHz, and the vibration was propagated through the water 105a to the raw material solution 104a, whereby the raw material solution 104a was converted into a mist to generate mist. This mist was introduced into the film forming chamber 107 by the carrier gas through the supply pipe 109a. Then, the mist was thermally reacted in the film formation chamber 107 under the condition of 500 ° C. under the atmospheric pressure to form a gallium oxide (α-Ga .sub.2 O .sub.3 ) thin film having a corundum structure on the substrate 110. The film formation time was 30 minutes.) Substrate heating is disclosed (as above). Nozzle heating is not disclosed (Figures, all heating elements stop outside the chamber while the nozzle extends inside. Further: The transport unit heating unit 111 is provided in the transport unit 109 to heat the transport unit 109. As shown in FIG. 1, the transport unit heating means 111 is preferably provided over the entire transport unit 109, that is, over the entire range from the outlet of the mist generating unit 120 to the entrance of the film forming unit 140. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 (reference numerals are omitted as appropriate), it may be provided only in a part of the supply pipe 109 a of the transport unit 109. The heating mechanism of the transporting section heating means 111 is not particularly limited, and any heating method such as resistance heating, high-frequency heating, light heating using infrared rays or the like may be used.) The required orientation for film forming is depicted in Figure 1. The film is formed while the substrate is beneath the nozzle (Fig 1).
As regards Claim 23, none of the cited documents fairly teach or suggest heating the nozzle. JP ‘426 contemplates heating means for the transport path but not the nizzle component in the film forming unit. Further, JP ‘426 discloses that the external heating is sufficient to avoid condensation of the mist, which would be the conventional reason for heating the nozzle (When the amount of water in the pipe is formally converted to the amount of saturated steam from the flow rate of the carrier gas and the flow rate of the mist, it indicates that the concentration of the mist in the pipe is supersaturated. Therefore, when the mist comes into contact with the wall of the pipe having a low temperature, the mist easily condenses and agglomerates to form dew (deterioration of the life of the mist). become unable. That is, it causes a reduction in the film forming speed. To solve this problem, if the transport unit 109 is heated by the transport unit heating unit 111, mist condensation and aggregation are suppressed, and as a result, the film forming speed can be increased.). Therefore, modification of the teachings of the cited inventions, alone or in aggregate, to specifically heat the nozzle as claimed would not be considered by a person having ordinary skill in the art. Claims 23-27 are allowed.
Claims 31-34 require a specific measurement which is not contemplated in the prior art and are therefore allowed.
Claims 29-30 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. The means to move a non-mounted portion of a substrate heating means to a given position is not contemplated in the prior art commensurate with the invention claimed. As discussed in the allowance of Claim 23, heating means for the nozzle are not contemplated in the prior art..
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL G MILLER whose telephone number is (571)270-1861. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Cleveland can be reached at 571-272-1418. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL G MILLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1712
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