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
Claims 3-4, 7-13 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/29/2026.
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.
(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) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP2003124126A, hereinafter ‘Toyama’.
Regarding Claim 1, Toyama discloses an SiC crystal substrate ([0001]),
wherein in an X-ray photoelectron spectrum under conditions of incident X-ray energy of 250 eV and a photoelectron take-off angle of 45 degrees, when a sum of an area of a Si 2p1/2 spectrum and an area of a Si 2p3/2 spectrum is 1, a sum of an area of a Si2+ spectrum, an area of a Si3+ spectrum, and an area of a Si4+ spectrum is smaller than 1.8 (as disclosed by the publication of the instant application at [0046], Si 2p1/2 spectrum 41 and Si 2p3/2 spectrum 42 are related to a bond between silicon (Si) and carbon (C), while Si2+ spectrum 33, Si3+ spectrum 32, and Si4+ spectrum 31 are related to a bond between silicon (Si) and oxygen (O).
Toyama discloses that the silicon carbide substrate is subjected to ultrasonic cleaning with acetone, 49% HF treatment, and rinsing with running water to remove foreign matter such as organic substances and oxide films from the surface of the SiC substrate – as a result, the treated substrate assumes a 1×1 structure in which only Si and C atoms are periodically arranged, and does not exhibit the presence of any oxygen on the surface of the substrate ([0025], [0027]). Toyama discloses that treatment results in a substrate in which “no reaction products—specifically oxides—remain on the SiC surface” ([0030]). Therefore, given that Si2+ spectrum 33, Si3+ spectrum 32, and Si4+ spectrum 31 are related to a bond between silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), and given the surface of the substrate of Toyama does not possess any O on its surface, the sum of an area of a Si2+ spectrum, an area of a Si3+ spectrum, and an area of a Si4+ spectrum would be nearly or equal to zero, or at least be smaller than 1.8).
Regarding Claim 2, Toyama discloses the sum of an area of a Si2+ spectrum, an area of a Si3+ spectrum, and an area of a Si4+ spectrum is smaller than 1.8 (as disclosed by the publication of the instant application at [0046], Si 2p1/2 spectrum 41 and Si 2p3/2 spectrum 42 are related to a bond between silicon (Si) and carbon (C), while Si2+ spectrum 33, Si3+ spectrum 32, and Si4+ spectrum 31 are related to a bond between silicon (Si) and oxygen (O). Toyama discloses that the silicon carbide substrate is subjected to ultrasonic cleaning with acetone, 49% HF treatment, and rinsing with running water to remove foreign matter such as organic substances and oxide films from the surface of the SiC substrate – as a result, the treated substrate assumes a 1×1 structure in which only Si and C atoms are periodically arranged, and does not exhibit the presence of any oxygen on the surface of the substrate ([0025], [0027]). Toyama discloses that treatment results in a substrate in which “no reaction products—specifically oxides—remain on the SiC surface” ([0030]). Therefore, given that Si2+ spectrum 33, Si3+ spectrum 32, and Si4+ spectrum 31 are related to a bond between silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), and given the surface of the substrate of Toyama does not possess any O on its surface, the sum of an area of a Si2+ spectrum, an area of a Si3+ spectrum, and an area of a Si4+ spectrum would be nearly or equal to zero, or at least be smaller than 1.1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art neither discloses nor reasonably suggests that an X-ray absorption coefficient of a peak between 1855 eV and 1865 eV of the X-ray absorption coefficient spectrum is larger than 0.45 in the disclosed silicon carbide substrate. While the prior art discloses a substrate meeting that required by Claim 1, the prior art does not provide a basis to conclude that the X-ray absorption coefficient spectrum of the prior art product would be within the claimed range.
Conclusion
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LOGAN LACLAIR
Examiner
Art Unit 1736
/L.E.L./Examiner, Art Unit 1736
/ANTHONY J ZIMMER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1736
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