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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Information disclosure statement filed 6/18/2024 has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 65, 80-81, 83 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN109491110A (hereinafter “CN’110”).
Regarding claim 65, CN’110 discloses a method for producing at least one ferroelectric device comprising: providing at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer to be structured (300 in Fig. 3; paragraph [0051]); depositing at least one adhesion layer (400 in Fig. 3; paragraph [0052]) on a first side of the at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer; and depositing at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer (500 in Fig. 3; paragraph [0053]) on the at least one adhesion layer.
Regarding claim 80, CN’110 discloses a step of providing at least one or a plurality of electrodes (600 in Fig. 3) on the at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer.
Regarding claim 81, CN’110 discloses a method of producing at least one ferroelectric device without the use of wafer bonding (abstract).
Regarding claim 83, CN’110 discloses a ferroelectric device comprising: at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer (300 in Fig. 3; paragraph [0051]), at least one adhesion layer on a first side of the at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer (400 in Fig. 3; paragraph [0052]); and at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one adhesion layer (500 in Fig. 3; paragraph [0053]).
Claim(s) 82 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN113050307A (hereinafter “CN’307”).
CN’307 discloses a method for producing at least one ferroelectric device comprising: providing at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer to be structured (i.e. lithium niobate 110 in Fig. 1); depositing at least one adhesion layer (i.e. Cr adhesion layer-200 in Fig. 1) on a first side of the at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer; and depositing at least one silicon carbon inclusive layer (300 in Fig. 1) on the at least one adhesion layer.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 66-69, 84 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN’110.
Regarding claim 66-67, CN’110 discloses a method for producing at least one ferroelectric device according to claim 65 as discussed above. However, it does not explicitly disclose the step of depositing at least one further adhesion layer on a second side and depositing at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one further adhesion layer, wherein the second side is located opposite the first side, as claimed in the present application. On the other hand, federal courts have determined that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced by the duplicated parts. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). See also MPEP 2144.04. In the present case, CN’110 discloses a method of producing at least one ferroelectric device comprising the steps of depositing at least one adhesion layer on at least one ferroelectric material, and depositing at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one adhesion layer as already discussed in reference to claim 65. And merely adding additional adhesion layer and depositing at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one additional adhesion layer does not produce any new or unexpected results. On the contrary, adding such additional layers on the second side of the ferroelectric material layer would allow for a formation of additional waveguide layer on the second side of the ferroelectric material layer, which would be neither new nor unexpected. One of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize the advantage of having such additional layers on the second side of the ferroelectric material since it would allow for high density ferroelectric device, capable of coupling and routing plurality of optical signals simultaneously. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the present application to modify the device of CN’110 to have a step of depositing at least one further adhesion layer on a second side of the at least one ferroelectric material layer and depositing at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one further adhesion layer, in the manner claimed in the present application.
Regarding claims 68-69, CN’110 discloses a method for producing at least one ferroelectric device according to claim 65 as discussed above. However, CN’110 does not explicitly disclose the step of depositing a capping layer having a thickness less than that of the at least one diamond-like carbon layer as claimed. On the other hand, the use of a thin capping layer is well known and common in the art. Such capping layers are advantageously used in the art to provide mechanical protections over fragile photonic device components while maintaining compact profile. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the present application to modify the device of CN’110 to implement the step of depositing a capping layer having a thickness less than that of the at least one diamond-like carbon layer as claimed in the present application.
Regarding claim 84, CN’110 discloses a ferroelectric device as discussed regarding claim 83. However, it does not explicitly disclose at least one further adhesion layer disposed on a second side and at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one further adhesion layer, in the manner claimed in the present application. However, such features are obvious for the same reasons as discussed above regarding claims 66-67. As such, the claimed limitations of claim 84 are also rendered obvious for the same reasons.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 70-75 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: as discussed above, a method for producing at least one ferroelectric device comprising a step of providing at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer, depositing at least one adhesion layer on a first side of the at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer; and depositing at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one adhesion layer, is known in the art. However, none of the prior art fairly teaches or suggest such a method further comprising the step of carrying out a photolithography process to provide at least one structured photoresist layer on the capping layer, the at least one structured photoresist layer exposing at least one portion of the capping layer, as claimed in the present application.
Claims 76-79 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: as discussed above, a method for producing at least one ferroelectric device comprising a step of providing at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer, depositing at least one adhesion layer on a first side of the at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer; and depositing at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one adhesion layer, is known in the art. However, none of the prior art fairly teaches or suggest such a method further comprising etching the at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer deposited on the first side or the second side of the at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer to remove the at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer, in the manner claimed in the present application.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent Application Publication No. US 2006/0110914 A1 to Gehoski et al. discloses a method of producing a ferroelectric device comprising a step of providing at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer (i.e. lithium niobate 12 in Fig. 5), depositing at least one adhesion layer on the first side of the at least one ferroelectric material inclusive layer (13 in Fig. 5); depositing at least one diamond-like carbon inclusive layer on the at least one adhesion layer (14 in Fig. 5; paragraph [0023]).
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/SUNG H PAK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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