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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 contains the limitation “depositing a tunnel passivation structure on a back surface of the N-type silicon substrate, and then depositing a mask layer on the tunnel passivation structure” and “performing boron diffusion treatment on the cleaned front surface of the N-type silicon substrate and annealing treatment on the pre-formed tunnel passivation structure in the same environment, so that a first emitter layer is formed on the front surface of the N-type silicon substrate and the tunnel passivation structure is crystallized”. The limitation “the pre-formed tunnel passivation structure” does not have antecedent basis in the claim. Is the previously set forth “a tunnel passivation structure” the same or different from the subsequently recited “pre-formed tunnel passivation structure”? How are they related to each other? Claim 1 further contains the limitation “then cleaning the N-type silicon substrate surface in order to clean the mask layer on the tunnel passivation structure on the back surface”. It is unclear if “the tunnel passivation structure” refers to the previously set forth “tunnel passivation structure” or the “pre-formed tunnel passivation structure”. Clarification and appropriate correction is required between the “tunnel passivation structure” and the “pre-formed tunnel passivation structure”.
Claims 2-13 and 15 are additionally rejected as being dependent on a rejected base claim and including all of the limitations thereof.
Claim 2 contains the limitation “wherein the pre-formed tunnel passivation structure is subjected to an annealing treatment, so that crystallization of the materials in the passivation contact material layer is completed”. Claim 1, from which claim 2 depends, includes the limitation “performing boron diffusion treatment on the cleaned front surface of the N-type silicon substrate and annealing treatment on the pre-formed tunnel passivation structure in the same environment, so that a first emitter layer is formed on the front surface of the N-type silicon substrate and the tunnel passivation structure is crystallized”. The term “an annealing treatment” in claim 2 does not have clear antecedent basis. It is unclear if the “annealing treatment” recited in claim 2 is the same or different from the annealing treatment set forth in claim 1. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
Claims 3 and 4 are additionally rejected as being dependent on claim 2 and including all of the claim limitations thereof.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 and 15 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINDSEY A BUCK whose telephone number is (571)270-1234. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm.
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/LINDSEY A BUCK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1728