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
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/11/2024 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hori JP 2015-119219A in view of Yamamoto et al JP 201819286a ( both of record).
Hori discloses example 1 :A Si substrate having a thickness of 500 μm was prepared as a first support substrate, and a LiNbO 3 substrate (per claim 5) (LN substrate) having a thickness of 230 μm was prepared as a piezoelectric substrate. The LN substrate was bonded to the Si substrate using an acrylic adhesive to obtain a bonded substrate. A polishing apparatus (see FIG. 3) provided with a surface plate and a ceramic substrate carrier (wafer ) is prepared, and the Si substrate side of the bonded substrate is fixed to the substrate carrier with wax so that the thickness of the LN substrate is 1.0 μm. A photolithography process was performed on the LN substrate side of the bonded substrate using a photomask prepared in advance to form a large number of electrodes. Next, an alkali-free glass substrate (wafer) having a thickness of 200 μm in which many cavities having a size of 1 mm square and a depth of 50 μm were formed was prepared as a second support substrate. Subsequently, the bonded substrate and the glass substrate were directly installed in the bonding apparatus . Then, the surface of the bonded substrate and the cavity forming surface of the glass substrate were irradiated with an argon ion beam to activate the surfaces, and both substrates were bonded under a load of about 200 kg. As a result, a three-layer structure in which the LN substrate was sandwiched between the Si substrate and the glass substrate was obtained. (i.e. preparing a wafer) The three-layer structure was taken out from the apparatus, the glass substrate side was attached to a dicing tape, and half dicing was performed. (i.e. attaching the wafer to a dicing tape and dicing the wafer to singulate the acoustic wave element)
With regards to claim 4, the support substrate including a principal surface facing the piezoelectric material layer; and a bonding layer on the principal surface of the support substrate; and the hollow portion is provided in the bonding layer at a position overlapping a portion of the functional electrode in plain view as viewed in the lamination direction.
Thus Hori is shown to teach all the limitations with the exception of abutting at least one pin against the acoustic wave element with the dicing tape interposed therebetween, to separate the acoustic wave element from the dicing tape and pick up the acoustic wave element; wherein a position at which the at least one pin is abutted against the acoustic wave element overlaps the hollow portion in the lamination direction, the functional electrode is an interdigital transducer (IDT) electrode.
Yamamoto et al discloses in figure 2A shows an example of a surface acoustic wave element as the functional element 22. The substrate 20 is a piezoelectric substrate such as a lithium tantalate substrate or a lithium niobate substrate. The substrate 20 may be a substrate in which a piezoelectric substrate such as a lithium tantalate substrate or a lithium niobate substrate is bonded to the upper surface of a support substrate such as a sapphire substrate, a spinel substrate, an alumina substrate, or a silicon substrate. An IDT (Interdigital Transducer) 40 and a reflector 42 are formed on the substrate 10. The IDT 40 has a pair of comb electrodes 40a facing each other. The comb-shaped electrode 40a includes a plurality of electrode fingers 40b and a bus bar 40c that connects the plurality of electrode fingers 40b. The reflectors 42 are provided on both sides of the IDT 40. The IDT 40 excites surface acoustic waves on the substrate 10. The IDT 40 and the reflector 42 are formed of an aluminum layer or a metal layer such as copper. A protective film or a temperature compensation film made of an insulator may be provided on the IDT 40 and the reflector 42.
Yamamoto et al discloses a surface on the opposite side of the functional element 22 of the device chip 21 is attached to the dicing tape 62. The device chip 21 is pushed up from below the dicing tape 62 with pins 64. The collet 60 is provided with a suction hole 61. By making negative pressure in the suction hole 61, the suction surface of the collet 60 sucks the surface of the device chip 21 on the functional element 22 side.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to provide the method of Hori with a pin as taught by Yamamoto et al .
The motivation for this modification would have been to provide an equivalent means for removing the diced substrate.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to replace the general electrode of Hori with the interdigital electrode as taught by Yamamoto et al.
The motivation for this modification would have been to provide equivalent electrode means.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-18 are allowed.
Claims 2 3 and 7-9 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.
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December 12, 2025
/K.E.G/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843