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 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Masini et al (US 7,397,101 Bl; hereinafter Masini).
Regarding Claim 1, Masini discloses, Figure 1, an optical semiconductor device comprising:
a first semiconductor layer (Figure 1, items 110, 115 and 120; silicon) having a first bandgap; and
a second semiconductor layer (items 130, 140 and 135; germanium) having a second bandgap that is smaller than the first bandgap and formed on the first semiconductor layer (the bandgap of germanium is smaller than that of silicon), wherein
the first semiconductor layer includes
a first conductive region (110; p-type doped silicon) with a first polarity,
a second conductive region (120; n-type doped silicon) with a second polarity, and
a first non-conductive region (115, intrinsic silicon) provided between the first conductive region (110) and the second conductive region (120),
the second semiconductor layer includes
a third conductive region (130/140) with the first polarity (at least element 130 of 130/140 has the first polarity), and
a second non-conductive region (135; intrinsic germanium),
the third conductive region (130) is in contact with the first conductive region (110) and the first non-conductive region (115), and
the second non-conductive region (135) is in contact with at least one of the second conductive region (120) and the first non-conductive region (115) without being in contact with the first conductive region (110).
Regarding Claim 2, Masini discloses, Figure 1, the optical semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein
the first semiconductor layer (110, 115, 120) includes a waveguide (Figure 1, 115) that propagates input light to the optical semiconductor device. Note that element 115 of Figure 1 corresponds to the waveguide, 315, in Figure 5, and that Figure 5 is an intermediate structure (Column 3, lines 30-31) that includes all the features of Figure 1.
Regarding Claim 3, Masini discloses, Figure 1, the optical semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising:
a first electrode in contact with the first conductive region (110); and
a second electrode in contact with the second conductive region (120).
Regarding Claim 6, Masini discloses, Figure 2, the optical semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein
the first conductive region (210) and the second conductive region (220) are formed on an upper surface portion of the first semiconductor layer (labelled “Silicon Oxide layer” in Figure 2) and
a bottom surface of the first semiconductor layer (210, 215 and 220) is formed of a non-conductive material (Figure 2, labeled “Silicon”).
Regarding Claim 7, Masini discloses, Figure 1, the optical semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein
a recess (left and right sides of 115 in Figure 1) is provided on an upper surface of the first semiconductor layer (110, 115 and 120), and
the second semiconductor layer (items 130, 140 and 135) is formed in the recess.
Regarding Claim 8, claim 1 will reinterpreted as follows:
Masini discloses, Figure 10a, an optical semiconductor device comprising:
a first semiconductor layer (612, 626, 632) having a first bandgap; and
a second semiconductor layer (616, 622) having a second bandgap that is smaller than the first bandgap and formed on the first semiconductor layer (the bandgap of germanium is smaller than that of silicon), wherein
the first semiconductor layer includes
a first conductive region (612) with a first polarity,
a second conductive region (632) with a second polarity, and
a first non-conductive region (626) provided between the first conductive region (612) and the second conductive region (632),
the second semiconductor layer includes
a third conductive region (616) with the first polarity, and
a second non-conductive region (622),
the third conductive region (616) is in contact with the first conductive region (612) and the first non-conductive region (626), and
the second non-conductive region (622) is in contact with at least one of the second conductive region and the first non-conductive region (626) without being in contact with the first conductive region (612).
Specifically, for Claim 8, Masini teaches the optical semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a trench (upper left shoulder of 626; see “Trench” in figure below) is provided at a position not in contact with the second semiconductor layer on an upper surface of the first semiconductor layer:
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Regarding Claim 10, Masini discloses, Figure 1, the optical semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein
the first semiconductor layer is formed of silicon (Figure 1, 110, 115 and 120),
the second semiconductor layer is formed of germanium (Figure 1, 130, 140 and 135),
the first polarity is p-type (110), and
the second polarity is n-type (120).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masini in view of Meade et al (US 20140054736 A1; hereinafter Meade).
Regarding Claim 5, Masini discloses, Figure 1, (Column 5, lines 1-5) the optical semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein
a first
a second
electrodes (145 and 150) are in contact with the first high-concentration region (146) and the second high-concentration region (151), respectively.
Masini does not explicitly disclose the relative concentrations of the respective regions.
Meade teaches that a contact region (Meade, Figure 2, item 190; [0020]) would be more heavily doped to provide a good ohmic contact with the first and second conductive regions.
Therefore, it would be obvious to a POSITA that contact regions 146 and 151 (Masini) would need to be more highly doped in order to provide good ohmic contact.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masini in view of Cheng et al (US 20160148959 A1; hereinafter Cheng), and Meade.
Masini anticipates claim 1 and discloses the doped conductive regions (110 and 120) and non-conductive region (115) but is silent as to the dopant concentrations in those regions.
Cheng teaches [0017] concentrations of the conductive regions above 1018/cm3 in the context of P-I-N diode.
Meade teaches [0018] non-conductive (intrinsic) regions with concentrations less than 1016/cm3 in the context of a P-I-N diode taught in [0017].
Because Masini is silent regarding specific concentrations, it would be obvious to a POSITA to use the concentrations taught by Cheng and Meade in the P-I-N device of Masini such that impurity concentrations of the first conductive region (110), the second conductive region (120), and the third conductive region (130/140) are each 1 × 1017/cm3 or more, and impurity concentrations of the first non-conductive region (115) and the second non-conductive region (135) are each 1 × 1016/cm3 or less in order to provide a functional P-I-N diode (Cheng, [0017] and Meade, [0014]).
Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tu et al (US 20210231866 A1; hereinafter Tu) in view of Masini.
Tu discloses (Figures 1 and 5) an optical transceiver ([0036], element 1000) comprising an optical transmitter ([0036], element TX) and an optical receiver ([0036], element RX), wherein
the optical receiver (RX) includes
an optical circuit (Figure 4A)
a plurality of optical semiconductor devices (Figure 1, element 400)
Tu discloses a Mach-Zehnder interferometer as an optical modulator (Figure 5, [0046]), utilized as a phase shifter of the silicon optical modulator. Tu further discloses that the phase shift of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer is dynamically tunable, thus able to extract a 90-degree phase shift and unshifted phase (I and Q).
Tu does not disclose the details of an optical semiconductor device, and therefore does
not disclose the striked-through limitation (see above).
Massini teaches, Figure 1, an optical semiconductor device comprising:
a first semiconductor layer (Figure 1, items 110, 115 and 120; silicon) having a first bandgap; and
a second semiconductor layer (items 130, 140 and 135; germanium) having a second bandgap that is smaller than the first bandgap and formed on the first semiconductor layer (the bandgap of germanium is smaller than that of silicon), wherein
the first semiconductor layer includes
a first conductive region (110; p-type doped silicon) with a first polarity,
a second conductive region (120; n-type doped silicon) with a second polarity, and
a first non-conductive region (115, intrinsic silicon) provided between the first conductive region (110) and the second conductive region (120),
the second semiconductor layer includes
a third conductive region (130/140) with the first polarity (at least element 130 of 130/140 has the first polarity), and
a second non-conductive region (135; intrinsic germanium),
the third conductive region (130) is in contact with the first conductive region (110) and the first non-conductive region (115), and
the second non-conductive region (135) is in contact with at least one of the second conductive region (120) and the first non-conductive region (115) without being in contact with the first conductive region (110).
It would be obvious to a POSITA to use a plurality of the optical semiconductor device taught by Masini in the optical transceiver device disclosed by Tu in order to create a functional integrated photonic device for communication networks. Regarding the I and Q component signals of the claimed invention, Tu discloses a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to create a phase shift in the receiver ([0036], element RX). It is known in the art that a Mach-Zehnder interferometer can produce a quadrature (90-degree) phase shift, resulting in the I component and Q component signals. Note that the Specification of the current application discloses the use of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer as components of an optical modulator to extract I and Q signal components. These limitations are drawn to the functionality of the claimed optical transceiver. Tu discloses the structure of the optical transceiver ([0036], element 1000), optical transmitter ([0036], element TX) and optical receiver ([0036], element RX). Therefore, the transceiver taught by Tu would be capable of the same functionality as that of currently claimed optical transceiver.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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: Claim 4 is allowed because the Prior Art does not disclose the limitations of this claim when combined with claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL MORRIS WASSERBURG whose telephone number is (571)272-0518. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Friday 8AM - 5PM.
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/DANIEL M WASSERBURG/Examiner, Art Unit 2892
/NORMAN D RICHARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2892
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