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 .
This is a Non-Final office action based on application 18/788,082 filed July 29, 2024. Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 6 & 8 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 6 is rejected under 112 (b) because claim 6 depends from claim 1 which requires the channel material to be amorphous. However claim 6 disclose a limitation of the channel material capable of being polycrystalline material such as polysilicon.
Claim 8 is rejected under 112 (b) because claim 8 depends from claim 1 which requires the piezoelectric material to be organic. However claim 8 disclose limitations directed to material that or inorganic.
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) 1-2, 5, 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Anno (WIPO Publication 2017/065306).
Regarding claim 1, Anno discloses a thin film transistor comprising:
a flexible substrate (Fig. 14, 42; Paragraph [0042]);
an amorphous semiconductor channel layer (14c; Paragraph [0034 & 0035]) contacting an upper surface of the flexible substrate;
an organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer (12c; Paragraph [0065]) on the amorphous semiconductor channel layer; and
a gate electrode (48) on the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer.
Regarding claim 2, Anno further discloses:
a source electrode (44) and drain electrode (46) on the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer.
Regarding claim 5, Anno further discloses:
A thickness of the amorphous channel layer can be a low as .00034 microns (.34 nm) (Paragraph [0052 & 0072)].
Regarding claim 7, Anno further discloses:
the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer comprises one of organic polyvinylidene fluoride or organic polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (Paragraph [0065]).
Regarding claim 8, Anno further discloses:
the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer comprises at least one of hafnium oxide doped with zirconium, aluminum nitride doped with scandium, aluminum nitride doped with a ferroelectric element, barium titanate, lead titanate, or lead zirconate titanate (Paragraph [0066])
Regarding claim 9, Anno further discloses:
the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer is configured to vary a conductivity of a conductive channel in the amorphous semiconductor channel layer in response to a mechanical stress (Paragraph [0010 & 0011]).
Regarding claim 10, Anno further discloses:
the flexible substrate comprises one of polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polytrimethylene furandicarboxylate, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, or other polymer material (Paragraph [0058]).
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) 4 & 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anno (WIPO Publication 2017/065306) in view of Fang (Pre-Grant Publication 2020/0083258).
Regarding claim 4 & 6, Anno further discloses:
The semiconductor channel can be indium gallium zinc oxide (Paragraph [0030 & 0035])
Anno does not explicitly disclose the semiconductor channel comprises amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide. However Fang discloses a thin film transistor comprising:
An amorphous semiconductor channel layer such as an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (Paragraph 0053]).
It would have been obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to form the channel layer as an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide because it will increase the mobility of the thin film transistor and reduce the drain current (Paragraph [0003]).
Claim(s) 11-13 & 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anno (WIPO Publication 2017/065306) in view of Meng (Pre-Grant Publication 2019/0058106) and Jeon (Pre-Grant Publication 2014/0060210).
Regarding claim 11-13, Anno discloses a stress sensor comprising:
a thin film transistor comprising:
a flexible substrate (Fig. 14, 42; Paragraph [0042]);
an amorphous semiconductor channel layer (14c; Paragraph [0034 & 0035]) contacting an upper surface of the flexible substrate;
an organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer (12c; Paragraph [0065]) on the amorphous semiconductor channel layer; and
A source electrode (44) and drain electrode (46) on the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer.
a gate electrode (48) on the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer.
Anno does not disclose a sensor array of a plurality of sensor elements, and an electric sensor to generate a sensing current signal. However Meng discloses piezoelectric sensor comprising:
A piezoelectric sensor comprising a thin film transistor including a piezoelectric layer (Fig. 4) wherein the piezoelectric sensor can be form into a sensor array comprising a plurality of sensor elements (Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to form the sensor element as a sensor array because it will form a piezoelectric sensor device as a highly-sensitive and integrated sensing device (Paragraph [0003-0006]).
Further Jeon discloses a pressure sensor comprising:
A sensor thin film transistor (Fig. 1-3, 30) including a piezoelectric layer wherein an electric/pressure sensing unit (100) is coupled to the source electrode (37) and generates a sensing current based on a sensing current in the TFT.
A source/switching transistor (Fig. 2, 50) coupled to the source electrode configured to control application of one of the source of the TFT (Paragraph [0043]).
It would have been obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to form the electric sensor coupled to the TFT because it will serve to receive a sensing current across the TFT during deformation of the piezoelectric layer to sense a pressure (abstract; Paragraph [0043]). Further the switching transistor will control selection of a particular transistor when the TFTs are arranged in an array (Paragraph [0043]).
Regarding claim 18-20, Anno discloses a stress sensor comprising:
Stress sensor can be formed into a sheet-like structure (Paragraph [0099])
a thin film transistor comprising:
a flexible substrate (Fig. 14, 42; Paragraph [0042]);
an amorphous semiconductor channel layer (14c; Paragraph [0034 & 0035]) contacting an upper surface of the flexible substrate;
an organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer (12c; Paragraph [0065]) on the amorphous semiconductor channel layer; and
A source electrode (44) and drain electrode (46) on the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer.
a gate electrode (48) on the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer.
Anno does not disclose a sensor array of a plurality of sensor elements, a controller coupled to the stress sensor to determine a mechanical stress and an electric sensor to generate a sensing current signal. However Meng discloses piezoelectric sensor comprising:
A piezoelectric sensor comprising a thin film transistor including a piezoelectric layer (Fig. 4) wherein the piezoelectric sensor can be form into a sensor array comprising a plurality of sensor elements (Fig. 3).
Meng discloses a controller (not shown in Fig 3) configured to load a signal/current to a signal lines (31) coupled gate (12) and load a signal/current to another signal line (32) coupled to source electrode (15) and determine that a pressure device detect a change in pressure (Paragraph [0117 & 0118]).
It would have been obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to form the sensor element as a sensor array because it will form a piezoelectric sensor device as a highly-sensitive and integrated sensing device (Paragraph [0003-0006]). Further the controller will serve to turn on the TFT device to determine and detect a change in pressure across the thin film transistor device (Paragraph [0118]). Although Meng does not specifically disclose adjusting the gate voltage such that the sensing current is equal to a set sensing current and determine a value of the mechanical stress using the adjusted gate voltage for the set sensing current signal level it has been held that where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977). MPEP 2112.01 I. Therefore the controller Meng can be configured to perform the functions of claim 20 since the combination of Anno, Meng, and Jeon meets the claimed structural limitations of the stress sensor device.
Further Jeon discloses a pressure sensor comprising:
A sensor thin film transistor (Fig. 1-3, 30) including a piezoelectric layer wherein an electric/pressure sensing unit (100) is coupled to the source electrode (37) and generates a sensing current based on a sensing current in the TFT.
A source/switching transistor (Fig. 2, 50) coupled to the source electrode configured to control application of one of the source of the TFT (Paragraph [0043]).
It would have been obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to form the electric sensor coupled to the TFT because it will serve to receive a sensing current across the TFT during deformation of the piezoelectric layer to sense a pressure (abstract; Paragraph [0043]). Further the switching transistor will control selection of a particular transistor when the TFTs are arranged in an array (Paragraph [0043]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 & 14-17 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: Claim 3 is considered allowable because none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses a buffer layer between the organic material piezoelectric stress gate layer and at least one of the source electrode, the gate electrode, or the drain electrode.
Claim 14 is considered allowable because none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses the plurality of sensor elements further comprises a capacitor coupled to the drain electrode of the TFT in the plurality of sensor elements.
Claim 15 is considered allowable because none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses an output transistor coupled to the drain electrode of the TFT in the plurality of sensor elements through the capacitor in the plurality of sensor elements and configured to control a discharge of the capacitor.
Claim 16 is considered allowable because none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses the electric sensor comprises an operational amplifier including a first input coupled to the source electrode of the TFT and a second input coupled to a reference load. Claim 17 is also allowed based on its dependency from claim 16.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lim (US Patent 12,183,835) disclose a synaptic device comprising: A Thin film transistor including a piezoelectric layer adjacent a channel layer to covert pressure stimulation into an electric signal.
Tian (Pre-Grant Publication 2018/0114931) discloses a thin film transistor sensor comprising a first and second gate electrode overlapped and separated from each other configured to electrical connect after a voltage is applied.
Al Ahmad (Pre-Grant Publication 2016/0240766) discloses a piezoelectric thin film flexible sensing device comprising a piezoelectric layer over a flexible substrate to regulate carrier flow when subjected to an external force.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRANDON C FOX whose telephone number is (571)270-5016. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM.
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/BRANDON C FOX/Examiner, Art Unit 2818
/DAVID VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
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