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 § 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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi et al. (2007/0058055, hereafter Yamaguchi) in view of Iiyama et al. (JP-2006/128513, hereafter Iiyama).
Regarding claim 1, Yamaguchi discloses a light detection devices comprising: a multilayer filter (406) having a stacked structure in which a high-refractive-index layer (406a/c/e/g) and a low-refractive-index layer (406b/d/f) are alternately stacked, and having a transmission spectrum specific to the stacked structure (par. 0156); and a semiconductor layer (402) that allows light having passed through the multilayer filter to enter therein and has a plurality of photoelectric conversion regions (403B/R/G, par. 0006, 0113) arranged in a two- dimensional array (Fig. 5).
Yamaguchi fails to disclose wherein the multilayer filter as a whole is convexly curved toward the semiconductor layer.
However, Iiyama teaches wherein the multilayer filter as a whole is convexly curved toward the semiconductor layer (13, Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Iiyama by providing a filter that is curved in order to correct residual field curvature aberration by the imaging optical system.
Regarding claim 2, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device further comprising: an insulating layer provided between the semiconductor layer and the multilayer filter, wherein a surface of the insulating layer opposite to the semiconductor layer side is a curved surface convexly curved toward the semiconductor layer, and the multilayer filter is curved along the curved surface of the insulating layer.
However, Iiyama teaches a light detection device further comprising: an insulating layer (14) provided between the semiconductor layer (16) and the multilayer filter (13), wherein a surface of the insulating layer opposite to the semiconductor layer side is a curved surface convexly curved toward the semiconductor layer, and the multilayer filter is curved along the curved surface of the insulating layer (Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Iiyama by providing a curved insulating layer along with the filter in order to allow the correction effect of the field curvature aberration shared by the other layer.
Regarding claim 3, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device wherein the semiconductor layer is curved together with the multilayer filter.
However, Iiyama teaches a light detection device wherein the semiconductor layer (16) is curved together with the multilayer filter (13) (Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Iiyama by providing a curved semiconductor layer along with the filter in order to allow the correction effect of the field curvature aberration shared by the other layer.
Regarding claim 5, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device further comprising: a glass member whose surface on the semiconductor layer side is convexly curved toward the semiconductor layer, wherein the multilayer filter is curved along a curved surface of the glass member.
However, Iiyama teaches a light detection device further comprising: a glass member (10) whose surface on the semiconductor layer (16) side is convexly curved toward the semiconductor layer, wherein the multilayer filter (13) is curved along a curved surface of the glass member (Fig. 3, 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Iiyama by providing a curved glass member along with the filter in order to allow the correction effect of the field curvature aberration shared by the other layer.
Regarding claim 6, Yamaguchi discloses a light detection device wherein the multilayer filter (406) is integrally stacked on the light detection device (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 8, Yamaguchi discloses an electronic device comprising: a light detection device (1, Fig. 1, 5); the light detection device comprising: a multilayer filter (406) having a stacked structure in which a high-refractive-index layer (406a/c/e/g) and a low-refractive-index layer (406b/d/f) are alternately stacked, and having a transmission spectrum specific to the stacked structure (par. 0156); and a semiconductor layer (402) that allows light having passed through the multilayer filter to enter therein and has a plurality of photoelectric conversion regions (403B/R/G) arranged in a two- dimensional array (Fig. 5).
Yamaguchi fails to disclose an optical system that forms an image of image light from a subject on the light detection device wherein the multilayer filter as a whole is convexly curved toward the semiconductor layer.
However, Iiyama teaches an optical system that forms an image of image light from a subject on the light detection device (par. 0017) wherein the multilayer filter (13) as a whole is convexly curved toward the semiconductor layer (16) (Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Iiyama by providing an optical system that forms and image and a curved filter in order to obtain the digital image and to correct residual field curvature aberration by the imaging optical system.
Regarding claim 9, Yamaguchi discloses an electronic device wherein the multilayer filter is provided only in the light detection device (par. 0010).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi in view of Iiyama as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Itonaga (2012/0147207, hereafter Itonaga).
Regarding claim 4, Yamaguchi and Iiyama, discussed above, fail to disclose a light detection device further comprising: a pedestal with one surface convexly curved toward the other surface, wherein the multilayer filter and the semiconductor layer are fixed to the pedestal along the one surface of the pedestal.
However, Itonaga teaches a light detection device further comprising: a pedestal (3/32) with one surface convexly curved toward the other surface, wherein the multilayer filter (4) and the semiconductor layer (6) are fixed to the pedestal along the one surface of the pedestal (Fig. 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi and Iiyama with Itonaga by providing a pedestal in order to support the device for functionality.
Claims 7 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi in view of Iiyama as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Toda (2020/0033519, hereafter Toda).
Regarding claim 7, Yamaguchi and Iiyama, discussed above, fail to disclose a light detection device wherein the multilayer filter is an infrared-cut filter.
However, Toda teaches a light detection device wherein the multilayer filter is an infrared-cut filter (602, Fig. 17A, par. 0125).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi and Iiyama with Toda by providing an infrared cut filter in order to detect signals from which light of near-infrared wavelength has been removed.
Regarding claim 20, Yamaguchi discloses an electronic device, comprising: a light detection device (par. 0113); a multilayer filter (406) that allows light having passed through the optical element to enter therein, has a stacked structure in which a high-refractive-index layer (406a/c/e/g) and a low- refractive-index layer (406b/d/f) are alternately stacked, and has a transmission spectrum specific to the stacked structure (par. 0156); and a semiconductor layer (402) having a light-receiving region formed by arranging a plurality of photoelectric conversion regions (403B/R/G) in a two-dimensional array on which light having passed through the multilayer filter can be incident, wherein the optical element (407) is provided, for each photoelectric conversion region, at a position overlapping the photoelectric conversion region in plan view (Fig. 5).
Yamaguchi fails to disclose an optical system that forms an image of image light from a subject on the light detection device.
However, Iiyama teaches an optical system that forms an image of image light from a subject on the light detection device (par. 0017).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Iiyama by providing an optical system that forms an image in order to provide an image for the functional operation of the detection device by focusing light towards sensors and filters.
Yamaguchi and Iiyama fail to disclose the light detection device comprising: an optical element having a plurality of structures arranged at intervals in a width direction in plan view;
in a first optical element that is one of the optical elements arranged so as to overlap a position away from a center of the light-receiving region in plan view, the structures are arranged at least along a direction from a portion of the first optical element near an edge of the light-receiving region to a portion near the center, and a density of the structures in the first optical element in plan view is higher in the portion of the first optical element near the center of the light-receiving region than in the portion near the edge.
However, Toda teaches the light detection device comprising: an optical element (20-1 – 20-8) having a plurality of structures (within each) arranged at intervals in a width direction in plan view; in a first optical element that is one of the optical elements arranged so as to overlap a position away from a center of the light-receiving region in plan view (Pixel Array), the structures are arranged at least along a direction from a portion of the first optical element near an edge of the light-receiving region to a portion near the center (see arrows), and a density of the structures in the first optical element in plan view is higher in the portion of the first optical element near the center of the light-receiving region than in the portion near the edge (Fig. 18A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi and Iiyama with Toda by providing optical elements with structure elements increasing towards the center in order to optimally correct the principal ray incident obliquely into the perpendicular direction to be incident on the spectroscopic element, thus correcting and equalizing spectroscopy for image surface.
Claims 10-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi in view of Toda.
Regarding claim 10, Yamaguchi discloses a light detection device, comprising: a multilayer filter (406) that allows light having passed through the optical element (407) to enter therein, has a stacked structure in which a high-refractive-index layer (406a/c/e/g) and a low- refractive-index layer (406b/d/f) are alternately stacked, and has a transmission spectrum specific to the stacked structure (par. 0156); and a semiconductor layer (402) having a light-receiving region formed by arranging a plurality of photoelectric conversion regions (403B/R/G) in a two-dimensional array on which light having passed through the multilayer filter can be incident, wherein the optical element is provided, for each photoelectric conversion region, at a position overlapping the photoelectric conversion region in plan view (Fig. 5).
Yamaguchi fails to disclose an optical element having a plurality of structures arranged at intervals in a width direction in plan view; in a first optical element that is one of the optical elements arranged so as to overlap a position away from a center of the light-receiving region in plan view, the structures are arranged at least along a direction from a portion of the first optical element near an edge of the light-receiving region to a portion near the center, and a density of the structures in the first optical element in plan view is higher in the portion of the first optical element near the center of the light-receiving region than in the portion near the edge.
However, Toda teaches an optical element (20-1 – 20-8) having a plurality of structures arranged at intervals in a width direction in plan view (Fig. 18A); in a first optical element that is one of the optical elements arranged so as to overlap a position away from a center of the light-receiving region in plan view, the structures are arranged at least along a direction from a portion of the first optical element near an edge of the light-receiving region to a portion near the center (Fig. 18A), and a density of the structures in the first optical element in plan view is higher in the portion of the first optical element near the center of the light-receiving region than in the portion near the edge (Fig. 18A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Toda by providing optical elements with structure elements increasing towards the center in order to optimally correct the principal ray incident obliquely into the perpendicular direction to be incident on the spectroscopic element, thus correcting and equalizing spectroscopy for image surface.
Regarding claim 11, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device wherein the density of the structures in the first optical element in plan view gradually increases from the portion of the first optical element near the edge of the light-receiving region to the portion near the center.
However, Toda teaches a light detection device wherein the density of the structures in the first optical element (20-1 – 20-8) in plan view gradually increases from the portion of the first optical element near the edge of the light-receiving region (Pixel Array) to the portion near the center (Fig. 18A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Toda by providing optical elements with structure elements increasing towards the center in order to optimally correct the principal ray incident obliquely into the perpendicular direction to be incident on the spectroscopic element, thus correcting and equalizing spectroscopy for image surface.
Regarding claim 12, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device wherein a widthwise dimension of the structure in plan view gradually increases from the portion of the first optical element near the edge of the light-receiving region to the portion near the center.
However, Toda teaches a light detection device wherein a widthwise dimension of the structure in plan view gradually increases from the portion of the first optical element near the edge of the light-receiving region to the portion near the center (Fig. 18A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Toda by providing optical elements with structure elements increasing towards the center in order to optimally correct the principal ray incident obliquely into the perpendicular direction to be incident on the spectroscopic element, thus correcting and equalizing spectroscopy for image surface.
Regarding claim 13, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device wherein an arrangement pitch of the structures in plan view gradually decreases from the portion of the first optical element near the edge of the light-receiving region to the portion near the center.
However, Toda teaches a light detection device wherein an arrangement pitch of the structures in plan view gradually decreases from the portion of the first optical element near the edge of the light-receiving region to the portion near the center (Fig. 18A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Toda by providing optical elements with structure elements increasing towards the center in order to optimally correct the principal ray incident obliquely into the perpendicular direction to be incident on the spectroscopic element, thus correcting and equalizing spectroscopy for image surface.
Regarding claim 14, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device wherein a second optical element, which is another of the optical elements, is arranged so as to overlap a position closer to the center of the light-receiving region than the first optical element in plan view, and the density of the structures in the portion of the first optical element near the center of the light-receiving region in plan view is higher than the density of the structures in a portion of the second optical element near the center of the light-receiving region.
However, Toda teaches a light detection device wherein a second optical element (20-2/3/6/7), which is another of the optical elements, is arranged so as to overlap a position closer to the center of the light-receiving region than the first optical element (20-1/4/5/8) in plan view, and the density of the structures in the portion of the first optical element near the center of the light-receiving region in plan view is higher than the density of the structures in a portion of the second optical element near the center of the light-receiving region (Fig. 18A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Toda by providing optical elements with structure elements increasing towards the center in order to optimally correct the principal ray incident obliquely into the perpendicular direction to be incident on the spectroscopic element, thus correcting and equalizing spectroscopy for image surface.
Regarding claim 15, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device wherein the pitch is less than 400 nm.
However, Toda teaches a light detection device wherein the pitch is less than 400 nm (Fig. 17A/B, par. 0125).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Toda by providing a pitch less than 400 nm in order to prevent interference from infrared wavelengths distorting the image by operating at a distance less than the visible light spectrum.
Regarding claim 16, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device wherein one of the structures included in one of the optical elements is continuous in a direction intersecting a width direction.
However, Toda teaches a light detection device wherein one of the structures included in one of the optical elements is continuous in a direction intersecting a width direction (Fig. 18A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Toda by providing continuous structures perpendicularly in order to provide uniform optical behavior along the sensor array without excess interference or diffraction.
Regarding claim 17, Yamaguchi discloses a light detection device wherein the multilayer filter (406) is integrally stacked on the light detection device (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 18, Yamaguchi fails to disclose a light detection device wherein the multilayer filter is an infrared-cut filter.
However, Toda teaches a light detection device wherein the multilayer filter is an infrared-cut filter (602, Fig. 17A, par. 0125).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Yamaguchi with Toda by providing an infrared cut filter in order to detect signals from which light of near-infrared wavelength has been removed.
Regarding claim 19, Yamaguchi discloses a light detection device wherein the stacked structure of the multilayer filter (406) includes a first stacked structure (406a/b/c) and a second stacked structure (406d/e/f/g), and the first stacked structure and the second stacked structure are different in at least one of a film thickness of the high-refractive-index layer and a film thickness of the low- refractive-index layer (Fig. 5).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES M BRECHT whose telephone number is (571)272-9634. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 7:30am - 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marlon Fletcher can be reached at (572) 272-2063. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/C.M.B./ Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/MARLON T FLETCHER/ Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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