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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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(s) 1, 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ren et al. US 2018/0358478.
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Ren et al. US 2018/0358478
Regarding claim 1, Ren et al. Fig. 1 and [0018]-[0026] disclose a junction barrier Schottky diode comprising:
a semiconductor substrate 1 [0018];
a drift layer 2 [0018] provided on the semiconductor substrate 1;
an anode electrode 5 [0018] and a p-type semiconductor layer 4 [0018] each contacting the drift layer 2 Figs. 2A-2F;
an n-type semiconductor layer 8 [0018] contacting the anode electrode 5 and the drift layer 2;
a metal layer (e.g. metal layer of metal layer 5) [0021] provided between the n-type semiconductor layer 8 and the p-type semiconductor layer 4; and
a cathode electrode 6 [0019] contacting the semiconductor substrate.
Regarding claim 3, Ren et al. Fig. 1 and [0018]-[0026] disclose the junction barrier Schottky diode as claimed in claim 1, wherein the p-type semiconductor layer 4 and the metal layer (e.g. metal layer of metal layer 5) [0021] are stacked in this order on a flat surface of the drift layer 2 Figs. 2C-2F, and wherein the n-type semiconductor layer 8 Fig. 2F covers a surface of a stacked body of the p-type semiconductor layer 4 and the metal layer (e.g. metal layer of metal layer 5) [0021] .
Regarding claim 4, Ren et al. Fig. 1 and [0018]-[0026] disclose the junction barrier Schottky diode as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drift layer 2 has a trench 3 [0018] Fig. 2B, and wherein at least a part of the p-type semiconductor layer 4 [0020] is embedded in the trench 3.
Regarding claim 5, Ren et al. Fig. 1 and [0018]-[0026] disclose the junction barrier Schottky diode as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least a part of the n-type semiconductor layer 8 [0020] is embedded in the trench 3.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 6 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:
The prior art neither anticipates nor renders obvious, in the context of the claims,
Regarding claim 2, wherein the metal layer includes a first metal layer which makes ohmic contact with the n-type semiconductor layer and a second metal layer which makes ohmic contact with the p-type semiconductor layer.
Regarding claim 6, wherein the p-type semiconductor layer is provided along an inner wall of the trench, and wherein the metal layer is provided between an inner wall of the p-type semiconductor layer and an outer wall of the n-type semiconductor layer.
Although various prior art references disclose several individual limitations in the claims, these references, and their combinations, neither anticipate nor render obvious the above identified limitation(s), as structured and interrelated in the context of the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SONYA D MCCALL-SHEPARD whose telephone number is (571)272-9801. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
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/Sonya McCall-Shepard/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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