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 Office action is based on the communications filed December 11, 2024. Claims 1 – 10 are currently pending and considered below.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 4, and 8 – 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Han et al. (US 2017/0156002 A1), hereinafter Han.
Claim 1: Han discloses a bone-conduction MEMS chip comprising (see at least, “In one aspect, MEMS vibration sensors incorporating vibration sensing transducer arrangements described herein may be used for outside noise rejection. For example, in additional to vocal cord vibration sensing as previously discussed, the vibration sensing transducers may be tuned to detect bone vibration, such as bone (e.g., jaw bone) vibration of a user's head. Accordingly, outside noise not originating from a user's bone vibration may be rejected,” Han [0073], vibration sensor 104, Han FIG. 1): a substrate having a cavity (see at least, die substrate 106, opening 140, Han FIG. 1); a diaphragm supported on the substrate (see at least, beam 122, Han FIG. 1); and a back plate spaced apart on a side of the diaphragm away from the substrate (see at least, top plate 130, Han FIG. 1), wherein a side of the diaphragm away from the back plate is provided with a mass block (see at least, proof mass 124, proof mass 126, Han FIG. 1).
Claim 2: Han discloses the bone-conduction MEMS chip of claim 1, further comprising a connecting post connecting the mass block to the side of the diaphragm away from the back plate (see at least, anchor layer 116, FIG. 1).
Claim 3: Han discloses the bone-conduction MEMS chip of claim 1, wherein the mass block is located in the cavity (see at least, proof mass 124, proof mass 126 located in opening 140, FIG. 1)and the mass block is made of the same material as the substrate (see at least, “The MEMS vibration sensor may have a plurality of beam transducers and each of the plurality of beam transducers may have a beam and a proof mass. Each proof mass may be tuned to a different resonant frequency range and comprises a same material as the die substrate,” [0009]).
Claim 4: Han discloses a method of manufacturing a bone-conduction MEMS chip (see at least, “FIGS. 3-14 illustrate a process for manufacturing a MEMS microphone and vibration sensor die in accordance with an embodiment,” Han [0033]), comprising: providing a substrate (see at least, “Representatively, according to FIG. 3, process 300 includes the initial processing operation of providing a substrate 302. Substrate 302 may, for example, be a silicon or Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) substrate wafer from which the MEMS microphone and MEMS vibration sensor can be formed to produce a multi frequency MEMS
microphone and vibration sensor die,” Han [0033], Han FIG. 3); depositing a first silicon oxide layer on the substrate (see at least, “FIG. 5 illustrates the further processing operation of depositing sacrificial layer 502 over the top side 410 of substrate 302 and within microphone cavity 402 and vibration
sensor cavity 404… The sacrificial layer 502 may, for example, be made of silicon dioxide (SiO2),” Han [0035]), etching the first silicon oxide layer to form a groove on the first silicon oxide layer extending to a surface of the substrate (see at least, “In particular, the sacrificial layer 502 may be a layer of material applied over the substrate 302, microphone cavity 402 and vibration sensor cavity 404, such that it fills the cavities and surrounds the masses 406 and 408 within vibration sensor cavity 404. Once the cavities are filled, the layer is planarized, such as by chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), to remove portions of the layer on the top side 410 of substrate 302 and masses 406 and 408,” Han [0035], Han FIG. 5, “FIG. 6 illustrates the further processing operation of applying an anchor layer 602 over sacrificial layer 502. Representatively, anchor layer 602 may be formed by applying a layer of a suitable material over sacrificial layer 502 and then planarizing the layer (e.g., CMP) to form a smooth layer having a consistent thickness. Similar to the sacrificial layer 502, the anchor layer 602 may, for example, be made
of silicon dioxide (SiO2),” Han [0036], Han FIG. 6); depositing a polysilicon layer to cover the first silicon oxide layer, forming a connecting post by extending the polysilicon layer partially into the groove (see at least, “FIG. 7 illustrates the further processing operation of applying a polysilicon layer 702 over the anchor layer 602. The polysilicon layer 702 may then be planarized (e.g., CMP) to form a smooth layer that can then be used to form the diaphragm for the MEMS microphone and beam structures for the MEMS vibration sensor. In this aspect, the diaphragm for the MEMS microphone and the beams for the MEMS vibration sensor may be formed from the same material layer, in other words, formed of a same polysilicon material,” Han [0037], Han FIG. 7), and patterning the polysilicon layer on the surface of the first silicon oxide layer to form a diaphragm, wherein the diaphragm is connected to the connecting post (see at least, “In particular, FIG. 8 illustrates the further processing operation of forming a diaphragm 802 (e.g., diaphragm 108 of FIGS. 1-2) and one or more of a beam 804 (e.g., beams 122, 128 of FIG. 2) from polysilicon layer 702. Representatively, a mask ( e.g., patterned photoresist) may be applied over polysilicon layer 702. Portions of the polysilicon layer 702 that are exposed by the mask may then be
etched to remove them, leaving behind the diaphragm 802 and one or more of the beam 804 structures,” Han [0038], Han FIG. 1); depositing a second silicon dioxide layer on the surface of the diaphragm (see at least, “FIG. 9 illustrates the further processing operation of forming another sacrificial layer 902 over anchor layer 602, diaphragm 802 and one or more of the beam 804. Similar to sacrificial layer 502, sacrificial layer 902 may be formed by applying a layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2) over anchor layer 602, diaphragm 802 and one or more of beam 804. The layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2) is then planarized as previously discussed to form sacrificial layer 902,” Han [0039]); depositing a back plate material layer on the surface of the second silicon dioxide layer, etching the back plate material layer to form a plurality of through holes (see at least, “FIG. 10 illustrates the further processing operation of forming another polysilicon layer 1002. Polysilicon layer 1002 is formed by applying a layer of polysilicon over sacrificial layer 902. Polysilicon layer 1002 may be used to form the top plates for each of the MEMS microphone and vibration sensor. Therefore, in one embodiment, the layer of polysilicon used to form polysilicon layer 1002 may be thicker than the layer of polysilicon used to form diaphragm
802 and the beam 804 so that the resulting top plates are relatively stiff, rigid structures in comparison to the diaphragm 802 and beam 804,” Han [0040], “FIG. 11 illustrates the further processing operation
of forming a top plate 1102 for the MEMS microphone and top plate 1104 for the MEMS vibration sensor from polysilicon layer 1002. Representatively, a mask (e.g., patterned photoresist) may be applied over polysilicon layer 1002. Portions of the polysilicon layer 1002 that are exposed by the mask may then be etched to remove them, leaving behind top plates 1102 and 1104,” Han [0041], “FIG. 12 illustrates the further processing operation of forming perforated openings 1202, in top plate 1102 and
top plate 1104 to reduce damping. Representatively, top plate 1102 and top plate 1104 may be patterned to form perforated openings 1202, which extend through the entire thickness of the plates, as shown in FIG. 12,” Han [0042]); reverse etching the substrate to form a cavity and a mass block attached to the diaphragm, and etching the first silicon oxide layer below the diaphragm (see at least, “The vibration sensor cavity 404 may be formed to include two separate masses 406 and 408 (e.g., proof masses 124, 126) formed from the substrate 302 (e.g., they include a same material), such as by further masking and etching steps. The different masses 406 and 408 will serve as the proof masses (e.g., proof masses 124, 126) for the multi frequency beam transducers of the vibration sensor,” Han [0034]); and etching the first silicon dioxide layer above the diaphragm through the through holes to release the diaphragm (see at least, “The proof mass for each of the beam transducers may be formed within the
vibration sensor cavity during etching. In one embodiment, the polysilicon layer is a first polysilicon layer, and forming further includes depositing a second sacrificial layer over the diaphragm and the beam, depositing a second polysilicon layer over the sacrificial layer, patterning the second polysilicon
layer to form a first top plate over the diaphragm and a second top plate over the beam, etching a back side of the substrate to form the first opening and the second opening, and using the first opening and the second opening, wet etching the first sacrificial layer and the second sacrificial layer to release the diaphragm, the beam and the proof mass,” Han [0011]).
Claim 8: Han discloses the method of manufacturing the bone-conduction MEMS chip of claim 4, wherein the step of reverse etching the substrate forming the cavity and the mass block attached to the diaphragm comprises two etchings, wherein the substrate is etched forming a portion of the cavity in the first etching, and a mass block attached to the diaphragm is formed in the second etching (see at least, “FIG. 13 illustrates the further processing operation of forming openings 1302 and 1304 within a back or bottom side 1306 of substrate 302. Representatively, in one embodiment, a DRIE etching process is performed on the bottom side 1306 of substrate 302 to remove the silicon beneath the sacrificial layer 502 and proof masses 406, 408 and expose the sacrificial layers 502 and 902,” Han [0043], Han FIG. 13 and “FIG. 14 illustrates the further processing operation of removing portions of the sacrificial layers 502 and 902 and anchor layer 602. Representatively, wet etching is performed, for example through openings 1302 and 1304 or perforated openings 1202, in order to remove a portion of sacrificial layer 902 above diaphragm 802 leaving air gap 1402. In addition, wet etching may be used to remove a portion of sacrificial layer 902 and anchor layer 602 below diaphragm 802. The edges of diaphragm 802, however, remain sandwiched between portions of sacrificial layer 902 and anchor layer 602 surrounding the air gap 1402 and opening 1302 such that diaphragm 802 is suspended over opening 1302 and free to vibrate. Similarly, the wet etching step removes a portion of sacrificial layer 902 above one or more of beam 804 leaving air gap 1404 and a portion of sacrificial layer 902 and anchor layer 602 below beam 804 and surrounding proof masses 406, 408. An anchor layer portion 1406 of anchor layer 602 between one or more of beam 804 and the respective proof masses 406, 408, however, remains such that the anchor layer portion 1406 serves to attach the proof masses 406, 408 to their respective beam 804,” Han [0044], Han FIG. 14).
Claim 9: Han discloses the method of manufacturing the bone-conduction MEMS chip of claim 8, wherein after forming the mass block, the method further comprises: etching the first silicon oxide layer below the diaphragm (see at least, “FIG. 13 illustrates the further processing operation of forming openings 1302 and 1304 within a back or bottom side 1306 of substrate 302. Representatively, in one embodiment, a DRIE etching process is performed on the bottom side 1306 of substrate 302 to remove the silicon beneath the sacrificial layer 502 and proof masses 406, 408 and expose the sacrificial layers 502 and 902,” Han [0043], “It should be understood that although various processing operations are described in FIGS. 3-14, any one or more of these operations may be performed in a different order and/or omitted and/or additional steps may be performed according to manufacturing protocols,” Han [0045]).
Claim 10: Han discloses a bone-conduction packaging structure (see at least, “In one aspect, MEMS vibration sensors incorporating vibration sensing transducer arrangements described herein may be used for outside noise rejection. For example, in additional to vocal cord vibration sensing as previously discussed, the vibration sensing transducers may be tuned to detect bone vibration, such as bone (e.g., jaw bone) vibration of a user's head. Accordingly, outside noise not originating from a user's bone vibration may be rejected,” Han [0073], vibration sensor 104, Han FIG. 1, Han FIG. 15), comprising: a substrate (see at least, die substrate 106, Han FIG. 1, Han FIG. 15); a housing that forms an accommodating space with the substrate (see at least, “The MEMS microphone and vibration sensor die 100 may be positioned on, and attached to, package substrate 1502. Representatively, the MEMS microphone and vibration sensor die 100 may be stacked on top of package substrate 1502 and a layer of die attach material 1506 positioned between die 100 and package substrate 1502 to mechanically attach the two together,” [0047], die substrate 106, Han FIG. 1, Han FIG. 15, “A package lid 1510 may further be attached to the package substrate 1502 and over the MEMS microphone and vibration sensor die 100 and IC die 1504, to complete the package assembly,” Han [0048]); a bone-conduction MEMS chip provided in the accommodating space (see at least, vibration sensor 104, Han FIG. 15); and an ASIC chip provided in the accommodating space (see at least, ASIC 1504, Han FIG. 15), wherein the bone-conduction MEMS chip is the bone-conduction MEMS chip described in claim 1 (see at least, “FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional side view illustration of a MEMS microphone and vibration sensor package in accordance with an embodiment. MEMS microphone and vibration sensor package 1500 may include a multi frequency MEMS microphone and vibration sensor die 100, such as that described in reference to FIGS. 1-2,” Han [0047]).
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) 5 – 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han in view of Deng et al. (US 2023/0300536 A1), hereinafter Deng.
Claim 5: Han discloses the method of manufacturing the bone-conduction MEMS chip of claim 4, wherein the step of patterning the polycrystalline silicon layer on the surface of the first silicon oxide layer to form the diaphragm but does not disclose comprises: forming a through-hole in the diaphragm. However, Deng discloses a similar vibration sensor and microphone and further discloses forming a through-hole in the diaphragm (see at least, “In some exemplary embodiments, the suspended membrane structure 424-2 may include at least one hole,” Deng [0034]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the aforementioned features of Deng in the invention of Han since as explained by Deng, “The at least
one hole disposed on the suspended membrane structure 424-2 may adjust the rigidity of the suspended membrane structure 424-2 at different positions, thereby reducing the rigidity of the suspended membrane structure 424-2 in a region near the at least one hole, and relatively increasing
the rigidity of the suspended membrane structure 424-2 away from the at least one hole. When the suspended membrane structure 424-2 moves relative to the base 200, a deformation degree in a region of the suspended membrane structure 424-2 near the at least one hole is relatively high, and a deformation degree in a region of the suspended membrane structure 424-2 away from the at least one hole is relatively low. In this case, disposing the piezoelectric sensing component 440 in a region of the suspended membrane structure 424-2 near the at least one hole may help the piezoelectric sensing component 440 collect vibration signals in a better way, thereby improving sensitivity of the vibration
sensor 001,” Deng [0034].
Claim 6: Han discloses the method of manufacturing the bone-conduction MEMS chip of claim 4, wherein the step of depositing the back plate material layer on the surface of the second silicon dioxide layer but does not disclose comprises: depositing a back plate electrode material layer and etching the back plate electrode material layer to form a back plate electrode (see at least, Han FIG. 1, Han FIGS. 3 – 14, “In addition, an air gap 134 for capacitance measurement is formed between the beams 122, 128 (which may function as a movable bottom electrode) and the top plate 130 (which may function as a fixed top electrode). The change in capacitance due to the movement of the beams 122, 128 is then translated into an electrical signal by the same ASIC (not shown) used for the MEMS microphone 102,” Han [0031]), but does not disclose depositing a silicon nitride layer on the back plate electrode and patterning the silicon nitride layer to form a back plate. However, Deng discloses a similar vibration sensor and microphone and further discloses depositing a silicon nitride layer on the back plate electrode and patterning the silicon nitride layer to form a back plate (see at least, Deng, FIG. 1, “or a deposition manner such as physical deposition (for example, physical vapor deposition) or chemical deposition (for example, chemical vapor deposition). When the base 200 receives an external vibration signal, the elastic layer 424 may generate the target deformation based on an excitation of the vibration of the base 200. The elastic layer 424 may be made of a material that can be easily deformed by an external force. The elastic layer 424 may be of a structure that can be easily deformed, and is made of a semiconductor material. In some exemplary embodiments, the semiconductor material may include silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, gallium nitride, zinc oxide, silicon carbide, and the like. The elastic layer 424 may include a fixed end and a free end. The fixed end may be fixedly connected with the base 200 directly or indirectly. The free end may be suspended in the cavity 220,” Deng [0032], “In some exemplary embodiments, the elastic layer 424 may be a supporting beam structure. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the elastic layer 424 may include a plurality of elastic supporting beams 424-1,” Deng [0033], “The elastic supporting beam 424-1 may be a plate-like structural body of any, shape,” Deng [0033], “The first capacitive electrode piece 642 and the second capacitive electrode piece 644 may be consistent in pattern through patterned etching, thereby corresponding to each other,” Deng [0058], “Specifically, in step S120, etching may be performed on an integrated structure of the vibration component 420 and the base 200 formed by a Si substrate. Step S120 may include: sequentially depositing and etching a second capacitive electrode piece 644, a first piezoelectric electrode layer 442, a piezoelectric layer 224, and a second piezoelectric electrode layer 444 on an upper surface of an SOI silicon wafer and performing etching; performing corresponding patterned etching after each time of deposition, so as to obtain an electrode and lead pattern meeting a design; an elastic layer 424 is etched to reach a first insulation layer 201; a SiO2 insulation layer material is deposited on a surface of the elastic layer 424; and then patterned etching and polishing are performed to obtain a second insulation layer 202,” Deng [0072]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the aforementioned teachings of Deng to the back plate electrode material layer of Han thereby allowing for improved insulating layers.
Claim 7: Han and Deng disclose the method of manufacturing the bone-conduction MEMS chip of claim 6, wherein the step of depositing the first silicon dioxide layer on the surface of the diaphragm comprises: etching the first silicon dioxide layer to form a first recessed portion; the step of depositing the back plate electrode material layer and etching the back plate electrode material layer to form the back plate electrode comprises: forming a second recessed portion on the back plate electrode aligned with the first recessed portion; the step of depositing the silicon nitride layer on the back plate electrode and patterning the silicon nitride layer to form the back plate comprises: forming a protruding portion on the back plate accommodated within the first recessed portion and the second recessed portion (see at least, Han FIG. 1, Han FIGS. 3 – 14, “In addition, an air gap 134 for capacitance measurement is formed between the beams 122, 128 (which may function as a movable bottom electrode) and the top plate 130 (which may function as a fixed top electrode). The change in capacitance due to the movement of the beams 122, 128 is then translated into an electrical signal by the same ASIC (not shown) used for the MEMS microphone 102,” Han [0031], Deng, FIG. 1, “or a deposition manner such as physical deposition (for example, physical vapor deposition) or chemical deposition (for example, chemical vapor deposition). When the base 200 receives an external vibration signal, the elastic layer 424 may generate the target deformation based on an excitation of the vibration of the base 200. The elastic layer 424 may be made of a material that can be easily deformed by an external force. The elastic layer 424 may be of a structure that can be easily deformed, and is made of a semiconductor material. In some exemplary embodiments, the semiconductor material may include silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, gallium nitride, zinc oxide, silicon carbide, and the like. The elastic layer 424 may include a fixed end and a free end. The fixed end may be fixedly connected with the base 200 directly or indirectly. The free end may be suspended in the cavity 220,” Deng [0032], “In some exemplary embodiments, the elastic layer 424 may be a supporting beam structure. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the elastic layer 424 may include a plurality of elastic supporting beams 424-1,” Deng [0033], “The elastic supporting beam 424-1 may be a plate-like structural body of any, shape,” Deng [0033], “The first capacitive electrode piece 642 and the second capacitive electrode piece 644 may be consistent in pattern through patterned etching, thereby corresponding to each other,” Deng [0058], “Specifically, in step S120, etching may be performed on an integrated structure of the vibration component 420 and the base 200 formed by a Si substrate. Step S120 may include: sequentially depositing and etching a second capacitive electrode piece 644, a first piezoelectric electrode layer 442, a piezoelectric layer 224, and a second piezoelectric electrode layer 444 on an upper surface of an SOI silicon wafer and performing etching; performing corresponding patterned etching after each time of deposition, so as to obtain an electrode and lead pattern meeting a design; an elastic layer 424 is etched to reach a first insulation layer 201; a SiO2 insulation layer material is deposited on a surface of the elastic layer 424; and then patterned etching and polishing are performed to obtain a second insulation layer 202,” Deng [0072]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH SAUNDERS whose telephone number is (571)270-1063. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 4 p.m., EST.
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/JOSEPH SAUNDERS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
