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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 are 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.
Regarding Claims 1 and 8, the claim recites how to measure peak wave numbers. The limitation does not detail how to measure if the thickness is an odd number and/or not divisible by 5, as one of ordinary skill in the art would be unable to finish the range by reaching the one half of the thickness of the substrate. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would be uncertain how to complete the required number of wave numbers.
It is also uncertain if the wave numbers have two separate ranges or one combined ranges when measuring from the first and second surfaces of the substrate. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would
Claims 2-7 and 9 are rejected, due to their dependency on Claim 1 and 8 respectively.
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 1-3, 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okui et al. (US 2007/0145376 A1) in view of Yoshida (JP 2020-019675 A) and Nakahata (US 2008/0272377 A1).
Regarding Claim 1-3 and 6, Okui teaches a GaN, a Group-III element nitride, semiconductor substrate comprising a first surface and a second surface (Abstract; Fig. 4). Okui teaches the substrate can have a thickness of 350 microns. (Paragraph 0041). Okui teaches the wave peaks of the GaN substrate, measured through E2H phonom mode, are determined by the dislocation density of the GaN substrate. (Paragraph 0046). Okui does not teach the claimed dislocation density peak difference measured through the center thickness of the substrate in claimed manner.
However, Yoshida teaches a GaN, a Group-III element nitride, semiconductor substrate comprising a first surface and a second surface (Abstract; Fig. 4). Yoshida teaches the dislocation density through the thickness of the substrate can be a constant. direction (Paragraph 0074-0075). Yoshida teaches this leads to a more uniform crystal structure and a better resulting substrate for semiconductors. (Paragraph 0018, 0022). Nakahata teaches dopants in GaN will concentrate in areas of dislocation density and even dispersion of the dopant through even dispersion of the dislocation density will reduce cracking in the GaN substrate. (Paragraph 0012). Thus, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to have the substrate of Okui have constant dislocation density throughout the thickness of the substrate as taught by Yoshida and Nakahata to yield a better resulting substrate for semiconductor manufacturing and reduced cracking.
As the difference between maximum peak wave number and minimum peak wavenumber is determined by the difference in dislocation density, and Okui, Yoshida and Nakahata teach having a constant dislocation density through the thickness yield a better GaN substrate, then the subtrate of Okui, Yoshida and Nakahata would also have a difference between maximum peak wavenumber and minimum peak wavenumber of 0.
Regarding Claim 5, Okui teaches substrates with diameters of 2-4 inches. (Paragraph 0046-0052) This overlaps the claimed range. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. (MPEP §2144.05).
Claims 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okui, Yoshida, and Nakahata, in view of Chu et al. (US 2019/0043709 A1)
Regarding Claim 7, Okui teaches the substrate bonded to a support substrate.
Chu teaches bonding a GaN substrate to a support substrate, diamond, (Fig. 2; Paragraph 0049). Chu teaches this support substrate and GaN substrate allows the GaN to be processed into semiconductors with better thermal dissiptation. (Paragraph 0003, 0008). Thus, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to mount and bond the GaN substrate to a support substrate to form a better cooled semiconductor.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-0358. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday: 9:30am-3:30pm, 8:30PM-10:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Frank Vineis can be reached at (571) 270-1547. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Michael Zhang/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1781
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