Ex Parte Droes et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Sep 19, 2013

12261121 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 19, 2013)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
12/261,121 10/30/2008 Steven R. Droes SLA8126.1 3891
27518 7590 09/19/2013
SHARP LABORATORIES OF AMERICA, INC
5750 NW PACIFIC RIM BLVD
CAMAS, WA 98642
EXAMINER
GOODWIN, DAVID J
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2818
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
09/19/2013 PAPER
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
____________

Ex parte STEVEN R. DROES and YUTAKA TAKAFUJI
___________

Appeal 2011-000682
Application 12/261,121
Technology Center 2800
____________

Before CARL W. WHITEHEAD, JR., ERIC S. FRAHM and
ANDREW J. DILLON, Administrative Patent Judges.

WHITEHEAD, JR., Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
Appeal 2011-000682
Application 12/261,121

2
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants are appealing claims 20-28. Appeal Brief 3. We have
jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b) (2012).
We reverse.
Introduction
The invention is directed to an active silicon device with a Si active
layer having gettering regions underlying the Si active layer. Appeal Brief
4-5.

Illustrative Claim
20. An active silicon (Si) device comprising:

a Si substrate with a post-cleaving plane surface including impurities of a
first ion type, and a bottom surface;

an active Si layer overlying the Si substrate bottom surface;

a circuit formed in the Si active layer; and

gettering regions underlying the Si active layer, including a second ion type
acting as a gettering agent for the first ion type.

Rejection on Appeal
Claims 20-28 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103(a) as being
unpatentable over Bruel (U.S. Patent Number 6,316,333 B1; issued
November 13, 2001) and Bryan (U.S. Patent Number 6,544,862 B1; issued
April 8, 2003). Answer 3-8.

Appeal 2011-000682
Application 12/261,121

3
Issue
Do Bruel and Bryan, either alone or in combination, disclose an active
silicon device having gettering regions underlying a silicon active layer as
recited in claim 20?

ANALYSIS
Appellants argue Bryan is silent in regard to implantation ions 17
being used as a gettering agent for additional particles 22 rather Bryan
discloses “that the purpose of the accumulation layer is to form a region of
damage along which the donor substrate can be cleaved.” Appeal Brief 8.
“[T]he accumulation layer is not a gettering region, whose purpose to
prevent the migration of particles 22 into the substrate 10 underlying the
accumulation layer 15.” Id. Appellants conclude that “the end result of
Bryan process does not form a gettering region, either underlying an active
silicon substrate, or overlying an active silicon substrate, or overlying an
accumulation layer.” Id.
We find Appellants’ arguments to be persuasive. The Examiner
explains in the Response to Argument Section Bryan’s employment of
hydrogen particles and the ability of hydrogen particles to accumulate boron.
Answer 9.
However, we agree with Appellants that the purpose of Bryan’s
accumulation layer is to form a region of damage along which the donor
substrate can be cleaved. Appeal Brief 8, Bryan, Figures 1-4. Bryan
supports Appellants’ position and states, “[T]he present invention provides a
method for separating a film from a donor substrate using a cleaving
process, which generally relies upon adding stress to a particle accumulation
Appeal 2011-000682
Application 12/261,121

4
region to free such film from the donor substrate.” Bryan, column 3, lines
57-61. We further agree with Appellants’ contention that, “[N]either Bruel
nor Bryan discloses a gettering region with a second type of ion that acts as a
gettering agent for a first type of ion impurity in the substrate, which
inadvertently remains as a result of a cleaving process.” Appeal Brief 10.
Bryan’s accumulation layer assist in the cleaving process by adding stress or
reducing the required fracture energy along a region parallel to the top
surface at the selected depth thus allowing for a controlled cleave along the
implanted plane at the selected depth. Bryan, column 5, lines 14-20.
We reverse the Examiner’s obviousness rejection of independent
claim 20, as well as, dependent claims 21-28 for the reasons stated above.

DECISION
The Examiner’s 35 U.S.C. §103 rejection of claims 21-28 is reversed.

REVERSED

pgc