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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/3/2025 has been entered.
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 and 15-20 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 15, it is unclear to one having ordinary skill in the art what limitations to impose upon the term “opening” in the claim. Specifically, while Applicant’s disclosure sets forth a method in which a well is formed and an “opening” of the well is plugged (see, e.g., the transition from Applicant’s Fig. 6D to 6E to 6F), the claims are not directed to a method but, instead, to a device. As seen in Applicant’s Fig. 1, the well in the final product of the device does not have an “opening”. For the purpose of this Office action, the “opening” is interpreted as an end of the well.
Claims 2-9 and 16-20 depend from claim 1 or claim 15 and are, therefore, also rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 8, 9, 15-17, 21, and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 2009/0191367 A1) in view of Kakegawa et al. (US 8,513,638 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Chen disclose a memory cell (Fig. 11), comprising:
a first electrode (200) and a second electrode (212a);
a phase change material (206) electrically disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode;
an active heater element (components between 206 and 200) electrically disposed between the phase change material and the first electrode, wherein the active heater element comprises a conductive material (202a) disposed directly upon a first resistive material (106b) that extends from the first electrode at a first end of the first resistive material (bottom end) towards the phase change material at a second end of the first resistive material (top end) and wherein the first resistive material and the conductive material form a well (per Applicant’s Specification, the well is defined not by the interior of the resistive materials and conductive material but by the exterior of said materials (Applicant’s Specification at ¶¶ 0073-0077 and Figs. 6A-6F.) As such, the well of Chen is formed by the first resistive material and the conductive material (together with 204; the boundary of the well of Chen are the sidewalls of 208 in Fig. 11) with an end (top end) at the second end of the first resistive material, wherein the end is plugged by a dielectric material (208); and
a first insulator gap (G) within the well and enclosed by the dielectric material (see Fig. 11).
Chen does not disclose that the first electrode is embedded in a first dielectric layer.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form first electrodes in memory cells to be embedded in dielectric layers (first electrode 31 embedded in first dielectric layer 21a in Fig. 1 of Kakegawa).
There was a benefit to such a configuration in that focuses the application of voltage onto the bottom surface of the heater layer, reducing the likelihood of leakage current along the sidewall of the heater.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to use a first electrode embedded in a first dielectric layer as taught by Kakegawa in the device of Chen for this benefit.
Regarding claim 6, Chen does not disclose the inclusion of a set of inactive heater elements that are arrange in a shape of a plus sign with the active heater element.
However, Kakegawa discloses forming a set of inactive heater elements (41 in Fig. 29A) surrounding each active heater element (unlabeled set of concentric circles in Fig. 29A) on four sides thereof.
There was a benefit to this configuration in that it increases thermal efficiency (Col. 8, Lines 1-19 of Kakegawa).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form the inactive regions as taught by Kakegawa around the active regions of Chen resulting in a set of inactive elements, one each side of the active heater elements, for this benefit.
the resulting set of inactive heater elements will then by arranged in the shape of a plus sign with the active heater element at the center (see Fig. 29A of Kakegawa).
Regarding claim 8, Chen further discloses that the active heater further comprises:
a second resistive material (204) disposed between the conductive material and the dielectric material (see Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 9, Chen does not explicitly disclose whether the first insulator gap is an air gap or a vacuum gap.
However, there was a benefit to forming the first insulator gap as a vacuum gap instead of an air gap as a vacuum gap would not contain any significant amount of molecules which could react with and degrade the first resistive material over time.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to form the first insulator gap as an air gap for this benefit.
Regarding claim 15, Chen discloses a memory module (Fig. 11) comprising:
a phase change memory cell (Fig. 11) that comprises a phase-change material (206) and a set of heater elements (Fig. 11 shows a set of three heater elements with a single heater element comprising one of each of the components G, 106b, 202a, 204, and 206), wherein each heater element in the set of heater elements comprises:
a first resistive material (106b) that extends away from a first end (bottom end) and toward the phase-change material at a second end (top end);
a conductive material (202a);
a second resistive material (204), where the first resistive material, the conductive material, and the second resistive material together form a well (per Applicant’s Specification, the well is defined not by the interior of the resistive materials and conductive material but by the exterior of said materials (Applicant’s Specification at ¶¶ 0073-0077 and Figs. 6A-6F) As such, the boundary of the well of Chen is the sidewalls of 208 in Fig. 11) with and end (top end) at the second end of the first resistive material;
dielectric material (204) deposited in the well to plug the well;
an insulator gap (G) within the well and enclosed by the dielectric material.
Chen does not disclose a dielectric layer such that each heater element in the set of heater elements is formed between the dielectric layer and the phase-change material and the first resistive material extends away from the dielectric.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form first electrodes in memory cells to be embedded in dielectric layers (first electrode 31 embedded in first dielectric layer 21a in Fig. 1 of Kakegawa).
There was a benefit to such a configuration in that focuses the application of voltage onto the bottom surface of the heater layer, reducing the likelihood of leakage current along the sidewall of the heater.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to use a first electrode embedded in a first dielectric layer as taught by Kakegawa in the device of Chen for this benefit. In the resulting configuration each heater element in the set of heater elements is formed between the dielectric layer and the phase-change material and the first resistive material extends away from the dielectric.
Regarding claim 16, Chen does not disclose forming the heater elements to be arranged in a rectangular grid shape.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form heater elements in memory modules to be arranged in a rectangular grid shape (see Fig. 2A) of Kakegawa.
There was a benefit to arranged the heater elements in a rectangular grid shape in that the total number of memory cells can be increased while minimizing the length of the longest word line.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form the set of heater elements of Chen in a rectangular grid shape for this benefit.
Regarding claim 17, interpreting a “set of heater elements” to be a first heater element and the heater elements closest to the first heater element, the arrangement of Kakegawa as discussed in the rejection of claim 16 forms a set of heater elements to be in a shape of a plus sign (see Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 21, Chen disclose a memory cell (Fig. 11), comprising:
a bottom electrode (200) and a top electrode (212a);
a phase-change material (206) electrically disposed between the bottom electrode and the top electrode;
a dielectric layer (208) disposed between the phase-change material and the bottom electrode, the dielectric layer comprising an active heater well therethrough (well in 208);
an active heater element (components between 206 and 200) electrically between the phase change material and the bottom electrode within the active heater well, wherein the active heater element comprises:
a first resistive material (see annotated copy of Fig. 11, below) upon a perimeter of the active heater well directly connected to the dielectric layer and connected to the first electrode,
a conductive material (202a) disposed directly upon the first resistive material,
a dielectric material (106b) that fills a remaining portion of the active heater well; and
an insulator gap (G) within the dielectric material.
Chen does not explicitly disclose that the insulator gap in an air gap.
However, Chen does disclose that other gaps formed within the device are air gaps (¶ 0054).
There was a benefit to forming to forming the insulator gaps to similarly be air gaps in that the device would not need to be placed within a vacuum chamber during manufacturing.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form the insulator gap to be an air gap for this benefit.
Chen does not disclose that the first resistive material directly connected to the first electrode.
However, changes in shape are obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration is significant (MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B)). Further, there was a benefit to extending the first resistive material along the entirety of the side of the conductive material in that it reduces undesirable bleeding between cells. As such, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the Application's effective filing date to adjust the shape of the conductive material of Chen such that the first resistive material extends to the first electrode for this benefit (see rendering, below).
Chen does not disclose that the bottom electrode is embedded in a first dielectric layer.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form electrodes in memory cells to be embedded in dielectric layers (first electrode 31 embedded in first dielectric layer 21a in Fig. 1 of Kakegawa).
There was a benefit to such a configuration in that focuses the application of voltage onto the bottom surface of the heater layer, reducing the likelihood of leakage current along the sidewall of the heater.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to use a bottom electrode embedded in a first dielectric layer as taught by Kakegawa in the device of Chen for this benefit.
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Regarding claim 24, Chen further discloses wherein the active heater element comprises:
a second resistive portion (dielectric material directly above the conductive material, see annotated copy of Fig. 11, above) disposed directly upon the conductive material.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Kakegawa as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Agostino et al. (EP 2034536 B1).
Regarding claim 2, Chen does not disclose the inclusion of a projection liner electrically disposed between the active heater element and the phase change material.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form the phase change materials to cover a greater area than the active heater elements and to include projection liners between active heater elements and phase change materials in memory cells (projection liner 11 in Fig. 5 of Agostino).
There was a benefit to using larger phase change material areas with a projection liner in that the difference in resistance between the programming states of the phase change material can be more easily detected (¶ 0020 of Agostino).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form a larger phase change material area with a projection liner between the active heater element and the phase change material as taught by Agostino in the device of Chen for this benefit.
Claim(s) 3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Kakegawa as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Russo et al. (US 2015/0340408 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Chen does not disclose the inclusion of inactive heater elements.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form inactive memory columns inside phase change memory cells (e.g., an inactive dummy memory column 204 adjacent to functional memory column 206 in Fig. 4A of Russo). While the particular inactive memory columns shown in Fig. 4A are made inactive by not forming the heater, Russo discloses that they may be made inactive by not forming a different conductive component instead (“may lack heating elements or other conductive material” in ¶ 0026).
There was a benefit to forming such inactive memory columns adjacent to the active memory columns in that it reduces undesired electrical communication between adjacent word lines (¶ 0035 of Russo).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form inactive memory columns in the Chen containing inactive heater elements identical in structure to the active heater elements for this benefit.
The resulting inactive heater element will be identical to the active heater element of Chen and therefore be located between the first electrode and the phase change material and comprise a second resistive material (corresponding to the first resistive material in an active heater element) that extends from the first dielectric layer towards the phase change material; and
a second insulator gap (corresponding to the insulator gap G in the active heater element) enclosed by the second resistive material.
Regarding claim 5, the memory cell of the combination will further comprise a second dielectric layer (A in Fig. 11 of Chen) in which the active heater element and the inactive heater element are embedded, and the inactive heater element is part of a set of inactive heater elements (from the plurality of inactive memory columns disposed in a row with a plurality of active memory columns along the X direction in Fig. 4A of Russo) that are arranged in a line segment (corresponding to along the X direction in Fig. 4A of Russo) with the active heater element in the second dielectric layer.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen, Kakegawa, and Russo as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Agostino et al. (EP 2034536 B1).
Regarding claim 4, Chen does not disclose the inclusion of a projection liner spatially between the heater elements and the phase change material.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form the phase change materials to cover a greater area than the heater elements and to include projection liners between heater elements and phase change materials in memory cells (projection liner 11 in Fig. 5 of Agostino).
There was a benefit to using larger phase change material areas with a projection liner in that the difference in resistance between the programming states of the phase change material can be more easily detected (¶ 0020 of Agostino).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form a larger phase change material area with a projection liner spatially between the active and inactive heater elements and the phase change material as taught by Agostino in the device of the combination for this benefit.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Kakegawa as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Agostino et al. (EP 2034536 B1).
Regarding claim 7, Chen does not disclose the inclusion of a projection liner electrically between the heater elements and the phase change material.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form the phase change materials to cover a greater area than the heater elements and to include projection liners between heater elements and phase change materials in memory cells (projection liner 11 in Fig. 5 of Agostino).
There was a benefit to using larger phase change material areas with a projection liner in that the difference in resistance between the programming states of the phase change material can be more easily detected (¶ 0020 of Agostino).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form a larger phase change material area with a projection liner between the active and inactive heater elements and the phase change material as taught by Agostino in the device of the combination and thereby matching an arrangement of the set of inactive heater elements and the active heater element for this benefit.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Kakegawa as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Agostino et al. (EP 2034536 B1).
Regarding claim 18, Chen does not disclose the inclusion of a projection liner between the heater elements and the phase change material.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form the phase change materials to cover a greater area than the heater elements and to include projection liners between heater elements and phase change materials in memory cells (projection liner 11 in Fig. 5 of Agostino).
There was a benefit to using larger phase change material areas with a projection liner in that the difference in resistance between the programming states of the phase change material can be more easily detected (¶ 0020 of Agostino).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form a larger phase change material area with a projection liner with a shape that matches an arrangement of the set of heater elements between the active and inactive heater elements and the phase change material as taught by Agostino in the device of the combination for this benefit.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Kakegawa as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Russo et al. (US 2015/0340408 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Chen does not disclose the inclusion of inactive heater elements.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form inactive memory columns inside phase change memory cells (e.g., an inactive dummy memory column 204 adjacent to functional memory column 206 in Fig. 4A of Russo). While the particular inactive memory columns shown in Fig. 4A are made inactive by not forming the heater, Russo discloses that they may be made inactive by not forming a different conductive component instead (“may lack heating elements or other conductive material” in ¶ 0026).
There was a benefit to forming such inactive memory columns adjacent to the active memory columns in that it reduces undesired electrical communication between adjacent word lines (¶ 0035 of Russo).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form inactive memory columns in the Chen containing inactive heater elements identical in structure to the active heater elements for this benefit.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Kakegawa as applied to claim 15 above.
Regarding claim 20, Chen does not explicitly disclose that the insulator gap in an air gap.
However, Chen does disclose that other gaps formed within the device are air gaps (¶ 0054).
There was a benefit to forming to forming the insulator gaps to similarly be air gaps in that the device would not need to be placed within a vacuum chamber during manufacturing.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form the insulator gap to be an air gap for this benefit.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Kakegawa as applied to claim 21 above, and further in view of Agostino et al. (EP 2034536 B1).
Regarding claim 22, Chen does not disclose the inclusion of a projection liner electrically disposed between the active heater element and the phase change material.
However, it was known in the art before the Application’s effective filing date to form the phase change materials to cover a greater area than the active heater elements and to include projection liners between active heater elements and phase change materials in memory cells (projection liner 11 in Fig. 5 of Agostino).
There was a benefit to using larger phase change material areas with a projection liner in that the difference in resistance between the programming states of the phase change material can be more easily detected (¶ 0020 of Agostino).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to form a larger phase change material area with a projection liner electrically disposed between the active heater element and the phase change material as taught by Agostino in the device of Chen for this benefit.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/03/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 112, Applicant argues that the term “opening” as used in the claims is definite as one having ordinary skill in the art understands that the term denotes “a sealed boundary”. This argument is not persuasive as Applicant has not provided any evidence that “a sealed boundary” is a known definition of “opening”.
Applicant further argues that Applicant’s Specification sets forth examples in which “the well is an interior feature bounded by heater materials.” In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., the well is an interior feature bounded by heater materials) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Applicant similarly argues that “Chen neither discloses nor suggests ‘a well’ jointly defined by the resistive and conductive materials”. In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Applicant further argues that Kakegawa does not disclose a well joined defined by a resistive material and a conductive material. Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive for the same reasons.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT whose telephone number is (571)272-4893. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT/ Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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