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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 13 Nov 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
In the amended claims filed 13 Nov 2025, Applicant has amended claims 1 and 12 by deleting the limitation that the seed layer is made of “one of ruthenium, platinum, nickel and titanium”, and by deleting tantalum and tantalum nitride from the list of possible materials for the underlying layer.
Claims 17 and 18 are new and depend on independent claims 1 and 12, respectively; both claims limit the material of the seed layer “one of ruthenium, platinum, nickel and titanium”.
Claims 7 and 14 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election of Species A (Figures 1 and 2) was made without traverse in the reply filed on Feb. 17, 2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6–7, filed 13 Nov 2025, with respect to the rejections of independent claims 1 and 12 under 35 USC § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of independent claims 1 and 12 have been withdrawn based on the amended claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The new information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4 Nov 2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 5 merely repeats the limitations that the stacked structure comprises “a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein the ferroelectric layer and the tunnel barrier layer are arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode”, which was already stated in Claim 1, upon which Claim 5 depends.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 is allowed. The prior art of record fails to teach
“an underlying layer; and
a seed layer arranged on the underlying layer, wherein the first electrode is arranged on the seed layer,
…
wherein the underlying layer is made of one of ruthenium and platinum”
in combination with all other limitations in the claim as claimed and defined by applicant.
The closest prior art of US-20210398991-A1 (“Manfrini”) lacks the features of a seed layer directly under the first electrode 130 (Fig. 7, “bottom electrode 130” ¶[0056]), and an underlying layer directly under the seed layer.
The additional prior art of US-20190305042-A1 (“Chen”, from the latest IDS) teaches that a seed layer 531 (Fig. 6) made of ruthenium or platinum may be used to promote a face-centered cubic crystal structure (i.e., an NaCl structure) of an overlying “storage layer” 528 (see ¶[0039]), which is similar in purpose to the present application’s seed layer and underlying layer together promoting an NaCl structure for the layer above the seed layer as described in ¶[0026–0027] of the present application. However, in the present application, the layer directly above the seed layer is the first electrode. Additionally, Chen’s Fig. 6 differs from the present claim in that the present claim requires an underlying layer directly under the seed layer, and for the underlying layer to be made of one of ruthenium and platinum. In Fig. 6, directly underneath the seed layer 531 is a wetting layer 532 made of “made of magnesium (Mg), hafnium (Hf), titanium (Ti), Ta or a combination thereof” ¶[0038], so the wetting layer 532 does not meet the requirements for the present claim’s underlying layer. In summary, Chen fails to teach that bottom electrode 525 is disposed directly on the seed layer 531, and that the seed layer 531 is disposed directly on an underlying layer 532 made of ruthenium or platinum (because in Fig. 6 the bottom electrode 525 is underneath those other two layers).
The additional prior art of US-20080123243-A1 (“Hamada”) teaches in Fig. 1 that a ferroelectric capacitor 100 has a first electrode 20 comprising a stack of three layers: from top to bottom, a first platinum film 26, a first iridium oxide film 24, and a first iridium film 22. These may be considered analogous to the present application’s first electrode, seed layer, and underlying layer, respectively. Hamada discloses in ¶[0031–0033] that each of these three film has a face-centered cubic type crystal structure (i.e., an NaCl structure) such that each film is oriented in the (111) plane. This results in the seed layer 28 and ferroelectric layer 30 that are formed on top of the first electrode 20 also being oriented in the (111) plane (see ¶[0033]). However, Hamada’s Fig. 1 differs from the present claim in that the first iridium film 22 does not meet the requirement that the underlying layer be made of ruthenium or platinum. Also, Hamada’s Fig. 1 has a seed layer 28 arranged between the first platinum film 26 and the ferroelectric layer 30, whereas in the present application’s Fig. 2, there is no layer arranged between the first electrode 1 and the ferroelectric layer 2.
In the examiner’s view, it would not be obvious to combine the teachings of Manfrini, Chen, and Hamada to make a stacked structure of capacitor having a first electrode (i.e., bottom electrode) on top of a seed layer, which in turn is on top of an underlying layer made of ruthenium or platinum as required by the present claim.
Claims 2–4, 6, 8–11, and 17 are allowed because they depend on allowable claim 1.
Claim 12 is allowed. The prior art of record fails to teach
“forming an underlying layer by one of ruthenium and platinum;
forming a seed layer on the underlying layer;
forming an electrode on the seed layer”
in combination with all other limitations in the claim as claimed and defined by applicant.
In the examiner’s view, it would not be obvious to combine the teachings of Manfrini, Chen, and Hamada, as cited above, to form a stacked structure including an electrode on top of a seed layer, which in turn is on top of an underlying layer made of ruthenium or platinum as required by the present claim.
Claims 13, 15–16, and 18 are allowed because they depend on allowable claim 12.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Relevant to the wurtzite structure of the ferroelectric layer and NaCl structure of the tunnel barrier layer and first electrode of claims 2–4, 8, and 15–16:
US-20230380180-A1 (“Yamazaki”)
Relevant to the concentration of boron in the ferroelectric layer of claim 9:
Hayden et al. (“Ferroelectricity in boron-substituted aluminum nitride thin films”, Phys. Rev. Materials 5, 044412 (2021))
From the IDS, on the ferroelectricity and wurtzite structure of scandium-doped aluminum nitride thin films and the effect of using different concentrations of scandium, relevant to claim 10:
Fichtner et al. (“AlScN: A III-V semiconductor based ferroelectric”, J. Appl. Phys. 125, 114103 (2019))
Yasuoka et al. (“Effects of deposition conditions on the ferroelectric properties of (Al1−xScx)N thin films”, J. Appl. Phys. 128, 114103 (2020))
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Adam J Mott whose telephone number is (571)272-2367. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:30AM-5:00PM EST.
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/A.J.M./ Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/RATISHA MEHTA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817