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 .
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s Amendment filed on 12/08/2025. Claims 1 and 4 have been amended. No new claims have been added or canceled. Claims 6-10 have previously been withdrawn. Currently, claims 1-5 and 11-20 are pending.
Applicant’s amendment to claim 4 successfully overcomes the objection set forth in the previous Office Action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 12/08/2025 with respect to amended claim 1 have been considered but are moot as applied to the newly added claim limitations because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiokawa (US 11257533) in view of Ishitani et al. (US 11770978) and Thiele et al. ("Magnetic and structural properties of FePt-FeRh exchange spring films for thermally assisted magnetic recording media." Applied Physics Letters, 82, 2859–2861 (2003), doi: 10.1063/1.1571232.), cited by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on September 1, 2022.
Regarding claim 1, Shiokawa, in Fig. 2, teaches a magnetic memory device (300; col. 5, lines 45-55) comprising:
a first conductor layer (left Cm) extending in a first direction (y-direction; col. 5, lines 60-65);
a second conductor layer (44 connected to left Wp; col. 5, lines 60-65; col. 7, lines 10-15) extending in a second direction crossing the first direction (z direction, see Fig. 2);
a third conductor layer (left Rp) extending in the first direction (y-direction; col. 5, lines 60-65); and
a three-terminal type memory cell (100A; col. 5, lines 55-65) that is coupled to the first conductor layer (left Cm), the second conductor layer (44 connected to left Wp), and the third conductor layer (left Rp) (see Fig. 2), wherein
the second conductor layer (44 connected to left Wp) is between the first conductor layer (left Cm) and the third conductor layer (left Rp) in a third direction that crosses the first and second directions (see marked Figure 2 below how the marked third direction that is within the xz plane crosses the z and y directions);
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Shiokawa Fig. 2
the memory cell (100A) includes:
a fourth conductor layer (left 41/42/20) that includes a first portion (42) coupled to the first conductor layer (left Cm), a second portion (41) coupled to the second conductor layer (44 connected to left Wp), and a third portion (20) coupled to the third conductor layer (left Rp) and located between the first portion (42) and the second portion (41) (see Fig. 2), and
a magnetoresistance effect element (left 10; col. 6, lines 60-67) that is coupled between the third conductor layer (left Rp) and the fourth conductor layer (left 41/42/20).
Shiokawa does not explicitly teach that the fourth conductor layer includes a magnetic layer and a first non-magnetic layer that is provided between the magnetic layer and the magnetoresistance effect element; and that the magnetic layer has a first saturation magnetization during a standby state or a read state of the memory cell, and has a second saturation magnetization larger than the first saturation magnetization during a write state of the memory cell.
In a similar field of endeavor, Ishitani teaches, in Fig. 12, that the fourth conductor layer (20; col. 9, lines 25-35) includes a magnetic layer (20B; col. 13, lines 30-35) and a first non-magnetic layer (top 20A; col. 10, lines 30-35) that is provided between the magnetic layer and the magnetoresistance effect element (10), so that “there is no need to cause a current to flow in the lamination direction of the magnetoresistance effect element, and thus a long lifespan of the magnetoresistance effect element is expected” (col. 1, lines 50-60).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the magnetic memory device of Shiokawa with the fourth conductor layer of Ishitani, so that there is no need to cause a current to flow in the lamination direction of the magnetoresistance effect element, and thus a long lifespan of the magnetoresistance effect element is expected (col. 1, lines 50-60).
Shiokawa in view of Ishitania does not explicitly teach that the magnetic layer has a first saturation magnetization during a standby state or a read state of the memory cell, and has a second saturation magnetization larger than the first saturation magnetization during a write state of the memory cell.
In a similar field of endeavor, Thiele teaches that the magnetic layer (FeRh/FePt bilayer) has a first saturation magnetization during a standby state (see Fig. 2b at room temperature) or a read state of the memory cell, and has a second saturation magnetization larger than the first saturation magnetization during a write state of the memory cell (see Fig. 2b, at about 200 degrees Celsius) (page 2859, last 2 paragraphs), so that “the ferromagnetic phase of FeRh is exploited to help write the media while the antiferromagnetic phase supports the long-time stability” (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the magnetic memory device of Shiokawa in view of Ishitani with the magnetic layer of Thiele, so that the ferromagnetic phase of FeRh is exploited to help write the media while the antiferromagnetic phase supports the long-time stability (Abstract).
Regarding claim 2, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 1. Thiele further teaches that the magnetic layer (FeRh/FePt bilayer) exhibits antiferro-magnetic property during the standby state or the read state of the memory cell, and exhibits ferro-magnetic property during the write state of the memory cell (page 2859, Abstract and last 2 paragraphs).
Regarding claim 3, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 2. Thiele further teaches that a temperature of the magnetic layer (FeRh/FePt bilayer) is less than a phase change temperature (TN) of the magnetic layer during the standby state or the read state of the memory cell, and exceeds the phase change temperature (TN) during the write state of the memory cell (page 2859, Abstract and last 2 paragraphs).
Regarding claim 4, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 2. Thiele further teaches that the magnetic layer (FeRh/FePt bilayer) includes an alloy containing iron (Fe) and rhodium (Rh), and a composition of iron (Fe) in the alloy is at 40% or more and at 60% or less (page 2860, Fig. 2b caption).
Regarding claim 5, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 4. Thiele further teaches that the magnetic layer (FeRh/FePt bilayer) further contains at least one element selected from iridium (Ir), palladium (Pd), ruthenium (Ru), osmium (Os), platinum (Pt), gold (Au), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu) (page 2860, Fig. 2a caption; Ir and Pt).
Regarding claim 11, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 1. Ishitani further teaches that the first non-magnetic layer (top 20A, Fig. 12) contains at least one element selected from tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt), and gold (Au) (col. 10, lines 40-50; Ta, W, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt, or Au).
Regarding claim 12, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 1. Ishitani further teaches that a film thickness of the first non-magnetic layer (top 20A; Fig. 12) is 0.3 nanometers or more and 10 nanometers or less (col. 11, lines 15-20; 0.8 nm to 2 nm).
Regarding claim 13, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 1. Ishitani further teaches that a film thickness of the magnetic layer (20B, Fig. 12) is 2 nanometers or more and 10 nanometers or less (col. 2, lines 30-40, thickness of 20B is equal to or smaller than a spin diffusion length in a material constituting the insertion layer; the spin diffusion length for Fe is about 7 nm).
Regarding claim 14, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 1. Ishitani further teaches, in Fig. 12, that the fourth conductor layer further includes a second non-magnetic layer (bottom 20A; col. 10, lines 30-35) that is provided on an opposite side of the first non-magnetic layer (top 20A) with respect to the magnetic layer (20B) (see Fig. 12).
Regarding claim 15, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 14. Ishitani further teaches that the second non-magnetic layer (bottom 20A) contains at least one element selected from tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti), and tungsten (W) (col. 10, lines 40-50; Ta or W).
Regarding claim 16, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 14. Ishitani further teaches that a film thickness of the second non-magnetic layer is 0.5 nanometers or more and 5 nanometers or less (col. 11, lines 15-20; 0.8 nm to 2 nm).
Regarding claim 17, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 1. Shiokawa further teaches, in Fig. 4, that during the write state of the memory cell (100A), the magnetoresistance effect element (10) has a first resistance value according to a first current flowing from the first portion to the second portion of the fourth conductor layer, and a second resistance value different from the first resistance value according to a second current flowing from the second portion to the first portion of the fourth conductor layer (col. 8, lines 10-25; col. 11, lines 50-65; The resistance value changes according to a difference in a relative angle between magnetization M1 of the first ferromagnetic layer 1 and the fixed magnetization M2 of the second ferromagnetic layer 2. When a first write current flows from the first portion to the second portion, the first spin S1 induces a spin orbit torque to magnetization M1 and changes it, thus leading to a first resistance value. When a second write current flows from the second portion to the first portion, a second spin induces a different second spin orbit torque to magnetization M1 and changes it, thus leading to a different second resistance value.)
Regarding claim 18, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 17. Ishitani teaches, in Fig. 12, that
the magnetoresistance effect element includes
a first ferromagnetic layer (1; col. 8, lines 15-20),
a second ferromagnetic layer (2; col. 8, lines 15-20) that is provided on an opposite side of the fourth conductor layer (20) with respect to the first ferromagnetic layer (1) (see Fig. 12), and
a third non-magnetic layer (3; col. 8, lines 15-20) that is provided between the first ferromagnetic layer (1) and the second ferromagnetic layer (2) (see Fig. 12), and
magnetization directions of the first ferromagnetic layer (1) and the second ferromagnetic layer (2) are along a stacking direction (vertical direction) of the first ferromagnetic layer (1), the third non-magnetic layer (3), and the second ferromagnetic layer (2) (see Fig. 12).
Regarding claim 19, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 1. Shiokawa further teaches, in Fig. 2, that the memory cell further includes
a first switching element (left 110; col. 5, lines 35-45) that is coupled between the second conductor layer (44 connected to left WP) and the fourth conductor layer (left 41/42/20), and
a second switching element (left 120; col. 5, lines 35-45) that is coupled between the first conductor layer (left Cm) and the third conductor layer (left Rp) (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 20, Shiokawa in view of Ishitani and Thiele teaches the limitations of claim 19. Shiokawa further teaches, in Fig. 2, that
the first switching element (left 110) is a three-terminal type switching element (transistor), and
the second switching element (left 120) is a two-terminal type switching element (col. 5, lines 35-45; ovonic threshold switch (OTS)).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/ERIKA H SON/Examiner, Art Unit 2893
/YARA B GREEN/Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893