Hydrogen and Hydrocarbon Plasma Treatment of Phase Change Memory Material

Application No. 17/948,990

• Filed: Sep 20, 2022
• Examiner: PRENTY, MARK V
• Art Unit: 2814
• Tech Center: 2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
• Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• OA Round: 1 (Non-Final)

Office Action

This Office Action is in response to the response filed on December 12, 2025.

Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-16, is acknowledged. Claims 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration.

Claims 1-3, 6-9 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee (United States Patent 11,616,197).
As to independent claim 1, Lee discloses a phase change memory device (see the entire patent, including the Fig. 5 disclosure), comprising:
one or more phase change memory cells MC, wherein each of the phase change memory cells comprises a phase change material VR (column 5, lines 11-16) between a bottom electrode EP2 and a top electrode EP3; and
a carbon and oxygen-containing passivation layer 350 (column 11, lines 2-5) on sidewalls of the phase change material.
As to dependent claim 2, Lee’s carbon and oxygen-containing passivation layer 350 is continuous along the sidewalls of the phase change material VR, thereby fully encapsulating the phase change material.
As to dependent claim 3, Lee’s device further comprises buffer layers 410 and 420 at a bottom and a top of the phase change material VR.
As to dependent claim 6, Lee’s phase change material VR is selected from the group consisting of: Sb₂Te₃, GeTe, Ge₂Sb₂Te₅, GaSb, Ge-Sb, and combinations thereof (column 5, lines 19-29).
As to dependent claim 7, Lee’s phase change memory cells MC are arranged in a cross-point array (Fig. 2).
As to independent claim 8, Lee discloses a phase change memory device, (see the entire patent, including the Fig. 5 disclosure) comprising:
one or more phase change memory cells MC, wherein each of the phase change memory cells comprises a phase change material VR and an ovonic threshold switch 200 (column 5, lines 40-45) between a bottom electrode EP1 and a top electrode EP3, wherein the ovonic threshold switch 200 is in series with the phase change material VR (column 3, lines 55-60); and
a carbon and oxygen-containing passivation layer 350 (column 11, lines 2-5) on sidewalls of the phase change material and on sidewalls of the ovonic threshold switch.
As to dependent claim 9, Lee’s carbon and oxygen-containing passivation layer 350 is continuous both along the sidewalls of the phase change material VR and along the sidewalls of the ovonic threshold switch 200, thereby fully encapsulating the phase change material and the ovonic threshold switch.
As to dependent claim 14, Lee’s phase change material VR is selected from the group consisting of: Sb₂Te₃, GeTe, Ge₂Sb₂Te₅, GaSb, Ge-Sb, and combinations thereof (column 5, lines 19-29).
As to dependent claim 15, Lee’s ovonic threshold switch 200 comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: AsSeGeSi, AsSeGeSiC, AsSeGeSiN, AsSeGeSiTe, AsSeGeSiTeS, AsTeGeSi, AsTeGeSiN and combinations thereof (column 5, line 40, through column 8, line 2).
As to dependent claim 16, Lee’s phase change memory cells MC are arranged in a cross-point array (Fig. 2).

Claims 4, 5 and 10-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.

Registered practitioners can telephone the examiner at [phone]. Any voicemail message left for the examiner should include the registration number of the registered practitioner calling. The examiner’s supervisor is Wael Fahmy, whose telephone number is [phone].
/MARK V PRENTY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814

Prosecution Timeline

• Sep 20, 2022: Application Filed
• Apr 22, 2024: Response after Non-Final Action
• Mar 05, 2026: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)