DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/30/2025 has been entered.
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 10-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu; Zhenyu (US PGpub: 2021/0035994 A1), herein after Lu, in view of Pandey et al. (US PGpub: 2015/0340372 A1), herein after Pandey.
Regarding claim 10, Lu teaches an electronic component with at least one layer of a ferroelectric or antiferroelectric material, wherein the layer is provided, for setting an imprint, with a chemical element as a dopant (Paragraph [0046], [0051]), and is introduced into the layer in a locally inhomogeneous distribution (Paragraph [0038], [0049]-[0052]) the layer comprises at least two sub-layers, each sub-layer having a substantially uniform dopant concentration different from that of an adjacent sub-layer (FIG. 2C-2E and description Paragraph [0060]-[0062]). In fact having “a layer with plurality of sub-layer with substantially uniform dopant concentration different from that of an adjacent sub-layer” is known in the industry as taught in YOO; Hyangkeun (US PGpub: 20200105770 A1) in Paragraph [0057], FIG. 7.
Lu does not explicitly, perhaps, teach dopant with chemical element as a dopant which has a different number of free outer electrons than a non-oxide element of the ferroelectric or antiferroelectric material..
However, Pandey teaches dopant with chemical element as a dopant which has a different number of free outer electrons than a non-oxide element of the ferroelectric or antiferroelectric material. (Paragraph [0041]-[0052]).
Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use Lu’s electronic component with other teaching from Pandey so that the device resulting in a crystallized oxide layer that is suitable as a FE material for an FE memory cell.
Regarding claim 11, Lu teaches the electronic component according to claim 10, wherein the chemical element is introduced at a proportion with respect to the material with which the layer is formed of between 1 percent and 10 percent (Paragraph [0051]-[0062], [0066]-[0068], [0077])..
Regarding claim 12, Lu teaches the electronic component according to claim 10, wherein said layer is formed of a ferroelectric material having a fluorite structure (Paragraph [0051]-[0062], [0066]-[0068], [0077]). ferroelectric layer known to include at least one of a fluorite-based material or perovskite as in US 11843037 B2 (Choe et al.). ferroelectrics have a spontaneous dipole (electric dipole), namely, spontaneous polarization, because a charge distribution within a unit cell is non-centrosymmetric in a crystallized material structure. The ferroelectrics may also have a remnant polarization due to a dipole even in a state where there are no external electric fields. In the ferroelectrics, a direction of polarization may be switched in units of domain by an external electric field.
Regarding claim 13, Lu d teaches the electronic component according to claim 10, wherein the ferroelectric material is hafnium oxide or zirconium oxide (Paragraph [0042]-[0062], [0066]-[0068], [0077]).
Regarding claim 14, Lu teaches the electronic component according to claim 10, wherein the chemical element is introduced into the layer in an asymmetric distribution (Paragraph [0051]-[0062], [0066]-[0068], [0077])..
Regarding claim 15, Lu teaches the electronic component according to claim 10, wherein the chemical element is selected from aluminum, lanthanum and yttrium (Paragraph [0051]-[0062], [0066]-[0068], [0077])..
Regarding claim 16, Lu teaches the electronic component according to claim 10, wherein the layer is formed with an antiferroelectric material in which the chemical element used for doping is contained in the layer material in such a way that when the external electrical potential is neutral, the polarization of the layer does not switch back (Paragraph [0051]-[0062], [0066]-[0068], [0077]).
Regarding claim 17, Lu teaches a buffer capacitor as an electronic component according to claim 16 FeRaM is a storage device which has memory).
Regarding claim 18, Lu teaches a method of manufacturing an electronic component having at least one layer of a ferroelectric or antiferroelectric material, wherein the layer is provided, for setting an imprint, with a chemical element as a dopant (Paragraph [0046], [0051]) and is introduced into the layer in a locally inhomogeneous distribution (Paragraph [0042]-[0062], [0066]-[0068], [0077]), adding at least two sub-layers to the at least one layer of ferroelectric or antiferroelectric material, wherein each sub-layer is provided with a substantially uniform dopant concentration different from that of an adjacent sub-layer (FIG. 2C-2E and description Paragraph [0060]-[0062]). In fact having “adding at least two sub-layers to the at least one layer of ferroelectric or antiferroelectric material, wherein each sub-layer is provided with a substantially uniform dopant concentration different from that of an adjacent sub-layer” is known in the industry as taught in YOO; Hyangkeun (US PGpub: 20200105770 A1) in Paragraph [0057], FIG. 7.
Lu does not explicitly, perhaps, teach dopant with chemical element as a dopant which has a different number of free outer electrons than a non-oxide element of the ferroelectric or antiferroelectric material..
However, Pandey teaches dopant with chemical element as a dopant which has a different number of free outer electrons than a non-oxide element of the ferroelectric or antiferroelectric material. (Paragraph [0041]-[0052]).
Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use Lu’s electronic component with other teaching from Pandey so that the method resulting in a crystallized oxide layer that is suitable as a FE material for an FE memory cell.
Conclusion
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/SHEIKH MARUF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897