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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 1-2, 5-9, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2024/0047509) in view of An et al. (“Electrically Tunable Thin Film Magnetic Core Using Synthetic Antiferromagnet Structure”), further in view of Horng et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2003/0053267)
Regarding claim 1, Hou teaches a microelectronic structure including:
a core (Fig. 17, core layer 68) layer including an electrically non-conductive material (encapsulant 68);
electrically conductive through core vias (TCVs) (TCVs 24 and 50) extending through the core layer;
a build-up layer (build up layer 48) on the core layer and electrically coupled to the TCVs (Fig. 17); and
a magnetic inductor (MI) (inductor 10’) within at least one of the core layer or the build-up layer (in core layer)
Hou does not teach the inductor including an antiferromagnetic (AF) structure, the AF structure including: a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer including a first FM material; an exchange coupling (EC) layer on the first FM layer and including a non-magnetic metal material; a second FM layer on the EC layer and including a second FM material, the EC layer between the first FM layer and the second FM layer; and a pinning (P) layer including manganese and at least one of platinum or iridium, the second FM layer between the EC layer and the P layer.
An teaches that the magnetic core of a thin film inductor can be a synthetic antiferromagnetic structure (An Introduction), including a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer including a first FM material (Fig. 5, bottom FM layer NiFe); an exchange coupling (EC) layer on the first FM layer and including a non-magnetic metal material (Fig. 5, EC layer Ru); a second FM layer on the EC layer and including a second FM material (Fig. 5, second FM layer NiFe), the EC layer between the first FM layer and the second FM layer (Fig. 5). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date that a synthetic antiferromagnetic structure could have been used as the magnetic shell of Hou because An teaches that this allows for a tunable susceptibility for the inductor, and can be used for low noise applications (see An Introduction).
An does not teach a pinning (P) layer including manganese and at least one of platinum or iridium, the second FM layer between the EC layer and the P layer. However, Horng teaches that a SAF structure can have a manganese platinum pinning layer, the second FM layer being between the pinning layer and the EC layer (see Horng Fig. 4b, EC layer 30, second FM layer 28 and pinning layer 22). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art that the SAF structure of An could have included a pinning layer because this allows for stable and tunable pinning of the fixed FM layer.
Regarding claim 2, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the microelectronic structure of claim 1, wherein the core layer includes one of glass, an organic material, or silicon (Hou paragraph [0040], organic material), and wherein the non-magnetic metal material of the EC layer includes at least one of ruthenium, tantalum, chromium, rhodium or copper (An Fig. 5, ruthenium).
Regarding claim 5, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the microelectronic structure of claim 1, wherein the first FM layer, the EC layer, the second FM layer and the P layer are substantially coextensive with one another along a length thereof (see Hou Fig. 17, An Fig. 5 and Horng Fig. 4b).
Regarding claim 6, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the microelectronic structure of claim 1, wherein the AF structure further includes a seed layer including a metal (see Horng Fig. 4b, seed layer 20, paragraph [0043], made of NiCr), the P layer between the seed layer and the second FM layer (see Horng Fig. 4b).
Regarding claim 7, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the microelectronic structure of claim 1, wherein the first FM material and the second FM material correspond to a same material (see An Fig. 5 and Horng paragraph [0043]).
Regarding claim 8, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the microelectronic structure of claim 1, wherein individual ones of the first FM material and the second FM material include at least one of iron, cobalt or nickel (An Fig. 5, Horng paragraph [0043], contains at least iron and nickel or iron and cobalt).
Regarding claim 9, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the microelectronic structure of claim 8, wherein individual ones of the first FM material and the second FM material include iron and at least one of cobalt or nickel (see An Fig. 5 and Horng paragraph [0043]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou in view of An and Horng, further in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2016/0181508)
Regarding claim 10, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the microelectronic structure of claim 9, wherein individual ones of the first FM material and the second FM material include iron, boron, and at least one of cobalt or nickel.
However, Lee teaches that a SAF structure can have CoFeB FM layers (see Lee paragraph [0031]). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date that the FM layers could have been CoFeB because Lee teaches that this is a suitable alternative to CoFe of Horng (see Lee paragraph [0031]).
Regarding claim 11, Hou teaches a microelectronic assembly including:
a microelectronic structure (Fig. 17) including:
a core (Fig. 17, core layer 68) layer including an electrically non-conductive material (encapsulant 68);
electrically conductive through core vias (TCVs) (TCVs 24 and 50) extending through the core layer;
a build-up layer (build up layer 48) on the core layer and electrically coupled to the TCVs (Fig. 17);
electrical contacts (unlabeled contacts where underfill 96 is located) at a surface of the microelectronic structure (Fig. 17);
a magnetic inductor (MI) (inductor 10’) within at least one of the core layer or the build-up layer (in core layer); and
a die (die 94) electrically coupled to at least some of the electrical contacts (Fig. 17).
Hou does not teach the inductor including an antiferromagnetic (AF) structure, the AF structure including: a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer including a first FM material; an exchange coupling (EC) layer on the first FM layer and including a non-magnetic metal material; a second FM layer on the EC layer and including a second FM material, the EC layer between the first FM layer and the second FM layer; and a pinning (P) layer including manganese and at least one of platinum or iridium, the second FM layer between the EC layer and the P layer.
An teaches that the magnetic core of a thin film inductor can be a synthetic antiferromagnetic structure (An Introduction), including a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer including a first FM material (Fig. 5, bottom FM layer NiFe); an exchange coupling (EC) layer on the first FM layer and including a non-magnetic metal material (Fig. 5, EC layer Ru); a second FM layer on the EC layer and including a second FM material (Fig. 5, second FM layer NiFe), the EC layer between the first FM layer and the second FM layer (Fig. 5). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date that a synthetic antiferromagnetic structure could have been used as the magnetic shell of Hou because An teaches that this allows for a tunable susceptibility for the inductor, and can be used for low noise applications (see An Introduction).
An does not teach a pinning (P) layer including manganese and at least one of platinum or iridium, the second FM layer between the EC layer and the P layer. However, Horng teaches that a SAF structure can have a manganese platinum pinning layer, the second FM layer being between the pinning layer and the EC layer (see Horng Fig. 4b, EC layer 30, second FM layer 28 and pinning layer 22). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art that the SAF structure of An could have included a pinning layer because this allows for stable and tunable pinning of the fixed FM layer.
Regarding claim 14, Hou teaches an integrated circuit (IC) device assembly including:
a printed circuit board (Fig. 19, PCB 106); and
a microelectronic assembly (assembly 100’) electrically coupled to the printed circuit board and including:
a microelectronic structure (Fig. 17) including:
a core (Fig. 17, core layer 68) layer including an electrically non-conductive material (encapsulant 68);
electrically conductive through core vias (TCVs) (TCVs 24 and 50) extending through the core layer;
a build-up layer (build up layer 48) on the core layer and electrically coupled to the TCVs (Fig. 17);
electrical contacts (unlabeled contacts where underfill 96 is located) at a surface of the microelectronic structure (Fig. 17);
a magnetic inductor (MI) (inductor 10’) within at least one of the core layer or the build-up layer (in core layer); and
a die (die 94) electrically coupled to at least some of the electrical contacts (Fig. 17).
Hou does not teach the inductor including an antiferromagnetic (AF) structure, the AF structure including: a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer including a first FM material; an exchange coupling (EC) layer on the first FM layer and including a non-magnetic metal material; a second FM layer on the EC layer and including a second FM material, the EC layer between the first FM layer and the second FM layer; and a pinning (P) layer including manganese and at least one of platinum or iridium, the second FM layer between the EC layer and the P layer.
An teaches that the magnetic core of a thin film inductor can be a synthetic antiferromagnetic structure (An Introduction), including a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer including a first FM material (Fig. 5, bottom FM layer NiFe); an exchange coupling (EC) layer on the first FM layer and including a non-magnetic metal material (Fig. 5, EC layer Ru); a second FM layer on the EC layer and including a second FM material (Fig. 5, second FM layer NiFe), the EC layer between the first FM layer and the second FM layer (Fig. 5). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date that a synthetic antiferromagnetic structure could have been used as the magnetic shell of Hou because An teaches that this allows for a tunable susceptibility for the inductor, and can be used for low noise applications (see An Introduction).
An does not teach a pinning (P) layer including manganese and at least one of platinum or iridium, the second FM layer between the EC layer and the P layer. However, Horng teaches that a SAF structure can have a manganese platinum pinning layer, the second FM layer being between the pinning layer and the EC layer (see Horng Fig. 4b, EC layer 30, second FM layer 28 and pinning layer 22). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art that the SAF structure of An could have included a pinning layer because this allows for stable and tunable pinning of the fixed FM layer.
Regarding claim 17, Hou teaches a method to fabricate a microelectronic structure, comprising:
providing a core (Fig. 17, core layer 68) layer including an electrically non-conductive material (encapsulant 68);
providing electrically conductive through core vias (TCVs) (TCVs 24 and 50) extending through the core layer;
providing a build-up layer (build up layer 48) on the core layer and electrically coupled to the TCVs (Fig. 17); and
providing a magnetic inductor (MI) (inductor 10’) within at least one of the core layer or the build-up layer (in core layer)
Hou does not teach the inductor including an antiferromagnetic (AF) structure, the AF structure including: a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer including a first FM material; an exchange coupling (EC) layer on the first FM layer and including a non-magnetic metal material; a second FM layer on the EC layer and including a second FM material, the EC layer between the first FM layer and the second FM layer; and a pinning (P) layer including manganese and at least one of platinum or iridium, the second FM layer between the EC layer and the P layer.
An teaches that the magnetic core of a thin film inductor can be a synthetic antiferromagnetic structure (An Introduction), including a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer including a first FM material (Fig. 5, bottom FM layer NiFe); an exchange coupling (EC) layer on the first FM layer and including a non-magnetic metal material (Fig. 5, EC layer Ru); a second FM layer on the EC layer and including a second FM material (Fig. 5, second FM layer NiFe), the EC layer between the first FM layer and the second FM layer (Fig. 5). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date that a synthetic antiferromagnetic structure could have been used as the magnetic shell of Hou because An teaches that this allows for a tunable susceptibility for the inductor, and can be used for low noise applications (see An Introduction).
An does not teach a pinning (P) layer including manganese and at least one of platinum or iridium, the second FM layer between the EC layer and the P layer. However, Horng teaches that a SAF structure can have a manganese platinum pinning layer, the second FM layer being between the pinning layer and the EC layer (see Horng Fig. 4b, EC layer 30, second FM layer 28 and pinning layer 22). It would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art that the SAF structure of An could have included a pinning layer because this allows for stable and tunable pinning of the fixed FM layer.
Regarding claim 18, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the method of claim 17, wherein the core layer includes one of glass, an organic material, or silicon (Hou paragraph [0040], organic material), and wherein the non-magnetic metal material of the EC layer includes at least one of ruthenium, tantalum, chromium, rhodium or copper (An Fig. 5, ruthenium).
Regarding claim 19, Hou in view of An and Horng teaches the method of claim 17, wherein the MI corresponds to a coaxial MI (Hou Fig. 17), providing the coaxial MI including:
providing a through via hole in the core layer (see Hou Fig. 5, through hole where 24 is located);
providing the AF structure on lateral walls of the through via hole such that the P layer is adjacent the lateral walls (see Hou Fig. 5, AF structure 26 is on lateral walls of through hole, and P layer is part of AF and therefore inherently adjacent the lateral walls); and
providing an electrically conductive material in the through via hole to form a TCV of the TCVs such that the AF structure surrounds the TCV along at least a portion of a height thereof (Hou Fig. 5, electrically conductive material 24 is surrounded by AF structure 26).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4, 12-13, 15-16 and 20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 3, 12, and 15 the prior art, alone or in combination, fails to teach or suggest the P layer being between the TCV and the second FM layer.
Regarding claims 4, 13, 16 and 20, the prior art, alone or in combination, fails to teach or suggest the first FM layer, the EC layer, and the second FM layer are between the coil and the P layer, wherein the coil and a TCV of the TCVs are electrically coupled to one another.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Evan G Clinton whose telephone number is (571)270-0525. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday at 8:30am to 5:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Zandra Smith can be reached at 571-272-2429. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/EVAN G CLINTON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899