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 .
Status of the Application
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s application 18/110,085 filed on January 07, 2026 in which claims 18-37 are pending. Claims 1-17 are canceled.
Drawings
The drawings submitted on February 15, 2023 have been reviewed and accepted by the Examiner.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS), filed on December 21, 2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosed therein has been considered by the Examiner.
Notation
References to patents will be in the form of (C: L) where C is the column number and L is the line number. References to pre-grant patent publications will be to the paragraph number in the form of (¶ XXXX).
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 18-37 in the reply filed on January 07 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 1-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Claims 1-17 are canceled.
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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 18-20 and 29-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over El -Hinnawy et al. (US 2020/0058848 A1; hereinafter “El-Hinnawy”) in view of Slovin et al. (US 2021/0135100 A1; hereinafter “Slovin”).
Regarding claim 18, El- Hinnawy teaches a method of forming a phase change material (PCM) switch (Fig.1B), comprising:
forming a first interconnect-level dielectric (102; Fig.1B; ¶ 0019);
forming a heat spreader (heat spreader can be integrated with the substrate; ¶ 0019);
forming a second interconnect-level dielectric (104; Fig.1B; ¶ 0020) over the heat spreader;
forming a phase change material element 112; ¶ 0021) in or over the second interconnect-level dielectric (104);
forming a heating element (122; Fig.1B; ¶ 0019) coupled to the phase change material element (112);
forming a first electrode (118 left side; Fig.1B) in contact with the phase change material element (112); and
forming a second electrode (118 right side; Fig.1B) in contact with the phase change material element (112), wherein the phase change material element comprises a phase change material (¶ 0024), and wherein the first electrode (118 left side), the second electrode (118 right side), the heating element (122), and the phase change material element (112) are configured as a radio frequency switch (RF; ¶0018).
El-Hinnawy does not explicitly teach the heat spreader is formed within the first interconnect-level dielectric.
However, Slovin teaches the heat spreader (402, Fig.4A; ¶ 0057) is formed within the first interconnect-level dielectric (404; Fig.4A; ¶ 0057).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention, to have a heat spreader is formed within the first interconnect-level dielectric in the device of El-Hinnawy as taught by Slovin for the purpose of dissipating the heat generated by the heating element and rapidly cooling the PCM (¶ 0032).
Regarding claim 19, El-Hinnawy as modified by Slovin teaches forming a carbon-doped silicon layer (230; Fig.2; ¶ 0034) that is in contact (thermal or electrical contact) with the heat spreader (202, Fig.2; ¶ 0032) such that the carbon-doped silicon layer (230) separates the heat spreader (202) from the phase change material element (212; Fig.2; ¶ 0035) or the heating element.
Regarding claim 20, El-Hinnawy as modified by Slovin teaches forming a silicon oxide layer (Slovin; 410; Fig.4A; ¶0057) that separates the heat spreader (402) from the phase change material element (412; Fig.4B) or the heating element.
Regarding claim 29, El- Hinnawy teaches a method of forming a phase change material (PCM) switch (Fig.1B), comprising:
forming a first interconnect-level dielectric (102; Fig.1B; ¶ 0019);
forming a heat spreader (heat spreader can be integrated with the substrate; ¶ 0019);
forming a second interconnect-level dielectric (104; Fig.1B; ¶ 0020) over the heat spreader;
forming a phase change material element 112; ¶ 0021) in or over the second interconnect-level dielectric (104);
forming a heating element (122; Fig.1B; ¶ 0019) coupled to the phase change material element (112);
forming a first electrode (118 left side; Fig.1B) in contact with the phase change material element (112); and
forming a second electrode (118 right side; Fig.1B) in contact with the phase change material element (112), wherein the phase change material element comprises a phase change material (¶ 0024), wherein the phase change material element comprises a phase change material that switches between an electrically conducting phase and an electrically insulating phase by application of a heat pulse from the heating element (112 switches between ON state (conducting phase) and OFF state (insulating phase); Fig.1A; ¶ 0021) , and
wherein the first electrode (118 left side), the second electrode (118 right side), the heating element (122), and the phase change material element (112) are configured as a radio frequency switch (RF; ¶0018).
El-Hinnawy does not explicitly teach the heat spreader is formed within the first interconnect-level dielectric.
However, Slovin teaches the heat spreader (402, Fig.4A; ¶ 0057) is formed within the first interconnect-level dielectric (404; Fig.4A; ¶ 0057).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention, to have a heat spreader is formed within the first interconnect-level dielectric in the device of El-Hinnawy as taught by Slovin for the purpose of dissipating the heat generated by the heating element and rapidly cooling the PCM (¶ 0032).
Regarding claims 30 and 31, El-Hinnawy as modified by Slovin teaches a first dielectric layer (110; Fig.1B; ¶ 0022) in contact (electrical or thermal contact) with the heat spreader (spreader that could be formed in 102), wherein the first dielectric layer (110) separates the heat spreader from the phase change material element (112), and wherein the first dielectric layer comprises a carbon-doped silicon layer (110, ¶ 0022).
Regarding claims 32, El-Hinnawy as modified by Slovin teaches, further comprising: forming a second dielectric layer (130; Fig.1B; ¶ 00228) over the first dielectric layer (110), wherein the second dielectric layer (130) separates the heat spreader (heat spreader that could be fromed in 102) from the phase change material element (112).
Regarding claim 33, El-Hinnawy teaches wherein the first dielectric layer has a higher thermal conductivity than the second dielectric layer.
However, EL-Hinnawy teaches the first dielectric layer can be formed from carbon-dopen silicon layer (¶ 0022). Slovin teaches the second dielectric layer (430; Fig.4A; ¶ 0034) can be formed from low-k dielectric layer (¶ 0034).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention, to have the first dielectric layer has a higher thermal conductivity than the second dielectric layer in the device of El-Hinnawy as modified by Slovin since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice MPEP § 2144.07.
Regarding claim 34, El-Hinnawy teaches wherein forming the heating element comprises: forming a heater pad (124; Fig.1B; ¶ 0018); and forming a dielectric capping layer (134; Fig. 1B; ¶ 0028) between the heater pad (124) and the phase change material element (112), wherein the dielectric capping layer (134) is in contact (thermal or electrical contact) with the phase change material element (112).
Regarding claim 35, El-Hinnawy teaches forming a third interconnect-level dielectric (132; Fig.1B; ¶ 0032) over the heating element (122 in contract with 112; Fig.1B); and forming an interconnect structure (metal “122” formed in 132 to be in contact with portion of 122 formed in 130; Fig.1B) or over the third interconnect-level dielectric, wherein the interconnect structure is located proximate (very broad limitation and should be amended; the officer recommends applicant to amend the limitation to avoid any objections and further clarify the claim language; since all the layers are formed in the device then any layer is proximity of the other layer) to the heating element (122 in direct physical contact with 112 formed in layer 130; Fig. 1B).
Regarding claim 36, El-Hinnawy teaches the phase change material comprises at least one of a germanium telluride compound (¶ 0024), an antimony telluride compound, a germanium antimony telluride compound, a germanium antimony compound, an indium germanium telluride compound, an aluminum selenium telluride compound, an indium selenium telluride compound, and an aluminum indium selenium telluride compound.
Regarding claim 37, El-Hinnawy as modified by Slovin teaches wherein the heat spreader comprises a non-conductive material (Slovin, 402; Fig.4A; ¶ 0015).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21-28 allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 21 is allowed since the prior art reference does not teach the order of the steps of the following limitations :”… forming a trench in the second interconnect-level dielectric; forming a heater pad within the trench; recessing an upper surface of the heater pad below an upper surface of the second interconnect-level dielectric; forming a dielectric capping layer over the recessed heater pad; forming a phase change material element over the dielectric capping layer and over the upper surface of the second interconnect-level dielectric..” with the rest of the limitations of claim 21.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mounir S Amer whose telephone number is (571)270-3683. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-5:30.
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/Mounir S Amer/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818