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 .
This Office Action is in response to Amendment filed on January 14, 2026
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 9, it is not clear how a concentration of boron atoms in “the first free magnetic layer” decreases as a distance from the spacer layer increases as recited on the last two lines of claim 9, because “the first free magnetic layer” should refer to “a first free magnetic layer” recited on line 5, i.e. “the first free magnetic layer” is an as-deposited layer rather than a layer that is altered or modified during the subsequent manufacturing processes; therefore, it appears that the limitation cited above implies that the claimed boron concentration profile is generated at the time of the deposition of “a first free magnetic layer” rather than a boron concentration profile observed after subsequently deposited layer(s) is/are formed; however, Applicants originally disclosed in Fig. 4 and paragraph [0019] of present application that boron atoms diffuse out of the first free magnetic layer toward the spacer layer, thereby forming the claimed boron concentration gradient through diffusion and chemical interaction with the spacer layer. Therefore, it remains unclear whether the claimed boron concentration profile requires only a deposition process of “a first free magnetic layer” with the claimed boron concentration profile, or “a first free magnetic layer” does not comprise the claimed boron concentration profile, but a subsequent manufacturing process is required to obtain the claimed boron concentration profile such as an unclaimed diffusion process involving interaction with the spacer layer.
Claims 10-15 depend on claim 9, therefore, claims 10-15 are also indefinite.
Regarding claim 15, it is not clear how a concentration of boron atoms in the spacer layer decreases as a distance from the first free magnetic layer increases, recited on the last two lines of claim 15 for the same or substantially identical reasons stated above.
Regarding claim 16, it is not clear how the spacer layer comprises boron and a concentration of boron atoms in the spacer layer decreases as a distance from the first free magnetic layer increases, recited on the last three lines of claim 16 for the same or substantially identical reasons stated above.
Claims 17 and 19-20 depend on claim 16, therefore, claims 17 and 19-20 are also indefinite.
Regarding claim 20, claims 20 is rejected for the same reason discussed in claim 9 above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or (a)(2) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 2022/0376172, hereinafter Wang), as evidenced by Shoji et al. (US 2014/0346624, hereinafter Shoji).
Regarding claim 9, Wang discloses for a method for forming an integrated chip comprising that
depositing a reference magnetic layer (magnetic reference layer structure 124, Fig. 9A) over a substrate (seed layer 118, Fig. 9A);
depositing a barrier layer (insulating tunnel junction layer 126, Fig. 9A) over the reference magnetic layer (124, Fig. 9A);
depositing a first free magnetic layer (first magnetic free layer 128, Fig. 9A) over the barrier layer (126, Fig. 9A);
depositing a spacer layer (perpendicular enhancement layer (PEL) 132, Fig. 9A) over the first free magnetic layer (128, Fig. 9A), the spacer layer (132, Fig. 9A) comprising magnesium and a transition metal, because “one or more of the single layer and the multiple sublayers of the PELs 132, 138, 298, 300, 306, 312, and 316 may each independently comprise one or more of the following chemical elements: B, Mg, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Re, Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, Al, Si, Ge, Ga, Be, Ba, Li, Ca, Sr, O, N, and C, thereby forming a suitable perpendicular enhancement material, such as but not limited to B, Mg, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Re, Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, Al, Si, Ge, Ga, MgO, TiOx, ZrOx, HfOx, VOx, NbOx, TaOx, CrOx, MoOx, WOx, RhOx, NiOx, PdOx, PtOx, CuOx, AgOx, RuOx, SiOx, TiNx, ZrNx, HfNx, VNx, NbNx, TaNx, CrNx, MoNx, WNx, NiNx, PdNx, PtOx, RuNx, SiNx, TiOxNy, ZrOxNy, HfOxNy, VOxNy, NbOxNy, TaOxNy, CrOxNy, MoOxNy, WOxNy, NiOxNy, PdOxYy, PtOxNy, RuOxNy, SiOxNy, TiRuOx, ZrRuOx, HfRuOx, VRuOx, NbRuOx, TaRuOx, CrRuOx, MoRuOx, WRuOx, RhRuOx, NiRuOx, PdRuOx, PtRuOx, CuRuOx, AgRuOx, CoFeB, CoFe, NiFe, CoFeNi, CoTi, CoZr, CoHf, CoV, CoNb, CoTa, CoFeTa, CoCr, CoMo, CoW, NiCr, NiTi, NiZr, NiHf, NiV, NiNb, NiTa, NiMo, NiW, CoNiTa, CoNiCr, CoNiTi, FeTi, FeZr, FeHf, FeV, FeNb, FeTa, FeCr, FeMo, FeW or any combination thereof.” (emphasis added, [0139]), therefore, for example, the PEL 132 by Wang may comprise a combination of MgO-HfO2, MgO-Ta2O5, or MgO-TaON (tantalum oxynitride),
wherein an atomic ratio of the magnesium to the transition metal ranges from 15% to 80%, because as an example by Wang above, if the PEL 132 comprises MgO-HfO2, the atomic ratio of Mg to Hf is 50% (i.e., 1:1) and if it comprises MgO-Ta2O5, the atomic ratio of Mg to Ta is 33.3% (i.e., 1:2), therefore, it overlaps with the claimed range; and
depositing a second free magnetic layer (second magnetic free layer 130, Fig. 9A) over the spacer layer (132, Fig. 9A),
wherein a concentration of boron atoms in the first free magnetic layer decreases as a distance from the spacer layer increases, as the claimed limitation is discussed in 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections above.
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.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Wang et al. (US 2022/0376172, hereinafter Wang) in view of Shoji et al. (US 2014/0346624, hereinafter Shoji).
Regarding claim 16, Wang discloses for a method for forming an integrated chip comprising that
forming a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) (MTJ structure 192, Fig. 9A) over a substrate (Seed 118, Fig. 9A), the forming of the MTJ (192, Fig. 9A) comprising:
depositing a reference magnetic layer (Reference 124, Fig. 9A) over the substrate (Seed 118, Fig. 9A);
depositing a barrier layer (Junction 126, Fig. 9A) over the reference magnetic layer (Reference 124, Fig. 9A);
depositing a first free magnetic layer (1st Free 128, Fig. 9A) over the barrier layer (Junction 126, Fig. 9A);
depositing a spacer layer (PEL 132, Fig. 9A) over the first free magnetic layer (1st Free 128, Fig. 9A), the spacer layer (PEL 132, Fig. 9A) comprising magnesium and a transition metal, because “one or more of the single layer and the multiple sublayers of the PELs 132, 138, 298, 300, 306, 312, and 316 may each independently comprise one or more of the following chemical elements: B, Mg, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Re, Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, Al, Si, Ge, Ga, Be, Ba, Li, Ca, Sr, O, N, and C, thereby forming a suitable perpendicular enhancement material, such as but not limited to B, Mg, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Re, Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, Al, Si, Ge, Ga, MgO, TiOx, ZrOx, HfOx, VOx, NbOx, TaOx, CrOx, MoOx, WOx, RhOx, NiOx, PdOx, PtOx, CuOx, AgOx, RuOx, SiOx, TiNx, ZrNx, HfNx, VNx, NbNx, TaNx, CrNx, MoNx, WNx, NiNx, PdNx, PtOx, RuNx, SiNx, TiOxNy, ZrOxNy, HfOxNy, VOxNy, NbOxNy, TaOxNy, CrOxNy, MoOxNy, WOxNy, NiOxNy, PdOxYy, PtOxNy, RuOxNy, SiOxNy, TiRuOx, ZrRuOx, HfRuOx, VRuOx, NbRuOx, TaRuOx, CrRuOx, MoRuOx, WRuOx, RhRuOx, NiRuOx, PdRuOx, PtRuOx, CuRuOx, AgRuOx, CoFeB, CoFe, NiFe, CoFeNi, CoTi, CoZr, CoHf, CoV, CoNb, CoTa, CoFeTa, CoCr, CoMo, CoW, NiCr, NiTi, NiZr, NiHf, NiV, NiNb, NiTa, NiMo, NiW, CoNiTa, CoNiCr, CoNiTi, FeTi, FeZr, FeHf, FeV, FeNb, FeTa, FeCr, FeMo, FeW or any combination thereof.” (emphasis added, [0139]), therefore, for example, the PEL 132 by Wang may comprise a combination of MgO-HfO2 , MgO-Ta2O5, or MgO-TaON (tantalum oxynitride); and
depositing a second free magnetic layer (2nd Free 130, Fig. 9A) over the spacer layer (PEL 132, Fig. 9A);
wherein the spacer layer further comprises boron, and wherein a concentration of boron atoms in the spacer layer decreases as a distance from the first free magnetic layer increases, as the claimed limitation is discussed in 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections above.
Wang does not explicitly disclose that forming a plurality of metal interconnects over the MTJ, wherein the MTJ has a first energy barrier before the forming of the metal interconnects over the MTJ, and wherein the MTJ has a second energy barrier, different than the first energy barrier, after the forming of the metal interconnects over the MTJ, and wherein a difference between the first energy barrier and the second energy barrier is less than 10%.
However, Shoji discloses for a semiconductor memory device that the memory device includes the resistance change device 20 (Fig. 6), which corresponds to the MTJ in the claimed invention, since “the resistance change device 20 be a spin injection magnetization reversal type memory device (STT-MTJ: Spin Transfer Torque-Magnetic Tunnel Junctions) that may include, for example, a record layer 21, a tunnel barrier layer 22, and a reference layer 23” ([0068]), and the multiple wiring layers 50 are formed over the resistance change device 20, therefore, the multiple wirings 50 can correspond to the metal interconnects in the claimed invention.
Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the semiconductor memory device industry that the energy barrier of an intermediate MTJ, prior to the formation of metal interconnects (i.e., back-end-of-line, BEOL), should remain substantially consistent with the energy barrier of the final MTJ after metal interconnects (or BEOL) integration, because it is well understood in the art that BEOL processing must not degrade the MTJ performance, as stability of tunnel energy barrier, uniformity across large MTJ arrays and data retention are all critical requirements for reliable device operation.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that BEOL integration would not introduce any significant variation in the MTJ energy barrier, as such variation would be detrimental to MTJ device reliability and performance.
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Wang et al. (US 2022/0376172, hereinafter Wang) in view of Suguro (US 2014/0054660).
Regarding claim 10, Wang does not explicitly disclose that the depositing of the spacer layer comprises sputtering the magnesium over the first free magnetic layer using a first sputtering gun and concurrently sputtering the transition metal over the first free magnetic layer using a second sputtering gun.
However, Suguro discloses for a nonvolatile memory device that the metal oxide film of magnesium oxide (MgO) or hafnium oxide (HfO2) can be formed by the sputtering method ([0029]) and it is well known in the semiconductor industry that the RF sputtering method is widely used for depositing oxide or nitride layers; therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that the RF sputtering method can be used for the PEL 132 by Wang, which corresponds to the spacer layer in the claimed invention, comprising magnesium and transition metal such as hafnium, as a first and second sputtering targets.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the RF sputtering method can be employed for depositing a non-magnetic thin film comprising magnesium and transition metals, as disclosed by Suguro, since the RF sputtering method is widely used for depositing oxides or nitrides.
Regarding claim 11, Wang in view of Suguro does not explicitly disclose that the depositing of the spacer layer (132, Fig. 9A of Wang) comprises alternating between sputtering the magnesium over the first free magnetic layer using a first sputtering gun and sputtering the transition metal over the first free magnetic layer using a second sputtering gun.
However, it is well known in the semiconductor industry that the RF sputtering method is widely used for depositing oxide or nitride layers; moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that alternative sputtering procedures (variations in recipe or program) which can be optimized by repeated experiments, differing from the procedure as recited in claim 10 of the present application, could be employed to optimize the sputtering conditions and improve thin film quality.
Regarding claim 12, Wang in view of Suguro does not explicitly disclose that the depositing of the spacer layer (132, Fig. 9A of Wang) comprises sputtering both the magnesium and the transition metal using a sputtering gun having a target layer comprising both the magnesium and the transition metal.
However, it is well known in the semiconductor industry that the RF sputtering method is widely used for depositing oxide or nitride layers; moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that alternative sputtering procedures (variations in recipe or program) which can be optimized by repeated experiments, differing from the procedure as recited in claims 10 and 11 of the present application, could be employed to optimize the sputtering conditions and improve thin film quality.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21-29 are allowed, because the prior arts cited in this Office Action do not teach the newly added limitation, “wherein the first spacer layer extends from a top surface of the first free magnetic layer to a bottom surface of the second spacer layer” recited on lines 12-13 of claim 21, and claims 22-29 depend on claim 21.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 9 and 16 have been considered but are moot 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.
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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/JAY C KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815
/WOO K LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 2815