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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I (claims 1-7) in the reply filed on 11 May 2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 1 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Horii et al. (2021/00167285, from hereinafter “Horii”).
Re Claim 1. Horii discloses in Figs. 2 and 20, a selector device, comprising:
a first electrode layer (194);
a second electrode layer (224) disposed to be spaced apart from the first electrode layer;
a selector layer (214) disposed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer and configured to perform a threshold switching operation by trapping conductive carriers or releasing trapped conductive carriers depending on an external voltage applied to the selector layer; and
one or more barrier layers (204, 206) disposed between the first electrode layer and the selector layer, or between the selector layer and the second electrode layer, or both between the first electrode layer and the selector layer and between the selector layer and the second electrode layer, wherein at least one of the one or more barrier layers includes a two-dimensional layered material [0015]-[0038] and [0076]-[0078].
Re Claim 5. Horii discloses in [0025]-[0034], wherein the two-dimensional layered material includes graphene-based two-dimensional layered materials, two-dimensional chalcogenide-based materials, two-dimensional oxide-based materials, phosphorous-based two-dimensional layered materials, or a combination of two or more of the graphene-based two-dimensional layered materials, the two-dimensional chalcogenide-based materials, the two-dimensional oxide-based materials, or the phosphorous-based two-dimensional layered materials.
Re Claim 6. Horii discloses in [0025]-[0034], wherein the two-dimensional layered materials include graphene, black phosphorus (BP), transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) or a combination of two or more of the graphene, the BP, the TMD, or the hBN.
Re Claim 7. Horii discloses, wherein at least one of the one or more barrier layers includes a monolayer or a multilayer structure of the two-dimensional layered material.
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 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horii, and further in view of Lee (2017/0256589).
Re Claim 2. Horii fails to disclose, wherein the selector layer includes an oxide.
However, Lee discloses:
wherein a selector layer (layer 220 of selection element 32) includes an oxide [0035]-[0041].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made, 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. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Re Claim 3. Lee discloses, wherein the oxide includes silicon oxide, metal oxide, or a combination of the silicon oxide and the metal oxide [0035]-[0041].
Re Claim 4. Lee discloses, wherein the selector layer includes a dopant doped into the oxide [0035]-[0041].
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/MARVIN PAYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899
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