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 Claims
Claims 1-22 are pending in this application.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election with traverse of Group I (Claims 1-19) in the reply filed on 7/6/23 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that expenses would be imposed upon the applicant is not found persuasive. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Claims 20-22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Claims 1-19 are examined in this Office action.
Foreign Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made that the information disclosure statement has been received and considered by the examiner. If the applicant is aware of any prior art or any other co-pending applications not already of record, he/she is reminded of his/her duty under 37 CFR 1.56 to disclose the same.
Drawings
There are no objections or rejections to the drawings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 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.
Claims 1-6, 9-10, 13-17 and 19are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jeong et al. (US Patent Application Publication No 2022/0223783) hereinafter referred to as Jeong.
Per Claim 1 Jeong discloses a magnetic memory device, comprising (see figure 2B)
a substrate (201) [0004];
a thermally stable nitride seed layer (220/204) above the substrate, the thermally stable nitride seed layer having a (001) crystal orientation; ([0020] describes that optional seed layer can be MnxN; and [0022] describes that resistive insertion layer has (001) texture).
a chemical templating layer (210B) above the thermally stable nitride seed layer, the chemical templating layer comprising a binary alloy having a CsCl prototype structure; ([0036] describes that the templating layer may include a B2 binary alloy such as CoAl, CoGa, CoGe, CoSn, NiAl, FeAl, IrAl, RuAl, CuZn, and AgZn. It is well known in the art that the B2 crystal structure is also known as the CsCl structure, Oikawa [0029] (US 2005/0016642 is provided as a teaching reference) and
a magnetic layer (230) above the chemical templating layer, the magnetic layer comprising a Heusler compound having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (as shown in figure 2B);
Per Claim 2 Jeong discloses the device of claim 1, including where (see figure 2B) a composition of the thermally stable nitride seed layer (220/204) is selected from the group consisting of ScN, TiN, AIN, VN, CrN, NbN, TaN, HfN, and ZrN. (as described in [0051])
Per Claim 3 Jeong discloses the device of claim 2, including where (see figure 2B) the thermally stable nitride seed layer (220/204) has a thickness in a range from approximately 100A to approximately 200A. (see [0019] which describes that templating structure has a thickness of at least one Angstrom and not more than twenty Angstroms; and [0028] which describes that a seed layer may be at least five nanometers and not more than thirty nanometers thick. The sum of these two converts to 50-300 Angstroms. This means that (204/220) has a thickness of 51-320 Angstroms, clearly anticipating the limitation.
Per Claim 4 Jeong discloses the device of claim 1, including where (see figure 2B) the thermally stable nitride seed layer (220/204) comprises a first layer (204) and a second layer (220) above the first layer, the first layer comprising a material selected from the group consisting of ScN, TiN, AIN, VN, CrN, NbN, TaN, HfN, and ZrN, and a second layer comprising a different material selected from the group consisting of ScN, TiN, AIN, VN, CrN, NbN, TaN, HfN, and ZrN. ([0051] describes that seed layer (204) may include or consist of one of more of T Ta-N, Ti-N, Mn-N, VN, Cu-N, ScN,; and [0030] describes that the resistive insertion layer (220) may include of AlN or ScN; also see figure 2B)
Per Claim 5 Jeong discloses the device of claim 1, including where (see figure 2B) the Heusler compound is Mn3Ge. [0051]
Per Claim 6 Jeong discloses the device of claim 1, including where (see figure 2B) the magnetic layer has a thickness of less than approximately 5 nm. [0018]
Per Claim 9 Jeong discloses the device of claim 1, including (see figure 2B) a tunnel barrier layer (240) above the magnetic layer. [0049]
Per Claim 10 Jeong discloses the device of claim 9, including where (see figure 2B) the tunnel barrier layer comprises MgO. [0049]
Per Claim 13 Jeong discloses the device of claim 1, including where (see figure 2B) the Heusler compound is selected from the group consisting of Mn3Sn, Mn3Sb, Mn2CoSn, Mn2FeSb, Mn2CoAl,Mn2CoGe, Mn2CoSi, Mn2CuSi, Co2CrAl, Co2CrSi, Co2MnSb, and Co2MnSi. [0027]
Per Claim 14 Jeong discloses the device of claim 9, including where (see figure 2B) the tunnel barrier layer (240) is in contact with the magnetic layer (230) (as shown in figure 2B). The examiner notes that the term "contact" includes "direct contact" (no intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween) and "indirect contact" (intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween)
Per Claim 15 Jeong discloses the device of claim 9, including where (see figure 2B) a second magnetic layer (250) above the tunnel barrier layer. [0050]
Per Claim 16 Jeong discloses the device of claim 15, including where (see figure 2B) the first magnetic layer (230) comprising the Heusler compound is a free magnetic layer, and wherein the second magnetic layer (250) is a pinned magnetic layer. (as illustrated in figure 2B)
Per Claim 17 Jeong discloses the device of claim 16, including where (see figure 2B) the pinned magnetic layer comprises a synthetic antiferromagnet (SAF) layer. [0050]
Per Claim 19 Jeong discloses the device of claim 15, including where (see figure 2B) a cap layer (260) above the second magnetic layer. (see figure 2B)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8, 11-12 and 18 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.
Cited Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicants are directed to consider additional pertinent prior art included on the Notice of References Cited (PTOL 892) attached herewith.
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant.
Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMI VALENTINE MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-9786. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 7am-5pm.
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, Eva Montalvo can be reached on (571) 270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jami Valentine Miller/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818