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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung (US Pub # 2017/0170237) in view of Wu et al. (US Pub # 2021/0408117).
Per MPEP 2111 and 2111.01, the claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation and the words of the claims are given their plain meaning consistent with the specification without importing claim limitations from the specification.
Regarding independent claim 1, Jung teaches a memristive device, comprising: a memristive material; multiple electrodes directly contacting the memristive material; and a gate terminal separated from the memristive material by an electrical insulator (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137-0141, 0150-0152, 0159-0162, 0165-0168, 0200-0207, 0212, 0218, 0238 where MTJ11 include phase change materials, gate insulating layer 106/120).
Even though Jung teaches resistive memory which includes phase change element MTJ but silent exclusively about memristive device.
Wu et al. teach memristive device (see paragraph 0018).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply the teaching of Wu et al. to the teaching of Jung where resistive memory of Jung would be called memristive memory device as taught by Wu et al. as it include the phase change material for the memory element in order to improve switching characteristics for the memory device (see Wu et al., paragraph 0002).
Further reason to combine the teachings of Wu et al. and Jung is evidenced by virtue of their common field of endeavor, e.g. both are drawn towards resistive memory device.
Regarding claim 2, Jung further teaches, wherein the memristive material comprises a phase change material selected from the group consisting of: Sb2Te3, GeTe, Ge2Sb2Te5, GaSb, Ge-Sb based alloys, and combinations thereof (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137-0141, 0150-0152, 0159-0162, 0165-0168).
Regarding claim 3, Jung further teaches, where the memristive material comprises an organic semiconductor or a two-dimensional semiconductor (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129).
Regarding claim 4, Jung further teaches, wherein the multiple electrodes comprise a first electrode, a second electrode and a third electrode each directly contacting the memristive material (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114).
Regarding claim 5, Jung further teaches, wherein the first electrode directly contacts a bottom of the memristive material, and wherein the second electrode and the third electrode directly contact opposite sides of the memristive material (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137-0141, 0150-0152, 0159-0162).
Regarding claim 6, Jung further teaches, wherein the first electrode, the second electrode and the third electrode each directly contacts a bottom of the memristive material (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137-0141, 0150-0152, 0159-0162, 0165).
Regarding claim 7, Jung further teaches, further comprising:an access transistor connected to the first electrode (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0112).
Regarding claim 8, Jung further teaches, further comprising:a first word line connected to the gate terminal;a bit line connected to the second electrode and the third electrode;a source line connecting a source node of the access transistor to the first electrode; anda second word line connected to a gate node of the access transistor (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079).
Regarding claim 9, Jung further teaches, wherein the multiple electrodes comprise a source electrode and a drain electrode which directly contact opposite sides of the memristive material (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129).
Regarding claim 10, Jung further teaches, wherein the electrical insulator comprises an oxide dielectric material (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079).
Regarding claim 11, Jung further teaches, wherein the oxide dielectric material is selected from the group consisting of: SiOx, HfO2, La203, HfLaO2, HfZrO2, HfAlO2, TiO2,ZrO2, and combinations thereof (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137-0141, 0150-0152).
Regarding claim 12, Jung further teaches, wherein the electrical insulator comprises a ferroelectric material (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137).
Regarding claim 13, Jung further teaches, wherein the ferroelectric material is selected from the group consisting of: KNaC4H406-4H2O, Bi4Ti302, BaTiO3,Ba0 (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137-0141, 0150-0152, 0159-0162, 0165-0168, 0200-0207, 0212, 0218, 0238).73Sr0.27TiO3, PbZrl-xTix03, PbTiO3, PbZrO3, LiNbO3, KNbO3, PbBi2Nb209, KH2PO4, C(NH2)3A1(SO4)2-6H2O, SrBi2Ta209, and combinations thereof (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137-0141, 0150-0152, 0159-0162, 0165-0168).
Regarding claim 14, Jung further teaches, further comprising:a selector cell comprising a selector material, wherein the gate terminal and the electrical insulator are shared across the memristive material and the selector material, and wherein the selector material is a chalcogenide material selected from the group consisting of: GeSe, SiTe, SiSe, and combinations thereof (see Fig.11-28 and paragraph 0042-0059, 0061-0064, 0069-0072, 0079, 0106-0114, 0122-0129, 0137-0141, 0150-0152, 0159-0162, 0165-0168, 0200-0207).
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miyakawa et al. (US Pub # 2017/0062030) in view of Wu et al. (US Pub # 2021/0408117).
Regarding independent claim 15, Miyakawa et al. teach a system, comprising: a unit cell having multiple memristive devices, wherein each of the multiple memristive devices comprises a memristive material, multiple electrodes directly contacting the memristive material, and a gate terminal separated from the memristive material by an electrical insulator; and a gate word line connected to the gate terminal of each of the multiple memristive devices in the unit cell (see Fig.2, 5-6, 8-10 and paragraph 0032-0036, 0042-0046, 0056-0070, 0079-0082, 0096 where each cell has two memristive element 30-1, 30-2, word line WL is coupled to both gate terminal, gate insulation layer 43).
Even though Miyakawa et al. teaches resistive memory which includes phase change element MTJ but silent exclusively about memristive device.
Wu et al. teach memristive device (see paragraph 0018).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply the teaching of Wu et al. to the teaching of Jung where resistive memory of Jung would be called memristive memory device as taught by Wu et al. as it include the phase change material for the memory element in order to improve switching characteristics for the memory device (see Wu et al., paragraph 0002).
Further reason to combine the teachings of Wu et al. and Jung is evidenced by virtue of their common field of endeavor, e.g. both are drawn towards resistive memory device.
Regarding claim 16, Miyakawa et al. further teaches wherein each of the multiple memristive devices in the unit cell further comprises an access transistor connected to one of the multiple electrodes, and wherein the system further comprises: a transistor word line connected to a gate node of the access transistor of each of the multiple memristive devices in the unit cell (see Fig.2, 5-6, 8-10 and paragraph 0032-0036, 0042-0046, 0056-0065).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attachment.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to whose telephone number is 469-295-9277. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Richard T Elms can be reached on 5712721869. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MOHAMMED A BASHAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824
Prosecution Insights