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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-8 and 17-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. In this case, it is unclear whether the term “density” and its variances, “varying density” and “density level”, refers to: the density of a material (e.g. atoms) within the electrode [Applicant’s Specification, paragraph 0081], “microstructure changes in the form of desired roughness, grain size, crystal alignment” [Applicant’s Specification, paragraph 0057] or to “integration density of components” [Applicant’s Specification, paragraph 0002]. Clarification is required.
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.
As far as understood, claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shen et al. (US 2021/0376058).
Regarding claim 1, Shen discloses a fabrication method, comprising:
forming, above a substrate (200) [Figure 3], a first electrode (262) having a varying density (amount of titanium) that increases from a first density level (TiN) at a bottom surface (262-1) of the first electrode (262) to a second density level (262-2: Ti) that is higher than (amount of titanium, more conductive) the first density level (TiN) at a top surface (262-2/262-3) of the first electrode (262) [Fig. 4 and paragraphs 0020-0022];
forming a high-K (HK) dielectric layer (264) over the first electrode [Fig. 5 and paragraph 0024]; and
forming a second electrode (266) over the HK dielectric layer having a varying density (amount of titanium) that increases from a third density level (TiN) at a bottom surface (266-1) of the second electrode (266) that bonds to the HK dielectric layer (264) to a fourth density level (266-2: Ti) that is higher than (amount of titanium, more conductive) the third density level (TiN) at a top surface (266-2/266-3) of the second electrode (266) [Fig. 6 and paragraphs 0025-0027].
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen et al. (US 2021/0376058).
Regarding claim 4, Shen discloses wherein forming the first electrode and the second electrode comprises depositing a first Titanium nitride (TiN) electrode and a second TiN electrode via plasma-based physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques [paragraphs 0020-0021]. In regards to the limitation about “using a power source to cause magnetron sputtering”, Official Notice is taken with respect to this limitation since it is well known in the art that PVD techniques include magnetron sputtering as an option. Hence, Shen makes obvious the recited limitation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSE R DIAZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1727. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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/Jose R Diaz/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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