DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the following communications: the Amendment filed on May 12, 2026.
Claims 1-9 and 12-22 are pending. Claims 10-11 are canceled. Claims 21-22 are newly added. Claims 1, 12-13, 18 and 20 are amended. Claims 1, 18 and 20 are independent.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on May 12, 2026 has been entered by way of the RCE filed 5/28/26.
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 1-9 and 12-22 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 claims contain 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.
With respect to independent claims 1, 18 and 20, each claim recites “wherein the P/E cycle lowers a voltage threshold distribution of a select line connected to the dummy word line based at least in part on disrupting a positive feedback loop, associated with increased voltage thresholds, between the dummy word line and the select line”. The specification as originally filed does not reasonable convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor at the time the application was filed, had possession of a method in which the recited P/E cycle lowers a voltage threshold distribution of a select line.
The specification discloses that increased trap-up in an oxide layer associated with a dummy word line may cause increased trap-up in an oxide layer associated with an adjacent select line, and vice versa, thereby forming a positive feedback loop [para. 71-72]. The specification further discloses that adjusting a de-bias voltage applied to the dummy word line may release charge from the oxide layer of the dummy word line and may improve the trap-up condition of the dummy word line and, by proxy the trap-up condition for an adjacent select line by inhibiting the positive feedback loop [para. 73]. Paragraphs 78 and 91 similarly disclose that restoring a high threshold voltage dummy word line may disrupt a positive feedback loop and reduce the occurrence of high threshold voltage select lines. However, these disclosures do not describe that performing the claimed P/E cycle causes a threshold voltage distribution of the select line to shift downward. Disrupting the positive feedback loop may prevent, reduce or slow additional trap-up in the select line without necessarily lowering the select line’s threshold voltage distribution.
In contrast, where the specification expressly describes a downward shift of a threshold voltage distribution following one or more program and erase operations using the lowered de-bias voltage, that disclosure concerns the threshold voltage distribution of the dummy word line [para. 104]. The specification does not similarly disclose measuring a select line’s threshold voltage distribution before and after the P/E cycle or determining that select line’s distribution shifted downward as a result of the P/E cycle.
Accordingly, although the specification may suggest that recovery of the dummy word line can improve the operating condition of an adjacent select line or reduce select line’s trap-up, the specification does not reasonably convey possession of the claimed result that the P/E cycle lowers a voltage threshold distribution of a select line. Claims 2-9, 12-17, 19 and 21-22 are rejected for inheriting this issue from claims 1, 18 and 20.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUY H LUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-5088. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 9am-6pm.
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/DUY H LUONG/Examiner, Art Unit 2825
/ALEXANDER SOFOCLEOUS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2825
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