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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I in the reply filed on 8/6/26 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
(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.
Claim(s) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Arnold et al US 2021/0091301.
Pertaining to claim 1, Arnold teaches a semiconductor device comprising:
a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack having a bottom electrode, wherein the bottom electrode comprises a first bottom electrode pad 502 and a bottom electrode pillar 402.
Pertaining to claim 2, Arnold teaches the semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first bottom electrode pad 502 comprises a width greater than a height of the first bottom electrode pad, and the bottom electrode pillar 402 comprises a height greater than a width of the bottom electrode pillar. These ratios of width to height is shown in Figure 9
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(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arnold as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kim et al US 2017/0069832.
Pertaining to claim 7, Arnold teaches the semiconductor device according to claim 1, but is silent wherein the bottom electrode comprises tungsten nitride. Kim teaches an MTJ stack of an MRAM device that has a lower electrode that consists of tungsten nitride [0030]. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to select tungsten nitride for the bottom electrode of an MTJ stack in an MRAM device, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the base of its suitability, for its intended use involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 and 8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 3, the prior art does not teach nor suggest wherein the top electrode, the free layer, the tunneling barrier and the reference layer each comprise a tapered side surface of the same angle, wherein the top electrode, the free layer, the tunneling barrier and the reference layer each have a width at an upper surface greater than a width at a lower surface.
With respect to claim 8, the prior art does not teach nor suggest wherein the bottom electrode further comprises a second bottom electrode pad above the first bottom electrode pad and below the bottom electrode pillar, wherein the first bottom electrode pad, the second bottom electrode pad and the bottom electrode pillar each comprise a vertical side surface substantially perpendicular to an upper surface of a metal word line below and electrically connected to the bottom electrode.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS J TOBERGTE whose telephone number is (571)272-6458. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:30.
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/NICHOLAS J TOBERGTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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