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 Claims 1-14 in the reply filed on 20 NOV 2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 8 recite “wherein C(2) comprises antimony, arsenic, and tin”. This renders the scope of the claim unclear as it appears to require superposition of three atoms in a single site of a chemical structure. See also PG 0019 of the specification as filed, which appears to indicate that the relevant selection should be one of antimony, arsenic, and tin. The dependent claims do not correct this deficiency.
For the purposes of compact prosecution, any compound which contains at least one of antimony, arsenic, and tin in the claimed chemical structure relationship and is otherwise consonant with Claims 1 and 8 as presented will be held to read on Claims 1 and 8, without limiting the scope of the claim to expressly require a single atom at this time.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claim(s) 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by Marsh ‘812 (U.S. PGPub 2012/0171812).
Claim 1 – Marsh ‘812 teaches a method, comprising:
reacting a first precursor with a base material to form a first compound comprising a first element on the base material, wherein the first compound comprises at least one of a Group XIII, Group XIV, or Group XV element (PG 0028, reactive and co-reactive germanium precursors react to form germanium on the substrate); and
reacting a second precursor with the first compound to form a second compound on the base material (PG 0028, reactive and co-reactive tellurium precursors react to form tellurium on the germanium as formation of GeTe is disclosed), wherein the second precursor comprises the chemical formula B-C(1)-D(1), wherein each of B and D(1)are a respective moiety that independently comprises silicon, and wherein C(1) comprises tellurium (PG 0028, Te(TMS)2; this corresponds to trimethylsilyl – tellurium – trimethylsilyl; trimethylsilyl is a moiety that comprises silicon and tellurium is expressly recited as the core metal).
Claim 2 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
reacting a third precursor with the second compound to form a third compound on the second compound, wherein the third precursor comprises at least one of a Group XIII, Group XIV, or Group XV element (PG 0028, reactive and co-reactive germanium precursors react to form germanium on the substrate, duplicative GeTe cycles expressly disclosed); and
reacting a fourth precursor with the third compound to form a fourth compound on the second compound, wherein the fourth precursor comprises tellurium bonded with a first moiety and a second moiety, the first moiety and the second moiety independently comprising silicon (PG 0028, Te(TMS)2; this corresponds to trimethylsilyl – tellurium – trimethylsilyl; trimethylsilyl is a moiety that comprises silicon and tellurium is expressly recited as the core metal, duplicative GeTe cycles expressly disclosed).
Claim 3 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 2, further comprising:
identifying a set of X precursor pairs, wherein each precursor pair of the set of X precursor pairs comprises one of a first set of precursors and one of a second set of precursors, wherein each precursor pair has an associated quantity of cycles, wherein X is an integer greater than or equal to 2, wherein each precursor of the first set of precursors comprises a Group XIII, Group XIV, or Group XV element, and wherein each precursor of the second set of precursors comprises one of tellurium, sulfur, antimony, arsenic, phosphorous, selenium, germanium, or tin bonded with two or moieties, wherein each of the two or moieties independently comprises germanium, tin, or silicon (PG 0028 discloses Ge-Te precursor pairs and Sb-Te precursor pairs; Ge and Sb precursors are the first precursors and are Group XIV and XV respectively; the tellurium precursors are tellurium bound to two trimethylsilyl moieties; PG 0028, e.g. two GeTe cycles and three SbTe cycles; PG 0019 expressly discloses repeated layer cycles);
performing, according to the associated quantity of cycles for each precursor pair of the set of X precursor pairs and to form a respective film associated with the precursor pair, a reacting of the one of the first set of precursors to form a respective first compound and a reacting of the one of the second set of precursors with the first compound to form a respective second compound (PG 0028, e.g. two GeTe cycles and three SbTe cycles; PG 0019 expressly discloses repeated layer cycles).
Claim 4 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 1, wherein B comprises the chemical formula R1R2R3A, and A comprises the silicon for B, and each of R1, R2, and R3 are independently selected from an alkyl group (PG 0028, trimethylsilyl; B is silicon, and all Rs are methyl; Te(TMS)2 comprises two trimethylsilyl groups, one corresponding to B and one corresponding to D1).
Claim 5 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 4, wherein each of R1, R2, and R3 comprise the same element or the same compound (PG 0028, trimethylsilyl; B is silicon, and all Rs are methyl; Te(TMS)2 comprises two trimethylsilyl groups, one corresponding to B and one corresponding to D1).
Claim 6 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 1, wherein D(1) comprises the chemical formula X1R4R5R6, wherein X1 comprises silicon, wherein each of R4, R5, and R6 are independently selected from an alkyl group (PG 0028, trimethylsilyl; B is silicon, and all Rs are methyl; Te(TMS)2 comprises two trimethylsilyl groups, one corresponding to B and one corresponding to D1).
Claim 7 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 6, wherein each of R4, R5, and R6 comprise the same element or compound (PG 0028, trimethylsilyl; B is silicon, and all Rs are methyl; Te(TMS)2 comprises two trimethylsilyl groups, one corresponding to B and one corresponding to D1).
Claim 8 – Marsh ‘812 teaches a method, comprising:
forming a plurality of stacks of materials on a substrate (PG 0034-0035, elements 30 and 32, see also Figure 2);
exposing the plurality of stacks of materials to a first precursor to form a first compound comprising a first element on the plurality of stacks of materials (PG 0036, Figure 2; element 2 is the GST film and is expressly shown in contact with elements 30 and 32; Figure 2 is a cross-section of a single memory element of an array of cells on the PCRAM as discussed in PG 0036), wherein the first compound comprises at least one of a Group XIII, Group XIV, or Group XV element (PG 0028, reactive and co-reactive germanium precursors react to form germanium on the substrate); and
reacting a second precursor with the first compound to form a second compound on the base material (PG 0028, reactive and co-reactive tellurium precursors react to form tellurium on the germanium as formation of GeTe is disclosed), wherein the second precursor comprises the chemical formula B-C(1)-D(1), wherein each of B and D(1)are a respective moiety that independently comprises silicon, and wherein C(1) comprises tellurium (PG 0028, Te(TMS)2; this corresponds to trimethylsilyl – tellurium – trimethylsilyl; trimethylsilyl is a moiety that comprises silicon and tellurium is expressly recited as the core metal).
Claim 9 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 8, further comprising:
reacting a third precursor with the second compound to form a third compound on the second compound, wherein the third precursor comprises at least one of a Group XIII, Group XIV, or Group XV element (PG 0028, reactive and co-reactive germanium precursors react to form germanium on the substrate, duplicative GeTe cycles expressly disclosed); and
reacting a fourth precursor with the third compound to form a fourth compound on the second compound, wherein the fourth precursor comprises tellurium bonded with a first moiety and a second moiety, the first moiety and the second moiety independently comprising silicon (PG 0028, Te(TMS)2; this corresponds to trimethylsilyl – tellurium – trimethylsilyl; trimethylsilyl is a moiety that comprises silicon and tellurium is expressly recited as the core metal, duplicative GeTe cycles expressly disclosed).
Claim 10 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising:
identifying a set of X precursor pairs, wherein each precursor pair of the set of X precursor pairs comprises one of a first set of precursors and one of a second set of precursors, wherein each precursor pair has an associated quantity of cycles, wherein X is an integer greater than or equal to 2, wherein each precursor of the first set of precursors comprises a Group XIII, Group XIV, or Group XV element, and wherein each precursor of the second set of precursors comprises one of tellurium, sulfur, antimony, arsenic, phosphorous, selenium, germanium, or tin bonded with two or moieties, wherein each of the two or moieties independently comprises germanium, tin, or silicon (PG 0028 discloses Ge-Te precursor pairs and Sb-Te precursor pairs; Ge and Sb precursors are the first precursors and are Group XIV and XV respectively; the tellurium precursors are tellurium bound to two trimethylsilyl moieties; PG 0028, e.g. two GeTe cycles and three SbTe cycles; PG 0019 expressly discloses repeated layer cycles);
performing, according to the associated quantity of cycles for each precursor pair of the set of X precursor pairs and to form a respective film associated with the precursor pair, a reacting of the one of the first set of precursors to form a respective first compound and a reacting of the one of the second set of precursors with the first compound to form a respective second compound (PG 0028, e.g. two GeTe cycles and three SbTe cycles; PG 0019 expressly discloses repeated layer cycles).
Claim 11 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 8, wherein B comprises the chemical formula R1R2R3A, and A comprises the silicon for B, and each of R1, R2, and R3 are independently selected from an alkyl group (PG 0028, trimethylsilyl; B is silicon, and all Rs are methyl; Te(TMS)2 comprises two trimethylsilyl groups, one corresponding to B and one corresponding to D1).
Claim 12 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 11, wherein each of R1, R2, and R3 comprise the same element or the same compound (PG 0028, trimethylsilyl; B is silicon, and all Rs are methyl; Te(TMS)2 comprises two trimethylsilyl groups, one corresponding to B and one corresponding to D1).
Claim 13 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 8, wherein D(1) comprises the chemical formula X1R4R5R6, wherein X1 comprises silicon, wherein each of R4, R5, and R6 are independently selected from an alkyl group (PG 0028, trimethylsilyl; B is silicon, and all Rs are methyl; Te(TMS)2 comprises two trimethylsilyl groups, one corresponding to B and one corresponding to D1).
Claim 14 – Marsh ‘812 teaches the method of claim 13, wherein each of R4, R5, and R6 comprise the same element or compound (PG 0028, trimethylsilyl; B is silicon, and all Rs are methyl; Te(TMS)2 comprises two trimethylsilyl groups, one corresponding to B and one corresponding to D1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL G MILLER whose telephone number is (571)270-1861. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Cleveland can be reached at 571-272-1418. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL G MILLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1712
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