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 Group I (claims 1-10) in the reply filed on 5/26/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Strutt (WO 2019005167 A1), hereinafter Strutt. A copy of Strutt reference is included with this office action.
Regarding claim 1, Strutt (WO 2019005167 A1) teaches a resistive random-access memory (RRAM) device (200 of Figure 2, comprising:
a first electrode (one of 222 and 216, see NOTE 1 below) comprising at least one of palladium, titanium nitride, or tantalum nitride (titanium nitride is disclosed – see NOTE 1);
a second electrode (the other one of 222 and 216, see NOTE 1 below) comprising ruthenium (ruthenium is disclosed – see NOTE 1); and
a switching oxide layer (218, see page 7, lines 33-35 and page 8, line 1) fabricated between (best seen in Figure 2) the first electrode and the second electrode (i.e. between 222 and 216), wherein the switching oxide layer comprises at least one transition metal oxide ("switching layer 218" may be "a combination of two or more layers of oxide such as but not limited to aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide and tungsten oxide" - see page 7, lines 33-35 and page 8, line 1).
Strutt discloses discloses a range of materials for first electrode and second electrode rather than the exact claimed material in claim 1. However, given that the list and combinations of materials is limited, and further Strutt outlines reasons for varying composition by disclosing “the composition and thickness of the top electrode 222 are tuned to meet specific device attributes such as series resistance, programming voltage and current” (page 8, lines 27-29). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the effective filing of the claimed invention to modify Strutt to opt the specific materials recited for first electrode and second electrode from the limited list of materials outlined above. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Strutt for at least the purpose of meeting specific device attributes such as series resistance, programming voltage and current” (page 8, lines 27-29 of Strutt).
NOTE 1: Page 8, lines 31-32 describes "top electrode 222” includes “a material such as, but not limited to, titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, tungsten and ruthenium”. Also, Page 8, lines 7-10 discloses “the second conductive layer 216” may include “tungsten, ruthenium or titanium nitride”.
Regarding claim 2, Strutt teaches the RRAM device of claim 1, wherein the transition metal oxide comprises at least one of HfOx or TaOy, wherein x≤2.0, and wherein y≤2.5 ((page 7, lines 33-35 and page 8, line 1 discloses"switching layer 218" may be "a combination of two or more layers of oxide” such as “hafnium oxide”, which is HfO2 and “tantalum oxide”, which is Ta2O5)
Regarding claims 3-4, Strutt teaches the RRAM device of claim 2, wherein the switching oxide layer further comprises a dopant oxide that is more chemically stable than the at least one transition metal oxide (as recited in claim 3), wherein (as recited in claim 4) the dopant oxide comprises at least one of Al2O3, SiO2, ZrO2, Sc2O3, or Y2O3 (Page 7, lines 33-35 and page 8, line 1 discloses "switching layer 218" may be "a combination of two or more layers of oxide” which may include “aluminum oxide”, which maps to the recited dopant oxide is Al2O3, ).
Regarding claim 5, Strutt teaches the RRAM device of claim 1, wherein the second electrode (222) further comprises a layer of at least one of a CMOS-compatible metal or a CMOS-compatible nitride, wherein the CMOS-compatible metal comprises at least one of tungsten, titanium, aluminum, or copper, and wherein the CMOS-compatible nitride comprises at least one of silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, tantalum nitride, or titanium nitride (at least “tantalum nitride” is taught for 222 – see NOTE 1 above).
Regarding claims 6-7, Strutt teaches the RRAM device of claim 1, further comprising an interface layer (220) positioned between the switching oxide layer (218) and the second electrode (222), wherein the second electrode (222) comprising ruthenium is fabricated on (best seen in Figure 2) the interface layer (220).
Regarding claim 8, Strutt teaches the RRAM device of claim 1, further comprising a first
interface layer (220) positioned between the first electrode (222) and the switching oxide layer (218).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 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:
Claims 9 is allowable because the prior art of record does not teach or suggest, singularly or in combination, at least the limitations of that require “further comprising a second interface layer positioned between the second electrode and the switching oxide layer”.
Claims 10 is allowable because the prior art of record does not teach or suggest, singularly or in combination, at least the limitations of that require “a conductive channel comprising ruthenium is formed in the switching oxide layer in response to an application of a programming voltage to the RRAM device”.
Conclusion
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/AJAY ARORA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2892
