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
Claims 12-23 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected process, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 8/3/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of 1-11 in the reply filed on 8/13/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 1-5, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fantini (US 10,128,437) in view of Ariga (US 2023/0088700).
With regard to claim 1, fig. 1A of Fantini discloses a semiconductor device comprising: a first conductive line 104 extending in a first direction (in to out of page of fig. 1A); a second conductive line 120 extending in a second direction (left to right) intersecting the first direction (in to out); a memory cell 101 located between the first conductive line 104 and the second conductive line 120 in a third direction (top to bottom in fig. 1C) that intersects the first (in to out) and second (left to right) directions; and a liner pattern (114, 116) located over a sidewall of the memory cell 101 and including a first portion 114 and a second portion 116.
Seo does not disclose that the first portion including halide impurities at a first concentration, the second portion including halide impurities at a second concentration that is lower than the first concentration.
However, figs. 7 and 14 of Ariga discloses that the first portion 53b including halide impurities (“aluminum oxide film 53b contains chlorine as impurities”, par [0109]) at a first concentration (concentration of chlorine impurities in 53b), the second portion 53a including halide impurities at a second concentration (concentration of chlorine in 53a) that is lower (highest concentration of chlorine in 53a is lower than the highest concentration of chlorine in 53b) than the first concentration (concentration of chlorine impurities in 53b).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the liner of Seo with the Chlorine concentrations as taught in Ariga in order to prevent OH diffusion and improve the characteristic of the memory cell. See par [0108] of Ariga.
With regards to claim 2, fig. 1A of Fantini discloses that the memory cell 101 includes a variable resistance layer 110.
With regards to claim 3, fig. 1A of Fantini discloses that the first portion 116 is located between the memory cell 101 and the second portion 118.
With regards to claim 4, Fantini does not disclose the halide impurities include at least one of iodine (I) or chlorine (Cl).
However, figs. 7 and 14 of Ariga discloses that the halide impurities (“chlorine as impurities”, par [0109]) include at least one of iodine (I) or chlorine (Cl) (“chlorine as impurities”, par [0109]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the liner of Fantini with the Chlorine concentrations as taught in Ariga in order to prevent OH diffusion and improve the characteristic of the memory cell. See par [0108] of Ariga.
With regards to claim 5, fig. 1A of Fantini discloses that the liner pattern 116 includes nitride (“silicon nitride”, col. 7 ll. 58).
With regards to claim 9, fig. 1A of Fantini discloses that the first portion 116 has a first thickness (thickness of 116), and the second portion 118 has a second thickness (thickness of 118) that is substantially the same as the first thickness (thickness of 116).
With regards to claim 11, fig. 1A of Fantini discloses a gap fill pattern 122 located on the liner pattern (116, 118).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 and 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.
Regarding claim 6, Fantini (US 10,128,437), Ariga (US 2023/0088700), and Seo (US 2021/0375994) do not disclose the liner pattern includes nitride a buffer pattern located between the memory cell and the liner pattern and including halide impurities at a third concentration that is lower than the second concentration. Claim 7 depends on claim 6 and is also objected.
Regarding claim 8, Fantini (US 10,128,437) and Ariga (US 2023/0088700) do not disclose that the second portion has a second density of the nitride layer that is higher than the first density of the nitride layer.
Regarding claim 10, Fantini (US 10,128,437), Ariga (US 2023/0088700), and Seo (US 2021/0375994) do not disclose a buffer pattern located between the memory cell and the liner pattern and having a third thickness that is smaller than the first thickness and the second thickness.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fig. 1B of Seo (US 2021/0375994) disclose liner layers 150 on the sidewall of the memory cell 130 but not the concentration of halides.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN T LIU whose telephone number is (571)272-6009. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11:00am-7:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yara J Green can be reached at 571 270-3035. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN TZU-HUNG LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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