DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, with corresponding claims 1-17, in the reply filed on 06/26/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the limitation “a transistor pair comprising a first source region, a second source region, a first gate structure, a second gate structure, a first drain region, and a second drain region” in claims 1 and 14 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a)
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 1-16 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 enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the limitation “A ferroelectric memory cell, comprising:…a first ferroelectric capacitor formed on and electrically connected to the first drain region;…a second ferroelectric capacitor formed on and electrically connected to the first plateline” would fail to comply with the enablement requirement for reasons as follow:
Claim 1 is directed to a ferroelectric memory cell comprising a first ferroelectric capacitor and a second ferroelectric capacitor as discussed above and one skilled in the art would recognize that the ferroelectric capacitor would include a ferroelectric material having spontaneous electric polarization characteristics by applied electric fields. Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) and Strontium Bismuth Titanate (SBT) are well known ferroelectric materials used for such ferroelectric capacitor characteristics and this is evidenced by Kim (US 2002/0063271 A1 cited in IDS dated 05/10/2024, Fig. 1D and paragraph 32 disclosing “The first and second ferroelectric layer 36 and 38 are made of, for example, lead zirconia titanate (PZT), lead lanthanum zirconia titanate (PLZT), strontium barium titanate (SBT), and barium lanthanum titanate (BLT)” for the ferroelectric capacitors CF1 and CF2 of a ferroelectric memory device).
The specification of the instant application discloses ferroelectric dielectric materials for the ferroelectric capacitors (for example, paragraph 12 and claim 9 reciting “the first ferroelectric dielectric and the second ferroelectric dielectric include hafnium oxide (HfOx), zirconium oxide (ZrOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), aluminum oxide (AlOx), nickel oxide (NiOx), iron oxide (FeOx)”). However, such dielectric materials are rather known for having high-k dielectric constant characteristics used for forming high-k dielectric capacitors, which are different than the ferroelectric capacitors having the ferroelectric characteristics as discussed above. This is evidenced by Wohlfahrt (US 2004/0056287 A1, Fig. 3 and paragraph 12) disclosing “the capacitors are ferroelectric capacitors. A ferroelectric capacitor includes a ferroelectric layer 343 between first and second electrodes 341 and 342…Alternatively, other types of capacitors can be employed. For example, non-ferroelectric capacitors such as high k dielectric capacitors can be used.”). However, the specification of the instant application does not further describe any enabling disclosure clearly and fully as to how each of the dielectric materials hafnium oxide (HfOx), zirconium oxide (ZrOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), aluminum oxide (AlOx), nickel oxide (NiOx), iron oxide (FeOx) can be controlled/modified to function as a ferroelectric material between two electrodes in order to form the ferroelectric capacitors for the ferroelectric memory cell as claimed. As such, undue experimentation would be required for determining how such dielectric materials are controlled/modified to function as the ferroelectric material having the ferroelectric characteristics in order to make and/or use the invention.
Accordingly, after considering all of the evidence of record related to the pertinent Wands factors and reasons discussed above, one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the application was filed, would not have been able to make and/or use the full scope of the claimed invention without undue experimentation. Claim 14 is rejected with the same reason for rejecting claim 1 as discussed above. Claims 2-13 and 15-17, which depend from claims 1 and 14, are also rejected by virtue of their dependencies.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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 1-16 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.
Regarding claims 1 and 14, the limitation “a transistor pair comprising a first source region, a second source region, a first gate structure, a second gate structure, a first drain region, and a second drain region” would render the claims indefinite since it is unclear how the transistor pair would include “a first source region” and “a second source region” when the specification of the instant application is directed to the transistor pair 310 including two transistors having a common source region 313 (See Fig. 3B and paragraphs 51 and 58). For example, assuming that “a first source region” is considered as the common source region 313 for the transistor pair 310, what would be “a second source region” for the transistor pair 310 then? Furthermore, with paragraph 51 disclosing “In some embodiments, common source region 213 and other common source region disclosed herein may be two separated source regions, e.g., a first source region and a second source region”, how and what is considered as “other common source region” for the transistor pair 310 in addition to the common source region 313? Claims 2-13 and 15-17, which depend from claims 1 and 14, are also rejected by virtue of their dependencies.
Regarding claim 9, the limitation “the first ferroelectric dielectric and the second ferroelectric dielectric include hafnium oxide (HfOx), zirconium oxide (ZrOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), aluminum oxide (AlOx), nickel oxide (NiOx), iron oxide (FeOx)” would render the claim indefinite since the subscript “x” value is not defined for each of the dielectric materials recited in the claim.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wohlfahrt (US 2004/0056287 A1, Fig. 3 and related text) teaches a ferroelectric memory cell comprising two laterally adjacent transistors (3301 and 3302) and two vertically stacked ferroelectric capacitors (3401 and 3402).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL B WHALEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3418. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 8AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sue Purvis can be reached on (571)272-1236. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL WHALEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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