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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 6-7, 9, 12-14 and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Palomino et al. (US 2025/0231259 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Palomino et al. teach a magnetoresistive sensor element (magnetoresistive sensor 200; FIG. 14), comprising
a reference layer having a reference magnetization (reference layer 204; FIG. 14;
a sense layer having a sense magnetization comprising a vortex configuration stable under the presence of an external magnetic field, the sense magnetization being reversibly movable in a direction out-of-plane relative to the reference magnetization when the external magnetic field varies in a direction out-of-plane (vortex sensing layer 206; Figs 4, 14);
a tunnel barrier layer between the reference layer and the sense layer (tunnel barrier spacer 205; FIG. 14);
a dipolar assisting layer, configured to generate a dipolar stray field oriented substantially out-of-plane, such that the dipolar stray field is added to the out-of-plane external magnetic field, resulting in an effective magnetic field that is larger than and proportional to the external magnetic field (perpendicular magnetic anisotropy PMA material 202; FIG. 14; the number of repeats in (Co/Pt) multilayers or the thickness of the alloy can be adjusted to provide sufficient stray field so that the vortex always nucleates with the same polarity, but not too high so that the response remains symmetric when a positive or negative field is applied to the sensor; [0129]).
Regarding claim 2, Palomino et al. teach wherein the dipolar assisting layer comprises, or is formed of, a material having a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy ((perpendicular magnetic anisotropy PMA material 202; FIG. 14).
Regarding claim 4, Palomino et al. teach wherein the dipolar assisting layer comprises any one of, alone or in combination, Co, Ni, Fe, Pt, Ta, Pd, W, Ru, Ir, Cr, Tb, Gd, or Sm (the number of repeats in (Co/Pt) multilayers or the thickness of the alloy can be adjusted to provide sufficient stray field so that the vortex always nucleates with the same polarity, but not too high so that the response remains symmetric when a positive or negative field is applied to the sensor; [0129]).
Regarding claim 6, Palomino et al. teach wherein a dipolar assisting layer arranged such that the reference layer is between the tunnel barrier layer and the dipolar assisting layer (reference layer 204 is between the tunnel barrier spacer 205 and the PMA material 202; FIG. 14).
Regarding claim 7, Palomino et al. teach wherein the dipolar assisting layer comprises, or is formed of, a material having a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy ((perpendicular magnetic anisotropy PMA material 202; FIG. 14).
Regarding claim 9, Palomino et al. teach wherein the dipolar assisting layer comprises an alloy based on any one of, alone or in combination, Co, Ni, Fe, Pt, Ta, Pd, W, Ru, Ir, Cr, Tb, Gd, or Sm (the number of repeats in (Co/Pt) multilayers or the thickness of the alloy can be adjusted to provide sufficient stray field so that the vortex always nucleates with the same polarity, but not too high so that the response remains symmetric when a positive or negative field is applied to the sensor; [0129]).
Regarding claim 12, Palomino et al. teach an interface layer between the sense layer and the tunnel barrier layer and configured to increase the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the sense layer (if the device is a magnetic tunnel junction, these laminations can also be made of oxide materials such as MgO, TaOx, AlOx, TiOx intended to induce some interfacial perpendicular anisotropy in the sense layer thereby allowing to slightly reduce the thickness of the sense layer; [0097]; FIG. 14).
Regarding claim 13, Palomino et al. teach wherein the interface layer comprises, or is formed of, a CoFeB-based alloy (the vortex sensing layer 106 can first comprise a thin FeCoB based layer in contact with the MgO barrier 105; [0097]; FIG. 14).
Regarding claim 14, Palomino et al. teach a non-magnetic spacer layer between the reference layer and the dipolar assisting layer and configured to prevent exchange coupling between the reference layer and the dipolar assisting layer (transition layer 203; FIG. 14).
Regarding claim 16, Palomino et al. teach wherein the MR element has a lateral size between 50 nm and 1000 nm (60 nm diameter; [0103]).
Regarding claim 17, Palomino et al. teach wherein the MR element has an aspect ratio of its thickness to diameter between 0.1 and 3 (60 nm thickness and 60 nm diameter; [0103]).
Regarding claim 18, Palomino et al. teach a magnetic sensor device comprising a MR element (magnetoresistive sensor 200; FIG. 14), comprising
a reference layer having a reference magnetization (reference layer 204; FIG. 14;
a sense layer having a sense magnetization comprising a vortex configuration stable under the presence of an external magnetic field, the sense magnetization being reversibly movable in a direction out-of-plane relative to the reference magnetization when the external magnetic field varies in a direction out-of-plane (vortex sensing layer 206; Figs 4, 14);
a tunnel barrier layer between the reference layer and the sense layer (tunnel barrier spacer 205; FIG. 14);
a dipolar assisting layer, configured to generate a dipolar stray field oriented substantially out-of-plane, such that the dipolar stray field is added to the out-of-plane external magnetic field, resulting in an effective magnetic field that is larger than and proportional to the external magnetic field (perpendicular magnetic anisotropy PMA material 202; FIG. 14; the number of repeats in (Co/Pt) multilayers or the thickness of the alloy can be adjusted to provide sufficient stray field so that the vortex always nucleates with the same polarity, but not too high so that the response remains symmetric when a positive or negative field is applied to the sensor; [0129]).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 3 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Palomino et al. (US 2025/0231259 A1) in view of Jan et al. (US 2012/0299134 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Palomino et al. do not teach wherein the dipolar assisting layer comprises, or is formed of, a Co/Ni multilayer or a CoNi-based alloy.
Further regarding claim 3, Jan et al. teach a dipolar assisting layer comprises, or is formed of, a Co/Ni multilayer or a CoNi-based alloy (a key feature of the present invention is a (Co/Ni)n or (Co/X)n multilayer structure having PMA where the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the afore mentioned laminate arises from spin-orbit interactions of the 3d and 4s electrons of Co and Ni or Co and X atoms; [0035]) for the purpose of improving out-of-plane anisotropy.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the dipolar assisting layer comprises, or is formed of, a Co/Ni multilayer or a CoNi-based alloy, as taught by Jan et al., into Palomino et al. for the purpose of improving out-of-plane anisotropy.
Regarding claim 8, Palomino et al. do not teach wherein the dipolar assisting layer comprises, or is formed of, a Co/Ni multilayer or a CoNi-based alloy.
Further regarding claim 8, Jan et al. teach a dipolar assisting layer comprises, or is formed of, a Co/Ni multilayer or a CoNi-based alloy (a key feature of the present invention is a (Co/Ni)n or (Co/X)n multilayer structure having PMA where the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the afore mentioned laminate arises from spin-orbit interactions of the 3d and 4s electrons of Co and Ni or Co and X atoms; [0035]) for the purpose of improving out-of-plane anisotropy.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the dipolar assisting layer comprises, or is formed of, a Co/Ni multilayer or a CoNi-based alloy, as taught by Jan et al., into Palomino et al. for the purpose of improving out-of-plane anisotropy.
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Palomino et al. (US 2025/0231259 A1) in view of Hu et al. (US 2016/0190436 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Palomino et al. do not teach wherein the thickness of the dipolar assisting layer is between 10 and 200 nm.
Further regarding claim 10, Hu et al. teach a thickness of the dipolar assisting layer is between 10 and 200 nm (the reference magnetic layer_1 215 may have a thickness ranging from 1 nm to 10 nm and likewise the dipole magnetic layer_1 210 may have a thickness ranging from 1 nm to 10 nm; [0041]) for the purpose of reducing the activation energy for activating the free layer.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the thickness of the dipolar assisting layer is between 10 and 200 nm, as taught by Hu et al., into Palomino et al. for the purpose of reducing the activation energy for activating the free layer.
Regarding claim 11, Palomino et al. do not teach wherein the dipolar assisting layer has a thickness that is equal or larger than the thickness of the sense layer.
Further regarding claim 11, Hu et al. teach a dipolar assisting layer has a thickness that is equal or larger than a thickness of a sense layer (the reference magnetic layer_1 215 may have a thickness ranging from 1 nm to 10 nm and likewise the dipole magnetic layer_1 210 may have a thickness ranging from 1 nm to 10 nm; [0041]; the free magnetic layer 115 is made of CoFeB and has a thickness of 2 nm; [0044]) for the purpose of reducing the activation energy for activating the free layer.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the thickness of the dipolar assisting layer is between 10 and 200 nm, as taught by Hu et al., into Palomino et al. for the purpose of reducing the activation energy for activating the free layer.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 15 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:
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim(s) 5 is the inclusion of “wherein the sense layer has an out-of-plane sense magnetic susceptibility; and wherein the dipolar assisting layer has an out-of-plane dipolar magnetic susceptibility that is larger than that the out-of-plane sense magnetic susceptibility”. These limitations, as they are claimed in the combination, have not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, making claim(s) 5 allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim(s) 15 is the inclusion of “wherein the non-magnetic spacer layer has a thickness between 1 nm and 50 nm”. These limitations, as they are claimed in the combination, have not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, making claim(s) 15 allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENDRICK X LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-3798. The examiner can normally be reached MWFSa 10am-8pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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4 April 2026
/KENDRICK X LIU/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/DOUGLAS X RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853