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 .
Priority
This application discloses and claims only subject matter disclosed in prior Application No. 17/407836, filed 8/20/21, and names the inventor or at least one joint inventor named in the prior application. Accordingly, this application may constitute a continuation or divisional. Should applicant desire to claim the benefit of the filing date of the prior application, attention is directed to 35 U.S.C. 120, 37 CFR 1.78, and MPEP § 211 et seq. The presentation of a benefit claim may result in an additional fee under 37 CFR 1.17(w)(1) or (2) being required, if the earliest filing date for which benefit is claimed under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) and 1.78(d) in the application is more than six years before the actual filing date of the application.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim 17 is 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.
Claim 17 recites the limitation " the second dielectric layer" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mueller et al (US 2015/0014813 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Mueller et al discloses a semiconductor memory device comprising a capacitor (Figure 2A), wherein the capacitor (Figure 2A, reference ICea) comprises a first electrode (Figure 2a, reference 22a), a second electrode (Figure 2A, reference 24a), and a dielectric layer (Figure 2A, reference 23a) between the first electrode (Figure 2a, reference 22a) and the second electrode (Figure 2a,reference 24a) wherein the dielectric layer comprises a first dielectric layer comprising an A-metal, a B-metal, and oxygen (Figure 2a, reference 23a; paragraph 0040), and wherein a concentration of the B-metal in the first dielectric layer (Figure 2a, reference 23a;) is lowest adjacent to the first electrode (Figure 2a, reference 22a) and highest adjacent to the second electrode (Figure 2a,reference 24a)(paragraphs 0038-0050).
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.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mueller et al (US 2015/0014813 A1) in view of Kang et al (US 2020/0335333 A1).
Mueller et al discloses all of the above claimed subject matter.
However, Mueller et al does not disclose wherein the dielectric layer further comprises a second dielectric layer between the first electrode and the first dielectric layer, and wherein a dielectric constant of the second dielectric layer is greater than a dielectric constant of the first dielectric layer (claim 16).
Kang et al discloses wherein the dielectric layer (Figure 2A, reference DE11) further comprises a second dielectric layer (Figure 2A, reference 105) between the first electrode (Figure 2A, reference 101) and the first dielectric layer (Figure 2A, reference 106), and wherein a dielectric constant of the second dielectric layer (Figure 2A, reference 105) is greater than a dielectric constant of the first dielectric layer (Figure 2A, reference 106; paragraph 0053).
It would have been obvious, prior to the effective filing date of the instant application, for one with ordinary skill in the art, to modify Mueller et al with the teachings of Kang et al for the purpose of forming a second dielectric with a higher dielectric concentration than the first dielectric in order to further increase the capacitance of the capacitor in semiconductor devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-20 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 prior art does not disclose nor fairly suggest a semiconductor memory device comprising a capacitor, wherein the first dielectric layer comprises: a first A-metal region adjacent to the first electrode; a first B-metal region spaced apart from both of the first electrode and the second electrode; a second B-metal region adjacent to the second electrode; and a second A-metal region between the first B-metal region and the second B-metal region, wherein each of the first and second A-metal regions comprises the A-metal and oxygen and is devoid of the B-metal, and wherein each of the first and second B-metal regions comprises the B-metal and oxygen and is devoid of the A-metal (claim 18) further incorporated into independent claim 15 and in the context of its recited apparatus, along with its depending claims.
Claims 1-14 are allowed over the prior art of record.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art does not disclose nor fairly suggest semiconductor memory devices comprising a capacitor, a first aluminum region spaced apart from both of the first electrode and the second electrode; a second aluminum region adjacent to the second electrode; and a second zirconium region between the first aluminum region and the second aluminum region, wherein each of the first and second zirconium regions comprises zirconium and oxygen and is devoid of aluminum, wherein each of the first and second aluminum regions comprises aluminum and oxygen and is devoid of zirconium, and wherein the first aluminum region and the first zirconium region are spaced apart from each other by a first distance, and the first aluminum region and the second zirconium region are spaced apart from each other by a second distance that is shorter than the first distance (claim 1) and a hafnium oxide layer adjacent to the first electrode; and a zirconium aluminum oxide layer adjacent to the second electrode, wherein the zirconium aluminum oxide layer comprises a first surface contacting the hafnium oxide layer and a second surface contacting the second electrode, and wherein an aluminum concentration in the zirconium aluminum oxide layer is highest at the second surface and lowest at the first surface (claim 9) as described in the independent claims and in the context of their recited apparatuses, along with their depending claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONICA D HARRISON whose telephone number is (571)272-1959. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7-4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Benitez can be reached at 571-270-1435. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MONICA D HARRISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815
mdh
June 30, 2026
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