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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
An information disclosure statement has not been received. If the applicant is aware of any prior art or any other co-pending applications not already of record, he/she is reminded of his/her duty under 37 CFR 1.56 to disclose the same.
Drawings
There are no objections or rejections to the drawings.
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.
Claim 14 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “direct direct”. It is unclear what is meant by direct direct. One reasonable interpretation is that the recitation is intentional and implies maximum directness. Another reasonable interpretation is that the this is an unintentional duplication. One of ordinary skill in the relevant art would not know what structures/steps are covered by the limitation. For these reasons, the claim is indefinite.
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 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 pre-AIA 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 beYou’e fore the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claims 1 3-7, 10, 13 and 16-17 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US Patent Application Publication No 2018/0040811) hereinafter referred to as Lee.
Per Claim 1 Lee discloses a memory stack device, comprising (see figures 1-2)
a heavy metal layer (150);
a magnetic bias layer (220), having a first magnetic anisotropy (221) and disposed adjacent to the heavy metal layer (as shown in figures 1-2);
a free layer (140), having a second magnetic anisotropy (141/142) perpendicular to the first magnetic anisotropy and disposed adjacent to the heavy metal layer,
wherein a width of the heavy metal layer is different from a width of the free layer (as shown in figures 1-2); and
a capping structure (120), disposed over the free layer
Per Claim 3 Lee discloses the device of claim 1 (see figures 1-2), including where the magnetic bias layer and the free layer are disposed on opposite sides of the heavy metal layer. (as shown in figure 2)
Per Claim 4 Lee discloses the device of claim 1 (see figures 1-2), including where a width of the magnetic bias layer is different from the width of the free layer. (as shown in fig. 2)
Per Claim 5 Lee discloses the device of claim 1 (see figures 1-2), including where the heavy metal layer comprises W, Pt, AuPt or a combination thereof. [0034]
Per Claim 6 Lee discloses the device of claim 1 (see figures 1-2), including where the free layer comprises FeCo, CoFeB, FeB or a combination thereof. [0034]
Per Claim 7 Lee discloses the device of claim 1 (see figures 1-2), including where the magnetic bias layer comprises Co, CoNi or a combination thereof. [0036]
Per Claim 10 Lee discloses a memory stack device, comprising (see figures 1-2)
a heavy metal layer (150);
a magnetic bias layer (220), having a first magnetic anisotropy (221) and disposed a below the heavy metal layer (as shown in figures 1-2);
a metal buffer layer (230), disposed below the magnetic bias layer; and
a free layer (140), having a second magnetic anisotropy (141/142) perpendicular to the first magnetic anisotropy and disposed over the heavy metal layer(as shown in figures 1-2).
Per Claim 13 Lee discloses the device of claim 10 (see figures 1-2), including at least one bottom electrode disposed below the metal buffer layer. [0028]
Per Claim 16 Lee discloses the device of claim 10 (see figures 1-2), including where the free layer comprises FeCo, CoFeB, FeB or a combination thereof. [0034]
Per Claim 17 Lee discloses the device of claim 10 (see figures 1-2), including where the magnetic bias layer comprises Co, CoNi or a combination thereof. [0036]
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 8, 9, 11-12 and 15 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claim 4 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. Claims 18-20 allowed.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. The closest prior art appears to be Lee which teaches an analogous device including see figures 1-2) a metal buffer layer (230), disposed below the magnetic bias layer; and a MRAM cell (300) disposed over the substrate and comprising: a bottom electrode [0028]; a magnetic bias layer (220), having a first magnetic anisotropy (221) and disposed over the bottom electrode (as shown in figures 1-2); a heavy metal layer (150), disposed over the magnetic bias layer; a free layer (140), having a second magnetic anisotropy (141/142) perpendicular to the first magnetic anisotropy and disposed over the heavy metal layer (as shown in figs. 1-2); a reference layer (126), disposed over the free layer; a synthetic anti-ferromagnetic layer (122), disposed over the reference layer and configured to fix a magnetic anisotropy of the reference layer (as shown in figs. 1-3).
Lee does not specifically disclose or suggest the element/step of “a substrate; and a top electrode, disposed over the synthetic anti-ferromagnetic layer”, as recited by the independent claims, in combination with the other elements/steps of the claim. No prior art was found that taught this novel method/device
Cited Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicants are directed to consider additional pertinent prior art included on the Notice of References Cited (PTOL 892) attached herewith.
Wang (US 2016/0064650) is cited for teaching all features of claim 1 except for the difference in width.
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant.
Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMI VALENTINE MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-9786. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 7am-5pm.
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, Eva Montalvo can be reached on (571) 270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jami Valentine Miller/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
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