DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-14 are pending and examined.
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)(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.
Claims 1-7,9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 9,076,537 to Khvalkovskiy et al. (hereafter Khvalkovskiy).
Regarding independent claim 1, Khvalkovskiy teaches a base element for switching a magnetization state of a nanomagnet, comprising:
a metal strip having a surface (FIG. 4: SO active layer 120);
a nanomagnet disposed above the surface of the metal nanostrip (FIG. 4: free layer 112' along Z axis, which is seen as nanomagnet because it works with spin diffusion length in nanometers, see 21:4-5), the nanomagnet having a first anisotropy Hkz perpendicular to the surface and a second anisotropy Hkx parallel to the surface, the nanomagnet further comprising a first magnetic equilibrium state and a second magnetic equilibrium state (FIG. 4: free layer 112' having easy axis perpendicular to x-y plane and hard axis in x-y plane, see 10:45-52); and
a switchable current source electrically connected to the metal strip (FIGS. 4-5: inherent current source for generating and driving a tSO current of FIG. 5 through SO active layer 120’ of FIG. 4), configured to inject a current pulse into the metal strip to switch the nanomagnet between the first and second magnetic equilibrium states (see 12:10-13:22, wherein current tSTT is optional, see step 454 of FIG. 20).
Regarding dependent claim 2, Khvalkovskiy teaches wherein the metal strip comprises a heavy metal (see 8:25-39).
Regarding dependent claim 3, Khvalkovskiy teaches wherein the metal strip comprises W or Pt (see 8:25-39).
Regarding dependent claim 4, Khvalkovskiy teaches wherein the metal strip comprises a metal alloy (i.e. surface alloys of A/B, see 8:25-39).
Regarding dependent claim 5, Khvalkovskiy teaches wherein the metal strip comprises an alloy of Cu (i.e. surface alloys of A/B, see 8:25-39).
Regarding dependent claim 6, Khvalkovskiy teaches wherein the metal strip comprises a transition metal (e.g. W and Pt are transition metal, see 8:25-39).
Regarding dependent claim 7, Khvalkovskiy teaches wherein the switchable current source is configured to inject a current pulse having a duration of less than 50 ps to switch the nanomagnet between the first and second magnetic equilibrium states (e.g. when the SO current pulse is at least 30 ps, see 11:30-44).
Regarding dependent claim 9, Khvalkovskiy teaches wherein the nanomagnet has a long axis and a short axis (FIG. 4: free layer 112' having easy/long axis perpendicular to x-y plane and hard/short axis in x-y plane, see 10:45-52).
Regarding dependent claim 10, Khvalkovskiy teaches an insulating layer positioned over the nanomagnet (FIG. 4: nonmagnetic spacer layer 114’).
Regarding dependent claim 11, Khvalkovskiy teaches wherein the insulating layer is positioned in contact with the nanomagnet (see FIG. 4).
Regarding dependent claim 12, Khvalkovskiy teaches a magnetic layer having a fixed magnetization positioned over the insulating layer (FIG. 4: reference layer 116’).
Regarding dependent claim 13, Khvalkovskiy teaches an inherent sensing element configured to measure an electrical resistance between the nanomagnet and the magnetic layer to determine the magnetic equilibrium state of the nanomagnet (i.e. when the magnetic junction 110’s is read, see 26:65-27:2).
Regarding dependent claim 14, Khvalkovskiy teaches an integrated electrical connection configured to read the magnetic equilibrium state of the nanomagnet as a bit of memory (see 5:34-43).
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khvalkovskiy.
Regarding dependent claim 8, Khvalkovskiy does not explicitly teaches wherein the metal strip has a thickness of at least 15 nm. However, Khvalkovskiy suggests the thickness of SO active layer may vary (i.e. either substantially constant or reduced thickness, see 16:10-20). There appears having thickness of SO active layer at least 15 nm is matter of design choice.
Conclusion
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March 6, 2026
/VANTHU T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824
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