Appeal No. 95-4632
Application No. 08/184,675
BACKGROUND
The appellant's invention relates to a method of forming a thin film of a lead titanate ceramic on
a substrate by reacting a lead carboxylate with a titanium (and optionally a
zirconium) alkoxide in a suitable solvent, e.g., ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, to form a complexed
lead (zirconate) titanate, dissolving the complexed lead (zirconate) titanate in water to form an aqueous
solution, and immersing the substrate in the aqueous solution of complexed lead (zirconate) titanate
where, as the complexed lead (zirconate) titanate is hydrolyzed by the water, heterogeneous nucleation
and nuclear growth of the complexed lead (zirconate) titanate occur on the entire surface of the
substrate to form the thin film of lead (zirconate) titanate (see e.g. specification page 6, first full
paragraph and Brief, paragraph bridging pages 2-3). Claim 1 is illustrative of the subject matter on
appeal and reads as follows:
1. A process of producing thin films of a lead titanate system expressed by the
general formula: Pb(Zr Ti )O , where 0#x<1, said process comprising the step of:
x 1-x 3
(a) preparing a complex alkoxide including at least lead and titanium atoms by a liquid
phase reaction of lead carboxylate with titanium alkoxide and optionally also zirconium
alkoxide, (b) dissolving the resultant complex alkoxide in water to prepare an aqueous
solution of the complex alkoxide, and (c) immersing a substrate in the resultant aqueous
solution to deposit a thin film of the lead titanate system on said substrate by hydrolysis
of said complex alkoxide.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the examiner in rejecting the appealed claims
are:
Pebler et al. (Pebler) 4,485,094 Nov. 27, 1984
Nanao et al. (Nanao) 4,668,299 May 26, 1987
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