Appeal No. 1997-2834
Application No. 08/190,729
Claim 51 is illustrative of the claims on appeal and is
reproduced below:
51. A corrosion resistant lead frame for
electrically contacting an integrated circuit,
comprising:
a base metal layer having a first standard
reduction potential;
an isolation layer disposed upon said base metal
layer and having a second standard reduction
potential, said second standard reduction potential
being greater than said first standard reduction
potential;
an intermediate layer disposed upon said
isolation layer and having a third standard
reduction potential, said third standard reduction
potential being less than both said first and second
standard reduction potentials; and
a top metal layer disposed upon said
intermediate layer and having a standard reduction
potential substantially equal to said second
standard reduction potential.
The subject matter on appeal relates to a corrosion
resistant lead frame for an integrated circuit and a method
for fabricating such a lead frame (appeal brief, page 2). The
lead frame comprises the recited base metal, isolation,
intermediate, and top metal layers. According to the
appellant, the isolation layer is used to decouple the top
metal layer and the base metal layer by providing a standard
reduction potential that is substantially equal to the
standard reduction potential of the top metal layer (appeal
2
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