Appeal No. 1997-2917
Application No. 08/351,697
disclosures of Yi, Kobayashi and Nakanishi. Yi discloses a
sol-gel method for fabricating high quality ceramic thin films
on different substrates to produce materials, such as a high
temperature superconductor containing yttrium-barium-copper-
oxide. See page 1173, column 1. The sol-gel method generally
involves forming a solution of the elements of the desired
compound in an organic solvent, polymerizing the solution to
form a gel, and drying and firing this gel to displace the
organic components to form an inorganic oxide. See page 1173,
column 3. The solution is typically formed using a metal
alkoxide, such as zirconium or titanium alkoxide, in an
organic solvent, such as an alcohol. See page 1173, column 3,
together with page 1174, columns 1 and 2. To obtain the
desired homogeneity of the gel and the desired stability of2
the viscosity and rheological properties of the solution, it
is desirable to include a chelating organic ligand, such as
organic acids, glycol, or beta-diketones, to the solution to
form, for example, glycolated derivatives which are highly
2“The homogeneity of a gel is related to the quantity and
distribution of voids within the gel and the distribution of
different elements.” See page 1174, column 3.
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