Appeal No. 2002-1992
Application 09/206,170
the solution, and double sided scrubbing the wafer with water
either before or after immersing the wafer in the solution.
Claim 13: Claim 10 of Schonauer ‘727, which depends from
claim 9, recites that the barrier layer comprises tantalum
nitride.
Claims 17 and 18: Claim 16 of Schonauer ‘727, which includes
the subject matter of claims 13 and 14, claims a method of
preventing the growth of dendrites emanating from Cu or Cu alloy
lines into a bordering open dielectric field on a wafer surface,
by immersing the wafer in a solution containing at least about
90 wt% acetic acid and up to about 10 wt% ammonium fluoride to
remove a portion of dielectric material from the surface of the
open dielectric field and from between the lines.
DECISION
The rejections of claims 19 and 20 under 35 U.S.C. § 112,
second paragraph, claims 1, 3, 6-9, 11-14 and 17-22 under
35 U.S.C. § 103 over Chen in view of Grieger, and claims 2, 5,
10, 15 and 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Chen in view of Grieger
and Schonauer, are reversed. Under the provisions of 37 CFR
§ 1.196(b) a new ground of rejection of claims 1, 3, 6, 10-13, 17
and 18 has been entered.
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