Appeal No. 1999-2596
Application No. 08/866,773
CITED PRIOR ART
As evidence of unpatentability, the Examiner relies on the following references:
Ajika et al. (Ajika) 5,049,975 Sept. 17, 1991
Nakamura et al. (Nakamura) 5,312,774 May 17, 1994
Yu et al. (Yu) 5,380,678 Jan. 10, 1995
Lee 5,381,807 Jan. 17, 1995
The Examiner rejected claims 4, 6 to 10, 12 to 16 and 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
unpatentable over the combination of Ajika, Nakamura, Yu, Lee and the admitted prior art.
(Specification page 4). (Answer p. 4).
According to the Examiner, Ajika teaches multilayered interconnections structures
for a semiconductor device. The Examiner asserts Ajika fails to recite that the entire layer
of titanium is consumed into titanium silicide and titanium nitride layers. (Answer, p. 4).
To remedy the deficiency the Examiner relies upon Nakamura. The Examiner asserts
Nakamura teaches a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device wherein titanium is
deposited on a silicon substrate and converted to a TiN/Ti/TiSi or a TiN/TiS barrier layer.
The Examiner concludes that the formation of a bi-layer or tri-layer barrier structure would
have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art. (Answer, p. 5).
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