Appeal No. 2001-0046
Application 08/971,014
openings in a second insulating layer and are electrically
connected via contact holes of a first insulating layer to
impurity doped regions in the substrate (col. 1, lines 49-57).
As shown in figure 4B, Takaishi fills contact holes in first
insulating layers 8 and 6 with doped polysilicon 22' (col. 4,
lines 35-41). Parts of second insulating layer 21 that covers
the entire structure are removed to form openings 21a, in which
the second insulating layer forms the walls and the first
insulating material along with the top surface of plugs 22' form
the bottom portion (col. 4, lines 42-50). However, during the
step of removing portions of the second insulating layer, contact
regions are not exposed since the conductive plugs in the contact
holes remain unetched (col. 4, lines 49-50). Although Takaishi
forms a conductive layer (polysilicon layer 22) in the opening to
conform to the bottom and sides of the opening, the conductive
layer does not contact the contact region in the semiconductor
material structure since the contact region is covered by plug
22'. Therefore, we disagree with the Examiner’s assessment of
the teachings in Takaishi as the conductive plug 22' in the
contact hole not only does not allow the exposure of the contact
region, but also prevents the claimed conductive layer formed in
the cavity from contacting the contact region.
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