Appeal No. 2003-0886
Application No. 09/466,845 Page 6
formed over Hirano's silicide2 film, the heat needed to form the
gate insulating film would cause the silicide film to metalize in
the form of islands which would degrade the performance of the
silicide layer, possibly resulting in short circuiting between
the bit lines 44 and the gate electrodes 50. It is further
argued (brief, page 6) that the examiner's reason for making the
modification i.e., to reduce contact resistances, would not
happen due to the metalization of the silicide layer. It is
additionally argued (brief, page 7) that Chen relates to a double
density MROM, having bitlines and wordlines. Appellant asserts
(id.) that in MROMS, source and drain electrodes are not needed,
and that Hirano is directed to a liquid crystal display (LCD),
which requires source drain electrodes. In Hirano, the
source/drain electrodes are made up of silicide layer 108 and
metal layer 109. Because Chen does not need source/drain
electrodes, there is no need for the silicide layer 108 or metal
layer 209 in Chen.
From our review of Chen, we find that Chen is directed to a
double density MROM (col. 1, lines 1 and 2). As shown in figure
8, substrate 32 has a substantially flat surface. An insulation
2 Appellant and the examiner appear to refer to silicide and salicide
interchangeably. Throughout the Decision, we have used the terms in a manner
consistent with their usage by the examiner and appellant.
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