Appeal No. 2003-1206
Application No. 09/773,063 Page 5
According to the examiner, it would have been obvious to one
of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made
to modify the APA device by including a metal oxide barrier such
as taught by Hong disposed underneath the capping layer (124,
Fig. 2) of the APA but over the conductive core (136, Fig. 2) so
as to prevent metal atoms from diffusing out of the metal
conductor of the APA as taught by Hong. Furthermore, the
examiner relies on Liu in combination with both APA and Hong.
The examiner maintains that it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to
further modify the proposed combination of Hong and APA, as
discussed above, by recessing a barrier metal oxide interconnect
cap in the opening that is filled with conductive material in APA
to better protect the conductor from corrosion, which is the
purpose of the passivation layer of Liu.
As part of meeting the initial burden of establishing a
prima facie case of obviousness, the examiner must determine
whether the differences between the subject matter of the claims
and the prior art “are such that the subject matter as a whole
would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a
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