Appeal No. 96-1805
Application 08/200,432
After making this finding, the examiner goes on to state that the
reduction of pressure in the chamber in Hoshi thus occurs
"before" the start of sticking, and meets the terms of claims 1
and 13.
We do not agree with this interpretation of Hoshi even
assuming, arguendo, that suggestion exists to combine this
reference with the others. It is our finding that the contact
between the two wafers illustrated in Figure 3D of Hoshi
constitutes the starting of the sticking of the wafers. In
support of this conclusion, we point out that the Hoshi invention
is directed to the type of bonding which is accomplished without
using any adhesive, but by mirror-grinding the surfaces and then
placing them together in a clean atmosphere (column 1, lines 10
through 15). It therefore follows that contact between the two
wafers is, at the very least, the "start" of the sticking
(bonding) phenomenon. In fact, there being no further movement
of the
portions of the wafers which initially are placed into contact
during the rest of the bonding process, it would appear that
these portions do, in fact, fully bond at the moment of contact.
Since Hoshi clearly teaches that this occurs prior to the vacuum
being drawn in the chamber, the reference would not have
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