Appeal No. 95-1009
Application 07/858,632
the same Jepson-type preamble as claim 1. Claim 4 states 3
that the improvement comprises effecting the deposition
process such that the differences in thickness between a
central portion and a peripheral portion are canceled out,
followed by polishing. The method of claim 5 requires an
improvement by an additional deposition process to reshape the
filling material deposited on the substrate by the first
deposition process, followed by polishing.
Appellants’ description of the prior art is in section 2
of the specification on pages 1-5. Appellants admit that the
concurrent deposition and etching by bias ECR-CVD to fill
grooves and trenches with a filler material is known (page 3,
lines 12-17). The concept of “lateral leveling” is also
admitted as being well known (page 3, line 20-page 4, line 3).
Similarly, it is known that whenever any groove or trench is
filled with a filling material, the surface must be smoothed
or polished (page 1, line 14-page 2, line 3). Therefore the
combination of lateral leveling and polishing is considered to
be described in appellants’ admitted prior art. As discussed
3 See 37 CFR § 1.75(e)(1993) and Ex parte Jepson, 1917 Dec. Comm’r Pats. 62, 243
Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 525 (1917).
6
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