Appeal No. 95-3455
Application 07/945,902
cell or a floating gate electrode and as not teaching that
dichlorosilane may be combined with tungsten hexafluoride to
form a floating gate electrode.
Indeed, appellants' only characterization of the prior
art with which the examiner totally disagrees is that Hillman
fails to recognize that fluorine contaminants in tungsten
silicide lead to deterioration of the tunnel oxide. The
examiner posits that since none of the prior art on which the
examiner relies discloses that fluorine contamination in the
tungsten silicide layer leads to breakdown of the tunnel
oxide, it is mere speculation by appellants that such a
phenomenon exists.
The examiner also observes that, in his opinion, there is
no recitation in the claims of a laminated, floating gate
electrode. We certainly agree that appellants' claimed method
does not use the language "laminated floating gate electrode"
in ipsimis verbis. However, we find it difficult to
understand the examiner's basis for concluding that first
forming a tunnel oxide layer on silicon and thereafter forming
a layer of polysilicon of the tunnel oxide and then a tungsten
silicide layer over the polysilicon would not yield a
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