Appeal No. 96-4052
Application 08/198,511
Forrest. One of ordinary skill in the art would have read
Forrest to indicate that the technique applies generally to
compound semiconductors (as opposed to elemental
semiconductors such as silicon or germanium), and that III-V
and II-VI compound semiconductors are expressly named because
they constitute the most important types of compound
semiconductor for device manufacture. SiC is without doubt a
compound semiconductor. See Sze, Physics of Semiconductor
Devices (2d ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1981), pages 690, 696, 848
(Appendix F), and 849 (Appendix G) (copy attached). One of
ordinary skill in the art seeking to etch SiC (the problem to
be solved) would have been motivated to apply the selective
conductivity photoelectrochemical etching technique described
in Forrest because Forrest teaches that the process is
applicable to compound semiconductors in general.
Appellants' arguments are directed to the lack of express
teaching of SiC in Forrest. However, obviousness is
determined through the eyes of one of ordinary skill in the
art and takes into account what one of ordinary skill would
have known. One of ordinary skill would have known the SiC is
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