Appeal No. 1999-2712 Page 9
Application No. 08/165,082
. We typically observed these problems in any devices that are annealed at temperatures greater than
900EC.” The examiner responds by asserting (answer, page 9) that the example in the Joshi
Declaration “does not include the adhesion layer disclosed as necessary in the specification in the
middle of page 6” and that (answer, page 9) that “[p]erhaps the peeling noted is due more to the lack of
an adhesion layer, rather than the processing temperature.” At the outset, we note that the specification
does not state that an annealing layer is “necessary.” What is actually stated (page 6) is that “[t]here
will usually be an adhesion or contact layer . . . . ” Appellants assert (reply brief, page 5) that the reason
no adhesion layer of titanium was used for the annealing process was that “titanium is known to oxidize
and peel to cause shorting at such high anneal temperatures.” The Joshi Declaration further states (page
3) that “[a]nnealing at 1100EC for one hour [as in Brandmayr] would destroy substantially every
partially built integrated circuit that is exposed to[] these conditions and, particularly, those structures
having a bottom electrode.” In response, the examiner asserts (answer, page 10) that appellants’
specification discloses platinum as a bottom electrode material, and that platinum has a melting point of
1769EC, which is well above the processing temperature of 1100EC disclosed by Brandmayr. We are
in agreement with appellants (reply brief, pages 19 and 20) that the Joshi Declaration does not allege
melting of the platinum electrode. The Joshi Declaration reports peeling of the electrode at high
temperatures, and that peeling is different from melting, though both could result in the destruction of the
electrode. We note that the Joshi Declaration used the general processes of the present invention
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