Appeal No. 1998-1578
Application No. 08/543,827
Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 1076, 5 USPQ2d 1596, 1600 (Fed. Cir.
1988).
Under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the initial burden of establishing
a prima facie case of obviousness rests on the examiner. In
re Piasecki, 745 F.2d 1468, 1471-72, 223 USPQ 785, 787-88
(Fed. Cir. 1984). In this case, it is our determination that
the examiner has not met the initial burden of proof.
Larson describes a method for forming a multilayer
capacitor structure in an integrated circuit. (Column 1,
lines 33-35.) In particular, Larson teaches an embodiment in
which the structure comprises a bottom electrode 114 having
three layers (titanium layer 120, titanium nitride layer 124,
and platinum layer 126) over a substrate 112, a dielectric
layer 116, and a top electrode 118 comprising three additional
layers (platinum layer 130, titanium layer 132, and aluminum
layer 134). (Figure 2; column 3, line 34 to column 4, line
28.) According to Larson, the titanium nitride layer 124 has
a thickness of approximately 0.1
micron (1000 D) and serves, inter alia, as a diffusion barrier
layer. (Column 3, lines 46-52.) Further, Larson states that
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