Appeal No. 1998-1578
Application No. 08/543,827
Appealed claims 1 and 14 recite in part:
annealing said metal nitride barrier layer in a
barrier anneal step having a maximum temperature
derived as a function of said thickness, said
function including any value within a range one-
hundred degrees greater than a line defined by the
points (700EC, 1000 D) and (800EC, 3000 D), said
maximum temperature being at least 675EC
Although appealed claims 1 and 14 recite a maximum annealing
temperature as a function of the thickness of the barrier
layer, these claims do not place any limitation on any minimum
annealing temperature. Thus, giving the words of the above
recitation their broadest reasonable interpretation, one of
ordinary skill in the art would have understood appealed
claims 1 and 14 to cover any annealing temperature below the
recited maximum anneal temperature (e.g., 300 to 650EC).
This interpretation of appealed claims 1 and 14 is
consistent with the written description found in the
specification including the dependent claims. In particular,
we observe that a preferred annealing temperature is described
in the specification as including a temperature as low as
650EC,
which is well below the line defined by the points (700EC,
1000 D) and (800EC, 3000 D). (Page 7, lines 9-11; page 13,
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