Appeal No. 2001-0107
Application No. 09/143,505
The examiner’s rejections
Claims 1–4, 6–14, and 16–36 are rejected as obvious under 35
U.S.C. § 103(a) over the combined teachings of Noguchi4 and
Kondo5.
Noguchi
Noguchi teaches an surface-treatment apparatus that provides
for, inter alia, laser annealing of silicon substrates using a
single shot of laser light. (Noguchi at col. 2, l. 66 to col. 3,
l. 4.) Noguchi describes a system similar to that claimed by
Appellant, except that Noguchi’s system lacks an element that
corresponds to Appellant’s “buffer layer.” More specifically,
with reference to Figure 3, Noguchi describes a chamber 15 having
a window 41 through which the laser light 21 passes on its way to
striking a workpiece 91. (Id. at col. 9, ll. 17–34.) The window
41 may be made of quartz. (Id. at ll. 34–35.) The chamber is
provided with means to provide various atmospheres for the
workpiece, including a vacuum. (Id. at ll. 54–58.) Moreover,
Noguchi teaches that the workpiece may be patterned by placing a
4 U.S. Patent No. 5,869,803, issued to Takashi Noguchi et al. on
February 9, 1999, which is a continuation of an application filed November 1,
1994.
5 U.S. Patent 5,322,538, issued to Nobuhiro Kondo and Hirokazu Ono on
June 21, 1994.
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