Appeal No. 2000-1057
Application 09/016,100
Hayashi’s silicide process takes place after
the gate electrode has been deposited,
patterned and etched. Refractory metal 27 is
not used to silicide any portion of the gate
electrode. Refractory metal 27 is only used
to silicide the surface of the substrate.
Hayashi does not disclose or suggest to one
of ordinary skill in the art reacting
refractory metal with a portion of a
conductive layer prior to etching the
conductive layer.
Appeal Brief, page 4, lines 18-23.
2. Reversing the Order of the Refractory Metal Layer
and the Hardmask
According to the examiner, it would have been obvious
to have reversed the order of deposition of the refractory metal
and hardmask in view of Hayashi’s teaching of depositing a
refractory metal over a reverse hardmask. Examiner’s Answer,
page 4. The motivation for doing so is that “the hard mask will
protect a portion of the underneath layer from reacting with the
metal layer to form metal silicide.” Id.
Appellants argue that “Hayashi uses a silicon nitride
layer to protect one layer while forming silicide at another
layer.” Appeal Brief, page 4. The silicide is not formed at the
surface of the conductive layer as required by the claims, but is
formed at the surface of the substrate. Id. Appellants urge
that this disclosure does not provide a teaching or suggestion to
7
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007