Appeal No. 2000-1057
Application 09/016,100
form a hardmask over a conductive layer followed by deposition of
a layer of refractory material over the hardmask and conductive
layer and, thereafter, reacting to form a silicide at a surface
of the conductive layer except under the hardmask as required by
the claims. Id., pages 4 and 5.
3. Removing the hardmask
According to the examiner, it would have been obvious
to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention
to have modified Grewal’s method by removing the patterned
hardmask, as this eliminates a multilayer mask during etching
thereby resulting in reduced processing time. Examiner’s Answer,
page 4. Appellants argue that:
In Grewal, the hard mask 16 is used as a mask
for both the silicide and conductive layer
etching. (One benefit of the claimed
invention is [to, sic] avoid having to etch
both the silicide and conductive layers.) In
Hayashi, a resist mask is used for etching
the silicon dioxide layer 25 and the
conductive amorphous layer 24. (Another
benefit of the invention is reducing the
formation of polymers by eliminating the presence of photoresist
during the etch of the conductive layer.) Both references retain
the hard mask during the etch of the conductive layer.
Appeal Brief, page 5, lines 8-15.
For each of the above-identified differences between
the invention and the prior art, the examiner has provided
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