Appeal No. 2001-2568
Application No. 09/178,848
that Liou is directed to formation of small geometry vias
and contacts of a semiconductor device structure, as
pictured, for example, in Figure 5a of Liou. Furthermore,
Liou describes Figure 2 having an insulating layer 16 which
is etched to form opening 20. The opening is preferably
etched by an anisotropic etch to form substantially vertical
sidewalls at the edges of opening 20. See column 4, lines
31 through 38. Referring to Figure 3, photoresist layer 18
is removed and a sidewall spacer film 22 is formed over
insulating layer 16 and in opening 20. Sidewall spacer film
22 may be any suitable material which may be selectively
etched over the insulating layer 16, for example,
polysilicon or nitride. See column 4, lines 45 through 52.
The examiner has not explained why one of ordinary skill in
the art would incorporate this particular kind of sidewall
spacer film into the invention of Fogelson. Furthermore,
appellants’ claims require in step (c) of providing a
patterned mask on the electrically conductive layer, said
patterned mask masking said sidewalls. Claim 2 requires
that this patterned mask is a liquid photo resist. This is
directly contrary to the kinds of materials utilized by
Liou.
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