Appeal No. 2002-1992
Application 09/206,170
provides optimal cleaning ability with minimal degradation of the
semiconductor surface” (col. 12, lines 49-52).
The examiner’s reason for combining Chen and Grieger is that
“[i]t would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
to use the wash process set forth by Grieger after the chemical-
mechanical polish of the Chen method in order to remove
undesirable polish residue including metallic surface
contamination” (answer, page 4). This reasoning does not include
an explanation as to why that combination would have produced the
claimed method wherein a sufficient amount of dielectric material
is removed from the open dielectric field to prevent or
substantially reduce formation and/or growth of Cu or Cu alloy
dendrites from the Cu or Cu alloy lines into the open dielectric
field. The examiner asserts that preventing or substantially
reducing dendrite formation flows naturally from the suggestion
of the prior art (answer, page 7), but provides no supporting
evidence or technical reasoning.
The examiner argues (answer, page 9): “Grieger teaches the
removal of surface dielectric material and surface contamination
(column 10) which would reduce the formation of concentrations of
surface contamination such as copper dendrites. As is disclosed
in the appellants[’] application it is the presence of copper
8
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