Appeal No. 1999-2739
Application No. 08/891,127
The examiner finds that Takeuchi teaches a semiconductor
device where a semiconductor substrate (101) is coated with an
oxide film (102), followed by deposition of a polysilicon film
(103) to a thickness of 1000 to 3000 D, in turn followed by
deposition of a refractory metal film or molybdenum film (104)
by sputtering (Answer, page 3). The examiner further finds that
unnecessary portions of the films are removed by photoetching
to form a gate electrode, followed by thermal annealing at a
temperature of 850 to 1100EC. with the result that the
molybdenum film (104) reacts with the polysilicon film (103)
thereby creating a molybdenum silicide layer (105)(id.). The
examiner also finds that Takeuchi teaches that the refractory
metal film (104) can be formed by metals such as nickel (id.).
The examiner recognizes that Takeuchi fails to teach the
rapid thermal annealing as required by part c) of claim 1 on
appeal (id., last sentence). However, the examiner’s position
is “that one skilled in the art ... would have had a reasonable
expectation of achieving similar success” regardless of whether
the metal layer was thermally annealed as in Takeuchi or
underwent rapid thermal annealing as required by the claims,
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