Appeal No. 2002-0897
Application 09/303,020
cavity therein. Roy describes the process only in conjunction
with a CMP cleanup process for interlevel dielectric films, but
states that “[i]t will be apparent to those skilled in the art
that the invention is also applicable to CMP of other films, such
as metal films including tungsten, aluminum, and copper
damascene” (col. 2, lines 53-57).
The appellants argue that “Roy et al. teaches ‘a CMP cleanup
process for interlevel dielectric films’ (col. 2, lines 52-55)
and specifically relate[s] to overcoming the problem of
‘agglomeration (gelling) of silica particles after polishing’
caused by drying of the silica particles and resulting bonding of
the particles to the surface of the wafer (see col. 1, lines 40-
52; col. 2, lines 52-54). Thus, Roy et al. does not relate to
cleaning an open portion of a cavity, as claimed” (brief,
page 14). The appellants also argue that “there is no cognizable
motivation within Roy et al. or Doan et al. to substitute or
complement the cleaning methods of Doan et al. with the cleaning
methods in Roy et al., as Roy et al. relates specifically to a
problem of silica bonding on interlevel dielectric films caused
by the drying of wafers following CMP” (brief, pages 14-15).
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