Appeal No. 2002-1178
Application No. 09/354,459
Claim 1 is the only independent claim on appeal, and it reads as follows:
1. A method of reducing by-product deposition inside wafer processing equipment,
comprising:
providing a chamber having a peripheral inner wall;
placing a semiconductor wafer within the chamber;
providing a plurality of reactant gases;
introducing said plurality of reactant gases into the chamber and reacting the gases to form a
reaction product having a solid and a gaseous phase, said solid phase being present at known
pressure/ temperature levels in relation to a known sublimation curve for said reaction product;
providing a heated gas; and
introducing said heated gas into the chamber concurrently with said step of introducing a
plurality of reactant gases into the chamber to maintain the peripheral inner wall at a temperature
sufficiently high to maintain said reaction product in the gaseous phase of said sublimation curve
when contacting the peripheral inner wall.
The references relied on by the examiner are:
Mikoshiba et al. (Mikoshiba) 4,989,541 Feb. 5, 1991
Ohashi et al. (Ohashi) 6,059,885 May 9, 2000
(filed Dec. 16, 1997)
Nozaki et al. (Nozaki) 61-1178241 June 5, 1986
(Japanese Patent Application)
Pierson, “Handbook of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD),” Noyes Publications (1992), pages 222
through 226.
1 A copy of the translation of this reference is attached.
2
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