Appeal No. 2003-0751 Page 2
Application No. 08/995,368
BACKGROUND
Appellant's invention relates to a method of manufacturing a
semiconductor device wherein a polishing step is performed on a
substrate surface. Subsequently, an amorphous silicon
semiconductor film is formed thereon. The latter film formation
step is followed by crystallization and patterning steps. The
polishing step is carried out such that the root mean square of
the substrate surface roughness is smaller than the semiconductor
film thickness. An understanding of the invention can be derived
from a reading of exemplary claim 15, which is reproduced below.
15. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device
comprising the steps of:
polishing a surface over a substrate;
forming an insulating film comprising silicon oxide
over the polished substrate;
forming a semiconductor film comprising amorphous
silicon over said insulating film;
crystallizing the semiconductor film by heating; and
patterning the crystallized semiconductor film to form
an active layer,
wherein the surface over said substrate is polished so
that a root mean square of a surface roughness of said
surfaces is smaller than a thickness of the semiconductor
film and a density of projection on said surface is 100
pieces/cm2 or less.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Zhang et al. (Zhang) 5,403,772 Apr. 04, 1995
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