Appeal No. 2004-0652
Application No. 09/396,642
rejection of independent claim 9 and dependent claims 10 through
12 as being unpatentable over Nishioka in view of Wong.
As indicated above, claim 9 recites a method of forming a
capacitor over a semiconductor substrate comprising, inter alia,
the step of oxidizing the second electrically conductive material
by subjecting it and the dielectric layer to an ozone-containing
atmosphere for a period of time greater than 20 minutes but less
than 70 minutes. In apparent recognition that Nishioka’s
oxidizing step is performed on an electrically conductive
material that corresponds to the first, rather than the second,
electrically conductive material recited in claim 9, the examiner
appears to conclude (see page 4 in the answer) that it would have
been obvious to simply interchange Nishioka’s first electrically
conductive layer (conductive Ru layer 46 and Pt layer 38) and
second conductive layer (Pt layer 44). The combined teachings of
Nishioka and Wong provide no suggestion for this modification
which is completely inconsistent with the fair teachings of
Nishioka or for the 20 to 70 minute time limitation.
10
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