Appeal No. 2004-1123
Application No. 09/933,503
10, 13 and 14). Although Baseman notes that the vapor removal
element (30) may typically include an activated carbon absorber,
it is further indicated (col. 8, lines 43-44) that "[t]he
preferred material for the absorber layer 32 depends on the vapor
chemistry." The objective in Baseman, like the other patents
noted above, is to achieve a small or otherwise acceptable vapor
concentration level within the SMIF pod enclosure, thereby
preventing damage to, or degradation of, the semiconductor wafers
(note, for example, the paragraph spanning columns 2 and 3 of
Baseman, and col. 1, lines 40-53). In column 8, lines 29-33, it
is noted that
[a]ny vapor located near the vapor removal element 30
will rapidly travel a small distance by diffusion,
percolation or airflow, through channels 38 in guard
plate 36, through a barrier layer 34, into the absorber
layer 32 where the vapor is removed from the air.
At column 10, lines 25-32, Baseman discusses "Relative Vapor
Concentration" (RVC) and expressly notes that for vapor and
wafers without specific chemical interactions, at RVC less than
10%, typically there will be little vapor deposition on a wafer.
However, Baseman goes on to note that at about 25% RVC, an
approximate mono-molecular layer will form on a wafer. In accord
with the desire in Baseman to achieve a very low vapor
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