Appeal No. 2005-0287 Page 13
Application No. 09/216,214
the dielectric that is located near the sidewalls of the gate but
not under the central portion of the gate with the “thickness of
the gate dielectric continually increasing at the interface of
the bottom surface and sidewalls of the patterned gate in a
direction from the bottom surface toward and along the sidewalls
(Fig. 3A)” (supplemental answer, page 5). The examiner
acknowledges that Arai does not explicitly employ an electrically
conductive metallic material covering the gate sidewalls and top
surface, as claimed by appellant. However, the examiner turns to
Watabe3 for teaching such a conductive layer (for example,
titanium silicide). The examiner maintains that “it would have
been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time
the invention was made to incorporate the conventional feature
(unitary electrically conductive metallic material of titanium
silicide) onto the sidewalls and top surface of the patterned
gate 104(a) of Arai in order to derive a portion of hot carriers
through the gate electrode, and therefore the MOS transistor
device whose transconductance is not degraded by hot carrier
injection is obtained” (supplemental answer, page 5).
3 Both Watabe and Arai are directed to metal-oxide-silicon
(MOS) transistor devices.
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