Appeal No. 2005-1065
Application No. 10/095,053
In our opinion, claim 1 must be read in light of the
specification (p. 7, ll. 4-13) to give meaning and vitality to
the expression “applying an high oxidation capability.” In so
doing, we take the expression to mean:
. . . [H]ydrogen gas and oxygen gas are separately
introduced into a reaction vessel accommodating wafers to
react with each other directly above the wafers and thereby
generate hydrogen radicals and oxygen radicals, which
generates oxidation with a high capability. [Underlining
added for emphasis.]
Clearly, when the claim language is so interpreted, there is
no question of inherency since neither the admitted prior art
alone, or in combination with any of the other cited references,
teaches or suggests generating hydrogen radicals and oxygen
radicals by separately introducing hydrogen gas and oxygen gas
into a reaction vessel to react with each other directly above
wafers in the vessel to obtain a gate oxide film of uniform
thickness, viz., to oxidize the upper surface of a oxidation
preventive film and the upper surface of a semiconductor
substrate at substantially the same speed.
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