Appeal No. 2005-1220
Application No. 09/270,606 Page 12
1309, 1311 (Fed. Cir. 1996). In this regard, we again note that
Kodera teaches that other appropriate materials may be employed
in the cerium oxide polishing slurry and that the use of a cerium
oxide polishing slurry in accordance with the method depicted in
Figures 19 E and 19 F, as described in the specification, results
in solving problems earlier identified in the specification. See
column 23, lines 1-33 of Kodera.
One of those earlier noted problems is a problem with
conducting a polishing operation such that the rate of removal of
the raised portions of the silicon dioxide layer is significantly
greater than the rate of removal of the lower portions of the
silicon dioxide layer during polishing such that planarization is
achieved without using inordinately thick silicon dioxide layers.
Another problem discussed in Kodera relates to a so-called
dishing phenomena. See, e.g., column 3, lines 4-24 and column 3,
line 42 through column 4, line 6 of Kodera. Those problems,
which are discussed with respect to prior art polishing methods,
are addressed by the inventive methods discussed in Kodera. See,
e.g., column 12, lines 13-65 and the above-noted portion of
column 23 of Kodera. Accordingly, we do not find appellant’s
arguments related to dishing problems as presented in the reply
brief, and the asserted lack of a suggestion of the claimed
relatively high removal rate for the raised portion of the
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