Appeal No. 2005-1353
Application No. 09/851,839
According to appellant, the invention is directed to a
method of growing a group III-IV crystal on top of another group
III-IV crystal (the substrate) without introducing lattice-
mismatched defects (Brief, page 2). Representative independent
claim 1 is reproduced below:
1. A method of epitaxially growing a second crystal
over a first crystal, the first crystal having a first
lattice constant, the second crystal having a second lattice
constant, the method comprising the steps of:
a) cleansing a surface of the first crystal by
thermal desorption;
b) depositing a first layer of a first material
over the surface of the first crystal;
c) depositing a second layer of a second material
over the first layer; and
d) epitaxially growing the second crystal over the
second layer;
wherein the first layer substantially accommodates strain
accumulated between the first crystal and the second crystal
during epitaxial growth, thereby substantially preventing
strain relaxation and formation of dislocation defects.
The examiner has relied upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Kubiak et al. (Kubiak) 4,330,360 May 18, 1982
Pessa et al. (Pessa) 4,876,218 Oct. 24, 1989
Hayakawa et al. (Hayakawa) 4,824,518 Apr. 25, 1989
Ogasawara 4,897,367 Jan. 30, 1990
Grunthaner et al. (Grunthaner) 5,094,974 Mar. 10, 1992
2
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