Ex Parte Visokay et al - Page 4



          Appeal No. 2006-0318                                                         
          Application No. 10/195,271                                                   
               We therefore are not convinced of reversible error in the               
          examiner’s rejection of claims 1 and 5.  Accordingly, we affirm the          
          rejection of those claims.                                                   
                                       Claims 2-4                                      
               Liang discloses an integrated circuit comprising two                    
          transistors, one of which has a tantalum or molybdenum gate                  
          material (130) and the other of which has a tantalum nitride gate            
          material (132) (col. 4, line 33; col. 5, lines 26-27 and 40;                 
          figure 7).                                                                   
               Iwase discloses that many metals, one of which is niobium, are          
          suitable gate electrode materials (col. 6, lines 66-67).                     
               The examiner argues:                                                    
               As is well known in the art, highly doped (N  or P )+     +                    
               silicon is a conductive material.  It is also well known                
               in the art that highly doped silicon and metals are                     
               interchangeable.  Hsu is used to show that the different                
               gates can have different textures and Liang is used to                  
               show that the material of the gates can be tantalum or                  
               molybdenum. [answer, page 5]                                            
                                         * * *                                         
               Hsu is used to show that the different gates have                       
               different textures and Iwase is used to show that the                   
               material can be niobium. [answer, pages 5-6]                            
               The examiner has not provided evidence that Hsu’s disclosure            
          of using polycrystalline silicon for one gate and amorphous silicon          
          for another gate would have been considered by one of ordinary               
          skill in the art to be applicable to metals such that the person             

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