Appeal No. 2006-0996
Application No. 10/162,516
are selected that produce traces that are amenable to being correlated to model traces
[brief, pages 5-6]. With respect to independent claim 54, appellants argue that the area
fractions of Lee can not be used as the termination criteria for the fitting process [id.,
pages 6-7].
With respect to claims 1, 27, 38 and 48, the examiner responds that Lee teaches
that model traces indicating diffraction are generated at various wavelengths and are
monitored for oscillations, and wavelengths at these oscillations are selected for use.
With respect to claim 54, the examiner responds that Lee teaches that etching
endpoints are used to control the etching process which teaches a selection of
wavelengths and one or more termination criteria [answer, pages 4-6].
With respect to claims 1, 27, 38 and 48, appellants respond that the cited portion of
Lee fails to disclose that the wavelengths are selected after model traces are generated
at various wavelengths, and that the traces generated in Lee are actual traces rather
than model traces [reply brief, pages 4-6]. With respect to claim 54, appellants respond
that the etching endpoints now referenced by the examiner are not associated with the
selected wavelengths, but instead, are only associated with times [id., pages 6-8].
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