Appeal 2007-0706
Application 09/905,172
the semiconductor taught by Huang. The dispositive question is, therefore,
whether the use of Hasegawa’s organic material having low dielectric
constant (used as an insulation layer) as the low dielectric organic material
(admittedly known insulation material) in Huang’s process would have been
obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art. On this record, we answer
this question in the affirmative.
Here, Huang teaches a method for forming a semiconductor device
comprising: a substrate structure; forming an organic layer with a low
dielectric constant over the substrate; depositing a dielectric layer (SiON),
over the organic layer; providing a patterned photoresist over the dielectric
layer; etching the dielectric layer with dry etch (claimed first plasma
etching) until apertures are formed in the dielectric layer; and etching the
organic layer using an anisotropic etching (claimed second plasma etching)
until apertures are formed in the organic layer. (Compare Answer 3 with Br.
and Reply Br. in their entirety). As stated by the Appellants, “[t]he
insulating [low dielectric organic] layer [of Huang] is not described as
comprising carbon and hydrogen and is not deposited by CVD. In fact there
is no disclosure of any specific organic material [and any deposition
technique].” (Br. 6). Rather, Huang leaves one of ordinary skill in the art to
conventionally deposit appropriate (known) low dielectric organic materials
(admittedly known insulation materials in a semiconductor device).
Hasegawa describes conventional low dielectric organic materials (used as
an insulation layer for a semiconductor device), some of which contain
carbon and hydrogen (col. 3, l. 45 to col. 4, l. 28, col. 1, ll. 9-10, and 8. l. 66
to col. 9, l. 12). See, e.g., Merck & Co. v. Biocraft Laboratories, Inc., 874
F.2d 804, 807, 10 USPQ2d 1843, 1846 (Fed. Cir.) cert. denied, 493 U.S. 975
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