Appeal 2007-1017
Application 10/204,997
1 comprising (1) a rotating cylindrical polishing member 13 (i.e., a wheel) that
2 contacts and polishes the edge of the wafer W under a pressing force (i.e., a
3 load) and (2) a motor M for rotating the polishing member 13 through rotary
4 shaft 14. (FF13, 14, 16-20.) Hasegawa’s apparatus also includes (3) a
5 pushing device for pushing the wafer W against the polishing member (i.e.,
6 a system for contacting and controlling, during polishing, the load of the
7 polishing wheel against the wafer). (FF21-24.) That Hasegawa’s
8 semiconductor wafer is a “ceramic plate” or “rigid composite plate” as
9 recited in appealed claim 12 is not contested. (FF15.)
10 Thus, Hasegawa’s apparatus differs from the invention recited in
11 appealed claim 12 only in that the prior art apparatus does not include a
12 “resin-bonded abrasive wheel” having the specified elastic modulus and
13 Shore D hardness. (FF26.) Nevertheless, Applicant acknowledges that the
14 specified “resin-bonded abrasive wheel” is commercially available and
15 known in the prior art. (FF28-29.)
16 To account for the limitation with respect to the “resin-bonded
17 abrasive wheel,” the Examiner relied on the teachings of Roberts.
18 Complementary to Hasegawa’s disclosure, Roberts describes “polishing
19 pads useful in the manufacture of semiconductor devices or the like.”
20 (FF30.) Roberts’s polishing pad is said to “comprise an advantageous
21 hydrophilic material having an innovative surface topography and texture
22 which generally improves polishing performance (as well as the
23 predictability of polishing performance).” (FF31.) According to Roberts,
24 the polishing pad is useful for “planarizing” (i.e., abrading) substrates,
25 “particularly substrates for the manufacture of semiconductor devices or the
26 like.” (FF32.)
12
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