Claims 5 and 13-16 of U.S. Patent No. 5,591,678 to Bendik et al. (“the ʼ678
`Patent”) are obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Cade in view of U.S. Patent
`No. 4,601,779 to Abernathey et al. (“Abernathey”)
`
`
`Prior Art Cited in this Chart:
`U.S. Patent No. 4,599,792 to Cade et al. (“Cade”)
`U.S. Patent No. 4,601,779 to Abernathey et al. (“Abernathey”)
`
`
`Claim Language
`Claim 5
`The method of claim 1,
`wherein the etchable
`layer is silicon, the etch-
`stop layer is silicon
`dioxide, and the wafer is
`single-crystal silicon.
`
`Cade in view of Abernathey
`
`“A seed wafer 20, illustrated in FIG. 1, is prepared
`from a (100) silicon wafer 22.” Cade, 2:55-56.
`
`“Fabrication in the second embodiment begins with a
`heavily doped p+ seed substrate 80, shown in FIG. 15,
`on which is grown the n- epitaxial layer 54.” 7:4-6.
`
`“Then the n+ emitter layer 56 and the thin dielectric
`layer 58 are grown just as in the first embodiment.”
`7:10-12.
`
`Figure 15 of Cade
`
`
`
`
`“As shown in FIG. 1, an n- epitaxial layer 12 is formed
`on a p+ or N+0.008 ohm/cm silicon wafer 10.”
`Abernathey, 3:40-41.
`
`“A buried etch-stop layer 14 is then formed within
`epitaxial layer 12, separating epitaxial layer 12 into a
`first portion 12A overlaying the etch-stop 14 and a
`second portion 12B laying beneath the etch-stop 14.”
`Abernathey, 3:59-62.
`
`“In a preferred bonding technique as shown in FIG. 2, a
`layer of silicon dioxide 16A is grown on epitaxial
`portion 12A.” Abernathey, 4:29-31.
`
`“Any one of a number of known bonding techniques
`can be used to bond substrate 10 to a "mechanical" (i.e.
`physical support) wafer 100.” Abernathey, 4:27-29.
`
`
`
`Figure 2 of Abernathey
`
`1
`
`
`
`
`
`Petitioner Samsung - SAM1018
`
`
`Patent”) are obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Cade in view of U.S. Patent
`No. 4,601,779 to Abernathey et al. (“Abernathey”)
`
`
`Prior Art Cited in this Chart:
`U.S. Patent No. 4,599,792 to Cade et al. (“Cade”)
`U.S. Patent No. 4,601,779 to Abernathey et al. (“Abernathey”)
`
`
`Claim Language
`Claim 5
`The method of claim 1,
`wherein the etchable
`layer is silicon, the etch-
`stop layer is silicon
`dioxide, and the wafer is
`single-crystal silicon.
`
`Cade in view of Abernathey
`
`“A seed wafer 20, illustrated in FIG. 1, is prepared
`from a (100) silicon wafer 22.” Cade, 2:55-56.
`
`“Fabrication in the second embodiment begins with a
`heavily doped p+ seed substrate 80, shown in FIG. 15,
`on which is grown the n- epitaxial layer 54.” 7:4-6.
`
`“Then the n+ emitter layer 56 and the thin dielectric
`layer 58 are grown just as in the first embodiment.”
`7:10-12.
`
`Figure 15 of Cade
`
`
`
`
`“As shown in FIG. 1, an n- epitaxial layer 12 is formed
`on a p+ or N+0.008 ohm/cm silicon wafer 10.”
`Abernathey, 3:40-41.
`
`“A buried etch-stop layer 14 is then formed within
`epitaxial layer 12, separating epitaxial layer 12 into a
`first portion 12A overlaying the etch-stop 14 and a
`second portion 12B laying beneath the etch-stop 14.”
`Abernathey, 3:59-62.
`
`“In a preferred bonding technique as shown in FIG. 2, a
`layer of silicon dioxide 16A is grown on epitaxial
`portion 12A.” Abernathey, 4:29-31.
`
`“Any one of a number of known bonding techniques
`can be used to bond substrate 10 to a "mechanical" (i.e.
`physical support) wafer 100.” Abernathey, 4:27-29.
`
`
`
`Figure 2 of Abernathey
`
`1
`
`
`
`
`
`Petitioner Samsung - SAM1018
`
`
`
`Claim Language
`
`
`
`Cade in view of Abernathey
`
`
`
`
`
`“The invention pertains generally to integrated circuits.
`In particular, it pertains to the fabrication of a buried
`field shield beneath other semiconductor devices on an
`integrated circuit chip.” Cade, 1:8-11.
`“Fabrication in the second embodiment begins with a
`heavily doped p+ seed substrate 80, shown in FIG. 15,
`on which is grown the n- epitaxial layer 54.” 7:4-6.
`
`“Then the n+ emitter layer 56 and the thin dielectric
`layer 58 are grown just as in the first embodiment.”
`7:10-12.
`
`Figure 15 of Cade
`
`
`
`
`“The field shield 64 and the boron-rich quartz 66 are
`likewise formed by similar procedures using the laser-
`scribed alignment marks for any required definition
`including possible definition of the emitter layer 56.”
`Cade, 7:24-27.
`
`“It is anticipated that the n+ region 56 is delineated on
`top of the dielectric layer 58 so that devices, such as
`capacitors, can be fabricated using both the insulating
`layer 58 and the field shield 64 as constituent
`elements.” Cade, 7:64-68.
`
`Figure 15 of Cade
`
`
`
`Claim 13
`A method of fabricating
`a microelectronic device,
`comprising the steps of:
`
`furnishing a first
`substrate having a silicon
`etchable layer, a silicon
`dioxide etch-stop layer
`overlying the silicon
`layer, and a single-
`crystal silicon wafer
`overlying the etch-stop
`layer, the wafer having a
`front surface not
`contacting the silicon
`dioxide layer;
`
`forming a
`microelectronic circuit
`element in the front
`surface of the single-
`crystal silicon wafer;
`
`
`
`2
`
`
`
`Claim Language
`
`
`
`Cade in view of Abernathey
`
`attaching the front
`surface of the single-
`crystal silicon wafer to a
`first side of a second
`substrate; and
`
`
`
`
`“The mechanical substrate 68 of silicon is then
`anodically bonded to the quartz 66 by applying voltage
`to a voltage probe 84 with the seed substrate 80
`grounded.” Cade, 7:27-30.
`
`Figure 15 of Cade
`
`etching away the silicon
`etchable layer down to
`the silicon dioxide etch-
`stop layer using an
`etchant that attacks the
`silicon layer but not the
`silicon dioxide layer.
`
`
`
`
`“The etch-back of the seed substrate 80 is performed
`with hydrofluoric-nitric-acetic acid (HNA) in the
`proportions of 1:3:8. The etchant HNA is an isotropic
`etch and attacks heavily doped p+ or n+ silicon.
`However, it does not appreciably attack silicon doped
`below the level of 1018 /cm3. The etch stopping
`characteristics are improved by the p+ /n junction at the
`interface 82.” Cade, 7:31-37.
`
`Figure 16 of Cade
`
`
`
`
`
`Figure 16 of Cade
`
`
`
`3
`
`Claim 14
`The method of claim 13,
`further including an
`additional-step, after the
`step of etching, of
`
`
`
`
`
`Claim Language
`patterning the etch-stop
`layer.
`
`
`
`Cade in view of Abernathey
`
`
`Figure 17 of Cade
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`“The field shield 104 is connected to the surface by
`field shield reach-throughs or contacts 106 and 108.”
`Cade, 8:15-17.
`
`Figure 17 of Cade
`
`
`
`
`
`“A planar contact is made to the n epitaxial layer
`18[sic]1 with an n+ layer 120 connected to the surface
`with a diffused n+ reach-through 122.” Cade, 8:20-22.
`
`Figure 17of Cade
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1 The reference number 18 to the n- epitaxial layer is a typographical error. The n-
`
`epitaxial layer should correspond to reference number 118, as seen in Figure 17.
`
`
`
`4
`
`Claim 15
`The method of claim 14,
`further including an
`additional step, after the
`step of patterning, of
`forming an electrical
`connection to the
`microelectronic circuit
`element through the
`patterned etch-stop layer
`and through the wafer.
`
`Claim 16
`The method of claim 14,
`further including an
`additional step, after the
`step of patterning, of
`forming an electrical
`connection to the wafer
`through the patterned
`etch-stop layer.
Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.
After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.
Accept $ Charge
Still Working On It
This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.
Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.
A few More Minutes ... Still Working
It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.
Thank you for your continued patience.
This document could not be displayed.
We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
Set your membership
status to view this document.
With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll
get a whole lot more, including:
- Up-to-date information for this case.
- Email alerts whenever there is an update.
- Full text search for other cases.
- Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.
One Moment Please
The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.
Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.
Your document is on its way!
If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.
Sealed Document
We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.
If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.
Access Government Site
