Ex Parte Iizuka et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jan 30, 2014

11928460 (P.T.A.B. Jan. 30, 2014)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
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Ex parte TOSHIHIRO IIZUKA,
TOMOE YAMAMOTO,
MAMI TODA, and
SHINTARO YAMAMICHI
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Appeal 2011-009219
Application 11/928,460
Technology Center 2800
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Before JOSEPH F. RUGGIERO, ROBERT E. NAPPI, and
CARL W. WHITEHEAD, JR., Administrative Patent Judges.

NAPPI, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
This is a decision on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) of the rejection
of claims 1, 3, and 5 through 20. An oral hearing was held on January 23,
2014.
We reverse.

Appeal 2011-009219
Application 11/928,460

2

INVENTION
The invention is directed to a method for manufacturing a thin film
metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor. Appellants’ Specification 6. Claim
1 is illustrative of the invention and reproduced below:
1. Method of fabricating a semiconductor device
comprising:
forming source and drain regions and a gate electrode of
a transistor,
forming a metal silicide layer over said source and drain
regions, wherein said metal silicide undergoes aggregation at
temperatures of 600°C and above,
forming a metal plug in contact with one of the source
and drain regions of said transistor,
forming a lower metal electrode of a capacitor in contact
with said metal plug and in contact with an interlayer insulating
film,
forming a capacitor dielectric film on said lower metal
electrode by atomic layer deposition (ALD),
forming an upper metal electrode on said capacitor
dielectric film, and
after formation of said dielectric film, carrying out a heat
treatment at a temperature not lower than a film deposition
temperature in the ALD,
wherein said capacitor dielectric film is selected from the
group consisting of Zr02, HfO2, (Zrx , Hf1-x ) O2 (O