Opinion ID: 807209
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: An improved tunneling region for use with an

Text: integrated circuit comprising: 1 The RE’370 was originally assigned to Xicor Corp., the predecessor of the current owner, Xicor LLC. For simplicity, we will refer to these entities collectively as “Xicor.” GREENLIANT SYSTEMS v. XICOR 4 a first layer of polysilicon; a first electron tunneling layer of thermal ox- ide formed over said first layer of polysilicon; a second electron tunneling layer of annealed deposited silicon dioxide formed over said first tunneling layer having a thickness less than 2000 Angstroms thick, said silicon dioxide layer being formed by low pressure chemical vapor deposition comprising the use of tetra- ethylorthosilicate; and a second layer of polysilicon formed over said layer of deposited silicon dioxide, such that when a bias voltage is applied between said first layer of polysilicon and said second layer of polysilicon, electron tunneling will occur from said first layer of polysilicon to said sec- ond layer of polysilicon through said first and second electron tunneling layers. ’585 patent col. 4 l. 66-col. 5 l. 17 (emphasis added). Claim 4, the only other independent claim of the ’585 patent, recited: 4. A semiconductor device including means for electron tunneling, comprising: a first conductive layer; an annealed silicon dioxide tunneling layer having a thickness less than 2000 Angstroms formed on top of said conductive layer, said silicon dioxide layer being formed by low pres- sure chemical vapor deposition comprising the use of tetraethylorthosilicate; a second conductive layer formed on top of said silicon dioxide layer, said first conductive 5 GREENLIANT SYSTEMS v. XICOR layer acting as a source of tunneling electrons under an appropriate voltage bias condition, said second conductive layer serving as the re- ceptor of said tunneling electrons. ’585 patent col. 5 l. 25-col. 6 l. 8 (emphasis added). For the purposes of this case, the two key limits of the disputed “tunneling layer” in both claim 1 and claim 4 of the ’585 patent are that (1) the layer is “formed by low pressure chemical vapor deposition,” and (2) the deposition “compris[es] the use of tetraethylorthosilicate,” which is also referred to as “TEOS.” Both of these claims are product-by-process claims, i.e., the product is defined in part by the process by which it is made.