Patents Examined by Bijay Saha
  • Patent number: 8591650
    Abstract: It is an object to provide a method for forming a crystalline semiconductor film in which a transition layer is not formed or which includes a thinner transition layer than that in a crystalline semiconductor film which is formed by conventional method, and a method for manufacturing a thin film transistor to which the above method is applied. A semiconductor film including hydrogen is formed over a substrate or over an insulating film formed over a substrate. The semiconductor film including hydrogen undergoes surface wave plasma treatment, which is performed in a gas including hydrogen and/or a rare gas, to generate a crystal nucleus in the semiconductor film including hydrogen. The crystal nucleus is grown to form a crystalline semiconductor film by employing a plasma CVD method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Satoshi Toriumi
  • Patent number: 8591654
    Abstract: A device for manufacturing a SiC single crystal includes: a raw material gas introduction pipe; a raw material gas heat chamber having a raw material gas supply passage for heating the gas in the passage; a reaction chamber having a second sidewall, an inner surface of which contacts an outer surface of a first sidewall of the heat chamber, and having a bottom, on which a SiC single crystal substrate is arranged; and a discharge pipe in a hollow center of the raw material gas heat chamber. The supply passage is disposed between an outer surface of the discharge pipe and an inner surface of the first sidewall. The discharge pipe discharges a residual gas, which is not used for crystal growth of the SiC single crystal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasuo Kitou, Jun Kojima
  • Patent number: 8585820
    Abstract: Methods for the sustained, high-volume production of Group III-V compound semiconductor material suitable for fabrication of optic and electronic components, for use as substrates for epitaxial deposition, or for wafers. The equipment and methods are optimized for producing Group III-N (nitrogen) compound semiconductor wafers and specifically for producing GaN wafers. The method includes reacting an amount of a gaseous Group III precursor as one reactant with an amount of a gaseous Group V component as another reactant in a reaction chamber to form the semiconductor material; removing exhaust gases including unreacted Group III precursor, unreacted Group V component and reaction byproducts; and heating the exhaust gases to a temperature sufficient to reduce condensation thereof and enhance manufacture of the semiconductor material. Advantageously, the exhaust gases are heated to sufficiently avoid condensation to facilitate sustained high volume manufacture of the semiconductor material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Chantal Arena, Christiaan Werkhoven
  • Patent number: 8562747
    Abstract: A method and system for hydrolyzing cellulose and/or hemicellulose contained in a biomass into monosaccharides and oligosaccharides by using high-temperature and high-pressure water in a subcritical condition is provided. In hydrolyzing cellulose or hemicellulose into saccharides by using high-temperature and high-pressure water in a subcritical condition, a large amount of slurry is cooled into a condition below the subcritical condition by subjecting the slurry contained in a pressure vessel under a high-temperature and high-pressure condition to flash evaporation in a pressure vessel charged with a slurry of a cellulosic biomass and heated halfway. It is possible to prevent saccharides from degrading into organic acids and to save energy by recovery of thermal energy. The cellulosic biomass is charged into a water-permeable vessel and then the water-permeable vessel is encapsulated into the pressure vessel together with water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Kawasaki Plant Systems Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takeshi Nagahama, Noriaki Izumi
  • Patent number: 8562733
    Abstract: Aluminum oxide dispersion, which is stable in a pH range 5 from 5 to 9 and has an aluminum oxide content of at least 40 wt. %, obtainable by dispersing pyrogenically produced aluminum oxide particles in an aqueous phase, wherein one or several at least dibasic hydroxycarboxylic acids present dissolved in the dispersion and at least one salt of a 10 dialkali metal hydrogen phosphate and/or alkali metal dihydrogen phosphate are added to the aqueous phase each mutually independently in a quantity of 0.3?3×10?6 mol/m2 of aluminum oxide specific surface area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Evonik DEGUSSA GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Lortz, Christoph Batz-Sohn, Gabriele Perlet, Heinz Lach, Werner Will
  • Patent number: 8562934
    Abstract: A surface of a substrate comprising microcavities leading out of the substrate is placed in contact with an aqueous solution comprising a plurality of suspended particles and a fabric. Perpendicular pressure is applied the expanse of the substrate between the fabric and the surface of the substrate, and relative movement of the fabric and the surface is applied to the expanse of the substrate. At least one particle is thus fed into each microcavity, therein forming a porous material that is a catalyst material for nanothread or nanotube growth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignees: Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, STMicroelectronics (Crolles 2) SAS
    Inventors: Jean-Christophe Coiffic, Maurice Rivoire
  • Patent number: 8562941
    Abstract: The present invention is a method that perturbs the initial crystallization of a material from a less desired phase into a more desired phase. More specifically, the present invention is a method to form a different crystallization of a zeolite, mesoporous material, SAPO4, AlPO4 or porous inorganic oxide after the hydrothermal synthesis has started and a precursor crystalline phase has formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Exxonmobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Ivy D. Johnson, Hilda B. Vroman, Simon C. Weston, Larry M. Stevens
  • Patent number: 8557220
    Abstract: The invention concerns a process for preparing an EU-1 zeolite having a XO2/Y2O3 ratio in the range 10 to 100, comprising the following steps: a) mixing, in an aqueous medium, at least one source of at least one oxide XO2, X being selected from silicon and/or germanium, at least one source of at least one oxide Y2O3, Y being selected from aluminium, iron, gallium and boron, and at least one organic template Q; b) drying the reaction mixture derived from step a) at a temperature of less than 200° C.; c) hydrothermal treatment of the dried reaction mixture derived from step b) in an autoclave, said dried reaction mixture not being in contact with a liquid phase at the bottom of the autoclave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: IFP Energies Nouvelles
    Inventors: Simone Goergen, Loïc Rouleau, Joël Patarin
  • Patent number: 8557448
    Abstract: The fuel cell of the invention includes an electrolyte assembly, and a separator having one face as a gas flow path-forming face with a gas flow path formed thereon to allow flow of a reactive gas and the other face, which is reverse to the one face, as a refrigerant flow path-forming face with a refrigerant flow path formed thereon to allow flow of a refrigerant. The gas flow path-forming face of the separator has multiple linear gas flow paths that are arranged in parallel to one another, and a gas flow path connection structure that divides the multiple linear gas flow paths into plural linear gas flow path groups and connects at least part of the plural linear gas flow path groups in series.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Yamamoto, Yuichi Yagami, Jiro Aizaki, Junichi Shirahama, Sogo Goto, Tsuyoshi Takahashi, Tomokazu Hayashi
  • Patent number: 8557208
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method of making a ceramic material that contains boron and a metal. A metal source, an oxidizer, a boron source, and a fuel source are combined. These reactants are then heated at, or to, a temperature sufficient to initiate a combustion reaction. The combustion reaction produces a ceramic material that includes boron and the metal. The present disclosure also provides materials formed by the disclosed method, as well as methods and systems using such materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education, on behalf of the University of Nevada, Reno
    Inventors: Olivia A. Graeve, Raghunath Kanakala, Gabriel Rojas-George
  • Patent number: 8557219
    Abstract: A method of crystallizing a crystalline molecular sieve having a pore size in the range of from about 2 to about 19 ?, said method comprising the steps of (a) providing a mixture comprising at least one source of ions of tetravalent element (Y), at least one hydroxide source (OH?), and water, said mixture having a solid-content in the range of from about 15 wt. % to about 50 wt. %; and (b) treating said mixture to form the desired crystalline molecular sieve with stirring at crystallization conditions sufficient to obtain a weight hourly throughput from about 0.005 to about 1 hr?1, wherein said crystallization conditions comprise a temperature in the range of from about 200° C. to about 500° C. and a crystallization time less than 100 hr.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc.
    Inventors: Ivy D. Johnson, Wenyih Frank Lai
  • Patent number: 8551902
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a catalyst layer that has good long-term water resistance and a method for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly. The method for manufacturing a catalyst layer includes the processes of: (1) attaching an Si compound comprising Si, —OH bound to the Si or a group that is bound to the Si and becomes —OH upon hydrolysis, and a hydrophobic group to a surface of a catalyst precursor layer comprising at least platinum oxide; (2) attaching a mixture comprising a metal compound having a metal atom and —OH bound to the metal atom or a group that is bound to the metal atom and becomes —OH upon hydrolysis and a proton conductive polymer electrolyte to the surface of the catalyst precursor layer to which the Si compound has been attached; and (3) reducing the catalyst precursor layer to which the mixture has been attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Yamada
  • Patent number: 8551663
    Abstract: A power generator includes a hydrogen producing fuel and a hydrogen storage element. A fuel cell having a proton exchange membrane separates the hydrogen producing fuel from ambient. A valve is positioned between the hydrogen storage element and the hydrogen producing fuel and the fuel cell. Hydrogen is provided to the fuel cell from the hydrogen storage element if demand for electricity exceeds the hydrogen producing capacity of the hydrogen producing fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventor: Steven J. Eickhoff
  • Patent number: 8545788
    Abstract: Fumed silicon dioxide powder with a BET surface area of 20 to 35 m2/g, characterized in that a) the number-based median particle diameter is 60 to 150 nm, and b) the proportion of particles with a diameter of 200 nm or more is at most 10%, and c) the proportion of particles with a diameter of up to 60 nm is at most 20%, based in each case on the total number of particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Evonik Degussa GmbH
    Inventors: Stipan Katusic, Guido Zimmermann, Horst Miess, Witold Katerinak, Martin Moerters
  • Patent number: 8545628
    Abstract: The present invention relates to methods and apparatus that are optimized for producing Group III-N (nitrogen) compound semiconductor wafers and specifically for producing GaN wafers. Specifically, the methods relate to substantially preventing the formation of unwanted materials on an isolation valve fixture within a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor. In particular, the invention provides apparatus and methods for limiting deposition/condensation of GaCl3 and reaction by-products on an isolation valve that is used in the system and method for forming a monocrystalline Group III-V semiconductor material by reacting an amount of a gaseous Group III precursor as one reactant with an amount of a gaseous Group V component as another reactant in a reaction chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Chantal Arena, Christiaan Werkhoven
  • Patent number: 8545797
    Abstract: The present invention relates to new germanosilicate SSZ-75 molecular sieve, and methods for synthesizing germanosilicate SSZ-75.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
    Inventors: Tracy M. Davis, Anton Petushkov
  • Patent number: 8545673
    Abstract: Process for recovering molybdate or tungstate from an aqueous solution, in which molybdate or tungstate is bound to a water-insoluble, cationized inorganic carrier material from the aqueous solution at a pH in the range from 2 to 6, the laden carrier material is separated off and the bound molybdate or tungstate is liberated once again into aqueous solution at a pH in the range from 6 to 14. The process is suitable for recovering molybdate or tungstate in the delignification of pulp with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of molybdate or tungstate as catalyst. The recovered molybdate or tungstate can be recycled to the delignification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Evonik Degussa GmbH
    Inventors: Thomas Dietz, Hans Ulrich Süss
  • Patent number: 8545790
    Abstract: Cross-linked carbon nanotube arrays forming a three-dimensional structure and methods of use including high thermal conductivity, high strength applications where repeated cycling is known, and chemical storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Inventor: Gregory Konesky
  • Patent number: 8546288
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method of forming a catalyst/substrate construction includes: identifying a catalyst having a specific activity, determining a surface area factor for supporting the catalyst based on the specific activity of the catalyst; selecting a substrate having the surface area factor; and applying the substrate to the catalyst to form the catalyst/substrate construction. In certain instances, the surface area factor may be determined according to the following equation: SA support ? ( cm support 2 ? / ? cm planar 2 ) = [ “ Baseline ” ? ( A ? / ? mg Pt ) × Mass ? ? Activity ? ? IF × Loading ? ? ( mg Pt ? / ? cm 2 ) ] [ Specific ? ? Activity ? ? ( ?A ? / ? cm 2 ) × 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Andrea Pulskamp, James Waldecker, Shinichi Hirano
  • Patent number: 8545798
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for preparing a new crystalline molecular sieve designated SSZ-81 using a structure directing agent selected from 1,5-bis(1-azonia-bicyclo[2.2.2]octane)pentane dications, 1,5-bis(1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane)pentane dications, and mixtures thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
    Inventors: Stacey I. Zones, Anna Jackowski