Patents Examined by Keath Chen
  • Patent number: 9290842
    Abstract: The present invention provides an evaporation device for which maintenance is readily conducted, and further, provides an electrode cover which can prevent an evaporation material from being adhered to electrodes. Moreover, the present invention provides an evaporation device including an evaporation chamber; a holding portion for holding an object to be treated; an evaporation source; an electrode; an electrode cover; and a power supply, in which the evaporation chamber includes the holding portion in an upper portion, and includes the evaporation source, the electrode, and the electrode cover in a lower portion; the electrode cover covers at least a part of an exposed surface of the electrode; the electrode and the power supply are electrically connected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nobuharu Ohsawa, Ryoji Nomura, Masahiro Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9283644
    Abstract: Disclosed is a heating apparatus for manufacturing a display device, which prevents damage or breakage even though a heating member is deformed by heat, and extends a period for replacement of the heating member, wherein the heating apparatus comprises the heating member for emitting heat so as to heat a material to be deposited on a substrate prepared for manufacturing the display device, a first installing device for supporting the heating member, and a second installing device provided with a passing hole for passing the other end of the heating member therethrough.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chul Young Jang, Hyun Taek Lim, Joo Hwan Hwang, Jun Ho Yu, Seok Min Hong
  • Patent number: 9281166
    Abstract: A process chamber includes a wafer support to mount a wafer to be processed in the process chamber, with the wafer having an annular edge exclusion area. A first electrically grounded ring extends in an annular path radially outward of the edge exclusion area and is electrically isolated from the wafer support. A second electrode is configured with a center area opposite to the wafer support. A second electrically grounded ring extends in an annular path radially outward of the second electrode and the edge exclusion area. The second electrically grounded ring is electrically isolated from the center area. An annular mount section has a DC bias ring, and the DC bias ring opposes the edge exclusion area when the wafer is present. A DC control circuit is provided for applying a DC voltage to the DC bias ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Yunsang Kim, Andrew D. Bailey, III
  • Patent number: 9272359
    Abstract: A plasma system for treating a workpiece is disclosed. The plasma system includes: a plasma device including an electrode formed from a metal alloy and a dielectric layer covering the electrode, the dielectric layer including a distal portion extending distally past a distal end of the electrode by a predetermined distance; a liquid source configured to supply a liquid to a workpiece; an ionizable media source coupled to the plasma device and configured to supply ionizable media thereto; and a power source coupled to the electrode and configured to ignite the ionizable media at the plasma device to form a plasma effluent in the presence of the liquid, whereby the plasma effluent reacts with the liquid to form at least one reactive species that interacts with the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: Colorado State University Research Foundation
    Inventors: Il-Gyo Koo, George J. Collins
  • Patent number: 9206511
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for cleaning a process chamber are provided. In one embodiment, a process chamber is provided that includes a remote plasma source and a process chamber having at least two processing regions. Each processing region includes a substrate support assembly disposed in the processing region, a gas distribution system configured to provide gas into the processing region above the substrate support assembly, and a gas passage configured to provide gas into the processing region below the substrate support assembly. A first gas conduit is configured to flow a cleaning agent from the remote plasma source through the gas distribution assembly in each processing region while a second gas conduit is configured to divert a portion of the cleaning agent from the first gas conduit to the gas passage of each processing region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Ramprakash Sankarakrishnan, Dale R. Du Bois, Ganesh Balasubramanian, Karthik Janakiraman, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Thomas Nowak, Visweswaren Sivaramakrishnan, Hichem M'Saad
  • Patent number: 9196462
    Abstract: The present invention generally comprises a showerhead insulator for electrically isolating a showerhead assembly from a processing chamber wall, a chamber liner assembly for lining a processing chamber, a lower chamber liner for lining an evacuation area of a processing chamber, and a flow equalizer for ensuring a uniform evacuation of a processing chamber. When processing a substrate within an etching chamber, the showerhead needs to be electrically isolated from ground. A showerhead insulator may insulate the showerhead from ground while also preventing plasma from entering the volume that it occupies. A chamber liner may protect the chamber walls from contamination and reduce chamber cleaning. A flow equalizer will permit processing gases to be evenly pulled into the evacuation channel rather than a disproportionate flow into the evacuation channel. A lower liner can aid in uniformly drawing the vacuum and protecting the chamber walls from contamination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: James D. Carducci, Olga Regelman
  • Patent number: 9194044
    Abstract: A deposition apparatus 50 includes a chamber 1 having at its top section a gas inlet 4 for supplying deposition gas 25. Inside chamber 1 is a susceptor 7 on which to place a substrate 6; a heater 8 located below the substrate 6; and a liner 2 for covering the inner walls of the chamber 1. Apparatus 50 deposits a film on the substrate 6 by supplying deposition gas 25 from gas inlet 4 into chamber 1 while heating substrate 6. An upper electric resistance heater cluster 35 is located between the inner walls of the chamber 1 and liner 2 such that the upper heater 35 surrounds the liner 2. The upper heater 35 is divided vertically into electric resistance heaters 36, 37, and 38 which are independently temperature-controlled. The substrate 6 is heated with the use of both heater 8 and the upper heater cluster 35.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignees: NuFlare Technology, Inc., Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Denso Corporation, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kunihiko Suzuki, Shinichi Mitani
  • Patent number: 9187815
    Abstract: A coating system includes a work piece, a coating delivery apparatus configured to apply a coating material to the work piece in a plasma-based vapor stream, and a first electron gun configured to direct a first electron beam at the plasma-based vapor stream for adding thermal energy to the coating material in the plasma-based vapor stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Peter F. Gero, Kevin W. Schlichting, James W. Neal
  • Patent number: 9187821
    Abstract: The present invention provides deposition sources that can efficiently and controllably provide vaporized material for deposition of thin film materials. Deposition sources described herein can be used to deposit any desired material and are particularly useful for depositing high melting point materials at high evaporation rates. An exemplary application for deposition sources of the present invention is deposition of copper, indium, and gallium in the manufacture of copper indium gallium diselenide based photovoltaic devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Scott Wayne Priddy, Richard Charles Bresnahan
  • Patent number: 9184028
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer processing apparatus includes a first electrode exposed to a first plasma generation volume, a second electrode exposed to a second plasma generation volume, and a gas distribution unit disposed between the first and second plasma generation volumes. The first electrode is defined to transmit radiofrequency (RF) power to the first plasma generation volume, and distribute a first plasma process gas to the first plasma generation volume. The second electrode is defined to transmit RF power to the second plasma generation volume, and hold a substrate in exposure to the second plasma generation volume. The gas distribution unit includes an arrangement of through-holes defined to fluidly connect the first plasma generation volume to the second plasma generation volume. The gas distribution unit also includes an arrangement of gas supply ports defined to distribute a second plasma process gas to the second plasma generation volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Rajinder Dhindsa, Alexei Marakhatnov, Andrew D. Bailey, III
  • Patent number: 9150952
    Abstract: A deposition source including: a dopant vaporization source; a first host vaporization source including a first vaporization source unit on a side of the dopant vaporization source and a second vaporization source unit on another side of the dopant vaporization source; and a second host vaporization source including a third vaporization source unit on the side of the dopant vaporization source and arranged in parallel with the first vaporization source unit, and a fourth vaporization source unit on the another side of the dopant vaporization source and arranged in parallel with the second vaporization source unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jong-Woo Lee, Young-Soo Cho
  • Patent number: 9145602
    Abstract: An apparatus may comprise a plasma deposition unit, a movement system, and a mesh system. The plasma deposition unit may be configured to generate a plasma. The movement system may be configured to move a substrate under the plasma deposition unit. The mesh system may be located between the plasma deposition unit and the substrate in which a mesh may comprise a number of materials for deposition onto the substrate and in which the plasma passing through the mesh may cause a portion of the number of materials from the mesh to be deposited onto the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: Marvi A. Matos, Liam S. Cavanaugh Pingree
  • Patent number: 9142705
    Abstract: An in-line production apparatus and a method for composition control of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells fabricated by a co-evaporation deposition process. The deposition conditions are so that a deposited Cu-excessive overall composition is transformed into to a Cu-deficient overall composition, the final CIGS film. Substrates with a molybdenum layer move through the process chamber with constant speed. The transition from copper rich to copper deficient composition on a substrate is detected by using sensors which detect a physical parameter related to the transition. A preferred embodiment sensors are provided that detect the composition of elements in the deposited layer. A controller connected to the sensors adjusts the fluxes from the evaporant sources in order provide a CIGS layer with uniform composition and thickness over the width of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: SOLIBRO RESEARCH AB
    Inventors: Lars Stolt, John Kessler
  • Patent number: 9136156
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing chamber; process areas each of which supplies a reaction gas; a turntable that rotates to cause a substrate to pass through the process areas; a gas nozzle provided in one of the process areas; a separating area that supplies a separation gas to separate atmospheres of the process areas; and a cover part configured to cover the gas nozzle and cause the reaction gas supplied from the gas nozzle to remain around the gas nozzle. The cover part includes an upstream side wall, a downstream side wall, and an upper wall. The cover part also includes a guide surface configured to guide the separation gas to flow over a lower part of the upstream side wall to a space above the upper wall. The distance between the gas nozzle and the upstream side wall is greater than or equal to 8 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Tadashi Enomoto, Mitsuhiro Tachibana, Haruhiko Furuya, Kentaro Oshimo
  • Patent number: 9127359
    Abstract: A liquid vaporizer is configured to vaporize a liquid reagent and mix the vaporized liquid reagent with a gaseous medium. The liquid vaporizer is equipped with a main vaporizer body having a mixed gas generating space, and a vaporizing unit disposed inside the mixed gas generating space. The vaporizing unit has a vaporizing unit main body having a vaporization surface and a net-shaped body formed in a planar shape by knitting wires regularly in a net-like shape. The net-shaped body forms a plurality of mesh spaces surrounded by the wires and arranged regularly in the in-plane direction. The vaporizing unit forms a plurality of liquid reagent supply spaces surrounded by the wires and the vaporization surface as a result of the net-shaped body and the vaporization surface being abutted against each other. The liquid reagent supply spaces are arranged regularly in the in-plane direction of the net-shaped body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: CKD CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masayuki Kouketsu, Hiroshi Itafuji
  • Patent number: 9114998
    Abstract: Methods for forming a nanoperforated graphene material are provided. The methods comprise forming an etch mask defining a periodic array of holes over a graphene material and patterning the periodic array of holes into the graphene material. The etch mask comprises a pattern-defining block copolymer layer, and can optionally also comprise a wetting layer and a neutral layer. The nanoperforated graphene material can consist of a single sheet of graphene or a plurality of graphene sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
    Inventors: Michael S. Arnold, Padma Gopalan, Nathaniel S. Safron, Myungwoong Kim
  • Patent number: 9111968
    Abstract: An optimized plasma processing chamber configured to provide a current path is provided. The optimized plasma processing chamber includes at least an upper electrode, a powered lower electrode, a heating plate, a cooling plate, a plasma chamber lid, and clamp ring. Both the heating plate and the cooling plate are disposed above the upper electrode whereas the heating plate is configured to heat the upper electrode while the cooling plate is configured to cool the upper electrode. The clamp ring is configured to secure the upper electrode to a plasma chamber lid and to provide a current path from the upper electrode to the plasma chamber lid. A pocket may be formed between the clamp ring and the upper electrode to hold at least the heater plate, wherein the pocket is configured to allow longitudinal and lateral tolerances for thermal expansion of the heater plate from repetitive thermal cycling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Arnold Kholodenko, Anwer Husain
  • Patent number: 9097625
    Abstract: A gas injection system for an energetic-beam instrument having a vacuum chamber. The system has a cartridge containing a chemical serving as a source for an output gas to be delivered into the vacuum chamber. The cartridge has a reservoir containing the chemical, which rises to a fill line having a level defined by an amount of the chemical present in the reservoir at a given time. An outlet from the reservoir is coupled to an output passage through an outlet valve and configured so that when the system is tilted the outlet remains above the level of the fill line. Embodiments include isolation valves allowing the cartridge to be disconnected without destroying system vacuum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: Omniprobe, Inc.
    Inventors: Rocky Kruger, Aaron Smith, Cheryl Hartfield
  • Patent number: 9090499
    Abstract: A method of etching a glass substrate using an etchant that is reversibly activated to etch only in precise locations in which such etching is desired and is deactivated when outside of these locations. The method involves exposing a first side of the glass substrate to a mixture of chemical substances that includes a neutralized etchant that is photosensitive. The neutralized etchant is formed by reacting a neutralizer with an etchant. The method also includes transmitting light from a direction of a second side of the glass into the mixture of chemical substances. In response to exposure to this light, the etchant is reversibly released from a bond to the neutralizer to form the etchant on predetermined areas of the first side of the glass, wherein the predetermined areas are defined by the dimension of the light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: John H. Hong, Kenji Nomura, Je-Hsiung Lan
  • Patent number: 9074280
    Abstract: A plasma film deposition device includes a film deposition chamber, a plasma generator within the deposition chamber, a plurality of gas carrier boards adjustably mounted to the plasma generator, a gas providing system, and a rotating support bracket. The gas providing system provides working gas and protective gas. The rotating support bracket is assembled within the film deposition chamber, and is aligned with the plasma generator, for holding workpieces in certain orientations. The plasma generator ionizes the working gas into high-temperature plasma, and sprays the high-temperature plasma toward the rotating support bracket to form plasma films on the workpieces. A plasma jet area is defined between the rotating support bracket and the plasma generator, the gas carrier boards eject the protective gas toward the plasma jet area thereby adjusting the shape of the plasma jet area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shao-Kai Pei