Patents by Inventor Josephine B. Chang

Josephine B. Chang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9859430
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer is provided, where the semiconductor wafer includes a semiconductor substrate and a hard mask layer formed on the semiconductor substrate. Fins are formed in the semiconductor substrate and the hard mask layer. A spacer is formed on an exposed sidewall of the hard mask layer and the semiconductor substrate. The exposed portion of the semiconductor substrate is etched. A silicon-germanium layer is epitaxially formed on the exposed portions of the semiconductor substrate. An annealed silicon-germanium region is formed by a thermal annealing process within the semiconductor substrate adjacent to the silicon-germanium layer. The silicon-germanium region and the silicon-germanium layer are removed. The hard mask layer and the spacer are removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Leland Chang, Isaac Lauer, Jeffrey W. Sleight
  • Publication number: 20170330830
    Abstract: A modified trench metal-semiconductor alloy formation method involves depositing a layer of a printable dielectric or a sacrificial carbon material within a trench structure and over contact regions of a semiconductor device, and then selectively removing the printable dielectric or sacrificial carbon material to segment the trench and form plural contact vias. A metallization layer is formed within the contact vias and over the contact regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2017
    Publication date: November 16, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Fei Liu, Adam M. Pyzyna
  • Publication number: 20170323189
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes identifying one or more tag readers. The one or more of tag readers are positioned peripherally to a region. The computer-implemented method further includes receiving a signal, by at least one of the one or more tag readers, from a tag. The computer-implemented method further includes determining a received signal strength indication for at least one of the one or more tag readers and mapping at least one received signal strength indication onto at a one dimensional representation of the region to yield a mapped data. The computer-implemented method further includes performing pattern recognition on the mapped data to yield a pattern data and applying machine learning to the pattern data to locate the tag within the region. A corresponding computer system and computer program product are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2016
    Publication date: November 9, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Patrick L. Coval, Hendrik F. Hamann, Alvin Wade Kelley, Pinzhi Zhang
  • Patent number: 9812370
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method of fabricating a bipolar transistor device on a wafer includes the following steps. A dummy gate is formed on the wafer, wherein the dummy gate is present over a portion of the wafer that serves as a base of the bipolar transistor. The wafer is doped to form emitter and collector regions on both sides of the dummy gate. A dielectric filler layer is deposited onto the wafer surrounding the dummy gate. The dummy gate is removed selective to the dielectric filler layer, thereby exposing the base. The base is recessed. The base is re-grown from an epitaxial material selected from the group consisting of: SiGe, Ge, and a III-V material. Contacts are formed to the base. Techniques for co-fabricating a bipolar transistor and CMOS FET devices are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Gen P. Lauer, Isaac Lauer, Jeffrey W. Sleight
  • Publication number: 20170292938
    Abstract: A method for measuring pollution that includes providing a plurality of analyte sensors arranged in a grid over a sensing area, wherein the analyte sensors measure a pollutant, and positioning at least one current sensor in the sensing area. A pollution source is localized using a pollution source locator including a dispersion model and at least one hardware processor to interpolate a location of a pollution source from variations in current measured from the current sensors and measurements of pollutants from the analyte sensors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2017
    Publication date: October 12, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Hendrik F. Hamann, Siyuan Lu, Ramachandran Muralidhar, Theodore G. Van Kessel
  • Patent number: 9786597
    Abstract: Self-aligned pitch split techniques for metal wiring involving a hybrid (subtractive patterning/damascene) metallization approach are provided. In one aspect, a method for forming a metal wiring layer on a wafer includes the following steps. A copper layer is formed on the wafer. A patterned hardmask is formed on the copper layer. The copper layer is subtractively patterned using the patterned hardmask to form a plurality of first copper lines. Spacers are formed on opposite sides of the first copper lines. A planarizing dielectric material is deposited onto the wafer, filling spaces between the first copper lines. One or more trenches are etched in the planarizing dielectric material. The trenches are filled with copper to form a plurality of second copper lines that are self-aligned with the first copper lines. An electronic device is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Eric A. Joseph, Hiroyuki Miyazoe
  • Publication number: 20170271475
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a plurality of gate stacks spaced apart from each other on a substrate, an etch stop layer formed on an upper surface of each gate stack, a dielectric cap layer formed on each etch stop layer, a plurality of source/drain regions formed on the substrate between respective pairs of adjacent gate stacks, and a plurality of contacts respectively corresponding to each source/drain region, wherein the contacts are separated from the gate structures and contact their corresponding source/drain regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2017
    Publication date: September 21, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Bruce B. Doris, Michael A. Guillorn, Isaac Lauer, Xin Miao
  • Patent number: 9766220
    Abstract: A method for measuring pollution that includes providing a plurality of analyte sensors arranged in a grid over a sensing area, wherein the analyte sensors measure a pollutant, and positioning at least one current sensor in the sensing area. A pollution source is localized using a pollution source locator including a dispersion model and at least one hardware processor to interpolate a location of a pollution source from variations in current measured from the current sensors and measurements of pollutants from the analyte sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Hendrik F. Hamann, Siyuan Lu, Ramachandran Muralidhar, Theodore G. Van Kessel
  • Publication number: 20170256655
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a semiconductor device comprises forming a sacrificial layer of a first semiconductor material on a substrate, a layer of a second semiconductor material on the sacrificial layer, and a layer of a third semiconductor material on the layer of the second semiconductor material. Portions of the layer of the deposited material are removed to form a first nanowire arranged on the sacrificial fin and a second nanowire arranged on the first nanowire. An oxidizing process is performed that forms a first layer of oxide material on exposed portions of the second nanowire and a second layer of oxide material on exposed portions of the sacrificial fin, the first layer of oxide material having a first thickness and the second layer of oxide material having a second thickness, where the first thickness is less than the second thickness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2017
    Publication date: September 7, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Isaac Lauer, Xin Miao
  • Patent number: 9754965
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method of forming a CMOS device includes forming nanowires suspended over a BOX, wherein a first/second one or more of the nanowires are suspended at a first/second suspension height over the BOX, and wherein the first suspension height is greater than the second suspension height; depositing a conformal gate dielectric on the BOX and around the nanowires wherein the conformal gate dielectric deposited on the BOX is i) in a non-contact position with the conformal gate dielectric deposited around the first one or more of the nanowires, and ii) is in direct physical contact with the conformal gate dielectric deposited around the second one or more of the nanowires such that the BOX serves as an oxygen source during growth of a conformal oxide layer at the interface between the conformal gate dielectric and the second one or more of the nanowires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Isaac Lauer, Jeffrey W. Sleight
  • Publication number: 20170250111
    Abstract: An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a semiconductor layer, a dielectric layer disposed on the semiconductor layer, circuitry disposed on the dielectric layer that includes interconnected cells, first contact line metallization and second contact line metallization, first power metallization disposed in-plane with or above the circuitry and second power metallization disposed in a trench defined in at least the dielectric layer. The electronic device further includes insulation disposed to insulate the second power metallization from the circuitry and the first power metallization at first locations and to permit electrical communication between the second power metallization, the circuitry and the first power metallization at second locations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2017
    Publication date: August 31, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Leland Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Chung-Hsun Lin, Adam M. Pyzyna
  • Publication number: 20170250290
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a semiconductor device comprises forming a sacrificial layer of a first semiconductor material on a substrate, a layer of a second semiconductor material on the sacrificial layer, and a layer of a third semiconductor material on the layer of the second semiconductor material. Portions of the layer of the deposited material are removed to form a first nanowire arranged on the sacrificial fin and a second nanowire arranged on the first nanowire. An oxidizing process is performed that forms a first layer of oxide material on exposed portions of the second nanowire and a second layer of oxide material on exposed portions of the sacrificial fin, the first layer of oxide material having a first thickness and the second layer of oxide material having a second thickness, where the first thickness is less than the second thickness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Publication date: August 31, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Isaac Lauer, Xin Miao
  • Patent number: 9748404
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a semiconductor device comprises forming a sacrificial layer of a first semiconductor material on a substrate, a layer of a second semiconductor material on the sacrificial layer, and a layer of a third semiconductor material on the layer of the second semiconductor material. Portions of the layer of the deposited material are removed to form a first nanowire arranged on the sacrificial fin and a second nanowire arranged on the first nanowire. An oxidizing process is performed that forms a first layer of oxide material on exposed portions of the second nanowire and a second layer of oxide material on exposed portions of the sacrificial fin, the first layer of oxide material having a first thickness and the second layer of oxide material having a second thickness, where the first thickness is less than the second thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Isaac Lauer, Xin Miao
  • Publication number: 20170241936
    Abstract: The present invention involves a multimodal sensor network for analyte detection. A first mode may involve low-power detection and a second mode may involve determining an analyte concentration and transmitting data associated with the analyte concentration. Specifically, the first mode may include establishing an analyte sensor network in a detection region, detecting an analyte in the detection region, and generating an electrical signal in response to the detecting the analyte. In response to the electrical signal exceeding a first threshold, the analyte detection system may operate in the second mode. The second mode may include requesting data associated with the one or more environmental conditions, determining an analyte concentration based on one or more environmental conditions transmitting data associated with the analyte concentration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2016
    Publication date: August 24, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Hendrik F. Hamann, Levente Klein, Siyuan Lu
  • Publication number: 20170236900
    Abstract: Field effect transistors and methods of forming the same include forming a stack of nanowires of alternating layers of channel material and sacrificial material. A layer of sacrificial material forms a top layer of the stack. A dummy gate is formed over the stack. Stack material outside of a region covered by the dummy gate is removed. The sacrificial material is etched to form recesses in the sacrificial material layers. Spacers are formed in the recesses in the sacrificial material layers. At least one pair of spacers is formed in recesses above an uppermost layer of channel material. The dummy gates are etched away. The top layer of sacrificial material protects an uppermost layer of channel material from damage from the anisotropic etch. The sacrificial material is etched away to expose the layers of channel material. A gate stack is formed over, around, and between the layers of channel material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2016
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Bruce B. Doris, Michael A. Guillorn, Isaac Lauer, Xin Miao
  • Publication number: 20170227509
    Abstract: A method for measuring pollution that includes providing a plurality of analyte sensors arranged in a grid over a sensing area, wherein the analyte sensors measure a pollutant, and positioning at least one current sensor in the sensing area. A pollution source is localized using a pollution source locator including a dispersion model and at least one hardware processor to interpolate a location of a pollution source from variations in current measured from the current sensors and measurements of pollutants from the analyte sensors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2016
    Publication date: August 10, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Hendrik F. Hamann, Siyuan Lu, Ramachandran Muralidhar, Theodore G. Van Kessel
  • Patent number: 9728624
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a test structure on a wafer includes forming a fin on a substrate, forming a first gate stack over the fin, the first gate stack having a first gate width, the first gate stack including a gate dielectric layer having a first thickness, forming a second gate stack over the fin, the second gate stack having a second gate width, the second gate stack including a gate dielectric layer having a second thickness, and forming a third gate stack over the fin, the third gate stack having a third gate width, the third gate stack including a gate dielectric layer having the second thickness, wherein the first gate stack is arranged a first distance from the second gate stack and the second gate stack is arranged the first distance from the third gate stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Isaac Lauer, Jeffrey W. Sleight, Tenko Yamashita
  • Publication number: 20170221992
    Abstract: Field effect transistors include a stack of nanosheets of vertically arranged channel layers. A source and drain region is positioned at respective ends of the vertically arranged channel layers. A gate stack is formed over, around, and between the vertically arranged channel layers. The transistor includes a plurality of internal spacers, each formed between the gate stack and a respective source or drain region, with at least one pair of spacers being positioned above an uppermost channel layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2017
    Publication date: August 3, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Isaac Lauer, Xin Miao
  • Patent number: 9721888
    Abstract: A modified trench metal-semiconductor alloy formation method involves depositing a layer of a printable dielectric or a sacrificial carbon material within a trench structure and over contact regions of a semiconductor device, and then selectively removing the printable dielectric or sacrificial carbon material to segment the trench and form plural contact vias. A metallization layer is formed within the contact vias and over the contact regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Fei Liu, Adam M. Pyzyna
  • Publication number: 20170213888
    Abstract: Field effect transistors and methods of forming the same include forming a stack of nanosheets of alternating layers of channel material and sacrificial material. A layer of sacrificial material forms a top layer of the stack. A dummy gate is formed over the stack. Stack material outside of a region covered by the dummy gate is removed. The sacrificial material is etched to form recesses in the sacrificial material layers. Spacers are formed in the recesses in the sacrificial material layers. At least one pair of spacers is formed in recesses above an uppermost layer of channel material. The dummy gates are etched away. The top layer of sacrificial material protects an uppermost layer of channel material from damage from the anisotropic etch. The sacrificial material is etched away to expose the layers of channel material. A gate stack is formed over, around, and between the layers of channel material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2016
    Publication date: July 27, 2017
    Inventors: Josephine B. Chang, Michael A. Guillorn, Isaac Lauer, Xin Miao