Patents by Inventor Peter J. Hopper

Peter J. Hopper 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: 8836327
    Abstract: The cost and size of an atomic magnetometer are reduced by attaching a vapor cell structure that has a vapor cell cavity to a base die that has a laser light source that outputs light to the vapor cell cavity, and attaching a photo detection die that has a photodiode to the vapor cell structure to detect light from the laser light source that passes through the vapor cell cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: William French, Philipp Lindorfer, Peter J. Hopper, Roozbeh Parsa, Andrew James West, Byron Jon Roderick Shulver
  • Patent number: 8815700
    Abstract: In a SOI process, a high lateral voltage isolation structure is formed by providing at least two concentric dielectric filled trenches, removing the semiconductor material between the dielectric filled trenches and filling the resultant gap with dielectric material to define a single wide dielectric filled trench.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Peter J. Hopper, William French, Kyuwoon Hwang
  • Patent number: 8722505
    Abstract: A semiconductor capacitor with large area plates and a small footprint is formed on a semiconductor wafer by forming an opening in the wafer, depositing a first metal atoms through a first shadow mask that lies spaced apart from the wafer to form a first metal layer in the opening, a dielectric layer on the first metal layer, and a second metal atoms through a second shadow mask that lies spaced apart from the wafer to form a second metal layer on the dielectric layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Peter J. Hopper, William French
  • Patent number: 8686332
    Abstract: An optically-controlled shunt (OCS) circuit includes a switch and a light sampler. The light sampler is coupled to the switch and is configured to sample light at a photovoltaic (PV) cell corresponding to the OCS circuit and to turn on the switch when the sampled light comprises insufficient light for the PV cell. The light sampler may also be configured to turn off the switch when the sampled light comprises sufficient light for the PV cell. The light sampler may further be configured to partially turn on the switch when the sampled light comprises adequate light for the PV cell and to turn off the switch when the sampled light comprises full light for the PV cell. The switch could include a transistor, and the light sampler could include a photodiode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Reda R. Razouk, Peter J. Hopper
  • Patent number: 8686722
    Abstract: A fluxgate magnetometer is formed in a semiconductor wafer fabrication sequence, which significantly reduces the size and cost of the fluxgate magnetometer. The semiconductor wafer fabrication sequence attaches a die, which has drive and sense circuits, to the bottom surface of a cavity formed in a larger structure, and forms drive and sense coils around a magnetic core structure on the top surface of the larger structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Anuraag Mohan, Peter J. Hopper
  • Patent number: 8680854
    Abstract: A giant magneto-impedance (GMI) magnetometer is formed in a semiconductor wafer fabrication sequence, which significantly reduces the size and cost of the GMI magnetometer. The semiconductor wafer fabrication sequence forms a magnetic conductor, a non-magnetic conductor that is wrapped around the magnetic conductor as a coil, and non-magnetic conductors that touch the opposite ends of the magnetic conductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Terry Dyer, Anuraag Mohan, Peter J. Hopper
  • Patent number: 8659149
    Abstract: Galvanic isolation between a high-voltage die and a low-voltage die in a multi-die chip is provided by a galvanic isolation die that physically supports the high-voltage die and the low-voltage die, and provides capacitive structures with high breakdown voltages that allow the high-voltage die to capacitively communicate with the low-voltage die.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2014
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: William French, Peter J. Hopper, Ann Gabrys
  • Patent number: 8554529
    Abstract: A method of simulating an integrated circuit device under test (DUT) is provided, wherein the DUT includes a plurality of terminals. For each terminal of the DUT, a probe pulse is applied to the terminal and a reaction is recorded at the terminal and each of the other terminals to obtain values representative of reactive tails for the terminal. For each terminal, the values representative of the reactive tails obtained for the terminal are stored as an entry of a look-up table. Each entry includes n+x fields, wherein n represents a number of arguments in the entry and x represents a number of functions in the entry. For each terminal, a signal value at a selected time step is calculated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Yuri Mirgorodski, Peter J. Hopper, William French, Philipp Lindorfer
  • Patent number: 8531002
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for wafer level fabrication of high value inductors directly on top of semiconductor integrated circuits. The apparatus and method includes fabricating a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of dice, each of the dice including power circuitry and a switching node. Once the wafer is fabricated, then a plurality of inductors are fabricated directly onto the plurality of dice on the wafer respectively. Each inductor is fabricated by forming a plurality of magnetic core inductor members on an interconnect dielectric layer formed on the wafer. An insulating layer, and then inductor coils, are then formed over the plurality of magnetic core inductor members over each die. A plated magnetic layer is formed over the plurality of inductors respectively to raise the permeability and inductance of the structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Peter J. Hopper, Peter Johnson, Kyuwoon Hwang, Andrei Papou
  • Patent number: 8524548
    Abstract: A lateral DMOS transistor formed on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure has a higher breakdown voltage that results from a cavity that is formed in the bulk region of the SOI structure. The cavity exposes a portion of the bottom surface of the insulator layer of the SOI structure that lies directly vertically below the drift region of the DMOS transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: William French, Vladislav Vashchenko, Richard Wendell Foote, Jr., Alexei Sadovnikov, Punit Bhola, Peter J. Hopper
  • Patent number: 8525281
    Abstract: A z-axis fluxgate magnetometer is formed in a semiconductor wafer fabrication sequence, which significantly reduces the size and cost of the fluxgate magnetometer. The semiconductor wafer fabrication sequence forms a vertical magnetic core structure, a first wire structure wound around the magnetic core structure, and a second wire structure wound around the magnetic core structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Anuraag Mohan, Peter J. Hopper
  • Publication number: 20130224887
    Abstract: A laminated magnetic core, which has a number of magnetic layers and a number of insulation layers which are arranged so that an insulation layer lies between each vertically adjacent pair of magnetic layers, is formed in a method that forms the magnetic layers with an electroplating process, and the insulation layers with a sputter depositing process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Publication date: August 29, 2013
    Inventors: Dok Won Lee, Andrei Papou, William French, Peter J. Hopper
  • Patent number: 8519506
    Abstract: A galvanic isolation integrated circuit system includes a semiconductor substrate; a layer of thermally conductive material, e.g., CVD nano- or poly-diamond thin film or boron nitride CVD thin film, formed over the semiconductor substrate; a first integrated circuit structure formed over the layer of thermally conductive material; a second integrated circuit structure formed over the layer of thermally conductive material, the second integrated circuit structure being spaced apart from the first integrated circuit structure; and a galvanic isolation structure formed over the layer of thermally conductive material between the first and second integrated circuit structures and connected to the first integrated circuit structure and the second integrated circuit structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Peter J. Hopper, William French, Ann Gabrys
  • Patent number: 8497526
    Abstract: In a DIAC-like device that includes an n+ and a p+ region connected to the high voltage node, and an n+ and a p+ region connected to the low voltage node, at least two MOS devices are formed between the n+ and p+ region connected to the high voltage node, and the n+ and p+ region connected to the low voltage node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2013
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Vladislav Vashchenko, Antonio Gallerano, Peter J. Hopper
  • Patent number: 8497167
    Abstract: A high voltage ESD protection diode wherein the p-n junction is defined by a p-well and an n-well and includes a RESURF region, the diode including a field oxide layer formed on top of the p-well and n-well, wherein the parameters of the diode are adjustable by controlling one or more of the junction width, the length of the RESURF region, or the length of the field oxide layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2013
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Vladislav Vashchenko, Vladimir Kuznetsov, Peter J. Hopper
  • Publication number: 20130176703
    Abstract: A micro-fabricated atomic clock structure is thermally insulated so that the atomic clock structure can operate with very little power in an environment where the external temperature can drop to ?40° C., while at the same time maintaining the temperature required for the proper operation of the VCSEL and the gas within the vapor cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2012
    Publication date: July 11, 2013
    Inventors: Peter J. Hopper, William French, Paul Mawson, Steven Hunt, Roozbeh Parsa, Martin Fallon, Ann Gabrys, Andrei Papou
  • Publication number: 20130168808
    Abstract: Magnetic laminations are formed in the openings of a first non-conductive structure, which is formed in the opening of a second non-conductive structure that has a maximum aspect ratio that is less than the maximum aspect ratio of the first non-conductive structure. The second non-conductive structure is more crack resistant than the first non-conductive structure, and thereby protects the first non-conductive structure and the magnetic laminations from environmental contaminants.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2011
    Publication date: July 4, 2013
    Inventors: Andrei Papou, William French, Peter J. Hopper
  • Patent number: 8466537
    Abstract: Magnetic laminations are formed in the openings of a first non-conductive structure, which is formed in the opening of a second non-conductive structure that has a maximum aspect ratio that is less than the maximum aspect ratio of the first non-conductive structure. The second non-conductive structure is more crack resistant than the first non-conductive structure, and thereby protects the first non-conductive structure and the magnetic laminations from environmental contaminants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Andrei Papou, William French, Peter J. Hopper
  • Patent number: 8466535
    Abstract: The spikes in current and voltage that result from the failure of a galvanic dielectric layer are safely contained by a galvanic isolation fuse that pops and forms and open circuit between a high-voltage die and a low-voltage die in response to the failure of the galvanic dielectric layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Peter J. Hopper, William French, Ann Gabrys, Martin Fallon
  • Publication number: 20130147472
    Abstract: The cost and size of an atomic magnetometer are reduced by attaching a vapor cell structure that has a vapor cell cavity to a base die that has a laser light source that outputs light to the vapor cell cavity, and attaching a photo detection die that has a photodiode to the vapor cell structure to detect light from the laser light source that passes through the vapor cell cavity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2011
    Publication date: June 13, 2013
    Inventors: William French, Philipp Lindorfer, Peter J. Hopper, Roozbeh Parsa, Andrew James West, Byron Jon Roderick Shulver