Having Insulated Gate Patents (Class 438/151)
  • Patent number: 9991319
    Abstract: A thin film transistor (TFT), method of manufacturing the TFT and a flat panel display having the TFT are disclosed. In one aspect, the TFT comprises a substrate and an active layer formed over the substrate, wherein the active layer is formed of oxide semiconductor, and wherein the active layer includes two opposing sides. The TFT also comprises source and drain regions formed at the opposing sides of the active layer, a first insulating layer formed over the active layer, a gate electrode formed over the active layer, a second insulating layer formed covering the first insulation layer and the gate electrode, and a first conductive layer formed on the source and drain regions and contacting the second insulating layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: SAMSUNG DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Myoung-Geun Cha, Sang-Ho Park, Hyun-Jae Na, Yoon-Ho Khang, Dae-Ho Kim
  • Patent number: 9978855
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor device at least including an oxide semiconductor film, a gate insulating film in contact with the oxide semiconductor film, and a gate electrode overlapping with the oxide semiconductor film with the gate insulating film therebetween. The oxide semiconductor film has a spin density lower than 9.3×1016 spins/cm3 and a carrier density lower than 1×1015/cm3. The spin density is calculated from a peak of a signal detected at a g value (g) of around 1.93 by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The oxide semiconductor film is formed by a sputtering method while bias power is supplied to the substrate side and self-bias voltage is controlled, and then subjected to heat treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kosei Noda, Suzunosuke Hiraishi
  • Patent number: 9978600
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprises: providing a layer of semiconductor material comprising a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the third portion connecting the first portion to the second portion and providing a semiconductive channel for electrical current flow between the first and second portions; providing a gate terminal arranged with respect to said third portion such that a voltage may be applied to the gate terminal to control an electrical conductivity of said channel; and processing at least one of the first and second portions so as to have an electrical conductivity greater than an electrical conductivity of the channel when no voltage is applied to the gate terminal. In certain embodiments, the processing comprises exposing at least one of the first and second portions to electromagnetic radiation. The first and second portions may be laser annealed to increase their conductivities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Pragmatic Printing Ltd.
    Inventors: Richard Price, Catherine Ramsdale
  • Patent number: 9972542
    Abstract: Semiconductor devices and methods of forming the same include forming stacks of alternating layers of first channel material and second channel material in a first device region and a second device region. A first layer cap is formed at ends of the layers of first channel material. A second layer cap is formed at ends of the layers of second channel material. The first layer caps are etched away in the first device region. The second layer caps are etched away in the second device region. First source/drain regions are grown in the first device region from exposed ends of the layers of the first channel material. Second source/drain regions are grown in the second device region from exposed ends of the layers of the second channel material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Zhenxing Bi, Kangguo Cheng, Peng Xu, Wenyu Xu
  • Patent number: 9966393
    Abstract: A method of fabricating an array substrate, forming a gate line in a display region and a first auxiliary pattern in a non-display region forming a gate insulating layer on the gate line and the first auxiliary pattern forming a data line in the display region and a second auxiliary pattern in the non-display region over the gate insulating layer, wherein the data line crosses the gate line to define a pixel region forming a passivation layer on the data line and the second auxiliary pattern, and the passivation layer including first and second contact holes respectively exposing the first and second auxiliary patterns forming a planarization layer and a bridge pattern on the passivation layer forming a pixel electrode on the planarization layer and in the pixel region, and a connection pattern on the bridge pattern, wherein the connection pattern contacts the first and second auxiliary patterns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: LG DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jin-Su Kim, Sung-Jin Um, Jin-Hyung Jung
  • Patent number: 9960279
    Abstract: Hydrogen concentration and oxygen vacancies in an oxide semiconductor film are reduced. Reliability of a semiconductor device which includes a transistor using an oxide semiconductor film is improved. One embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor device which includes a base insulating film; an oxide semiconductor film formed over the base insulating film; a gate insulating film formed over the oxide semiconductor film; and a gate electrode overlapping with the oxide semiconductor film with the gate insulating film provided therebetween. The base insulating film shows a signal at a g value of 2.01 by electron spin resonance. The oxide semiconductor film does not show a signal at a g value of 1.93 by electron spin resonance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshinari Sasaki, Kosei Noda, Yuhei Sato, Yuta Endo
  • Patent number: 9954084
    Abstract: In a transistor including an oxide semiconductor film, a metal oxide film for preventing electrification which is in contact with the oxide semiconductor film and covers a source electrode and a drain electrode is formed. Then, oxygen is introduced (added) to the oxide semiconductor film through the metal oxide film and heat treatment is performed. Through these steps of oxygen introduction and heat treatment, impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, a hydroxyl group, or hydride are intentionally removed from the oxide semiconductor film, so that the oxide semiconductor film is highly purified. Further, by providing the metal oxide film, generation of a parasitic channel on a back channel side of the oxide semiconductor film can be prevented in the transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9929276
    Abstract: A highly reliable semiconductor device exhibiting stable electrical characteristics is provided. Further, a highly reliable semiconductor device is provided. Oxide semiconductor films are stacked so that the conduction band has a well-shaped structure. Specifically, a transistor having a multi-layer structure is manufactured in which a second oxide semiconductor film having a crystalline structure is stacked over a first oxide semiconductor film, and at least a third oxide semiconductor film is provided over the second oxide semiconductor film. When a buried channel is formed in the transistor, few oxygen vacancies are generated and the reliability of the transistor is improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9904134
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device (LCD) includes gate lines and data lines extending in a first direction and a second direction crossing the first direction, respectively, on a substrate that includes a display region, where a plurality pixel regions are arranged in row lines and column lines, and a non-display region; a common transfer line extending in the second direction in the non-display region; a gate link line traversing the common transfer line and connected to the gate line at a connection region that is located at an inner side of the common transfer line; and a first blocking portion extending from the common transfer line to a space between the connection region and the display region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Dong-Woo Park, Du-Hyun Na
  • Patent number: 9882062
    Abstract: A first oxide insulating film is formed over a substrate. After a first oxide semiconductor film is formed over the first oxide insulating film, heat treatment is performed, so that hydrogen contained in the first oxide semiconductor film is released and part of oxygen contained in the first oxide insulating film is diffused into the first oxide semiconductor film. Thus, a second oxide semiconductor film with reduced hydrogen concentration and reduced oxygen defect is formed. Then, the second oxide semiconductor film is selectively etched to form a third oxide semiconductor film, and a second oxide insulating film is formed. The second oxide insulating film is selectively etched and a protective film covering an end portion of the third oxide semiconductor film is formed. Then, a pair of electrodes, a gate insulating film, and a gate electrode are formed over the third oxide semiconductor film and the protective film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9871139
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a fin field effect transistor (finFET) device with a strained channel. During fabrication, after the fin is formed, a sacrificial epitaxial gate stressor is deposited on the fin, causing strain in the fin. SD structures are then formed to anchor the ends of the fin, and the sacrificial epitaxial gate stressor is removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jorge A. Kittl, Joon Goo Hong, Dharmendar Reddy Palle, Mark S. Rodder
  • Patent number: 9847354
    Abstract: A thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) array substrate is provided, including a base substrate; a first transparent conductive film formed on the base substrate; for each pixel unit of the array substrate the first transparent conductive film comprises at least a first part and a second part that do not contact with each other, and the first part is located under an area of the data line, without contacting the gate line and the common electrode line. When a data line in the array substrate has an open failure, this part of the transparent conductive film can be welded together with the data line using laser welding so as to repair the data line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignees: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Baoquan Zhou
  • Patent number: 9805927
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a first structure having a first insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, and a second insulating layer stacked in this order in a first direction, the first structure extending in a second direction, memory cells provided on a surface of the semiconductor layer facing in a third direction, and connected in series in the second direction, and a third insulating layer contacting at least one of first and second end portions of the first structure in the second direction and not covering at least a part of an area between the first and second end portions. A lattice spacing of semiconductor atoms in the semiconductor layer in the second direction is larger than a lattice spacing of the semiconductor atoms in the semiconductor layer in the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shosuke Fujii, Kiwamu Sakuma, Masumi Saitoh
  • Patent number: 9806137
    Abstract: A display substrate includes a base substrate, a switching device on the base substrate and an alignment pattern. The switching device includes an active pattern, a gate insulation layer pattern partially covering the active pattern, a gate electrode on the gate insulation layer pattern, and a source electrode and a drain electrode electrically connected to the active pattern. The alignment pattern has a multi-layered structure and is spaced apart from the switching device on the base substrate. The alignment pattern includes materials which have different transmittances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sung-Ho Kim, Jong-Moo Huh
  • Patent number: 9780229
    Abstract: An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device including a normally-off oxide semiconductor element whose characteristic variation is small in the long term. A cation containing one or more elements selected from oxygen and halogen is added to an oxide semiconductor layer, thereby suppressing elimination of oxygen, reducing hydrogen, or suppressing movement of hydrogen. Accordingly, carriers in the oxide semiconductor can be reduced and the number of the carriers can be kept constant in the long term. As a result, the semiconductor device including the normally-off oxide semiconductor element whose characteristic variation is small in the long term can be provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2017
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hideomi Suzawa, Shinya Sasagawa
  • Patent number: 9780201
    Abstract: To improve the electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor, and to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device with a small variation in electrical characteristics. The semiconductor device includes a first insulating film, a first barrier film over the first insulating film, a second insulating film over the first barrier film, and a first transistor including a first oxide semiconductor film over the second insulating film. The amount of hydrogen molecules released from the first insulating film at a given temperature higher than or equal to 400° C., which is measured by thermal desorption spectroscopy, is less than or equal to 130% of the amount of released hydrogen molecules at 300° C. The second insulating film includes a region containing oxygen at a higher proportion than oxygen in the stoichiometric composition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2017
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshinori Ando, Hidekazu Miyairi, Naoto Yamade, Asako Higa, Miki Suzuki, Yoshinori Ieda, Yasutaka Suzuki, Kosei Nei, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • 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
  • Patent number: 9754943
    Abstract: A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device includes a substrate, plural word lines and plural bit lines. The word lines are disposed in the substrate along a first trench extending along a first direction. Each of the word lines includes a multi-composition barrier layer, wherein the multi-composition barrier layer includes TiSixNy with x and y being greater than 0 and the multi-composition barrier layer is silicon-rich at a bottom portion thereof and is nitrogen-rich at a top portion thereof. The bit lines are disposed over the word lines and extended along a second direction across the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignees: UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP., Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kai-Jiun Chang, Yi-Wei Chen, Tsun-Min Cheng, Chih-Chieh Tsai, Wei-Hsin Liu, Jui-Min Lee, Chia-Lung Chang
  • Patent number: 9735380
    Abstract: A transistor manufacturing method includes: forming a first insulator layer of which formation material is a fluorine-containing resin, on a substrate having a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a semiconductor layer so as to cover the semiconductor layer; forming a second insulator layer so as to cover the first insulator layer; forming a base film on at least part of a surface of the second insulator layer; and after depositing a metal which is an electroless plating catalyst on a surface of the base film, forming a gate electrode on the surface of the base film by electroless plating, wherein the forming of the base film is performed by applying a liquid substance which is a formation material of the base film to the surface of the second insulator layer, and the second insulator layer has a higher lyophilic property with respect to the liquid substance than the first insulator layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shohei Koizumi, Takashi Sugizaki, Yusuke Kawakami
  • Patent number: 9704985
    Abstract: A semiconductor device of the present invention includes a semiconductor layer, a source region and a drain region formed in a surface of the semiconductor layer, both having a first conductivity type, a plurality of gate trenches each formed so as to extend across the source region and the drain region, in a plan view observed in a direction of a normal to the surface of the semiconductor layer, a channel region of a first conductivity type made of the semiconductor layer sandwiched by the gate trenches adjacent to each other, having a channel length along a direction extending from the drain region to the source region, and a gate electrode buried in the gate trench via a gate insulating film, and the channel region has a thickness in the plan view not more than two times a width of a depletion layer to be generated due to a built-in potential between the channel region and the gate electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2017
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yasushi Hamazawa
  • Patent number: 9685467
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention disclose an array substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, a display device, which relates to the display field, and can increase transmittance of the product, and also has improvement effect to defects such as crosstalk, flicker, etc. An embodiment of the present invention provides an array substrate, comprising: a substrate, a data line, a gate line, a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode formed on the substrate, the thin film transistor comprises a gate insulating layer, a part of the gate insulating layer corresponding to a light-transmissive area of a pixel is removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignees: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jing Xue, Hongjun Yu, Hong Zhu, Hao Wu, Ziwei Cui
  • Patent number: 9673048
    Abstract: A method of producing a thin film transistor includes: forming a gate electrode; forming a gate insulating film that contacts the gate electrode; forming, by a liquid phase method, an oxide semiconductor layer arranged facing the gate electrode with the gate insulating film provided therebetween, the oxide semiconductor layer including a first region and a second region, the first region being represented by In(a)Ga(b)Zn(c)O(d), the second region being represented by In(e)Ga(f)Zn(g)O(h), and the second region being located farther from the gate electrode than the first region; and forming a source electrode and a drain electrode that are arranged apart from each other and are capable of being conductively connected through the oxide semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventors: Masashi Ono, Masahiro Takata, Toshiya Ideue, Atsushi Tanaka, Masayuki Suzuki
  • Patent number: 9666721
    Abstract: High field-effect mobility is provided for a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor. Further, a highly reliable semiconductor device including the transistor is provided. In a transistor in which a stack of oxide semiconductor layers is provided over a gate electrode layer with a gate insulating layer provided therebetween, an oxide semiconductor layer functioning as a current path (channel) of the transistor and containing an n-type impurity is sandwiched between oxide semiconductor layers having lower conductivity than the oxide semiconductor layer. In the oxide semiconductor layer functioning as the channel, a region on the gate insulating layer side contains the n-type impurity at a higher concentration than a region on the back channel side. With such a structure, the channel can be separated from the interface between the oxide semiconductor stack and the insulating layer in contact with the oxide semiconductor stack, so that a buried channel can be formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9646966
    Abstract: A finFET block architecture uses end-to-end finFET blocks. A first set of semiconductor fins having a first conductivity type and a second set of semiconductor fins having a second conductivity type can be aligned end-to-end. An inter-block isolation structure separates the semiconductor fins in the first and second sets. The ends of the fins in the first set are proximal to a first side of the inter-block isolation structure and ends of the fins in the second set are proximal to a second side of the inter-block isolation structure. A patterned gate conductor layer includes a first gate conductor extending across at least one fin in the first set of semiconductor fins, and a second gate conductor extending across at least one fin in the second set of semiconductor fins. The first and second gate conductors are connected by an inter-block conductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: Synopsys, Inc.
    Inventor: Victor Moroz
  • Patent number: 9620529
    Abstract: A display substrate includes a gate line extending in a first direction, a floating electrode disposed on the same layer as the gate line, and a data line. Opposite ends of the floating electrode are electrically connected with the data line. The floating electrode extends in a second direction that crosses the first direction. The data line includes a recess disposed adjacent to the gate line. The data line overlaps with the floating electrode and also extends in the second direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jae-Hwa Park, Do-Yeong Park, Jun-Seok Lee, Ki-Pyo Hong
  • Patent number: 9589991
    Abstract: A thin-film transistor (TFT), a manufacturing method thereof, display substrate and a display device are disclosed. The TFT includes: an active layer, gate insulating layer, gate electrode, interlayer dielectric layer, source electrode and a drain electrode disposed on a base substrate in sequence. The source electrode and drain electrode are respectively connected with the active layer via a through hole exposing the active layer; the gate insulating layer at least includes a silicon oxide layer and a silicon nitride layer in a two-layer structure; the interlayer dielectric layer at least includes silicon oxide layers and silicon nitride layers in a four-layer structure; the silicon oxide layers and silicon nitride layers of the gate insulating layer and the interlayer dielectric layer are alternately arranged; and the dimension of one side of the through hole away from the base substrate is greater than that of one side close to the base substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Zuqiang Wang, Chien Hung Liu
  • Patent number: 9583597
    Abstract: Asymmetric FinFET devices and methods for fabricating such devices are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes providing a semiconductor substrate comprising a plurality of fin structures formed thereon and depositing a conformal liner over the fin structures. A first portion of the conformal liner is removed, leaving a first space between the fins structures and forming a first metal gate in the first space between the fin structures. A second portion of the conformal liner is removed, leaving a second space between the fin structures and forming a second metal gate in the second space between the fin structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignees: GLOBALFOUNDRIES, INC., INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Xiuyu Cai, Ruilong Xie, Kangguo Cheng, Ali Khakifirooz
  • Patent number: 9536974
    Abstract: A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided including forming a gate structure comprising a metal-containing layer over a semiconductor layer and doping the metal-containing layer by tilted ion implantation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc.
    Inventor: Sylvain Henri Baudot
  • Patent number: 9530649
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprises: providing a layer of semiconductor material comprising a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the third portion connecting the first portion to the second portion and providing a semiconductive channel for electrical current flow between the first and second portions; providing a gate terminal arranged with respect to said third portion such that a voltage may be applied to the gate terminal to control an electrical conductivity of said channel; and processing at least one of the first and second portions so as to have an electrical conductivity greater than an electrical conductivity of the channel when no voltage is applied to the gate terminal. In certain embodiments, the processing comprises exposing at least one of the first and second portions to electromagnetic radiation. The first and second portions may be laser annealed to increase their conductivities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: Pragmatic Printing Ltd.
    Inventors: Richard Price, Catherine Ramsdale
  • Patent number: 9508819
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a field effect transistor using a gate last process includes providing the field effect transistor which includes a high-k dielectric formed between an elevated source and an elevated drain and surrounding a metal gate, and performing a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process on an upper surface of the elevated source, and in which a height of the metal gate becomes lower than a height of the elevated source according to the CMP process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kwan Jae Song
  • Patent number: 9496292
    Abstract: The present invention provides a display device having: gate electrodes formed on a transparent substrate; a gate insulating film for covering the gate electrodes; an oxide semiconductor formed on the gate insulating film; drain electrodes and source electrodes formed at a distance from each other with channel regions of the oxide semiconductor in between; an interlayer capacitor film for covering the drain electrodes and source electrodes; common electrodes formed on top of the interlayer capacitor film; and pixel electrodes formed so as to face the common electrodes, and wherein an etching stopper layer for covering the channel regions is formed between the oxide semiconductor and the drain electrodes and source electrodes, the drain electrodes are a multilayer film where a transparent conductive film and a metal film are layered on top of each other, and the drain electrodes and source electrodes make direct contact with the oxide semiconductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventors: Hidekazu Miyake, Norihiro Uemura, Takeshi Noda, Isao Suzumura, Toshiki Kaneko
  • Patent number: 9490254
    Abstract: A FinFET device includes a dielectric layer formed over a semiconductor substrate and having an upper dielectric layer surface. A fin of semiconductor material extends upwards from the substrate through an opening in the dielectric layer. A base portion of the fin, which is recessed below the upper dielectric layer surface, includes a base channel region that separates first and second base source/drain regions. An upper channel region extends upwards from the base channel region and terminates in an upper fin surface disposed above the upper dielectric layer surface. A gate electrode straddles the upper channel region and is separated from the upper channel region by a gate dielectric. First and second epitaxial source/drain regions meet the first and second base source/drain regions, respectively, at first and second interfaces, respectively. The first and second interfaces are recessed in the opening and arranged below the upper dielectric layer surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ru-Shang Hsiao, Chien-Hsun Lin, Sheng-Fu Yu, Yu-Chang Liang, Kuan Yu Chen, Li-Yi Chen
  • Patent number: 9484272
    Abstract: Strained gate-all-around semiconductor devices formed on globally or locally isolated substrates are described. For example, a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate. An insulating structure is disposed above the semiconductor substrate. A three-dimensional channel region is disposed above the insulating structure. Source and drain regions are disposed on either side of the three-dimensional channel region and on an epitaxial seed layer. The epitaxial seed layer is composed of a semiconductor material different from the three-dimensional channel region and disposed on the insulating structure. A gate electrode stack surrounds the three-dimensional channel region with a portion disposed on the insulating structure and laterally adjacent to the epitaxial seed layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Annalisa Cappellani, Abhijit Jayant Pethe, Tahir Ghani, Harry Gomez
  • Patent number: 9461174
    Abstract: A substrate layer formed of a first semiconductor material includes adjacent first and second regions. Fin structures are formed from the substrate layer in both the first and second regions. At least the side walls of the fin structures in the second region are covered with an epitaxially grown layer of second semiconductor material. A drive in process is performed to convert the fin structures in the second region from the first semiconductor material to the second semiconductor material. The first semiconductor material is, for example, silicon, and the second semiconductor material is, for example, silicon germanium or silicon carbide. The fin structures in the first region are provided for a FinFET of a first (for example, n-channel) conductivity type while the fin structures in the second region are provided for a FinFET of a second (for example, p-channel) conductivity type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nicolas Loubet, Hong He, James Kuss
  • Patent number: 9431468
    Abstract: A thin-film semiconductor device includes a substrate, a second protection layer, and an oxide semiconductor layer between the substrate and the second protection layer. The second protection layer has provided therein at least one through-hole in which an extraction electrode is embedded, the extraction electrode being electrically connected with the oxide semiconductor layer. The second protection layer has film density of 2.80 g/cm3 to 3.25 g/cm3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: JOLED INC.
    Inventors: Takahiro Kawashima, Masanori Miura
  • Patent number: 9412822
    Abstract: One method disclosed includes, among other things, covering the top surface and a portion of the sidewalls of an initial fin structure with etch stop material, forming a sacrificial gate structure around the initial fin structure, forming a sidewall spacer adjacent the sacrificial gate structure, removing the sacrificial gate structure, with the etch stop material in position, to thereby define a replacement gate cavity, performing at least one etching process through the replacement gate cavity to remove a portion of the semiconductor substrate material of the fin structure positioned under the replacement gate cavity that is not covered by the etch stop material so as to thereby define a final fin structure and a channel cavity positioned below the final fin structure and substantially filling the channel cavity with a stressed material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignees: GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc., International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Xiuyu Cai, Ruilong Xie, Kangguo Cheng, Ali Khakifirooz, Ajey P. Jacob, Witold P. Maszara
  • Patent number: 9401277
    Abstract: Provided are systems and methods for processing the surface of substrates that scan a laser beam at one or more selected orientation angles. The orientation angle or angles may be selected to reduce substrate warpage. When the substrates are semiconductor wafers having microelectronic devices, the orientation angles may be selected to produce controlled strain and to improve electronic performance of the devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Ultratech, Inc.
    Inventors: Yun Wang, Shaoyin Chen
  • Patent number: 9391143
    Abstract: A method for bonding at low or room temperature includes steps of surface cleaning and activation by cleaning or etching. The method may also include removing by-products of interface polymerization to prevent a reverse polymerization reaction to allow room temperature chemical bonding of materials such as silicon, silicon nitride and SiO2. The surfaces to be bonded are polished to a high degree of smoothness and planarity. VSE may use reactive ion etching or wet etching to slightly etch the surfaces being bonded. The surface roughness and planarity are not degraded and may be enhanced by the VSE process. The etched surfaces may be rinsed in solutions such as ammonium hydroxide or ammonium fluoride to promote the formation of desired bonding species on the surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: ZIPTRONIX, INC.
    Inventors: Qin-Yi Tong, Gaius Gillman Fountain, Jr., Paul M. Enquist
  • Patent number: 9391203
    Abstract: A Fin-FET fabrication approach and structure are provided using channel epitaxial regrowth flow (CRF). The method includes forming a Fin-FET structure including a Si line on a substrate, shallow trench isolation (STI) oxide on both sides of the Si line on the substrate, and a poly wall on top of and across the STI oxide and the Si line, wherein the Si line is higher than the STI oxide from the substrate. The method further includes thinning the STI oxide and the Si line while maintaining about the same height ratio of the Si line and the STI oxide, and forming a spacer wall adjacent to both sides of the poly wall and further adjacent to Si and STI oxide side walls under the poly wall uncovered due thinning the STI oxide and the Si line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ching-Feng Fu, Shih-Ting Hung, Hsin-Chih Chen, Chih-Hsin Ko, Clement Hsingjen Wann
  • Patent number: 9356160
    Abstract: A flat panel sensor and a flat panel detector are provided on the basis of a top-gate TFT structure. The flat panel sensor comprises a base substrate, and a top-gate TFT and a storage capacitor that are formed on the base substrate; the storage capacitor includes a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer disposed in opposition to the first conductive layer, a third conductive layer for output of an electric signal, and a ground line; the first conductive layer is directly connected to a drain electrode and an active layer of the top-gate TFT, the second conductive layer is directly connected to the ground line, and the third conductive layer is connected to the first conductive layer through a via hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Xiaokun Li
  • Patent number: 9343315
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a semiconductor structure is provided, including: providing a solid precursor having a first average particle size; solving the solid precursor in an organic solvent into an intermediate; recrystallizing the intermediate to form solid granules, wherein the solid granules has a second average particle size larger than the first average particle size; vaporizing the solid granules to form a film-forming gas; and depositing the film-forming gas on a substrate to form a resistance film. A method for modifying a resistance film source in a semiconductor fabrication and a solid precursor delivery system are also provided. The method for fabricating a semiconductor structure in the present disclosure can remove small particles or ultra-small particles from solid precursor, and does not need extra time to dump cracked solid precursor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chung-Liang Cheng, Chien-Hao Tseng, Yen-Yu Chen, Ching-Chia Wu, Chang-Sheng Lee, Wei Zhang
  • Patent number: 9337315
    Abstract: A FinFET having spacers with a substantially uniform profile along the length of a gate stack which covers a portion of a fin of semiconductor material formed on a substrate is provided by depositing spacer material conformally on both the fins and gate stack and performing an angled ion impurity implant approximately parallel to the gate stack to selectively cause damage to only spacer material deposited on the fin. Due to the damage caused by the angled implant, the spacer material on the fins can be etched with high selectivity to the spacer material on the gate stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: Veeraraghavan S. Basker, Kangguo Cheng, Bruce B. Doris, Johnathan E. Faltermeier
  • Patent number: 9331175
    Abstract: The disclosure concerns a method of stressing a semiconductor layer comprising: depositing, over a semiconductor on insulator (SOI) structure having a semiconductor layer in contact with an insulating layer, a stress layer; locally stressing said semiconductor layer by forming one or more openings in said stress layer, said openings being aligned with first regions of said semiconductor layer in which transistor channels are to be formed; and deforming second regions of said insulating layer adjacent to said first regions by temporally decreasing, by annealing, the viscosity of said insulator layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics SA, STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Pierre Morin, Denis Rideau, Olivier Nier
  • Patent number: 9318578
    Abstract: A FinFET having spacers with a substantially uniform profile along the length of a gate stack which covers a portion of a fin of semiconductor material formed on a substrate is provided by depositing spacer material conformally on both the fins and gate stack and performing an angled ion impurity implant approximately parallel to the gate stack to selectively cause damage to only spacer material deposited on the fin. Due to the damage caused by the angled implant, the spacer material on the fins can be etched with high selectivity to the spacer material on the gate stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: Veeraraghavan S. Basker, Kangguo Cheng, Bruce B. Doris, Johnathan E. Faltermeier
  • Patent number: 9306077
    Abstract: A method for processing an oxide semiconductor containing indium, gallium, and zinc is provided. In the method, the oxide semiconductor layer comprises a plurality of excess oxygen, a first oxygen vacancy that is close to first indium and captures first hydrogen, and a second oxygen vacancy that is close to second indium and captures second hydrogen, the first hydrogen captured by the first oxygen vacancy is bonded to one of a plurality of excess oxygen to so that a hydroxyl is formed; the hydroxyl is bonded to the second hydrogen captured by the second oxygen vacancy to release as water; and then, the first oxygen vacancy captures one of excess oxygen and the second oxygen vacancy captures one of excess oxygen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2016
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9299769
    Abstract: Semiconductor-on-oxide structures and related methods of forming such structures are disclosed. In one case, a method includes: forming a first dielectric layer over a substrate; forming a first conductive layer over the first dielectric layer, the first conductive layer including one of a metal or a silicide; forming a second dielectric layer over the first conductive layer; bonding a donor wafer to the second dielectric layer, the donor wafer including a donor dielectric and a semiconductor layer; cleaving the donor wafer to remove a portion of the donor semiconductor layer; forming at least one semiconductor isolation region from an unremoved portion of the donor semiconductor layer; and forming a contact to the first conductive layer through donor dielectric and the second dielectric layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: John E. Barth, Jr., Herbert L. Ho, Babar A. Khan, Kirk D. Peterson
  • Patent number: 9299780
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming a plurality of semiconductor fins on an insulator layer of a semiconductor substrate, and forming a plurality of gate stacks on the insulator layer. Each gate stack wraps around a respective portion of the semiconductor fins. The method further includes forming a dielectric layer on the insulator layer. The dielectric layer fills voids between the semiconductor fins and gate stacks, and covers the semiconductor fins. The method further includes etching at least one portion of the semiconductor fins until reaching the insulator layer such that at least one cavity is formed. The cavity exposes seed regions of the semiconductor fins located between adjacent gate stacks. The method further includes epitaxially growing a semiconductor material from the seed regions to form source/drain regions corresponding to a respective gate stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Brian J. Greene, Arvind Kumar, Dan M. Mocuta
  • Patent number: 9299796
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) gate stack structure in an insta-MOS field-effect-transistor (i-MOSFET) includes the following steps of: forming a silicon nitride layer over a silicon substrate; forming a nanopillar structure including a silicon-germanium alloy layer in contact with the silicon nitride layer; and performing a thermal oxidation process on the nanopillar structure to cause germanium atoms in the silicon-germanium alloy layer to penetrate the underneath silicon nitride layer to form a silicon-germanium shell layer in contact with the silicon substrate and a germanium nanosphere located over the silicon germanium shell layer, and to form a separating layer between the silicon-germanium shell layer and the germanium nanosphere by oxidizing silicon atoms from the silicon nitride layer or the silicon substrate, thereby forming a germanium/silicon dioxide/silicon-germanium i-MOS gate stack structure capable of solving interfacial issues between silicon and germanium and b
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: NATIONAL CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Pei-Wen Li, Wei-Ting Lai, Ting-Chia Hsu, Kuo-Ching Yang, Po-Hsiang Liao, Thomas George
  • Patent number: 9293325
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to achieve improvement in performance of a thin film transistor including an oxide as a gate insulating layer, or simplification and energy saving in the processes of producing such a thin film transistor. A thin film transistor (100) of the present invention includes a first oxide layer (possibly containing inevitable impurities) (32) consisting of lanthanum (La) and tantalum (Ta), which has a surface (32a) formed after a precursor layer obtained from a precursor solution as a start material including a precursor containing lanthanum (La) and a precursor containing tantalum (Ta) as solutes is exposed to a hydrochloric acid vapor, between a gate electrode (20) and a channel (52). Moreover, in the thin film transistor, the surface (32a) of the first oxide layer (32) is in contact with the channel (52).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignees: JAPAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY, MITSUBISHI MATERIALS CORPORATION, MITSUBISHI MATERIALS ELECTRONIC CHEMICALS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Shimoda, Hirokazu Tsukada, Takaaki Miyasako
  • Patent number: 9293566
    Abstract: It is an object to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device which includes a thin film transistor having stable electric characteristics. It is another object to manufacture a highly reliable semiconductor device at lower cost with high productivity. In a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device which includes a thin film transistor where a semiconductor layer having a channel formation region, a source region, and a drain region are formed using an oxide semiconductor layer, heat treatment (heat treatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation) is performed so as to improve the purity of the oxide semiconductor layer and reduce impurities such as moisture. Moreover, the oxide semiconductor layer subjected to the heat treatment is slowly cooled under an oxygen atmosphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshinari Sasaki, Junichiro Sakata, Hiroki Ohara, Shunpei Yamazaki