Including Recrystallization Step Patents (Class 438/166)
  • Patent number: 8293626
    Abstract: It is an object to provide a homogeneous semiconductor film in which variation in the size of crystal grains is reduced. Alternatively, it is an object to provide a homogeneous semiconductor film and to achieve cost reduction. By introducing a glass substrate over which an amorphous semiconductor film is formed into a treatment atmosphere set at more than or equal to a temperature that is needed for crystallization, rapid heating due to heat conduction from the treatment atmosphere is performed so that the amorphous semiconductor film is crystallized. More specifically, for example, after the temperature of the treatment atmosphere is increased in advance to a temperature that is needed for crystallization, the substrate over which the semiconductor film is formed is put into the treatment atmosphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideto Ohnuma, Naoki Okuno
  • Patent number: 8288191
    Abstract: A method of forming an inertial sensor provides 1) a device wafer with a two-dimensional array of inertial sensors and 2) a second wafer, and deposits an alloy of aluminum/germanium onto one or both of the wafers. The alloy is deposited and patterned to form a plurality of closed loops. The method then aligns the device wafer and the second wafer, and then positions the alloy between the wafers. Next, the method melts the alloy, and then solidifies the alloy to form a plurality of conductive hermetic seal rings about the plurality of the inertial sensors. The seal rings bond the device wafer to the second wafer. Finally, the method dices the wafers to form a plurality of individual, hermetically sealed inertial sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: John R. Martin, Timothy J. Frey, Christine H. Tsau
  • Patent number: 8288216
    Abstract: A thin film transistor (TFT) and a method of fabricating the same are disclosed. The TFT includes a substrate, a gate electrode disposed over the substrate, a gate insulating layer disposed over the gate electrode, a semiconductor layer disposed over the gate insulating layer and including a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) layer, an ohmic contact layer disposed over a predetermined region of the semiconductor layer, an insulating interlayer disposed over substantially an entire surface of the substrate including the ohmic contact layer, and source and drain electrodes electrically connected to the ohmic contact layer through contact holes formed in the interlayer insulating layer. A barrier layer is interposed between the semiconductor layer and the ohmic contact layer. Thus, when an off-current of a bottom-gate-type TFT is controlled, degradation of characteristics due to a leakage current may be prevented using a simple process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Samsung Mobile Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jin-Hee Kang, Chun-Gi You, Sun Park, Jong-Hyun Park, Yul-Kyu Lee
  • Patent number: 8283671
    Abstract: A thin film transistor, a method of fabricating the same, and an organic light emitting diode display device including the same, which allow a size of a grain of a channel region to be increased, can effectively protect the channel region of a semiconductor layer at the time of etching process, and can reduce processing cost. The thin film transistor includes a substrate, a gate electrode disposed on the substrate, a gate insulating layer disposed on the gate electrode, a semiconductor layer pattern disposed on the gate insulating layer and including a channel region, a source region and a drain region, an etch stop layer pattern disposed on the channel region of the semiconductor layer pattern and having a thickness of 20 to 60 nm, and source and drain electrodes disposed on the source and drain regions of the semiconductor layer pattern, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Samsung Mobile Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Eun-Hyun Kim, Jae-Seob Lee, Dong-Un Jin
  • Patent number: 8278163
    Abstract: A semiconductor processing apparatus includes: a stage on which a substrate having a semiconductor film to be processed is to be mounted; a supply section that supplies a plurality of energy beams onto the semiconductor film mounted on the stage in such a way that irradiation points of the energy beams are aligned at given intervals; and a control section that moves the plurality of energy beams and the substrate relative to each other in a direction not in parallel to alignment of the irradiation points of the plurality of energy beams supplied by the supply section, and scans the semiconductor film with the irradiation points of the plurality of energy beams in parallel to thereby control a heat treatment on the semiconductor film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Akio Machida, Toshio Fujino, Tadahiro Kono, Katsuji Takagi, Shinsuke Haga
  • Patent number: 8278739
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing is: forming an insulating film over a substrate; forming an amorphous semiconductor film over the insulating film; forming over the amorphous semiconductor film, a silicon nitride film in which a film thickness is equal to or more than 200 nm and equal to or less than 1000 nm, equal to or less than 10 atomic % of oxygen is included, and a relative proportion of nitrogen to silicon is equal to or more than 1.3 and equal to or less than 1.5; irradiating the amorphous semiconductor film with a continuous-wave laser light or a laser light with repetition rate of equal to or more than the wave length of 10 MHz transmitting the silicon nitride film to melt and later crystallize the amorphous semiconductor film to form a crystalline semiconductor film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tomoaki Moriwaka
  • Publication number: 20120235239
    Abstract: A method of forming a transistor device includes forming a patterned gate structure over a semiconductor substrate, forming a raised source region over the semiconductor substrate adjacent a source side of the gate structure, and forming silicide contacts on the raised source region, on the patterned gate structure, and on the semiconductor substrate adjacent a drain side of the gate structure. Thereby, a hybrid field effect transistor (FET) structure having a drain side Schottky contact and a raised source side ohmic contact is defined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2011
    Publication date: September 20, 2012
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kangguo Cheng, Ali Khakifirooz, Pranita Kulkarni, Ghavam G. Shahidi
  • Publication number: 20120220085
    Abstract: A thin film transistor (TFT), a method of fabricating the same, and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device including the TFT. The TFT includes a substrate having a pixel region and a non-pixel region, a semiconductor layer, a gate insulating layer, a gate electrode, and source and drain electrodes disposed on the pixel region, at least one gettering site disposed on the non-pixel region, and at least one connection portion to connect the at least one gettering site and the semiconductor layer. The method of fabricating the TFT includes patterning a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) layer to form a plurality of semiconductor layers, connection portions, and at least one gettering site, the semiconductor layers being connected to the at least one gettering site via the connection portions, and annealing the substrate to getter the plurality of semiconductor layers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: SAMSUNG MOBILE DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Joo-Chul YOON, Oh-Seob KWON, Yong-Soo LEE, Su-Bin SONG, Joo-Hwa LEE, Byoung-Keon PARK, Tae-Hoon YANG, Jin-Wook SEO, Ki-Yong LEE
  • Publication number: 20120211758
    Abstract: A thin-film transistor device manufacturing method of forming a crystalline silicon film of stable crystallinity using a laser of a wavelength in a visible region is provided. The thin-film transistor device manufacturing method forms a plurality of gate electrodes above a substrate. A gate insulation layer is formed on the plurality of gate electrodes. An amorphous silicon layer is formed on the gate insulation layer. The amorphous silicon layer is crystallized using predetermined laser light to produce a crystalline silicon layer. A source electrode and a drain electrode are formed on the crystalline silicon layer in a region that corresponds to each of the plurality of gate electrodes. A film thickness of the gate insulation layer and a film thickness of the amorphous silicon layer satisfy predetermined conditional expressions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yuta SUGAWARA
  • Patent number: 8247277
    Abstract: A manufacturing method of a thin film transistor is provided. An insulating pattern layer having at least one protrusion is formed on a substrate. At least one spacer and a plurality of amorphous semiconductor patterns separated from each other are formed on the insulating pattern layer. The spacer is formed at one side of the protrusion and connected between the amorphous semiconductor patterns. The spacer and the amorphous semiconductor patterns are crystallized. The protrusion and the insulating pattern layer below the spacer are removed so that a beam structure having a plurality of corners is formed and suspended over the substrate. A carrier tunneling layer, a carrier trapping layer and a carrier blocking layer are sequentially formed to compliantly wrap the corners of the beam structure. Hereafter, a gate is formed on the substrate to cover the beam structure and wrap the carrier blocking layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd.
    Inventors: Huang-Chung Cheng, Ta-Chuan Liao, Sheng-Kai Chen, Ying-Hui Chen, Chi-Neng Mo
  • Patent number: 8247316
    Abstract: A transistor includes a substrate, an active region including a source region, a channel region, and a drain region which are crystallized using an SGS crystallization method and are formed on the substrate so that a grain size of a first annealed portion and a second annealed portion are different from each other, a gate insulating layer formed on the active region, and a gate electrode formed on the gate insulating layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Samsung Mobile Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Byoungkeon Park, Taehoon Yang, Jinwook Seo, Seihwan Jung, Kiyong Lee, Maxim Lisachenko
  • Patent number: 8232603
    Abstract: A gated diode structure and a method for fabricating the gated diode structure use a relaxed liner that is derived from a stressed liner that is typically used within the context of a field effect transistor formed simultaneously with the gated diode structure. The relaxed liner is formed incident to treatment, such as ion implantation treatment, of the stressed liner. The relaxed liner provides improved gated diode ideality in comparison with the stressed liner, absent any gated diode damage that may occur incident to stripping the stressed liner from the gated diode structure while using a reactive ion etch method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Anthony I. Chou, Gregory G. Freeman, Kevin McStay, Shreesh Narasimha
  • Publication number: 20120184075
    Abstract: A method of forming a semiconductor device includes implanting an amorphizing species into a crystalline semiconductor substrate, the substrate having a transistor gate structure formed thereupon. Carbon is implanted into amorphized regions of the substrate, with specific implant conditions tailored such that the peak concentration of carbon species coincides with the end of the stacking faults, where the stacking faults are created during the recrystallization anneal. The implanted carbon pins partial dislocations so as to prevent the dislocations from disassociating from the end of the stacking faults and moving to a region in the substrate directly below the transistor gate structure. This removes the defects, which cause device leakage fail.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2011
    Publication date: July 19, 2012
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Anthony G. Domenicucci, Shreesh Narasimha, Karen A. Nummy, Viorel C. Ontalus, Yun-Yu Wang
  • Publication number: 20120175625
    Abstract: A transistor having an oxide semiconductor film in a channel formation region and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. The transistor is formed by the steps of: forming a base insulating over a substrate; forming an oxide semiconductor film over the base insulating film; forming a conductive film over the oxide semiconductor film; processing the conductive film to form a source electrode and a drain electrode; processing the oxide semiconductor film; forming a gate insulating film over the source electrode, the drain electrode, and the oxide semiconductor film; and forming a gate electrode over the gate insulating film. The aforementioned manufacturing method allows the formation of a transistor in which a side surface of the oxide semiconductor film is not in direct contact with bottom surfaces of the source electrode and the drain electrode, which contributes to the extremely small leak current of the transistor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2012
    Publication date: July 12, 2012
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shunpei YAMAZAKI
  • Patent number: 8216892
    Abstract: There is provided a method for manufacturing a crystalline semiconductor film. An insulating film is formed over a substrate; an amorphous semiconductor film is formed over the insulating film; a cap film is formed over the amorphous semiconductor film; the amorphous semiconductor film is scanned and irradiated with a continuous wave laser beam or a laser beam with a repetition rate of greater than or equal to 10 MHz, through the cap film; and the amorphous semiconductor film is melted and crystallized At this time, an energy distribution in a length direction and a width direction in a laser beam spot is a Gaussian distribution, and the amorphous semiconductor film is scanned with the laser beam so as to be irradiated with the laser beam for a period of greater than or equal to 5 microseconds and less than or equal to 100 microseconds per region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomoaki Moriwaka, Koichiro Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20120171823
    Abstract: A thin film transistor (TFT), including a crystalline semiconductor pattern on a substrate, a gate insulating layer on the crystalline semiconductor pattern, the gate insulating layer having two first source/drain contact holes and a semiconductor pattern access hole therein, a gate electrode on the gate insulating layer, the gate electrode being between the two first source/drain contact holes, an interlayer insulating layer covering the gate electrode, the interlayer insulating layer having two second source/drain contact holes therein, and source and drain electrodes on the interlayer insulating layer, each of the source and drain electrodes being insulated from the gate electrode, and having a portion connected to the crystalline semiconductor pattern through the first and second source/drain contact holes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2012
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: SAMSUNG MOBILE DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ji-Su Ahn, Eui-Hoon Hwang, Cheol-Ho Yu, Kwang-Nam Kim, Sung-Chul Kim
  • Publication number: 20120171822
    Abstract: A manufacturing method for a low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate, comprising: forming a polysilicon layer on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer on the polysilicon layer; forming a gate metal layer on the gate insulating layer; and patterning the gate metal layer, the gate insulating layer and the polysilicon layer by using a half tone mask (HTM) or a gray tone mask (GTM) so as to obtain a gate electrode and a polysilicon semiconductor pattern in a single mask process, a central part of the polysilicon semiconductor pattern is covered by the gate electrode, and the polysilicon semiconductor pattern has two parts, which are not covered by the gate electrode at two sides of the gate electrode, for forming a source region and a drain region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2011
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Guangcai YUAN, Gang WANG
  • Patent number: 8211786
    Abstract: A semiconductor structure and a method for fabricating the semiconductor structure include a hybrid orientation substrate having a first active region having a first crystallographic orientation that is vertically separated from a second active region having a second crystallographic orientation different than the first crystallographic orientation. A first field effect device having a first gate electrode is located and formed within and upon the first active region and a second field effect device having a second gate electrode is located and formed within and upon the second active region. Upper surfaces of the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode are coplanar. The structure and method allow for avoidance of epitaxial defects generally encountered when using hybrid orientation technology substrates that include coplanar active regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Kangguo Cheng
  • Patent number: 8207050
    Abstract: A crystallization method includes providing a substrate having a silicon thin film; positioning a laser mask having first to fourth blocks on the substrate, each block having a periodic pattern including a plurality of transmitting regions and a blocking region; and crystallizing the silicon thin film by irradiating a laser beam through the laser mask. A polycrystalline silicon film crystallized by this method is substantially free from a shot mark, and has uniform crystalline characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: JaeSung You
  • Patent number: 8202745
    Abstract: A submount for mounting an LED chip includes a substrate, a die attach pad configured to receive an LED chip on an upper surface of the substrate, a first meniscus control feature on the substrate surrounding the die attach pad and defining a first encapsulant region of the upper surface of the substrate, and a second meniscus control feature on the substrate surrounding the first encapsulant region and defining a second encapsulant region of the upper surface of the substrate. The first and second meniscus control features may be substantially coplanar with the die attach pad. A packaged LED includes a submount as described above and further includes an LED chip on the die attach pad, a first encapsulant on the substrate within the first encapsulant region, and a second encapsulant on the substrate within the second encapsulant region and covering the first encapsulant. Method embodiments are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2012
    Assignee: Cree, Inc.
    Inventor: Peter Andrews
  • Publication number: 20120146042
    Abstract: A display device includes: a substrate; gate and data lines crossing each other on the substrate to define a pixel region; a thin film transistor that is connected to the gate and data lines, and includes a gate electrode, an active layer made of micro-crystalline silicon, and source and drain electrodes which are sequentially formed; a passivation layer on the thin film transistor; and a first electrode in the pixel region on the passivation layer and connected to the drain electrode, wherein a first overlap width between the drain electrode and the gate electrode is less than a second overlap width between the source electrode and the gate electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2011
    Publication date: June 14, 2012
    Inventors: Ki-Tae KIM, Sung-Ki Kim, Hong-Koo Lee, Jun-Hyeon Bae
  • Publication number: 20120135571
    Abstract: A manufacturing method of a thin film transistor is provided. An insulating pattern layer having at least one protrusion is formed on a substrate. At least one spacer and a plurality of amorphous semiconductor patterns separated from each other are formed on the insulating pattern layer. The spacer is formed at one side of the protrusion and connected between the amorphous semiconductor patterns. The spacer and the amorphous semiconductor patterns are crystallized. The protrusion and the insulating pattern layer below the spacer are removed so that a beam structure having a plurality of corners is formed and suspended over the substrate. A carrier tunneling layer, a carrier trapping layer and a carrier blocking layer are sequentially formed to compliantly wrap the corners of the beam structure. Hereafter, a gate is formed on the substrate to cover the beam structure and wrap the carrier blocking layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2012
    Publication date: May 31, 2012
    Applicant: CHUNGHWA PICTURE TUBES, LTD.
    Inventors: Huang-Chung Cheng, Ta-Chuan Liao, Sheng-Kai Chen, Ying-Hui Chen, Chi-Neng Mo
  • Patent number: 8178879
    Abstract: An array substrate for a display device includes a gate electrode on a substrate; a gate insulating layer on the gate electrode and having the same plane area and the same plane shape as the gate electrode; an active layer on the gate insulating layer and exposing an edge of the gate insulating layer; an interlayer insulating layer on the active layer and including first and second active contact holes, the first and second active contact holes respectively exposing both sides of the active layers; first and second ohmic contact layers contacting the active layer through the first and second active contact holes, respectively; a source electrode on the first ohmic contact layer; a drain electrode on the second ohmic contact layer; a data line on the interlayer insulating layer and connected to the source electrode; a first passivation layer on the source electrode, the drain electrode and the data line, the first passivation layer, the interlayer insulating layer and the gate insulating layer have a first gat
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hee-Dong Choi, Seong-Moh Seo
  • Publication number: 20120115289
    Abstract: Numerous other aspects are provided a method for making a nonvolatile memory cell. The method includes forming a non-planar dielectric structure, and conformally depositing a semiconductor layer over the dielectric structure. A portion of the semiconductor layer serves as a channel region for a transistor, and the channel region is non-planar in shape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 17, 2012
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Inventor: Roy E. Scheuerlein
  • Patent number: 8158469
    Abstract: A method of fabricating an array substrate includes forming a gate line and a gate electrode; forming a gate insulating layer, an intrinsic amorphous silicon layer, an inorganic material insulating layer and a heat transfer layer on the gate line and the gate electrode; irradiating a laser beam onto the heat transfer layer to crystallize the intrinsic amorphous silicon layer into a polycrystalline silicon layer; removing the heat transfer layer; patterning the inorganic insulating material layer using a buffered oxide etchant to form an etch-stopper corresponding to the gate electrode forming an impurity-doped amorphous silicon layer and a metal layer on the etch-stopper and the polycrystalline silicon layer; patterning the metal layer to form a data line, a source electrode and a drain electrode and forming a pixel electrode on the passivation layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hong-Koo Lee, Sung-Ki Kim, Jun-Hyeon Bae, Ki-Tae Kim
  • Publication number: 20120088340
    Abstract: A thin film transistor, a method of fabricating the same, and an organic light emitting diode display device including the same. The thin film transistor includes: a substrate; a semiconductor layer disposed on the substrate, including a channel region, source/drain regions, and a body contact region; a gate insulating layer disposed on the semiconductor layer so as to expose the body contact region; a gate electrode disposed on the gate insulating layer, so as to contact the body contact region; an interlayer insulating layer disposed on the gate electrode; and source/drain electrodes disposed on the interlayer insulating layer and electrically connected to the source/drain regions. The body contact region is formed in an edge of the semiconductor layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2011
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Applicant: SAMSUNG MOBILE DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Byoung-Keon PARK, Jin-Wook SEO, Tae-Hoon YANG, Kil-Won LEE, Dong-Hyun LEE
  • Patent number: 8143118
    Abstract: A semiconductor device having a highly responsive thin film transistor (TFT) with low subthreshold swing and suppressed decrease in the on-state current and a manufacturing method thereof are demonstrated. The TFT of the present invention is characterized by its semiconductor layer where the thickness of the source region or the drain region is larger than that of the channel formation region. Manufacture of the TFT is readily achieved by the formation of an amorphous semiconductor layer on a projection portion and a depression portion, which is followed by subjecting the melting process of the semiconductor layer, resulting in the formation of a crystalline semiconductor layer having different thicknesses. Selective addition of impurity to the thick portion of the semiconductor layer provides a semiconductor layer in which the channel formation region is thinner than the source or drain region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideto Ohnuma, Atsuo Isobe, Hiromichi Godo
  • Patent number: 8133770
    Abstract: A silicon film is crystallized in a predetermined direction by selectively adding a metal element having a catalytic action for crystallizing an amorphous silicon and annealing. In manufacturing TFT using the crystallized silicon film, TFT provided such that the crystallization direction is roughly parallel to a current-flow between a source and a drain, and TFT provided such that the crystallization direction is roughly vertical to a current-flow between a source and a drain are manufactured. Therefore, TFT capable of conducting a high speed operation and TFT having a low leak current are formed on the same substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasuhiko Takemura
  • Patent number: 8134152
    Abstract: A CMOS thin film transistor arrangement including a PMOS poly-silicon thin film transistor having a top gate configuration and a NMOS oxide thin film transistor having an inverted staggered bottom gate configuration where both transistors share the same gate electrode. The shared gate electrode is used as a doping or implantation mask in the formation of the source and drain regions of the poly-silicon transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Samsung Mobile Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jong-Hyun Choi, Sung-Ho Kim
  • Publication number: 20120056180
    Abstract: A thin film transistor including a substrate, a semiconductor layer, a patterned doped semiconductor layer, a source and a drain, a gate insulation layer, and a gate is provided. The semiconductor layer is disposed on the substrate. The patterned doped semiconductor layer is disposed on opposite sides of the semiconductor layer. The source and the drain are disposed on the patterned doped semiconductor layer and the opposite sides of the semiconductor layer, wherein a part of the semiconductor layer covered by the source and the drain has a first thickness, a part of the semiconductor layer disposed between the source and the drain and not covered by the source and the drain has a second thickness ranging from 200 ? to 800 ?. The gate insulation layer is disposed on the source, the drain and the semiconductor layer. The gate is disposed on the gate insulation layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Publication date: March 8, 2012
    Applicant: AU OPTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Chang-Ken Chen
  • Patent number: 8129215
    Abstract: A method for producing a High Temperature Thin Film Layer On Glass (HTTFLOG) of silicon, which is a precursor component of thin film transistors (TFTs). The invention described here is a superior method of fabricating HTTFLOG precursor structures or components for liquid crystal displays (LCDs) with quicker production time and lower cost of manufacture while enabling a groundbreaking increase in small and large screen resolution. This invention is a new sub-assembly intended for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) consumption and inclusion in display products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2012
    Inventors: James P Campbell, Harry R Campbell, Ann B Campbell, Joel F Farber
  • Publication number: 20120049195
    Abstract: This invention provides a transistor with an etching stop layer and a manufacturing method thereof. The transistor structure includes a substrate, a crystalline semiconductor layer, an etching stop structure, an ohmic contact layer, a source, a drain, a gate insulating layer, and a gate. The manufacturing method is performed by patterning the ohmic contact layer and the crystalline semiconductor layer at the same time with the same mask; and patterning the ohmic contact layer and the source/drain layer at the same time with another the same mask.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2011
    Publication date: March 1, 2012
    Applicant: AU OPTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chin-Wei Hu, Ching-Sang Chuang, Chia-Yu Chen
  • Publication number: 20120049199
    Abstract: A method of forming a polycrystalline layer includes forming a buffer layer on a substrate; treating the buffer layer with hydrogen plasma; forming an amorphous silicon layer on the buffer layer; forming a metallic catalyst layer for crystallizing the amorphous silicon layer on the amorphous silicon layer; and heat treating the amorphous silicon layer to form a polycrystalline silicon layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2011
    Publication date: March 1, 2012
    Inventors: Yun-Mo Chung, Ki-Yong Lee, Jin-Wook Seo, Min-Jae Jeong, Seung-Kyu Park, Yong-Duck Son, Byung-Soo So, Byoung-Keon Park, Kil-Won Lee, Dong-Hyun Lee, Tak-Young Lee, Jong-Ryuk Park
  • Patent number: 8119469
    Abstract: A crystallization method of an amorphous semiconductor layer includes providing an amorphous semiconductor layer having a first thickness, crystallizing the amorphous semiconductor layer in a first direction, partially reducing the crystallized semiconductor layer to a second thickness less than the first thickness and crystallizing the etched semiconductor layer in a second direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Sang Hyun Kim
  • Publication number: 20120028422
    Abstract: A thin film transistor (“TFT”) includes a poly silicon layer formed on a flexible substrate and including a source region, a drain region, and a channel region, and a gate stack formed on the channel region of the poly silicon layer, wherein the gate stack includes first and second gate stacks, and a region of the poly silicon layer between the first and second gate stacks is an off-set region. A method of manufacturing the TFT is also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2011
    Publication date: February 2, 2012
    Applicant: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jang-yeon KWON, Sang-yoon LEE, Jong-man KIM, Kyung-bae PARK, Ji-sim JUNG
  • Publication number: 20120009707
    Abstract: A thin film transistor includes a multi-coaxial silicon nanowire unit including a plurality of coaxial silicon nanowires on a substrate, the multi-coaxial silicon nanowire unit including a central portion and end portions of the central portion; a gate electrode on the central portion; and a source electrode and a drain electrode on the respective end portions, respectively, so as to electrically connect to the multi-coaxial silicon nanowire unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2011
    Publication date: January 12, 2012
    Applicant: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Gee-Sung Chae, Mi-Kyung Park
  • Publication number: 20110318891
    Abstract: A method of crystallizing a silicon thin film, which enables uniforming the size of a crystalline grain of the silicon thin film, includes: a second process of stacking, on a substrate, a first gate electrode having a first reflectivity; a third process of stacking a second gate electrode on the first gate electrode, the second gate electrode having a second reflectivity lower than the first reflectivity and including a top face having an area smaller than an area of the top face of the first gate electrode; a fourth process of stacking a gate insulation film to cover a first region and a second region; a fifth process of stacking a noncrystalline silicon thin film on the stacked gate insulation film; and a sixth process of crystallizing the noncrystalline silicon thin film by irradiating the noncrystalline silicon thin film from above with a laser beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2011
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomohiko ODA, Takahiro KAWASHIMA
  • Publication number: 20110312135
    Abstract: A method of crystallizing a silicon layer and a method of manufacturing a TFT, the method of crystallizing a silicon layer including forming a catalyst metal layer on a substrate; forming a catalyst metal capping pattern on the catalyst metal layer; forming a second amorphous silicon layer on the catalyst metal capping pattern; and heat-treating the second amorphous silicon layer to form a polycrystalline silicon layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Inventors: Seung-Kyu Park, Ki-Yong Lee, Jin-Wook Seo, Min-Jae Jeong, Yun-Mo Chung, Yong-Duck Son, Byung-Soo So, Byoung-Keon Park, Kil-Won Lee, Dong-Hyun Lee, Jong-Ryuk Park, Tak-Young Lee, Jae-Wan Jung
  • Patent number: 8080450
    Abstract: On a translucent substrate, an insulating film having a refractive index n and an amorphous silicon film are deposited successively. By irradiating the amorphous silicon film with a laser beam having a beam shape of a band shape extending along a length direction with a wavelength ?, a plurality of times from a side of amorphous silicon film facing the insulating film, while an irradiation position of the laser beam is shifted each of the plurality of times in a width direction of the band shape by a distance smaller than a width dimension of the band shape, a polycrystalline silicon film is formed from the amorphous silicon film. Forming the polycrystalline silicon film forms crystal grain boundaries which extend in the width direction and are disposed at a mean spacing measured along the length direction and ranging from (?/n)×0.95 to (?/n)×1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Sugahara, Naoki Nakagawa, Shinsuke Yura, Toru Takeguchi, Tomoyuki Irizumi, Kazushi Yamayoshi, Atsuhiro Sono
  • Patent number: 8076187
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a polycrystalline silicon thin film for a thin film transistor (TFT), a mask pattern used for the method, and a method of fabricating a flat panel display device using the method and the mask pattern. In one embodiment, a mask pattern includes a plurality of regions, each of the regions having at least one of one or more transparent portions or one or more non-transparent portions. A total area of the one or more transparent portions and the one or more non-transparent portions in one of the regions is substantially equal to a total area of the one or more transparent portions and the one or more non-transparent portions in at least one other of the regions. A total area of the transparent portions in the mask pattern is different from a total area of the non-transparent portions in the mask pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Mobile Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hye-Hyang Park
  • Patent number: 8058090
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the field of thin film solar cells and particularly to an apparatus and method for manufacturing thin film solar cells. At least one material is deposited onto a substrate, whereby the deposited material is heated by means of heating means on a limited area of the deposited material. The substrate and the heating means are continuously moved in relation to each other until a predetermined area of the deposited material is heated, whereby the heated material is cooled in a controlled way, thus, obtaining a desired crystalline structure of the deposited material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2011
    Assignee: Midsummer AB
    Inventor: Sven Lindström
  • Patent number: 8053297
    Abstract: A thin film transistor (TFT) having improved characteristics, a method for fabricating the same, and an organic light emitting display device (OLED) including the same. The TFT is constructed with a substrate, a semiconductor layer disposed on the substrate and including a channel region, source and drain regions, a gate insulating layer disposed on the semiconductor layer, a gate electrode disposed on the gate insulating layer and corresponding to the channel region, an interlayer insulating layer disposed on the gate electrode, and source and drain electrodes electrically connected to the source and drain regions of the semiconductor layer. The channel region is made from polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si), and the source and drain regions are made from amorphous silicon (a-Si). The polycrystalline silicon of the channel region is formed by crystallizing amorphous silicon using Joule's heat generated by the gate electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Mobile Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: In-Young Jung
  • Patent number: 8053296
    Abstract: The present invention provides a semiconductor device, a method of manufacture therefor, and an integrated circuit including the semiconductor device. The semiconductor device, among other elements, includes a recrystallized polysilicon layer 148 located over a gate electrode layer 143, a capacitor 170 located on the recrystallized polysilicon layer 148. The capacitor 170, in this embodiment, includes a first electrode 173, an insulator 175 located over the first electrode 173, and a second electrode 178 located over the insulator 175.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Jiong-Ping Lu, Haowen Bu, Clint Montgomery
  • Patent number: 8053339
    Abstract: There are provided a structure of a semiconductor device in which low power consumption is realized even in a case where a size of a display region is increased to be a large size screen and a manufacturing method thereof. A gate electrode in a pixel portion is formed as a three layered structure of a material film containing mainly W, a material film containing mainly Al, and a material film containing mainly Ti to reduce a wiring resistance. A wiring is etched using an IPC etching apparatus. The gate electrode has a taper shape and the width of a region which becomes the taper shape is set to be 1 ?m or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hideomi Suzawa, Yoshihiro Kusuyama, Koji Ono, Jun Koyama
  • Patent number: 8048784
    Abstract: Methods for manufacturing a semiconductor device include forming a seed layer containing a silicon material on a substrate. An amorphous silicon layer containing amorphous silicon material is formed on the seed layer. The amorphous silicon layer is doped with an impurity. A laser beam is irradiated onto the amorphous silicon layer to produce a phase change of the amorphous silicon layer and change the amorphous silicon layer into a single-crystal silicon layer based on the seed layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Pil-Kyu Kang, Yong-Hoon Son, Jong-Wook Lee
  • Patent number: 8048773
    Abstract: A single crystal semiconductor separated from a single crystal semiconductor substrate is formed partly over a supporting substrate with a buffer layer provided therebetween. The single crystal semiconductor is separated from the single crystal semiconductor substrate by irradiation with accelerated ions, formation of a fragile layer by the ion irradiation, and heat treatment. A non-single crystal semiconductor layer is formed over the single crystal semiconductor and irradiated with a laser beam to be crystallized, whereby an SOI substrate is manufactured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Masaki Koyama, Kosei Noda, Kenichiro Makino, Hideto Ohnuma, Kosei Nei
  • Patent number: 8049117
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a printed circuit board with a capacitor embedded therein which has a dielectric film using laser lift off, and a capacitor manufactured thereby. In the method, a dielectric film is formed on a transparent substrate and heat-treated. A first conductive layer is formed on the heat-treated dielectric film. A laser beam is irradiated onto a stack formed, from below the transparent substrate, to separate the transparent substrate from the stack. After the transparent substrate is separated from the stack, a second conductive layer is formed with a predetermined pattern on the dielectric film. Also, an insulating layer and a third conductive layer are formed on the first and second conductive layers to alternate with each other in a predetermined number.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jung Won Lee, Yul Kyo Chung, In Hyung Lee
  • Patent number: 8048771
    Abstract: A non-single-crystal semiconductor layer is formed over a substrate, and then a single crystal semiconductor layer is formed over part of the non-single-crystal semiconductor layer. Thus, a semiconductor element of a region which requires a large area (e.g. a pixel region in a display device) can be formed using the non-single-crystal semiconductor layer, and a semiconductor element of a region which requires high speed operation (e.g. a driver circuit region in a display device) can be formed using the single crystal semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomokazu Yokoi, Yujiro Sakurada
  • Patent number: 8043905
    Abstract: To provide a thin film transistor having a high field effect mobility and a small variation in characteristics thereof, a second amorphous semiconductor layer patterned in a predetermined shape is formed on a first crystalline semiconductor layer 17 for constituting source and drain regions. By irradiating an irradiated region 21 of continuous wave laser beam while scanning along a channel length direction, the second amorphous semiconductor layer is crystallized to form a second crystalline semiconductor layer 22. The first crystalline semiconductor layer 17 is crystallized by selectively adding nickel and therefore, an orientation rate of {111} is increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masahiko Hayakawa
  • Patent number: RE43450
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a technology of reducing a nickel element in the silicon film which is crystallized by using nickel. An extremely small amount of nickel is introduced into an amorphous silicon film which is formed on the glass substrate. Then this amorphous silicon film is crystallized by heating. At this time, the nickel element remains in the crystallized silicon film. Then an amorphous silicon film is formed on the surface of the silicon film crystallized with the action of nickel. Then the amorphous silicon film is further heat treated. By carrying out this heat treatment, the nickel element is dispersed from the crystallized silicon film into the amorphous silicon film with the result that the nickel density in the crystallized silicon film is lowered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hisashi Ohtani, Akiharu Miyanaga, Satoshi Teramoto