Patents Represented by Law Firm Benman and Collins
  • Patent number: 5254483
    Abstract: A direct shorting contact structure comprising a metal layer (18') makes ohmic contact with a source (10) and/or drain (12) region and with a gate electrode (22). The direct contact between source or drain and gate over the active region (16) reduces the area otherwise required for such contact and eliminates a second layer (24) of interconnection metallization otherwise required for such contact. The metal layer preferably comprises a first layer (18'a) of a material selected from the group consisting of gold-germanium, nickel-germanium, gold-germanium-nickel, molybdenum-germanium, and aluminum-germanium in ohmic contact with the source or drain region and with the gate electrode and a second layer (18'b) of a good electrically conductive, thermally stable, electromigration-resistant metal capable of providing good step coverage overlying the first layer. An example of the second layer is tungsten and its nitrides and silicides.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1993
    Assignee: Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: C. David Forgerson, II, David A. Johnson
  • Patent number: 5196101
    Abstract: Composite films of multicomponent materials, such as oxides and nitrides, e.g., lead zirconate titanate, are deposited by dc magnetron sputtering, employing a rotating substrate holder, which rotates relative to a plurality of targets, one target for each metal element of the multicomponent material. The sputtering is carried out in a reactive atmosphere. The substrates on which the layers are deposited are at ambient temperature. Following deposition of the composite film, the film is heated to a temperature sufficient to initiate a solid state reaction and form the final product, which is substantially single phase and substantially homogeneous.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: March 23, 1993
    Assignee: Califoria Institute of Technology
    Inventor: Sarita Thakoor
  • Patent number: 5172385
    Abstract: Certain crystalline organic semiconductor compounds, such as 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), when deposited by an ultrahigh vacuum process of organic molecular beam deposition, form highly ordered "quasi-epitaxial" films (32). Due to asymmetries in the molecular crystal structure of such compounds, the ordering of the films results in giant asymmetries in their dielectric properties. Such large dielectric asymmetries permit the construction of a variety of devices, including optical isolators (38), optically isolated lasers (48), optical isolated optical amplifiers (64), polarization-selective photodiodes (76), and metal-organic-inorganic semiconductor-metal detectors, among others.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 15, 1992
    Assignee: University of Southern California
    Inventors: Stephen R. Forrest, Franky F. So, De Y. Zang
  • Patent number: 5153852
    Abstract: The speed and stability of a 4T static RAM cell (10) comprising cross-coupled inverters with two driver transistors (18, 20) and two pass-gate transistors (14,16) are improved by replacing the driver transistors with a modified driver element (33, 35), comprising at least two transistors (18, 18') having common gates and common sources and with a resistor (42) connecting the drains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 6, 1992
    Assignee: Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: William C. Terrell
  • Patent number: 5121174
    Abstract: A direct shorting contact structure comprising a metal layer (18') makes ohmic contact with a source (10) and/or drain (12) region and with a gate electrode (22). The direct contact between source or drain and gate over the active region (16) reduces the area otherwise required for such contact and eliminates a second layer (24) of interconnection metallization otherwise required for such contact. The metal layer preferably comprises a first layer (18'a) of a material selected from the group consisting of gold-germanium, nickel-germanium, gold-germanium-nickel, molybdenum-germanium, and aluminum-germanium in ohmic contact with the source or drain region and with the gate electrode and a second layer (18'b) of a good electrically conductive, thermally stable, electromigration-resistant metal capable of providing good step coverage overlying the first layer. An example of the second layer is tungsten and its nitrides and silicides.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 9, 1992
    Assignee: Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: C. David Forgerson, II, David A. Johnson
  • Patent number: 5121231
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a novel architecture and associated apparatus for the development of highly multiplexed photonic interconnection networks and holographic optical elements with maximum optical throughput efficiency and minimum interchannel crosstalk, based on parallel incoherent/coherent holographic recording and readout principles. This scheme further provides for arbitrarily weighted and independent interconnections, which are of potential importance in the development of neuro-optical computers, as well as photonic interconnection networks and multiplexed holographic optical elements. In addition, the extremely difficult problem of copying the contents of a three-dimensional holographic storage device in one step is soluble by utilization of the architectural principles and specified apparatus that are key features of this invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 9, 1992
    Assignee: University of Southern California
    Inventors: B. Keith Jenkins, Armand R. Tanguay, Jr.