Abstract: A method of optically monitoring the thickness of a layer of material being deposited on a substrate within a reaction chamber comprises forming on a body a diffraction grating profile, exposing the grating profile to a beam of light while depositing the material on both the substrate and the grating profile, whereby the grating profile functions as a relief pattern diffracting the light beam into diffracted beams of various orders, measuring the intensity of the first order (I.sub.1) and second order (I.sub.2) beams to obtain a ratio signal (I.sub.2 /I.sub.1), and then transmitting the ratio signal to processing means for determining the aspect groove width of the relief pattern, whereby the thickness of the depositing layer is determined from a pre-established relationship dependent upon the aspect groove width.

Abstract: An improved bipolar transistor including an emitter region having a relatively high-impurity-concentration portion separated from the base region of the transistor by a significantly lower-impurity-concentration portion disposed therebetween comprises a graded impurity concentration in the low-impurity-concentration portion with the lowest-impurity-concentration section thereof being disposed adjacent the base region.

Abstract: A plastic packaged semiconductor device having a heat sink includes a semiconductor device which requires ultrasonically bonded leads. External leads are attached to the heat sink and have end portions to which ultrasonic bonds can be made. The lead end portions are separated from the heat sink by a body of insulating material. Preferably, the insulating material is an epoxy adhesive which may contain reinforcing glass fibers.

Abstract: A transducer assembly adapted to oscillate at an ultrasonic frequency comprises a metallic foil having a back surface, at least one transducer having one face thereof mounted adjacent to the back surface by conductive means disposed therebetween, and insulating means disposed in the area adjacent to the back surface and surrounding the edges of the transducer for supporting the foil and transducer in relatively fixed relationship.

Abstract: A mask for manufacturing microcircuits is comprised of a substratum and a layer of matter, such as, for example gold, adjacent the substratum. An aperture is located in the layer of matter. The aperture in the layer of matter exhibits a cross-section resembling an inverted isosceles trapezoid. The method for manufacture of the mask comprises the steps of appositioning a patterned layer of photoresist to a layer of gold which is adjacent the substratum. The structure comprising the photoresist, the gold layer and the substratum is exposed to a beam of ions having a preselected kinetic energy such that the ions remove gold exposed by apertures in the photoresist layer. The kinetic energy of the ions is selected such that an aperture is eroded in the layer of gold, the aperture exhibiting an inverted isosceles trapezoidal cross-section.

Abstract: A method of passivating a semiconductor device having at least one active component disposed therein comprises exposing the device to atomic hydrogen at a temperature lower than about 450.degree. C.

Abstract: A readout device is disclosed which comprises a substrate of semiconductive material having a source and drain region formed therein. These regions of the device are placed adjacent to the surface of a dielectric storage medium, selective portions of which, i.e. selective storage locations, are electrostatically charged. The dielectric storage medium has a layer of conductive material formed thereon to which a signal is applied in order to determine whether the storage location being accessed is charged, and, in one embodiment, to determine what the magnitude of that charge might be.

Abstract: An apparatus for detecting ultrasonic energy comprises a chamber, partially filled with a colored liquid, having two sides separated by spacing no greater than about 25 millimeters and having a transparent section allowing for visual observation of the height of the liquid therein. A method of detecting the energy level of a beam of ultrasonic energy being propagated through a fluid comprises positioning the apparatus in the fluid so that the beam of energy strikes the liquid at the surface thereof, whereby the beam generates a visible arc-shaped spray having an amplitude proportional to the energy level of the beam.

Abstract: A monolithic semiconductor device including a resistor comprising a first region of one type conductivity, has means for controllably establishing the value of the resistor comprising two additional regions of the opposite type conductivity disposed respectively on opposite sides of the conductive path of the resistor, whereby the width of the resistor is defined by the extent of the additional regions into the first region. Where the monolithic semiconductor device comprises an integrated circuit device including a lateral transistor, the additional regions may be formed simultaneously with the emitter and collector regions of the transistor while utilizing the same doping mask, whereby any variation in the base width of the transistor is made proportional to the variation in the width of the resistor.

Abstract: An integral graphite susceptor of the type comprising a hollow polyhedron, adapted to support a semiconductor substrate on an outer planar surface of a wall thereof, has a recessed cavity adjacent the inner surface of the wall and shaped so that the floor of the cavity is parallel to the outer planar surface. The cavity may comprise an oblong-shaped slot machined into the wall of the susceptor, which is typically a hollow truncated pyramid.

Abstract: A semiconductor device including a body of semiconductor material with a metallic conductor disposed thereon has a combination glass/low-temperature-(typically 300.degree. C) deposited Si.sub.w N.sub.x H.sub.y O.sub.z passivating overcoat with improved crack and corrosion resistance. This nitride is formed over the conductor, with the glass over the nitride.

Abstract: A semiconductor device having an improved passivating structure comprises a first primary passivating layer free of any layer of silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4), disposed on a surface of a semiconductor body, a metallic conductor disposed on the first passivating layer, and a secondary passivating overcoat disposed over the metallic conductor, wherein the secondary passivating overcoat includes both a glass layer on the conductor and a low-temperature-deposited (typically 300.degree. C) nitride layer on the glass layer. The device is highly resistant to degradation in the presence of water vapor and corrosive atmospheres.

Abstract: A method of forming patterned polycrystalline silicon having a rounded profile on a substrate comprises providing a defined source of one type conductivity modifiers adjacent the substrate where the silicon is to be formed, depositing a film of polycrystalline silicon over the defined source, diffusing the conductivity modifiers from the defined source into regions of the film adjacent thereto, and then contacting the entire surface of the film with a solvent in which the film is soluble but in which the regions doped with the one type conductivity modifiers are substantially insoluble, thereby removing regions of the film that are substantially void of the one type conductivity modifiers.

Abstract: A semiconductor device including a body of semiconductor material with a metallic conductor disposed thereon has a combination glass/low-temperature-(typically 300.degree. C) deposited Si.sub.w N.sub.x H.sub.y O.sub.z passivating overcoat with improved crack and corrosion resistance. A primary passivating layer including Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 is between the semiconductor surface and the metallic conductor, and the glass is formed over the metallic conductor, with the low-temperature-deposited nitride over the glass.

Abstract: A semiconductor wafer vacuum chuck used as part of a photographic wafer-alignment machine for performing contactless photolithography has integral spacer means disposed on a substantially planar surface thereof for mechanically maintaining a fixed distance between portions of a wafer positioned adjacent the spacer means and the surface of the wafer chuck, whereby a controlled separation is provided between a surface of the wafer and a photographic mask overlying the surface of the wafer upon the application of a vacuum to the surface of the wafer chuck.

Abstract: An apparatus for chemically vapor-depositing a material onto surfaces of a plurality of substrates within a reaction chamber comprises means positioned within the chamber for supporting the substrates in a stack-like relationship wherein the surfaces are substantially parallel to each other and are separated by spacings, and a plurality of gas nozzles connected to a source of gas and positioned within the chamber so that the flow of gas therefrom is directed, respectively, into the spacings between the surfaces. A method of utilizing this apparatus comprises rotating the substrates while moving the nozzles back and forth in an arc, so that the flow of gas therefrom is directed into the spacings at different angles. Uniform deposition of the material onto the substrates is further improved by maintaining the pressure of the gas within the chamber between about 1 and 100 Torr.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for implanting dopant material into a substrate of semiconductive material in a preselected pattern without utilizing a mask comprises the use of a source template which is formed of the desired dopant material in the configuration of the pattern to be implanted. Ions of the dopant material are sputtered from the template by bombardment with an ionized gas, and these dopant ions are then filtered from unwanted ion species and accelerated into the substrate while remaining in the original template pattern.

Abstract: A method for making an apertured aluminum oxide substrate by selectively masking a sapphire wafer, depositing aluminum oxide adjacent the wafer and the mask, and removing the aluminum oxide deposited adjacent the mask and the mask, whereby an aperture is formed in the aluminum oxide. A composite is thus formed of an insulating substrate of monocrystalline sapphire with an insulating epitaxial layer of aluminum oxide apposed thereto, the epitaxial layer having an aperture therein which may be filled with an island of epitaxial silicon.

Abstract: An apparatus for chemically vapor-depositing a material onto surfaces of a plurality of substrates within a reaction chamber comprises means positioned within the chamber for supporting the substrates in a stack-like relationship wherein the surfaces are substantially parallel to each other and are separated by spacings, and a plurality of gas nozzles connected to a source of gas and positioned within the chamber so that the flow of gas therefrom is directed, respectively, into the spacings between the surfaces. A method of utilizing this apparatus comprises rotating the substrates while moving the nozzles back and forth in an arc, so that the flow of gas therefrom is directed into the spacings at different angles.

Abstract: A monolithic semiconductor device including a resistor comprising a first region of one type conductivity, has means for controllably establishing the value of the resistor comprising two additional regions of the opposite type conductivity disposed respectively on opposite sides of the conductive path of the resistor, whereby the width of the resistor is defined by the extent of the additional regions into the first region. Where the monolithic semiconductor device comprises an integrated circuit device including a lateral transistor, the additional regions may be formed simultaneously with the emitter and collector regions of the transistor while utilizing the same doping mask, whereby any variation in the base width of the transistor is made proportional to the variation in the width of the resistor.