Patents Assigned to MEMC
  • SYSTEMS FOR PRODUCING SILANE
    Publication number: 20130121888
    Abstract: Methods and systems for producing silane that use electrolysis to regenerate reactive components therein are disclosed. The methods and systems may be substantially closed-loop with respect to halogen, an alkali or alkaline earth metal and/or hydrogen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2012
    Publication date: May 16, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
  • Methods for reducing the width of the unbonded region in SOI structures
    Patent number: 8440541
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to preparation of silicon on insulator structures with reduced unbonded regions and to methods for producing such wafers by minimizing the roll-off amount (ROA) of the handle and donor wafers. Methods for polishing wafers are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: John A. Pitney, Ichiro Yoshimura, Lu Fei
  • CLAMPING APPARATUS FOR CLEAVING A BONDED WAFER STRUCTURE
    Publication number: 20130105539
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for mechanically cleaving a bonded wafer structure are disclosed. The apparatus and methods involve clamps that grip the bonded wafer structure and are actuated to cause the bonded structure to cleave.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2012
    Publication date: May 2, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventor: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
  • METHODS FOR CLEAVING A BONDED WAFER STRUCTURE
    Publication number: 20130105538
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for mechanically cleaving a bonded wafer structure are disclosed. The apparatus and methods involve clamps that grip the bonded wafer structure and are actuated to cause the bonded structure to cleave.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2012
    Publication date: May 2, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventor: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
  • PROCESSES FOR SUPPRESSING MINORITY CARRIER LIFETIME DEGRADATION IN SILICON WAFERS
    Publication number: 20130102129
    Abstract: Processes for suppressing minority carrier lifetime degradation in silicon wafers are disclosed. The processes involve quench cooling the wafers to increase the density of nano-precipitates in the silicon wafers and the rate at which interstitial atoms are consumed by the nano-precipitates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2012
    Publication date: April 25, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC SINGAPORE PTE. LTD. (UEN200614794D)
    Inventors: Robert J. Falster, Vladimir V. Voronkov
  • Direct Formation of Graphene on Semiconductor Substrates
    Publication number: 20130099195
    Abstract: The invention generally related to a method for preparing a layer of graphene directly on the surface of a semiconductor substrate. The method includes forming a carbon-containing layer on a front surface of a semiconductor substrate and depositing a metal film on the carbon layer. A thermal cycle degrades the carbon-containing layer, which forms graphene directly upon the semiconductor substrate upon cooling. In some embodiments, the carbon source is a carbon-containing gas, and the thermal cycle causes diffusion of carbon atoms into the metal film, which, upon cooling, segregate and precipitate into a layer of graphene directly on the semiconductor substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2012
    Publication date: April 25, 2013
    Applicants: KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc., Kansas State University Research Foundation
  • Wafer support ring
    Patent number: 8420554
    Abstract: A wafer support ring and a method of using the same are disclosed herein. The support ring supports a wafer during a first processing operation. A top surface of the support ring is in contact with a first plurality of locations on a surface of the wafer during the first processing operation. A second wafer support structure is used to support the wafer during a second processing operation. A top surface of the second wafer support structure is in contact with a second, different plurality of locations on the surface of the wafer during the second processing operation. The wafer support ring may also have an outer lip disposed about an outer periphery of the support ring that has a depth such that it does not form part of the top surface of the support ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Brian Lawrence Gilmore
  • Systems and Methods For Connecting An Ingot To A Wire Saw
    Publication number: 20130087132
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for connecting an ingot to a wire saw with an ingot holder, a bond beam, and a bar. The bar has an angled mating surface that engages a recessed surface formed in a slot of the bond beam. Mechanical fasteners are used to connect the tee bar to the ingot holder. The angle of the mating surface with respect to the recessed surface of the slot prevents deformation of the bond beam and prevents compromising the integrity of the adhesive bond between the ingot and the bond beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2011
    Publication date: April 11, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventor: Peter D. Albrecht
  • PRODUCTION OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON BY THE THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF SILANE IN A FLUIDIZED BED REACTOR
    Publication number: 20130084233
    Abstract: Processes for producing polycrystalline silicon by thermal decomposition of silane are disclosed. The processes generally involve thermal decomposition of silane in a fluidized bed reactor operated at reaction conditions that result in a high rate of productivity relative to conventional production processes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Publication date: April 4, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventor: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
  • PRODUCTION OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON BY THE THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF SILANE IN A FLUIDIZED BED REACTOR
    Publication number: 20130084234
    Abstract: Processes for producing polycrystalline silicon by thermal decomposition of silane are disclosed. The processes generally involve thermal decomposition of silane in a fluidized bed reactor operated at reaction conditions that result in a high rate of productivity relative to conventional production processes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Publication date: April 4, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventor: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
  • Epitaxial barrel susceptor having improved thickness uniformity
    Patent number: 8404049
    Abstract: A barrel susceptor for supporting semiconductor wafers in a heated chamber having an interior space. Each of the wafers has a front surface, a back surface and a circumferential side. The susceptor includes a body having a plurality of faces arranged around an imaginary central axis of the body. Each face has an outer surface and a recess extending laterally inward into the body from the outer surface. Each recess is surrounded by a rim defining the respective recess. The susceptor also includes a plurality of ledges extending outward from the body. Each of the ledges is positioned in one of the recesses and includes an upward facing support surface for supporting a semiconductor wafer received in the recess. Each of the support surfaces is separate from the outer surface of the respective face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Lance G. Hellwig, Srikanth Kommu, John A. Pitney
  • Methods for producing polycrystalline silicon that reduce the deposition of silicon on reactor walls
    Patent number: 8404206
    Abstract: Gas distribution units of fluidized bed reactors are configured to direct thermally decomposable compounds to the center portion of the reactor and away from the reactor wall to prevent deposition of material on the reactor wall and process for producing polycrystalline silicon product in a reactor that reduce the amount of silicon which deposits on the reactor wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Milind S. Kulkarni, Puneet Gupta, Balaji Devulapalli, Jameel Ibrahim, Vithal Revankar, Kwasi Foli
  • Controlling a melt-solid interface shape of a growing silicon crystal using an unbalanced magnetic field and iso-rotation
    Patent number: 8398765
    Abstract: A system for growing silicon crystals that facilitates controlling a shape of a melt-solid interface is described. The crystal growing system includes a heated crucible including a semiconductor melt from which a monocrystalline ingot is grown according to a Czochralski process. The ingot is grown on a seed crystal pulled from the melt. The method includes applying an unbalanced cusped magnetic field to the melt, and rotating the ingot and the crucible in the same direction while the ingot is being pulled from the melt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Hariprasad Sreedharamurthy, Milind Kulkarni, Richard G. Schrenker, Joseph C. Holzer, Harold W. Korb
  • Systems and Methods for Cleaving A Bonded Wafer Pair
    Publication number: 20130062020
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for mechanically cleaving a bonded wafer pair by controlling the rate of cleaving. This controlled rate of cleaving results in a reduction or elimination of non-uniform thickness variations in the cleaved surface of the resulting SOI wafer. One embodiment uses flexible chucks attached to the faces of the wafers and actuators attached to the flexible chucks to cleave the bonded wafer pair. Other embodiments also use rollers in contact with the surfaces to control the rate of cleaving.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Michael John Ries, Jeffrey L. Libbert, Dale A. Witte
  • Systems for producing silane
    Patent number: 8388914
    Abstract: Methods and systems for producing silane that use electrolysis to regenerate reactive components therein are disclosed. The methods and systems may be substantially closed-loop with respect to halogen, an alkali or alkaline earth metal and/or hydrogen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Puneet Gupta, Henry Erk, Alexis Grabbe
  • Methods for producing aluminum trifluoride
    Patent number: 8388925
    Abstract: Methods for producing aluminum trifluoride by acid digestion of fluoride salts of alkali metal or alkaline earth metal and aluminum, optionally, in the presence of a source of silicon; methods for producing silane that include acid digestion of by-products of silane production to produce aluminum trifluoride.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Puneet Gupta, Satish Bhusarapu
  • Method for the preparation of a multi-layered crystalline structure
    Patent number: 8367519
    Abstract: This invention generally relates to a process for making a multi-layered crystalline structure. The process includes implanting ions into a donor structure, bonding the implanted donor structure to a second structure to form a bonded structure, cleaving the bonded structure, and removing any residual portion of the donor structure from the finished multi-layered crystalline structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Dale A. Witte, Jeffrey L. Libbert
  • Methods and Systems For Monitoring and Controlling Silicon Rod Temperature
    Publication number: 20130017139
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for monitoring and controlling silicon rod temperature. One example is a method of monitoring a surface temperature of at least one silicon rod in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor during a CVD process. The method includes capturing an image of an interior of the CVD reactor. The image includes a silicon rod. The image is scanned to identify a left edge of the silicon rod and a right edge of the silicon rod. A target area is identified midway between the left edge and the right edge. A temperature of the silicon rod in the target area is determined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 6, 2012
    Publication date: January 17, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS SPA
    Inventor: Enrico Rigon
  • Saw For Cutting Silicon Into Seed Rods For Use In A Chemical Vapor Deposition Polysilicon Reactor
    Publication number: 20130014738
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for cutting silicon into seed rods for use in a chemical vapor deposition polysilicon reactor. A method includes cutting the silicon ingot with saw blades into silicon slabs, rotating the silicon slabs, and cutting the silicon slabs into smaller-sized silicon seed rods for use in the chemical vapor deposition polysilicon reactor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2012
    Publication date: January 17, 2013
    Applicant: MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS SPA
    Inventors: Paolo Molino, Rodolfo Bovo
  • Systems for weighing a pulled object having a changing weight
    Patent number: 8347740
    Abstract: A system for measuring the weight of an object while pulling the object upward includes a puller having a frame and a cable having a first end coupled to the object and a second end engaging a second cylinder. At least a portion of the cable engages the outer circumferential surface of a first cylinder and the second cylinder. The apparatus also includes an upper arm and an actuator. A force measurement device is coupled to the first cylinder and to the upper arm and measures the weight of the object. The actuator is operable to lower and raise the weight measurement device and the first cylinder. In some embodiments, the position of the cable with respect to the frame may be adjusted by a dampening system or a bushing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Harold Korb