Patents Assigned to SEMICONDUCTORS ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
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Patent number: 6628263Abstract: An information input/output apparatus comprising a display device, a screen on which an image displayed on the display device is projected with magnification, and a position detecting means for detecting a position of an arbitrarily designated particular point on the screen.Type: GrantFiled: August 22, 1997Date of Patent: September 30, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toshimitsu Konuma, Takeshi Nishi, Shunpei Yamazaki
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Publication number: 20030180457Abstract: A manufacturing system capable of enhancing reliability and luminance of a light emitting element is provided which uses an EL material of very high purity in evaporation. The system is also capable of using an EL material efficiently. Instead of a glass jar, a container (first container 11a) to be set in an evaporation apparatus is employed and a material maker (18) stores an EL material (12), or refines it by sublimation and stores, directly in the container. The container is then transferred to a light emitting device maker (19) for evaporation. With a manufacturing system as such, impurities are prevented from contaminating a highly pure EL material. This system also eliminates the trouble of transferring an EL material from a glass jar to a container. The container may be recovered by the material maker and the EL material remaining in the container may be collected for reuse by the manufacturing system.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 3, 2003Publication date: September 25, 2003Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.Inventors: Masakazu Murakami, Hisashi Ohtani, Shunpei Yamazaki, Hideaki Kuwabara
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Publication number: 20030180996Abstract: By providing appropriate TFT structures arranged in various circuits of the semiconductor device in response to the functions required by the circuits, it is made possible to improve the operating performances and the reliability of a semiconductor device, reduce power consumption as well as realizing reduced manufacturing cost and increase in yield by lessening the number of processing steps. An LDD region of a TFT is formed to have a concentration gradient of an impurity element for controlling conductivity which becomes higher as the distance from a drain region decreases. In order to form such an LDD region having a concentration gradient of an impurity element, the present invention uses a method in which a gate electrode having a taper portion is provided to thereby dope an ionized impurity element for controlling conductivity accelerated in the electric field so that it penetrates through the gate electrode and a gate insulating film into a semiconductor layer.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 7, 2003Publication date: September 25, 2003Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hideomi Suzawa, Koji Ono, Yasuyuki Arai
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Patent number: 6624051Abstract: After an amorphous semiconductor thin film is crystallized by utilizing a catalyst element, the catalyst element is removed by performing a heat treatment in an atmosphere containing a halogen element. A resulting crystalline semiconductor thin film has features that it exhibits {111} orientation and that almost all crystal lattices have continuity at a crystal boundary. This type of grain boundaries greatly contribute to improving the carrier mobility, and make it possible to realize, semiconductor devices having very high performance.Type: GrantFiled: August 25, 2000Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Hisashi Ohtani, Shunpei Yamazaki, Jun Koyama, Yasushi Ogata, Akiharu Miyanaga
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Patent number: 6623122Abstract: A light source optical system capable of forming an image having good balance in brightness of red, blue, and green color light, having high overall brightness, and having good color reproducibility, on a screen is provided. The light source optical system has a first lamp, a second lamp, and a condensing optical system for synthesizing a first light emitted from the first lamp and a second light emitted from the second lamp to form irradiation light. The light source optical system is characterized in that the first light and the second light have mutually differing spectral distributions.Type: GrantFiled: September 29, 2000Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Masaaki Hiroki, Takeshi Fukada
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Patent number: 6624012Abstract: To provide a liquid crystal display device having high quality display with a high aperture ratio while securing a sufficient storage capacitor (Cs), and at the same time, by dispersing a load (a pixel writing-in electric current) of a capacitor wiring in a timely manner to effectively reduce the load. A scanning line is formed on a layer that is different from a gate electrode so that the capacitor wiring is arranged in parallel with a signal line. Each pixel is connected to the individually independent capacitor wiring via a dielectric. Therefore, variations in the electric potential of the capacitor wiring caused by a writing-in electric current of adjacent pixels can be avoided, thereby obtaining satisfactory display images.Type: GrantFiled: April 12, 2002Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Hiroshi Shibata, Atsuo Isobe
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Patent number: 6624445Abstract: A semiconductor device using a crystalline semiconductor film is manufactured. The crystalline semiconductor film is formed by providing an amorphous silicon film with a catalyst metal for promoting a crystallization thereof and then heated for performing a thermal crystallization, following which the crystallized film is further exposed to a laser light for improving the crystallinity. The concentration of the catalyst metal in the semiconductor film and the location of the region to be added with the catalyst metal are so selected in order that a desired crystallinity and a desired crystal structure such as a vertical crystal growth or lateral crystal growth can be obtained. Further, active elements and driver elements of a circuit substrate for an active matrix type liquid crystal device are formed by such semiconductor devices having a desired crystallinity and crystal structure respectively.Type: GrantFiled: May 1, 2002Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., LTDInventors: Akiharu Miyanaga, Hisashi Ohtani, Yasuhiko Takemura
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Patent number: 6623836Abstract: A magnetic recording medium having a diamond-like carbon (DLC) film added therein a Group IV element of the periodic table such as silicon, particularly in the vicinity of the boundary between the magnetic material and the formed DLC film. Since a DLC having low friction coefficient can be formed, the centerline average roughness can be reduced to 30 nm or even less. Accordingly, a magnetic recording medium improved in magnetic properties and in lubricity can be obtained.Type: GrantFiled: September 29, 1999Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventor: Shigenori Hayashi
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Patent number: 6624450Abstract: In a thin-film insulated gate type field effect transistor having a metal gate in which the surface of the gate electrode is subjected to anodic oxidation, a silicon nitride film is provided so as to be interposed between the gate electrode and the gate insulating film to prevent invasion of movable ions into a channel, and also to prevent the breakdown of the gate insulating film due to a potential difference between the gate electrode and the channel region. By coating a specific portion of the gate electrode with metal material such as chrome or the like for the anodic oxidation, and then removing only the metal material such as chrome or the like together with the anodic oxide of the metal material such as chrome or the like, an exposed portion of metal gate (e.g. aluminum) is formed, and an upper wiring is connected to the exposed portion.Type: GrantFiled: January 25, 1999Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hongyong Zhang, Yasuhiko Takemura
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Patent number: 6624049Abstract: Catalytic elements such as Ni are intentionally combined with defects that remain inside of a semiconductor substrate or thin film so that the energy state of the defects comes to a stable state. In this state, a heat treatment is conducted in an atmosphere containing halogen element or XV element, and gettering is conducted in such a manner that the catalytic element is taken in an oxide film. The bonds which are divided by separating the catalytic element are recombined through a heat treatment, thereby being capable of improving crystalline property of the semiconductor substrate or thin film remarkably.Type: GrantFiled: October 12, 1999Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
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Patent number: 6624477Abstract: A monolithic circuit comprises a plurality of thin film transistors. Source and drain regions of the TFT are provided with a metal silicide layer having a relatively low resistivity. Thereby, the effective distance between a gate and a source/drain electrode can be reduced.Type: GrantFiled: July 24, 1998Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Yasuhiko Takemura, Hongyong Zhang, Toshimitsu Konuma
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Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same including drain pinned along channel width
Patent number: 6624455Abstract: In a semiconductor device, pining regions 105 are disposed along the junction portion of a drain region 102 and a channel forming region 106 locally in a channel width direction. With this structure, because the spread of a depletion layer from a drain side is restrained by the pining regions 105, a short-channel effect can be restrained effectively. Also, because a passage through which carriers move is ensured, high mobility can be maintained.Type: GrantFiled: October 22, 2002Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Akiharu Miyanaga, Nobuo Kubo -
Patent number: 6624013Abstract: The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and it is an object of the invention to form a semiconductor area formed in island-like patterns as a single crystal or an area which can be regarded as a single crystal, and to simultaneously achieve a laminated structure by which various characteristics of TFTs can be stabilized, wherein an insulation film is formed on a glass substrate, and island-like semiconductor layer is formed thereon. A laser beam passed through a cylindrical lens is made into a linear laser beam and irradiated onto the island-like semiconductor layer by an optical system.Type: GrantFiled: April 18, 2002Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Ritsuko Kawasaki, Kenji Kasahara, Shunpei Yamazaki
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Publication number: 20030173570Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor adapted to be used in an active-matrix liquid-crystal display. The channel length, or the distance between the source region and the drain region, is made larger than the length of the gate electrode taken in the longitudinal direction of the channel. Offset regions are formed in the channel region on the sides of the source and drain regions. No or very weak electric field is applied to these offset regions from the gate electrode.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 18, 2003Publication date: September 18, 2003Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Akira Mase, Masaaki Hiroki, Yasuhiko Takemura, Hongyong Zhang, Hideki Uochi, Hideki Nemoto
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Publication number: 20030173567Abstract: There is disclosed a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device in which a heat treatment time required for crystal growth is shortened and a process is simplified. Two catalytic element introduction regions are arranged at both sides of one active layer and crystallization is made. A boundary portion where crystal growth from one catalytic element introduction region meets crystal growth from the other catalytic element introduction region is formed in a region which becomes a source region or drain region.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 14, 2003Publication date: September 18, 2003Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Chiho Kokubo, Hirokazu Yamagata, Shunpei Yamazaki
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Publication number: 20030173890Abstract: It is not appropriate to use such a brittle material as glass and such a metallic material, which is heavy and inferior in flexibility, as stainless steel in order to supply consumers with display devices convenient to deal with. It is possible to solve the above problem by the present invention. The purpose of the present invention is to supply display devices which are excellent in productivity, light in weight and flexible.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 6, 2003Publication date: September 18, 2003Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Yasuyuki Arai
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Publication number: 20030173566Abstract: A catalytic element is added to an amorphous semiconductor film and heat treatment is conducted therefor to produce a crystalline semiconductor film with good quality, a TFT (semiconductor device) with a satisfactory characteristic is realized using the crystalline semiconductor film. A semiconductor layer includes a region containing an impurity element which has a concentration of 1×1019/cm3 to 1×1021/cm3 and belongs to group 15 of the periodic table and an impurity element which has a concentration of 1.5×1019/cm3 to 3×1021/cm3 and belongs to group 13 of the periodic table, and the region is a region to which a catalytic element left in the semiconductor film (particularly, the channel forming region) moves.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 13, 2003Publication date: September 18, 2003Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Misako Nakazawa, Naoki Makita
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Publication number: 20030174114Abstract: A liquid crystal display device afflicted with no image persistence is disclosed. The liquid crystal display device according to the present invention comprises a pixel portion in which a plurality of pixel TFTs are matrix-wise disposed, a source driver and a gate driver which feed a plurality of the TFTs with picture signals, and a liquid crystal material which has substantially no threshold value, characterized in that one frame is formed of a plurality of sub-frames, and, during at least one of a plurality of the sub-frames, the display by a reset signal is performed.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 10, 2003Publication date: September 18, 2003Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
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Publication number: 20030174106Abstract: In a light emitting apparatus, all pixels are fabricated using monochrome light-emitting materials. Since the light transmittances of color filters or color conversion layers are not uniform among red (R), green (G), and blue (B), exact white color cannot be displayed. In the present invention, dots for producing these colors of light, i.e., red (R), green (G), and blue (B), are arranged parallel to writing scan lines and to erasing scan lines. The brightnesses are made uniform by controlling the emission times of the emitted colors of light. According to the brightnesses obtained after passage through the colored layer with the lowest light transmittance, the emission times of colors of light passed through the other colored layers are shortened. Thus, as the brightness differences after passage can be reduced, the light emitting apparatus can display exact white color.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 12, 2003Publication date: September 18, 2003Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Yoshifumi Tanada, Mitsuaki Osame, Aya Anzai, Shunpei Yamazaki
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Patent number: 6620658Abstract: A gate insulating film of a TFT is formed without increasing a substrate temperature so that a substrate having a low heat resistance such as a plastic substrate can be used. Further, a structure in which an S value of the above TFT is improved and an off leak current is reduced is used to realize the improvement of reliability of a semiconductor device. In the case where the gate insulating film is formed, it is formed by sputtering so that a region having 0.4 atomic % to 1.6 atomic % is present at concentration measurement of hydrogen in the film by an HFS analysis (hydrogen forward scattering analysis). Then, an insulating film is formed thereon by sputtering so that a region having 0.2 atomic % or less is present at concentration measurement of hydrogen in the film by an HFS analysis.Type: GrantFiled: February 11, 2002Date of Patent: September 16, 2003Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.Inventors: Atsuo Isobe, Toru Takayama, Tatsuya Arao, Akihiko Koura