Patents Assigned to Soitec
  • Publication number: 20220298007
    Abstract: A method for sealing cavities using membranes, the method including a) forming cavities arranged in a matrix, of a depth p, a characteristic dimension a, and spaced apart by a spacing b; and b) forming membranes, sealing the cavities, by transferring a sealing film. The method further includes a step a1), executed before step b), of forming a first contour on the front face and/or on the sealing face, the first contour comprising a first trench having a width L and a first depth p1, the formation of the first contour being executed such that after step b) the cavities are circumscribed by the first contour, said first contour being at a distance G from the cavities between one-fifth of b and five b.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2020
    Publication date: September 22, 2022
    Applicants: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, SOITEC
    Inventors: Thierry SALVETAT, Bruno GHYSELEN, Lamine BENAISSA, Caroline COUTIER, Gweltaz GAUDIN
  • Patent number: 11430910
    Abstract: An engineered substrate comprises: a seed layer made of a first semiconductor material for growth of a solar cell; a support substrate comprising a base and a surface layer epitaxially grown on a first side of the base, the base and the surface layer made of a second semiconductor material; a direct bonding interface between the seed layer and the surface layer; wherein a doping concentration of the surface layer is higher than a predetermined value such that the electrical resistivity at the direct bonding interface is below 10 mOhm·cm2, preferably below 1 mOhm·cm2; and wherein a doping concentration of the base as well as the thickness of the engineered substrate are such that absorption of the engineered substrate is less than 20%, preferably less than 10%, and total area-normalized series resistance of the engineered substrate is less than 10 mOhm·cm2, preferably less than 1 mOhm·cm2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Cécile Aulnette, Frank Dimroth, Eduard Oliva
  • Patent number: 11424156
    Abstract: A detachable structure comprises a carrier substrate and a silicon oxide layer positioned on the substrate at a first interface. The detachable structure is notable in that: the oxide layer has a thickness of less than 200 nm; light hydrogen and/or helium species are distributed deeply and over the entire area of the structure according to an implantation profile, a maximum concentration of which is located in the thickness of the oxide layer; the total dose of implanted light species, relative to the thickness of the oxide layer, exceeds, at least by a factor of five, the solubility limit of these light species in the oxide layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Didier Landru, Oleg Kononchuk, Nadia Ben Mohamed, Rénald Guerin, Norbert Colombet
  • Patent number: 11398595
    Abstract: A method for treating a layer of composition ABO3, wherein A is a first material composition consisting of at least one element selected from the group consisting of: Li, Na, K, H, Ca, Mg, Ba, Sr, Pb, La, Bi, Y, Dy, Gd, Tb, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Ho, Zr, Sc, Ag, and Tl, and wherein B is a second material composition consisting of at least one element selected from the group consisting of: Nb, Ta, Sb, Ti, Zr, Sn, Ru, Fe, V, Sc, C, Ga, Al, Si, Mn, Zr, and Tl, is described. The method includes implanting an ionic species into a donor substrate of the composition ABO3, thereby forming a weakened zone delineating the layer, detaching the layer from the donor substrate along the weakened zone, and exposing the detached layer to a medium containing ions of a constituent element A, such that the ions penetrate into the layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: SOITEC
    Inventor: Bruno Ghyselen
  • Patent number: 11373898
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a semiconductor on insulator type structure by transfer of a layer from a donor substrate onto a receiver substrate, comprises: a) the supply of the donor substrate and the receiver substrate, b) the formation in the donor substrate of an embrittlement zone delimiting the layer to transfer, c) the bonding of the donor substrate on the receiver substrate, the surface of the donor substrate opposite to the embrittlement zone with respect to the layer to transfer being at the bonding interface, and d) the detachment of the donor substrate along the embrittlement zone. A step of controlled modification of the curvature of the donor substrate and/or the receiver substrate is performed before the bonding step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Daniel Delprat, Damien Parissi, Marcel Broekaart
  • Patent number: 11373856
    Abstract: A support for a semiconductor structure includes a base substrate, a first silicon dioxide insulating layer positioned on the base substrate and having a thickness greater than 20 nm, and a charge trapping layer having a resistivity higher than 1000 ohm·cm and a thickness greater than 5 microns positioned on the first insulating layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Patrick Reynaud, Marcel Broekaart, Frederic Allibert, Christelle Veytizou, Luciana Capello, Isabelle Bertrand
  • Patent number: 11373897
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a film on a support having a non-flat surface comprises: providing a donor substrate having a non-flat surface, forming an embrittlement zone in the donor substrate so as to delimit the film to be transferred, forming the support by deposition on the non-flat surface of the film to be transferred, and detaching the donor substrate along the embrittlement zone, so as to transfer the film onto the support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Bruno Ghyselen, Jean-Marc Bethoux
  • Patent number: 11367650
    Abstract: Substrates for microelectronic radiofrequency devices may include a substrate comprising a semiconductor material. Trenches may be located in an upper surface of the substrate, at least some of the trenches including a filler material located within the respective trench. A resistivity of the filler material may be 10 kOhms·cm or greater. A piezoelectric material may be located on or above the upper surface of the substrate. Methods of making substrates for microelectronic radiofrequency devices may involve forming trenches in an upper surface of a substrate including a semiconductor material. A filler material may be placed in at least some of the trenches, and a piezoelectric material may be placed on or above the upper surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Eric Desbonnets, Ionut Radu, Oleg Kononchuk, Jean-Pierre Raskin
  • Patent number: 11349065
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a hybrid structure comprising an effective layer of piezoelectric material having an effective thickness and disposed on a supporting substrate having a substrate thickness and a thermal expansion coefficient lower than that of the effective layer includes: a) a step of providing a bonded structure comprising a piezoelectric material donor substrate and the supporting substrate, b) a first step of thinning the donor substrate to form a thinned layer having an intermediate thickness and disposed on the supporting substrate, the assembly forming a thinned structure; c) a step of heat treating the thinned structure at an annealing temperature; and d) a second step, after step c), of thinning the thinned layer to form the effective layer. The method also comprises, prior to step b), a step a?) of determining a range of intermediate thicknesses that prevent the thinned structure from being damaged during step c).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventor: Didier Landru
  • Patent number: 11335847
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a hybrid structure for a surface-acoustic-wave device comprising a useful layer of piezoelectric material joined to a carrier substrate having a thermal expansion coefficient lower than that of the useful layer; the hybrid structure comprising an intermediate layer located between the useful layer and the carrier substrate, the intermediate layer being a structured layer formed from at least two different materials comprising a plurality of periodic motifs in the plane of the intermediate layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Oleg Kononchuk, Eric Butaud, Eric Desbonnets
  • Patent number: 11309399
    Abstract: A process for preparing a thin layer made of ferroelectric material based on alkali metal, exhibiting a determined Curie temperature, transferred from a donor substrate to a carrier substrate by using a transfer technique including implanting light species into the donor substrate in order to produce an embrittlement plane, the thin layer having a first, free face and a second face that is arranged on the carrier substrate. The process comprises a first heat treatment of the transferred thin layer at a temperature higher than the Curie temperature, the thin layer exhibiting a multi-domain character upon completion of the first heat treatment, and introducing, after the first heat treatment, protons into the thin layer, followed by applying a second heat treatment of the thin layer at a temperature lower than the Curie temperature to generate an internal electric field that results in the thin layer being made single domain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventor: Alexis Drouin
  • Patent number: 11295950
    Abstract: A structure that can be used to manufacture at least one active layer made of a III-V material thereon includes a substrate comprising a carrier having a main face, a dielectric layer located on the main face of the carrier, and a plurality of single-crystal semiconductor islands located directly on the dielectric layer. The islands have an upper surface in order to serve as a seed surface for the growth of the active layer. The structure further comprises a seed layer located between the single-crystal semiconductor islands, directly on the portion of the dielectric layer that is not covered by the islands, without masking the upper surface of the islands, so that the dielectric layer is not exposed to the external environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: David Sotta, Jean-Marc Bethoux, Oleg Kononchuk
  • Patent number: 11287249
    Abstract: A system for in-situ measurement of a curvature of a surface of a wafer comprises: a multiwavelength light source module, adapted to emit incident light comprising a plurality of wavelengths; an optical setup configured to combine the incident light into a single beam and to guide the single beam towards a surface of a wafer such that the single beam hits the surface at a single measuring spot on the surface; and a curvature determining unit, configured to determine a curvature of the surface of the wafer from reflected light corresponding to the single beam being reflected on the surface at the single measuring spot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: SOITEC BELGIUM
    Inventors: Roland Pusche, Stefan Degroote, Joff Derluyn
  • Patent number: 11282889
    Abstract: A substrate for a front-side type image sensor includes a supporting semiconductor substrate, an electrically insulating layer, and a silicon-germanium semiconductor layer, known as the active layer. The electrically insulating layer includes a stack of dielectric and metallic layers selected such that the reflectivity of the stack in a wavelength range of between 700 nm and 3 ?m is greater than the reflectivity of a silicon oxide layer having a thickness equal to that of the stack. The substrate also comprises a silicon layer between the electrically insulating layer and the silicon-germanium active layer. The disclosure also relates to a method for the production of such a substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Walter Schwarzenbach, Oleg Kononchuk, Ludovic Ecarnot, Christelle Michau
  • Patent number: 11276605
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a semiconductor substrate includes the following activities: a) providing a donor substrate with a weakened zone inside the donor substrate, the weakened zone forming a border between a layer to be transferred and the rest of the donor substrate, b) attaching the donor substrate to a receiver substrate, the layer to be transferred being located at the interface between the donor substrate and the receiver substrate; c) detaching the receiver substrate along with the transferred layer from the rest of the donor substrate, at the weakened zone; and d) at least one step of smoothing the surface of the transferred layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate obtained from step c) is kept, at least from the moment of detachment until the end of the smoothing step, in a non-oxidizing inert atmosphere or in a mixture of non-oxidizing inert gases. Semiconductor substrates are fabricated using such a method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Oleg Kononchuk, Didier Landru, Nadia Ben Mohamed
  • Publication number: 20220076992
    Abstract: A semiconductor-on-insulator multilayer structure, comprises: —a stack, called the back stack, of the following layers from a back side to a front side of the structure: a semiconductor carrier substrate the electrical resistivity of which is between 500 ?·cm and 30 k?·cm, a first electrically insulating layer, a first semiconductor layer, —at least one trench isolation that extends through the back stack at least down to the first electrically insulating layer), and that electrically isolates two adjacent regions of the multilayer structure, the multilayer structure being characterized in that it further comprises at least one FD-SOI first region, and at least one RF-SOI second region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2019
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicant: Soitec
    Inventors: Yvan Morandini, Walter Schwarzenbach, Frédéric Allibert, Eric Desbonnets, Bich-Yen Nguyen
  • Patent number: 11251265
    Abstract: A support for a semiconductor structure includes a charge-trapping layer on a base substrate. The charge-trapping layer consists of a polycrystalline main layer and, interposed in the main layer or between the main layer and the base substrate, at least one intermediate polycrystalline layer composed of a silicon and carbon alloy or carbon. The intermediate layer has a resistivity greater than 1000 ohm·cm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignees: Soitec, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifiaue
    Inventors: Christophe Figuet, Oleg Kononchuk, Kassam Alassaad, Gabriel Ferro, Véronique Souliere, Christelle Veytizou, Taguhi Yeghoyan
  • Patent number: 11251321
    Abstract: An engineered substrate comprising: a seed layer made of a first semiconductor material for growth of a solar cell; a first bonding layer on the seed layer; a support substrate made of a second semiconductor material; a second bonding layer on a first side of the support substrate; a bonding interface between the first and second bonding layers; the first and second bonding layers each made of metallic material; wherein doping concentration and thickness of the engineered substrate, in particular, of the seed layer, the support substrate, and both the first and second bonding layers, are selected such that the absorption of the seed layer is less than 20%, preferably less than 10%, as well as total area-normalized series resistance of the engineered substrate is less than 10 mOhm·cm2, preferably less than 5 mOhm·cm2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignees: Soitec, Commissariat A L'Energie Atomigue et aux Energies Alternatives
    Inventors: Eric Guiot, Aurelie Tauzin, Thomas Signamarcheix, Emmanuelle Lagoutte
  • Patent number: 11245050
    Abstract: A method for preparing a crystalline semiconductor layer in order for the layer to be provided with a specific lattice parameter involves a relaxation procedure that is applied for a first time to a first start donor substrate in order to obtain a second donor substrate. Using the second donor substrate as the start donor substrate, the relaxation procedure is repeated for a number of times that is sufficient for the lattice parameter of the relaxed layer to be provided with the specific lattice parameter. A set of substrates may be obtained by the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventor: David Sotta
  • Patent number: 11239108
    Abstract: A process for producing a donor substrate for creating a three-dimensional integrated structure comprises the following steps: providing a semiconductor substrate comprising a surface layer, referred to as an active layer, and a layer comprising a plurality of cavities extending beneath the active layer, each cavity being separated from an adjacent cavity by a partition, forming an electronic device in a region of the active layer located plumb with a cavity, depositing a protective mask on the active layer so as to cover the electronic device while at the same time exposing a region of the active layer located plumb with each partition, and implanting atomic species through regions of the active layer exposed by the mask to form a weakened zone in each partition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Gweltaz Gaudin, Didier Landru, Bruno Ghyselen