Patents Assigned to Texas Instruments
  • MBE Source bakeout system
    Patent number: 4569829
    Abstract: A molecular beam epitaxy system including a growth chamber and an analysis chamber, both connected to ultrahigh vacuum pump systems. The analysis chamber includes a source outgassing mount, so that, while growth is proceeding in the growth chamber, a newly received source can be outgassed in the special mount connected to the analysis chamber. Preferably the exhausted cryogenic gases from the cryo shield in the growth chamber are used to cool the source outgassing mount on the analysis chamber, to minimize the contamination of the analysis chamber by contaminants outgassed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 1983
    Date of Patent: February 11, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Hung-Dah Shih
  • Laser boresight alignment mechanism for integrated laser/FLIR rangefinder
    Patent number: 4569591
    Abstract: In an integrated laser/FLIR rangefinder wherein the laser is injected into the visible optic path for transmission, a laser boresight mechanism comprises a light source for producing a light target, optic means for projecting the light target along the optical path of the laser beam, a switchable laser boresight retroreflector cube for switching into the visible optic path to reflect the light target back through the visible light optic path to the telescope field of view, and manual adjustment means for adjusting the optic means for aligning the light target and the recticle line of sight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1983
    Date of Patent: February 11, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Eric H. Ford, Stephen B. Stayton
  • Method of making integrated circuit with reduced narrow-width effect
    Patent number: 4569117
    Abstract: A method of making MOS integrated circuits employs high-pressure oxidation of the surface of a silicon slice to create thermal field oxide for device isolation. The implant used prior to this oxidation to provide the channel-stop regions beneath the field oxide may be at a lower dosage, and yet the field-transistor threshold voltage is maintained at a high level. Thus, encroachment of the channel stop impurity into the transistor channel is minimized, and higher density devices are permitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 1984
    Date of Patent: February 11, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: David A. Baglee, Michael C. Smayling, Michael P. Duane, Mamoru Itoh
  • Distributed diode VCO with stripline coupled output and distributed variable capacitor control
    Patent number: 4568889
    Abstract: In a distributed IMPATT structure, power is coupled out through a side contact. That is, in previously proposed distributed IMPATT structures, the gain medium (the active region of the IMPATT) operates as a transmission line. The prior art has attempted to couple output power from the gain medium through an end contact, i.e., through a contact which is perpendicular to the primary direction of energy propagation (and also to the direction of maximum elongation) of the active medium. In the present invention, a sidewall contact extends in a direction which is parallel to the principal direction of propagation of the energy in the active medium. Thus, the sidewall contact plus the active region together can be considered as a single transmission line. This extended transmission line is also connected to a second distributed semiconductor element which functions as a varactor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1983
    Date of Patent: February 4, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Burhan Bayraktaroglu
  • Dipping liquid phase epitaxy for HgCdTe
    Patent number: 4567849
    Abstract: For HgCdTe liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), in situ differential thermal analysis apparatus is used to precisely monitor the liquidus temperature of each HgCdTe melt. The neutral body, e.g. a slug of copper enclosed in a silica ampoule, is placed near the LPE reactor in a furnace. During heating or cooling, differential sensing of a pair of thermocouples (in the melt and in the neutral body) will show an accelerated change at transformation points, since at these points the temperature of the melt will be changed by the energy of the physical change, while that of the neutral body remains subject only to passive heat transfer. Thus, the actual liquidus temperature of each melt can be measured with extreme precision, and isothermal or programmed cooling methods of LPE can be precisely and reliably controlled under production conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 1984
    Date of Patent: February 4, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Chang-Feng Wan
  • Spatial light modulator and method
    Patent number: 4566935
    Abstract: Methods of fabrication of spatial light modulators with deflectable beams by plasma etching after dicing of a substrate into chips, each of the chips an SLM, is disclosed. Also, various architectures available with such plasma etching process are disclosed and include metal cloverleafs for substrate addressing, metal flaps formed in a reflecting layer over a photoresist spacer layer, and torsion hinged flaps in a reflecting layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Larry J. Hornbeck
  • Impedance modulated CMOS RAM cell
    Patent number: 4567577
    Abstract: A random access memory cell of complementary field effect transistors that include a bit storage latch for storing binary bit information connected to a word address line and a data address line. The data address line provides bit information to the latch. This bit data is stored in the latch when the word address line is active. A switching circuit is connected to the latch that enables new data to be stored in the latch by removing the previously stored data during the time that the new data is being stored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Arthur B. Oliver
  • Piezoelectric pressure transmitter for an internal combustion engine
    Patent number: 4567395
    Abstract: A cylinder pressure transmitter has means mounting piezoelectric means to provide an electrical signal corresponding to the pressure in a cylinder of an internal combustion engine. A metal diaphragm is arranged to be movable in response to variations in cylinder pressure. Rigid metal motion transfer means and rigid motion transfer means of a material of relatively lower thermal conductivity are arranged in sequence between the diaphragm and the piezoelectric means to accurately transfer movements of the diaphragm to the piezoelectric means while retarding transfer of heat from the cylinder environment to the piezoelectric means through the diaphragm. Preferably the diaphragm is formed of a clad metal laminate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Eshwarahalli S. Pundarika
  • Dynamic memory with high speed nibble mode
    Patent number: 4567579
    Abstract: A semiconductor dynamic memory device has an array of one-transistor cells, with row and column decode to produce a 4-bit wide input or output. Single-bit data-in and data-out terminals for the device may be coupled to the 4-bit array input/output in a sequential mode. The row and column addresses are latched when RAS and CAS drop, and this includes the address of the starting bit within the 4-bit sequence. The other three bits follow as CAS is cycled. This starting address is used to set a bit in a 4-bit ring counter, which is then used to cycle through the sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Pravin P. Patel, Chitranjan N. Reddy
  • Apparatus for testing integrated circuits
    Patent number: 4567432
    Abstract: A system for statically and dynamically testing an integrated circuit die in wafer form at various temperatures includes a multilayer support fixture in which the probes, the static test switching circuitry, and the dynamic test switching circuitry are mounted on separate, spaced apart, planar layers detachably connected to one another, the probe and the probe support board being formed of materials having a low temperature coefficient of thermal expansion. A heated/cooled wafer positioning chuck controls the temperature of the wafer thereon during static and dynamic testing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Douglas A. Buol, Dean N. Mize, John W. Pattschull, Robert M. Wallace
  • Method of making insulated gate field effect transistor with a lightly doped drain using oxide sidewall spacer and double implantations
    Patent number: 4566175
    Abstract: A transistor for VLSI devices employs a phosphorus implant and lateral diffusion performed after the sidewall oxide etch to thereby reduce the impurity concentration and provide a graded junction for the reach-through implanted region between heavily-doped N+ source/drain regions and the channel, beneath the oxide sidewall spacer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Michael C. Smayling, Michael P. Duane
  • Apparatus for measuring the magnitude of a magnetic field
    Patent number: 4567439
    Abstract: An apparatus for measuring the magnitude of a magnetic field in one embodiment includes a .sup.3 He cell having an oscillator connected thereto for producing an electrical discharge for metastable .sup.3 He atoms, a .sup.4 He lamp having an oscillator connected thereto for producing .sup.4 He radiation and an optical path to the .sup.3 He cell including a lens for collimating the .sup.4 He radiation and a circular polarizer. The imaged .sup.3 He atoms and .sup.4 He radiation interact to magnetize a portion of the .sup.3 He atoms in a direction parallel to the direction of the ambient magnetic field. After the cell magnetization, an oscillatory magnetic field normal to the ambient field is established by coils connected to a frequency synthesizer which is scanned over a frequency interval including the free precession (Larmor) frequency. This action rotates the direction of magnetization of the .sup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Douglas D. McGregor
  • Apparatus and method for pattern location
    Patent number: 4566125
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for locating a pattern within a digital representation of an image. A video camera scans an image of light reflected from the surface of an object. The analog output of the video camera is digitized to form the digital representation. In order to digitize the analog output a threshold signal is provided. A comparator receives both the threshold signal and the analog output. When the difference between the threshold signal and analog exceeds a certain value the comparator changes its output from one digital level to another until the difference is less than the certain value. The threshold signal is produced by an adaptive threshold circuit which integrates the analog output over one scan of the image to form an integrated signal. This integrated signal is the normalized and stored into a sample and hold circuit for use in a subsequent scan as the threshold signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Robert H. Clunn
  • Dynamic clocking system using six clocks to achieve six delays
    Patent number: 4565934
    Abstract: A dynamic metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor clocking circuit that includes a first circuit which in turn includes a chargeable node, precharge capability, isolation capability and discharge capability to provide an output upon the occurrence of an input. This first circuit is connected to a second circuit which also includes a chargeable node, a precharge capability, isolation capability and the first circuit discharge capability to conditionally provide a total circuit delay output upon an occurrence of an input from the first circuit with a minimum number of clocking signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Ebbin R. Southerland, Jr.
  • Table lookup multiplier employing compressed data read only memory
    Patent number: 4566075
    Abstract: A multiplier circuit including a read-only memory containing a table of products for digits of a multiplicand and multiplier. The multiplier circuit will produce the product when a multiplicand digit and a multiplier digit are input. The contents of the memory has been reduced such that while the multiplicand and multiplier digits will all produce the proper product, the amount of actual bit information stored in the memory is less than that of the total of bits in the total number of products. Another embodiment of the present invention is disclosed that includes several digits of a multiplier and a single digit of a multiplicand placed into a single memory containing products of these multiplier/multiplicand digits. This memory has been reduced but will simultaneously produce the products of the multiplicand with all input multipliers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Karl M. Guttag
  • Programmable timing system
    Patent number: 4564953
    Abstract: A programmable high resolution timing system includes a selectable modulus prescaler counter. In one embodiment a high frequency clock is coupled to a prescaler counter which provides an output signal every predetermined number of clock pulses. The prescaler is coupled to a period counter which provides a period signal after a predetermined number of prescaler output signal pulses. The prescaler and period counter are coupled to a memory which stores data corresponding to the selected modulus of the prescaler and the number of counts by which the period counter output signal is to be delayed. The period resolution is thus made substantially equal to the resolution of the high frequency clock by varying the prescaler modulus at programmable intervals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Paul M. Werking
  • Process for making avalanche fuse element with isolated emitter
    Patent number: 4562639
    Abstract: A programmable device is provided by a thin-oxide avalanche fuse element which is programmed at a voltage below the oxide breakdown level. This device may be used to fix the addresses of faulty rows or columns in a memory having redundant or substitute cells. Upon breakdown, the thin oxide is perforated by small holes which fill with silicon to create short circuit. The source or emitter of the transistor device may be separated from the drain and gate by thick filled oxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: David J. McElroy
  • Electronic ignition control for internal combustion engine
    Patent number: 4562812
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for ignition control of an internal combustion engine provide for computation of an ignition instant based upon operating parameters of the engine measured during a preceding ignition cycle. A device for controlling the ignition of the engine includes a central calculating unit (17) and a peripheral input/output unit (1) controlled by a micro-code program stored in a micro-code ROM (18). Computation of engine speed is accomplished by a disk (5a) having teeth on the periphery (5b), and cooperating with a magnetic detector (5d), the disk being rigid with the crankshaft of the engine to be controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1986
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Gerard Chauvel
  • Video display system using serial/parallel access memories
    Patent number: 4562435
    Abstract: A video display system employs a memory arrangement for the video data which is sequentially accessed for serial read-out of the bit-mapped video information at a high clock rate, and also randomly accessed in parallel by a microcomputer for generating and updating the information to be displayed. Parallel access to the memory by the microcomputer can occur while the serial video data is being clocked out, so microcomputer I/O and video output conflict only a very minimum amount. Dynamic MOS RAMs with a serial register added provide this dual port memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1982
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1985
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Kevin C. McDonough, David S. Laffitte, John M. Hughes
  • Integrated circuit fabrication method utilizing selective etching and oxidation to form isolation regions
    Patent number: 4561172
    Abstract: A sidewall-nitride isolation technology refines process control over lateral oxide encroachment by preventing any thinning of the nitride moat-masking layer during the nitride etch step which clears the sidewall nitride layer from the bottom of the etched recesses in silicon. This is done by initially patterning the moat regions in an oxide/nitride/oxide stack, rather than the nitride/oxide stack of the prior art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1984
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1985
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Christopher Slawinski, Robert R. Doering, Clarence W. Teng