Patents Examined by Adam S Bowen
  • Patent number: 11562994
    Abstract: A MOS IC includes a first circuit including a first plurality of nMOS devices, a first p-tap cell, and a first dummy nMOS cell, and a second circuit including a first plurality of pMOS devices, a first dummy pMOS cell, and a first n-tap cell. The nMOS/pMOS devices are spaced apart in a first direction. The first p-tap cell and the first dummy nMOS cell are adjacent to each other in the first direction between the nMOS devices. The first dummy pMOS cell and the first n-tap cell are adjacent to each other in the first direction between the pMOS devices. The pMOS devices are adjacent to the nMOS devices in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The first p-tap cell/the first dummy pMOS cell and the first dummy nMOS cell/the first n-tap cell are respectively adjacent to each other in the second direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kaushik Baruah, Thomas Hua-Min Williams
  • Patent number: 11557518
    Abstract: A method includes patterning a trench and depositing a first insulating material along sidewalls and a bottom surface of the trench using a conformal deposition process. Depositing the first insulating material includes forming a first seam between a first portion of the first insulating material on a first sidewall of the trench and a second portion of the first insulating material on a second sidewall of the trench. The method further includes etching the first insulating material below a top of the trench and depositing a second insulating material over the first insulating material and in the trench using a conformal deposition process. Depositing the second insulating material comprises forming a second seam between a first portion of the second insulating material on the first sidewall of the trench and a second portion of the second insulating material on a second sidewall of the trench.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sung-En Lin, Chi On Chui, Fang-Yi Liao, Chunyao Wang, Yung-Cheng Lu
  • Patent number: 11557585
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a plurality of active patterns. A plurality of gate electrodes intersects the plurality of active patterns. An active contact is electrically connected to the active patterns. A plurality of vias includes a first regular via and a first dummy via. A plurality of interconnection lines is disposed on the vias. The plurality of interconnection lines includes a first interconnection line disposed on both the first regular via and the first dummy via. The first interconnection line is electrically connected to the active contact through the first regular via. Each of the vias includes a via body portion and a via barrier portion covering a bottom surface and sidewalls of the via body portion. Each of the interconnection lines includes an interconnection line body portion and an interconnection line barrier portion covering a bottom surface and sidewalls of the interconnection line body portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jung-Ho Do, Woojin Rim, Jisu Yu, Jonghoon Jung
  • Patent number: 11552227
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a light emitting device includes: providing a wiring substrate on which a light emitting element and a frame body surrounding the light emitting element are disposed; forming a support column member in contact with at least one of an inner peripheral surface and a top surface of a corresponding portion of the frame body, an outermost edge of the support column member being positioned at a same position or inwardly of an outermost edge of the frame body in a top plan view; and forming a light-transmissive member at least partially in contact with the frame body and the support column member with at least a part of the light-transmissive member being positioned above the frame body and the support column member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: NICHIA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Junji Takeichi
  • Patent number: 11532703
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a device includes: a power rail contact; an isolation region on the power rail contact; a first dielectric fin on the isolation region; a second dielectric fin adjacent the isolation region and the power rail contact; a first source/drain region on the second dielectric fin; and a source/drain contact between the first source/drain region and the first dielectric fin, the source/drain contact contacting a top surface of the first source/drain region, a side surface of the first source/drain region, and a top surface of the power rail contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Huan-Chieh Su, Cheng-Chi Chuang, Shang-Wen Chang, Yi-Hsun Chiu, Pei-Yu Wang, Ching-Wei Tsai, Chih-Hao Wang
  • Patent number: 11532522
    Abstract: A semiconductor structure includes an n-type epitaxial source/drain feature (NEPI) and a p-type epitaxial source/drain feature (PEPI) over a substrate, wherein a top surface of the NEPI is lower than a top surface of the PEPI. The semiconductor structure further includes a metal compound feature disposed on the top surface of the NEPI and the top surface of the PEPI; a contact feature disposed on the metal compound feature and over both the NEPI and the PEPI; and a via structure disposed over the contact feature and over the NEPI, wherein the via structure is partially in the contact feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Shahaji B. More, Cheng-Wei Chang
  • Patent number: 11532523
    Abstract: A method includes patterning a trench and depositing a first insulating material along sidewalls and a bottom surface of the trench using a conformal deposition process. Depositing the first insulating material includes forming a first seam between a first portion of the first insulating material on a first sidewall of the trench and a second portion of the first insulating material on a second sidewall of the trench. The method further includes etching the first insulating material below a top of the trench and depositing a second insulating material over the first insulating material and in the trench using a conformal deposition process. Depositing the second insulating material comprises forming a second seam between a first portion of the second insulating material on the first sidewall of the trench and a second portion of the second insulating material on a second sidewall of the trench.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sung-En Lin, Chi On Chui, Fang-Yi Liao, Chunyao Wang, Yung-Cheng Lu
  • Patent number: 11532519
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a method includes: forming a first recess and a second recess in a substrate; growing a first epitaxial material stack in the first recess, the first epitaxial material stack including alternating layers of a first semiconductor material and a second semiconductor material, the layers of the first epitaxial material stack being undoped; growing a second epitaxial material stack in the second recess, the second epitaxial material stack including alternating layers of the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material, a first subset of the second epitaxial material stack being undoped, a second subset of the second epitaxial material stack being doped; patterning the first epitaxial material stack and the second epitaxial material stack to respectively form first nanowires and second nanowires; and forming a first gate structure around the first nanowires and a second gate structure around the second nanowires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yi-Bo Liao, Kai-Chieh Yang, Ching-Wei Tsai, Kuan-Lun Cheng
  • Patent number: 11532520
    Abstract: An embodiment device includes: first fins protruding from an isolation region; second fins protruding from the isolation region; a first fin spacer on a first sidewall of one of the first fins, the first fin spacer disposed on the isolation region, the first fin spacer having a first spacer height; a second fin spacer on a second sidewall of one of the second fins, the second fin spacer disposed on the isolation region, the second fin spacer having a second spacer height, the first spacer height greater than the second spacer height; a first epitaxial source/drain region on the first fin spacer and in the first fins, the first epitaxial source/drain region having a first width; and a second epitaxial source/drain region on the second fin spacer and in the second fins, the second epitaxial source/drain region having a second width, the first width greater than the second width.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shahaji B. More
  • Patent number: 11532731
    Abstract: Semiconductor devices and methods of forming semiconductor devices are described herein. A method includes forming a first fin and a second fin in a substrate. A low concentration source/drain region is epitaxially grown over the first fin and over the second fin. The material of the low concentration region has less than 50% by volume of germanium. A high concentration contact landing region is formed over the low concentration regions. The material of the high concentration contact landing region has at least 50% by volume germanium. The high concentration contact landing region has a thickness of at least 1 nm over a top surface of the low concentration source/drain region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Wei-Siang Yang, Ming-Hua Yu
  • Patent number: 11527536
    Abstract: Semiconductor devices including structures of gate electrode layers are disclosed. An example semiconductor device according to the disclosure includes a semiconductor substrate and first and second gate electrodes above the semiconductor substrate. Each gate electrode of the first and second gate electrodes includes a gate insulator above the semiconductor substrate, a first gate electrode layer on the gate insulator, and a second gate electrode layer on the first gate electrode layer. The second gate electrode layers of the first and second gate electrodes have impurity concentrations that are different from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Mika Yoshida, Yoshikazu Moriwaki
  • Patent number: 11522050
    Abstract: In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including a Fin FET, a fin structure extending in a first direction is formed over a substrate. An isolation insulating layer is formed over the substrate so that an upper portion of the fin structure is exposed from the isolation insulating layer. A gate structure extending in a second direction crossing the first direction is formed over a part of the fin structure. A fin mask layer is formed on sidewalls of a source/drain region of the fin structure. The source/drain region of the fin structure is recessed by a plasma etching process. An epitaxial source/drain structure is formed over the recessed fin structure. In the recessing the source/drain region of the fin structure, the plasma etching process comprises applying pulsed bias voltage and RF voltage with pulsed power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jui Fu Hsieh, Chih-Teng Liao, Chih-Shan Chen, Yi-Jen Chen, Tzu-Chan Weng
  • Patent number: 11515215
    Abstract: A method includes forming isolation regions extending into a semiconductor substrate, and forming a first plurality of protruding fins and a second protruding fin over the isolation regions. The first plurality of protruding fins include an outer fin farthest from the second protruding fin, and an inner fin closest to the second protruding fin. The method further includes etching the first plurality of protruding fins to form first recesses, growing first epitaxy regions from the first recesses, wherein the first epitaxy regions are merged to form a merged epitaxy region, etching the second protruding fin to form a second recess, and growing a second epitaxy region from the second recess. A top surface of the merged epitaxy region is lower on a side facing toward the second epitaxy region than on a side facing away from the second epitaxy region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shahaji B. More
  • Patent number: 11515216
    Abstract: A semiconductor structure is received that has a first and second fins. A first epitaxial feature is formed on the first fin and has a first type dopant. A first capping layer is formed over the first epitaxial feature. A second epitaxial feature is formed on the second fin and has a second type dopant different from the first type dopant. A first metal is deposited on the second epitaxial feature and on the first capping layer. A first silicide layer is formed from the first metal and the second epitaxial feature, and a second capping layer is formed from the first metal and the first capping layer. The second capping layer is selectively removed. A second metal is deposited on the first epitaxial feature and over the second epitaxial feature. A second silicide layer is formed from the second metal and the first epitaxial feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shih-Cheng Chen, Chun-Hsiung Lin, Chih-Hao Wang
  • Patent number: 11508624
    Abstract: Semiconductor device and the manufacturing method thereof are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jhe-Ching Lu, Bao-Ru Young, Yen-Sen Wang, Tsung-Chieh Tsai
  • Patent number: 11502088
    Abstract: A layout pattern of static random access memory at least includes a substrate, a plurality of fin structures on the substrate, a plurality of gate structures on the substrate and spanning the fin structures to form a plurality of transistors distributed on the substrate, the plurality of transistors include, a first pull-up transistor PU1, a first pull-down transistor PD1, a second pull-up transistor PU2, a second pull-down transistor PD2, a first pass gate transistor PG1, a second pass gate transistor PG2, a first read transistor RPD and a second read transistor RPG, and an additional fin structure, the additional fin structure is located between the fin structure of the first pass gate transistor PG1 and the fin structure of the second read transistor RPG.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP.
    Inventors: Wei-Chi Lee, Shu-Wei Yeh, Chang-Hung Chen
  • Patent number: 11502005
    Abstract: A method includes providing a structure having first and second fins over a substrate and oriented lengthwise generally along a first direction and source/drain (S/D) features over the first and second fins; forming an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer covering the S/D features; performing a first etching process at least to an area between the S/D features, thereby forming a trench in the ILD layer; depositing a dielectric material in the trench; performing a second etching process to selectively recess the dielectric material; and performing a third etching process to selectively recess the ILD layer, thereby forming a contact hole that exposes the S/D features.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Feng-Ching Chu, Wei-Yang Lee, Feng-Cheng Yang, Yen-Ming Chen
  • Patent number: 11502079
    Abstract: An integrated device that includes a substrate, a first transistor, and a second transistor. The second transistor is configured to be coupled to the first transistor. The first transistor is configured to operate as a N-type channel metal oxide semiconductor transistor (NMOS) transistor. The first transistor includes a dielectric layer disposed over the substrate; a first source disposed over the dielectric layer; a first drain disposed over the dielectric layer; a first plurality of channels coupled to the first source and the first drain; and a first gate surrounding the plurality of channels. The second transistor is configured to operate as a P-type channel metal oxide semiconductor transistor (PMOS). The second transistor includes the dielectric layer; a second source disposed over the dielectric layer; a second drain disposed over the dielectric layer; a second plurality of channels coupled to the second source and the second drain; and a second gate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stanley Seungchul Song, Hyunwoo Park, Peijie Feng
  • Patent number: 11495502
    Abstract: The disclosure provides a manufacturing method for a fin field-effect transistor. The method to make the fin field-effect transistor comprises: forming a fin structure and a gate structure spanning on the fin structure on a substrate; and forming a source-drain region on the fin structure, which comprises: forming an epitaxial layer; and forming a sacrificial layer on the surface of the epitaxial layer to prevent the epitaxial layer from being lost in the subsequent removal steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: SHANGHAI HUALI INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Huojin Tu, Jueyang Liu, Zhanyuan Hu
  • Patent number: 11495592
    Abstract: An IC includes: a plurality of first cells placed in a series of first rows extending in a first horizontal direction and each having a first height; and a plurality of second cells placed in a series of second rows extending in the first horizontal direction and each having a second height different from the first height, wherein a total height of the series of first rows corresponds to a multiple of a height of a first multi-height cell with a maximum height among the plurality of first cells, and a total height of the series of second rows corresponds to a multiple of a height of a second multi-height cell with a maximum height among the plurality of second cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Bonghyun Lee