Patents Examined by Bret Chen
  • Patent number: 9394609
    Abstract: Methods are provided for depositing thin films by vapor deposition using two different metal halide reactants. In some embodiments aluminum fluoride thin films are deposited by atomic layer deposition methods in which a substrate is alternately and sequentially contacted with a first metal halide reactant comprising aluminum, such as AlCl3, and a second metal halide reactant comprising fluorine, such as TiF4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: ASM IP HOLDING B.V.
    Inventors: Miia Mäntymäki, Mikko Ritala, Markku Leskelä
  • Patent number: 9387508
    Abstract: Methods and systems for coating articles are described herein. The methods and systems described herein include, but are not limited to, steps for actively or passively controlling the temperature during the coating process, steps for providing intimate contact between the substrate and the support holding the substrate in order to maximize energy transfer, and/or steps for preparing gradient coatings. Methods for depositing high molecular weight polymeric coatings, end-capped polymer coatings, coatings covalently bonded to the substrate or one another, metallic coatings, and/or multilayer coatings are also disclosed. Deposition of coatings can be accelerated and/or improved by applying an electrical potential and/or through the use of inert gases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: GVD Corporation
    Inventors: Erik S. Handy, Aleksander J. White, W. Shannan O'Shaughnessy, Hilton G. Pryce Lewis, Neeta P. Bansal, Karen K. Gleason
  • Patent number: 9390912
    Abstract: A film forming method for forming a thin film composed of a SiOCN layer containing at least silicon (Si), oxygen (O), carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) on a surface of a workpiece within an evacuable processing vessel optionally using a silane-based gas, a hydrocarbon gas, a nitriding gas or an oxidizing gas includes forming a first film including at least Si, C and N, and forming a second film including at least Si, C and O. The forming a first film and the forming a second film are set as a cycle and the cycle is performed once or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Hiroki Murakami, Koji Sasaki, Keisuke Suzuki, Yuichiro Morozumi
  • Patent number: 9390971
    Abstract: An interconnect structure for integrated circuits for copper wires in integrated circuits and methods for making the same are provided. Mn, Cr, or V containing layer forms a barrier against copper diffusing out of the wires, thereby protecting the insulator from premature breakdown, and protecting transistors from degradation by copper. The Mn, Cr, or V containing layer also promotes strong adhesion between copper and insulators, thus preserving the mechanical integrity of the devices during manufacture and use, as well as protecting against failure by electromigration of the copper during use of the devices and protecting the copper from corrosion by oxygen or water from its surroundings. In forming such integrated circuits, certain embodiments of the invention provide methods to selectively deposit Mn, Cr, V, or Co on the copper surfaces while reducing or even preventing deposition of Mn, Cr, V, or Co on insulator surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Roy Gerald Gordon, Harish B. Bhandari, Yeung Au, Youbo Lin
  • Patent number: 9388495
    Abstract: A method of forming an etching mask structure on an insulating film containing silicon and oxygen includes forming a first silicon film on the insulating film formed on a substrate, forming a reaction blocking layer on a surface layer of the first silicon film, forming a second silicon film on the reaction blocking layer; and forming a tungsten film by replacing silicon of the second silicon film with tungsten by supplying a process gas containing a tungsten compound onto the second silicon film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masahisa Watanabe, Hiroshi Kubota, Kazuaki Chiba
  • Patent number: 9388931
    Abstract: There is provided a substrate processing apparatus to perform a predetermined process on a substrate on which a pattern mask is formed, comprising a compartment mechanism configured to switch between a compartmented state and an open state. The compartmented state includes a first section having the evaporation source formation part, and a second section configured to transfer the substrate between an outside of processing vessel and a mounting table. The substrate processing apparatus comprises a substrate transfer hole formed in the processing vessel and configured to open and close with respect to the second section being in the compartmented state; and an exhaust hole formed to connect to the second section and configured to exhaust the second section in the compartment state to remove a solvent atmosphere of the second section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Shinji Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 9382615
    Abstract: A vapor deposition process for forming a thin film on a substrate in a reaction chamber where the process includes contacting the substrate with a fluoride precursor. The process results in the formation of a lithium fluoride thin film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: ASM IP HOLDING B.V.
    Inventors: Miia Mäntymäki, Jani Hämäläinen, Mikko Ritala, Markku Leskelä
  • Patent number: 9382618
    Abstract: A method for synthesizing an In(III) N,N?-diisopropylacetamidinate precursor including cooling a mixture comprised of diisopropylcarbodiimide and diethyl ether to approximately ?30° C., adding methyllithium drop-wise into the mixture, allowing the mixture to warm to room temperature, adding indium(III) chloride as a solid to the mixture to produce a white solid, dissolving the white solid in pentane to form a clear and colorless solution, filtering the mixture over a celite plug, and evaporating the solution under reduced pressure to obtain a solid In(III) N,N?-diisopropylacetamidinate precursor. This precursor has been further used to develop a novel atomic layer deposition technique for indium sulfide by dosing a reactor with the precursor, purging with nitrogen, dosing with dilute hydrogen sulfide, purging again with nitrogen, and repeating these steps to increase growth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: UChicago Argnonne, LLC
    Inventors: Alex B. Martinson, Adam S. Hock, Robert McCarthy, Matthew S. Weimer
  • Patent number: 9382624
    Abstract: A film formation method controls with accuracy the thickness of a thin film formed on a film formation object. The film formation method includes a film formation step of heating a film formation source and forming a film on a film formation object while moving the film formation source and monitoring an amount of released vapors of the film forming material using a quartz oscillator for measurement, a control step of adjusting a heating temperature of the film formation source based on the monitored value of the quartz oscillator for measurement, and a calibration step of calibrating the monitored value of the quartz oscillator for measurement, using a quartz oscillator for calibration and the quartz oscillator for measurement. The calibration step is performed in a middle of the film formation step, after movement of the film formation source is started from a waiting position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Nakagawa, Shingo Nakano, Naoto Fukuda
  • Patent number: 9383316
    Abstract: A method of measuring vapor flux density including directing a light beam through a vapor flux to a pixel array sensor and using the pixel array sensor to measure attenuation of the light beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: First Solar, Inc.
    Inventors: Markus E. Beck, Ulrich A. Bonne, Raffi Garabedian, Erel Milshtein, Ming Lun Yu
  • Patent number: 9376754
    Abstract: A method includes introducing an organic metal gas containing hydrogen into a deposition vessel to cause a component of the organic metal containing hydrogen to be adsorbed on a substrate; introducing an oxidizing gas or a nitriding gas into the vessel, generating plasma with the oxidizing gas or the nitriding gas by a plasma source, and oxidizing or nitriding the component; detecting emission intensity of a wavelength of light through an observation window in the vessel, the light being emitted, by generating the plasma, from an excited hydrogen radical resulting from the hydrogen separated from the organic metal above the substrate when the organic metal reacts with the oxidizing gas or the nitriding gas to form an oxidized metal or a nitride metal on the substrate; and stopping the generation of the plasma when a value of the detected emission intensity becomes a first predetermined value or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: MITSUI ENGINEERING & SHIPBUILDING
    Inventor: Kazuki Tanizawa
  • Patent number: 9375330
    Abstract: Methods for making the medical devices consist of either providing or forming a scaffold, then depositing a metallic or pseudometallic film cover onto the scaffold in such a manner as to form an integral, substantially monolithic junction between the deposited cover material and the scaffold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: Advanced Bio Prosthetic Surfaces, Ltd.
    Inventors: Daniel D. Sims, Jeffrey N. Steinmetz, Conor P. Mullens, Alexander Parker Wood, Christopher E. Banas
  • Patent number: 9370789
    Abstract: A method for producing a component provided with a supporting structure includes using at least one first laser for layer by layer manufacturing of the component out of a powdery material, using at least one second laser for producing a supporting structure, supporting the component, layer by layer out of the powdery material and operating the at least one first laser with a lower power than a power of the at least one second laser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG
    Inventor: Carsten Clemen
  • Patent number: 9371579
    Abstract: A thin layer of a silicon-carbon-containing film is deposited on a substrate by generating hydrogen radicals from hydrogen gas supplied to a radicals generation chamber, supplying the hydrogen radicals to a substrate processing chamber separate from the substrate processing chamber via a multiport gas distributor, and reacting the hydrogen radicals therein with an organosilicon reactant introduced into the substrate processing chamber concurrently. The hydrogen radicals are allowed to relax into a ground state in a radicals relaxation zone within the substrate processing chamber before reacting with the organosilicon reactant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Bhadri N. Varadarajan, Bo Gong
  • Patent number: 9365927
    Abstract: Techniques for producing an organic electroluminescent element while collecting a vapor deposition material that is vapor-deposited on a vapor deposition device, collecting a vapor-deposited film by use of a collection device, and producing an organic electroluminescent element by use of a collection device. In one example, a film is provided on at least a part of a surface of each of a vapor deposition preventing plate and a shutter of a vacuum chamber on which surface vapor deposition particles are vapor-deposited, the film being provided so as to be peeled off from the each of the vapor deposition preventing plate and the shutter, and the film being made of a material differing in at least one of a melting point, a sublimation point, solubility in a given solvent, microbial biodegradability, and photodegradability from a material of which a vapor-deposited film that is formed on the film is made.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tohru Sonoda, Shinichi Kawato, Satoshi Inoue, Satoshi Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 9347133
    Abstract: A method of depositing a ruthenium metal thin film or ruthenium oxide thin film comprising a ruthenium compound used for depositing metallic Ru or RuO2 thin film on a substrate via atomic layer deposition, and the ruthenium compound represented by Chemical Formula 1, wherein L is a ligand selected from the group consisting of 1-ethyl-1,4-cyclohexadiene, 1,3-butadiene, and isoprene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: HANSOL CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jung Woo Park, Jun Young Kim, Kwang deok Lee, Whee Won Jin
  • Patent number: 9340922
    Abstract: A method of preparing a material having a superhydrophobic region and a hydrophobic region is described, involving preparing a superhydrophobic surface body and hydrolyzing one surface of the prepared superhydrophobic surface body using a strong base. Such preparation method is simpler than conventional preparation methods and is capable of preparing a material having opposite surface characteristics at low costs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
    Inventors: Sung Gap Im, Jae Bem You, Youngmin Yoo, Myung Seok Oh
  • Patent number: 9336919
    Abstract: Methods of exchanging ligands to form colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) with chalcogenocyanate (xCN)-based ligands and apparatuses using the same are disclosed. The ligands may be exchanged by assembling NCs into a thin film and immersing the thin film in a solution containing xCN-based ligands. The ligands may also be exchanged by mixing a xCN-based solution with a dispersion of NCs, flocculating the mixture, centrifuging the mixture, discarding the supernatant, adding a solvent to the pellet, and dispersing the solvent and pellet to form dispersed NCs with exchanged xCN-ligands. The NCs with xCN-based ligands may be used to form thin film devices and/or other electronic, optoelectronic, and photonic devices. Devices comprising nanocrystal-based thin films and methods for forming such devices are also disclosed. These devices may be constructed by depositing NCs on to a substrate to form an NC thin film and then doping the thin film by evaporation and thermal diffusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
    Inventors: Cherie R. Kagan, Aaron T. Fafarman, Ji-Hyuk Choi, Weon-kyu Koh, David K. Kim, Soong Ju Oh, Yuming Lai, Sung-Hoon Hong, Sangameshwar Rao Saudari, Christopher B. Murray
  • Patent number: 9333675
    Abstract: Methods for obtaining a profile for a batch, or lot, of a precursor material and using the profile while processing the precursor material to form a polymer are disclosed. In such a method, a process profile that corresponds to the characteristics of a particular precursor material (e.g., the batch, etc.) may be generated. That process profile may then be used to cause a material processing system to process the precursor material in a manner that accounts for differences between that precursor material and a “standard” precursor material, while providing a polymer and, optionally, a film of “standard” quality. Apparatuses and systems that are configured to obtain profile data for a batch of precursor material, generate or modify a process profile based on the profile data and use the process profile to form a polymer are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: HZO, INC.
    Inventor: James Dempster
  • Patent number: 9337018
    Abstract: A method for forming a silicon-containing film on at least one surface of a substrate by a deposition process selected from a chemical vapor deposition process and an atomic layer deposition process, the method comprising: providing the at least one surface of the substrate in a reaction chamber; introducing at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H3 group represented by the following Formula I below: wherein R1 and R2 are defined herein; and introducing a nitrogen-containing source into the reactor wherein the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor and the nitrogen-containing source react to form the film on the at least one surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
    Inventors: Manchao Xiao, Xinjian Lei, Daniel P. Spence, Haripin Chandra, Bing Han, Mark Leonard O'Neill, Steven Gerard Mayorga, Anupama Mallikarjunan