Patents Examined by Howard Weiss
  • Patent number: 9012898
    Abstract: An electrophoretic display device includes: a first substrate having a plurality of pixels formed in a plurality of vertical pixel rows and a plurality of horizontal pixel rows; a plurality of data lines formed at every vertical pixel row of the first substrate; a thin film transistor (TFT) formed at each pixel of the first substrate and including a source electrode, a drain electrode, an organic semiconductor layer, and a gate electrode; a passivation layer formed on the TFTs and the data lines of the first substrate and including a first contact hole exposing the drain electrode of the TFT and a second contact hole exposing the gate electrode of the TFT; a pixel electrode formed on the passivation layer at each pixel of the first substrate and connected with the drain electrode of the TFT via the first contact hole of the passivation layer; a plurality of gate lines formed on the passivation layer at every horizontal pixel row of the first substrate and connected with the gate electrode of the TFT via the s
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Min-Joo Kim, Ho-Cheol Kang, Dae-Won Kim, Young-Hoon Noh, Han-Saem Kang
  • Patent number: 9000500
    Abstract: An image sensor includes an array of pixels, with at least one pixel including a photodetector formed in a substrate layer and a transfer gate disposed adjacent to the photodetector. The substrate layer further includes multiple charge-to-voltage conversion regions. A single photodetector can transfer collected charge to a single charge-to-voltage conversion region, or alternatively multiple photodetectors can transfer collected charge to a common charge-to-voltage conversion region shared by the photodetectors. An implant region formed when dopants are implanted into the substrate layer to form source/drain implant regions is disposed in only a portion of each transfer gate while each charge-to-voltage conversion region is substantially devoid of the implant region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: OmniVision Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Hung Q. Doan, Eric G. Stevens
  • Patent number: 8987818
    Abstract: A split gate power transistor includes a laterally configured power MOSFET including a doped silicon substrate, a gate oxide layer formed on a surface of the substrate, and a split polysilicon layer formed over the gate oxide layer. The polysilicon layer is cut into two electrically isolated portions, a first portion forming a polysilicon gate positioned over a channel region of the substrate, and a second portion forming a polysilicon field plate formed over a portion of a transition region of the substrate. The two polysilicon portions are separated by a gap. A lightly doped region is implanted in the substrate below the gap, thereby forming a bridge having the same doping type as the substrate body. The field plate also extends over a field oxide filled trench formed in the substrate. The field plate is electrically coupled to a source of the split gate power transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Joel Montgomery McGregor, Vishnu Khemka
  • Patent number: 8987062
    Abstract: Thermal conductivity in a stacked IC device can be improved by constructing one or more active temperature control devices within the stacked IC device. In one embodiment, the control devices are thermal electric (TE) devices, such as Peltier devices. The TE devices can then be selectively controlled to remove or add heat, as necessary, to maintain the stacked IC device within a defined temperature range. The active temperature control elements can be P-N junctions created in the stacked IC device and can serve to move the heat laterally and/or vertically, as desired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Shiqun Gu, Matthew Michael Nowak, Thomas Robert Toms
  • Patent number: 8987820
    Abstract: A LDMOS device includes a substrate having opposite first and second surfaces; a well region in a portion of the substrate; a gate structure over a portion of the substrate; a first doped region disposed in a portion of the well region from a first side; a second doped region disposed in the well region from a second side; a third doped region disposed in the first doped region; a fourth doped region disposed in the second doped region; a first trench in the third doped region, the first doped region, the well region, and the substrate adjacent to the first surface; a conductive contact in the first trench; a second trench in the substrate adjacent to the second surface; a first conductive layer in second trench; and a second conductive layer over the second surface of the substrate and the first conductive layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Tsung-Hsiung Lee, Jui-Chun Chang
  • Patent number: 8987908
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first conductive layer, at least one first slit through the first conductive layer, and configured to divide the first conductive layer in the unit of a memory block, second conductive layers stacked on the first conductive layer, and a second slit through the second conductive layers at a different location from the first slit and configured to divide the second conductive layers in the unit of the memory block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
    Inventors: Ki Hong Lee, Seung Ho Pyi, In Su Park
  • Patent number: 8981457
    Abstract: There is provided a monolithic three dimensional array of charge storage devices which includes a plurality of device levels, wherein at least one surface between two successive device levels is planarized by chemical mechanical polishing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: SanDisk 3D LLC
    Inventors: Thomas H. Lee, Vivek Subramanian, James M. Cleeves, Mark G. Johnson, Paul Michael Farmwald, Igor G. Kouznetzov
  • Patent number: 8981430
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a bipolar transistor with low resistance base contact and method of manufacturing the same. The bipolar transistor includes an emitter, a collector, and an intrinsic base between the emitter and the collector. The intrinsic base extends laterally to an extrinsic base. The extrinsic base further includes a first semiconductor material with a first bandgap and a second semiconductor material with a second bandgap that is smaller than the first bandgap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Francois Pagette, Kathryn T. Schonenberg
  • Patent number: 8981445
    Abstract: An analog floating-gate electrode in an integrated circuit, and method of fabricating the same, in which trapped charge can be stored for long durations. The analog floating-gate electrode is formed in a polycrystalline silicon gate level, doped n-type throughout its length, and includes portions serving as gate electrodes of n-channel and p-channel MOS transistors; a plate of a metal-to-poly storage capacitor; and a plate of poly-to-active tunneling capacitors. The p-channel MOS transistor includes a buried channel region, formed by way of ion implantation, disposed between its source and drain regions. Silicide-block silicon dioxide blocks the formation of silicide cladding on the electrode, while other polysilicon structures in the integrated circuit are silicide-clad.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Allan T. Mitchell, Imran Mahmood Khan, Michael A. Wu
  • Patent number: 8969958
    Abstract: A split gate power transistor includes a doped substrate, a gate oxide layer on the substrate, and a split polysilicon layer over the gate oxide layer, which forms a polysilicon gate positioned over a channel region and a first portion of a transition region and a polysilicon field plate positioned over a second portion of the transition region and a shallow trench isolation region. The two polysilicon portions are separated by a gap. The field plate is electrically coupled to a source of the split gate power transistor. One or more body extension regions, each having the same doping type as the body substrate, extend at least underneath the edge of the field plate adjacent to the gap. The body extension regions force the portion of the transition region underneath the field plate into deep-depletion, thereby preventing the formation of a hole inversion layer in this region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Vishnu Khemka, Ronghua Zhu, Tahir Arif Khan, Bernhard Heinrich Grote
  • Patent number: 8969950
    Abstract: A MOSFET device and fabrication method are disclosed. The MOSFET has a drain in chip plane with an epitaxial layer overlay atop. The MOSFET further comprises: a Kelvin-contact body and an embedded Kelvin-contact source; a trench gate extending into the epitaxial layer; a lower contact trench extending through the Kelvin-contact source and at least part of the Kelvin-contact body defining respectively a vertical source-contact surface and a vertical body-contact surface; a patterned dielectric layer atop the Kelvin-contact source and the trench gate; a patterned top metal layer. As a result: a planar ledge is formed atop the Kelvin-contact source; the MOSFET device exhibits a lowered body Kelvin contact impedance and, owing to the presence of the planar ledge, a source Kelvin contact impedance that is lower than an otherwise MOSFET device without the planar ledge; and an integral parallel Schottky diode is also formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Alpha & Omega Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventor: Ji Pan
  • Patent number: 8963241
    Abstract: A split gate power transistor includes a doped substrate, a gate oxide layer on the substrate, and a split polysilicon layer over the gate oxide layer, which forms a polysilicon gate and a polysilicon field plate. The two polysilicon portions are separated by a gap. The field plate is electrically coupled to a source of the split gate power transistor. One or more polysilicon extension tabs extend from the field plate to at least above the edge of the first doped region. The polysilicon gate is cut to form a cut-out region for the end of each polysilicon extension tab extending toward the body substrate. The one or more polysilicon extension tabs force the portion of the transition region underneath the field plate into deep-depletion, thereby preventing the formation of a hole inversion layer in this region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Vishnu Khemka, Ronghua Zhu, Tahir Arif Khan, Bernhard Heinrich Grote
  • Patent number: 8963304
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a plurality of functional element chips, an electric connection member joined to two of the functional element chips, a first wire and a resin configured to cover the functional element chips, the electric connection member and the first wire. One of the two functional element chips may be a first semiconductor chip having first and second major surface electrodes facing toward the same direction and a first rear surface electrode facing in a direction opposite to a direction in which the first major surface electrode faces. The electric connection member may be joined to the first major surface electrode. The first wire may be joined to the second major surface electrode. The first wire may include a portion overlapping with the electric connection member in a thickness direction of the first semiconductor chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasufumi Matsuoka
  • Patent number: 8951858
    Abstract: An imager device is disclosed including a first substrate having an array of photo-sensitive elements formed thereon, a first conductive layer formed above the first substrate, a first conductive member extending through the first substrate, the first conductive member being conductively coupled to the first conductive layer, a standoff structure formed above the first substrate, a second conductive layer formed above the standoff structure, the second conductive layer being conductively coupled to the first conductive layer, and an electrically powered device positioned above the standoff structure, the electrically powered device being electrically coupled to the second conductive layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Warren M. Farnworth
  • Patent number: 8946851
    Abstract: A split gate power transistor includes a laterally configured power MOSFET including a doped silicon substrate having a first doped region and a second doped region of an opposite type as the first doped region, a gate oxide layer formed on a surface of the substrate, and a split polysilicon layer formed over the gate oxide layer. The polysilicon layer is cut into two electrically isolated portions, a first portion forming a polysilicon gate positioned over a channel region and a transition region of the substrate, and a second portion forming a polysilicon field plate formed entirely over a field oxide filled trench formed in the second doped region. The two polysilicon portions are separated by a gap. A lightly doped region is implanted in the substrate below the gap and adjacent to the trench, thereby forming a fill region having the same doping type as the first doped region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Joel Montgomery McGregor, Vishnu Khemka
  • Patent number: 8928128
    Abstract: There are disclosed herein various implementations of a shield interposer situated between a top active die and a bottom active die for shielding the active dies from electromagnetic noise. One implementation includes an interposer dielectric layer, a through-silicon via (TSV) within the interposer dielectric layer, and an electromagnetic shield. The TSV connects the electromagnetic shield to a first fixed potential. The electromagnetic shield may include a grid of conductive layers laterally extending across the shield interposer. The shield interposer may also include another electromagnetic shield connected to another fixed potential.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Broadcom Corporation
    Inventors: Sampath K. V. Karikalan, Kevin Kunzhong Hu, Sam Ziqun Zhao, Rezaur Rahman Khan, Pieter Vorenkamp, Xiangdong Chen
  • Patent number: 8916452
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer contains semiconductor die separated by saw streets. The semiconductor wafer is singulated through a portion of the saw streets to form wafer sections each having multiple semiconductor die per wafer section attached by uncut saw streets. Each wafer section has at least two semiconductor die. The wafer sections are mounted over a temporary carrier in a grid pattern to reserve an interconnect area between the wafer sections. An encapsulant is deposited over the wafer sections and interconnect area. A conductive pillar can be formed in the encapsulant over the interconnect area. An interconnect structure is formed over the wafer sections and encapsulant in the interconnect area. The wafer sections and interconnect area are singulated to separate the semiconductor die each with a portion of the interconnect area. A heat sink or shielding layer can be formed over the wafer sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: STATS ChipPAC, Ltd.
    Inventors: Reza A. Pagaila, Yaojian Lin
  • Patent number: 8912104
    Abstract: An integrated circuit may include a substrate in which transistors are formed. The transistors may be associated with blocks of circuitry. Some of the blocks of circuitry may be configured to reduce leakage current. A selected subset of the blocks of circuitry may be selectively heated to reduce the channel length of their transistors through dopant diffusion and thereby strengthen those blocks of circuitry relative to the other blocks of circuitry. Selective heating may be implemented by coating the blocks of circuitry on the integrated circuit with a patterned layer of material such as a patterned anti-reflection coating formed of amorphous carbon or a reflective coating. During application of infrared light, the coated and uncoated areas will rise to different temperatures, selectively strengthening desired blocks of circuitry on the integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Deepa Ratakonda, Christopher J. Pass, Che Ta Hsu, Fangyun Richter, Wilson Wong
  • Patent number: 8912089
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a stacked body on a substrate. The stacked body includes a plurality of first conductive layers including a metallic element as a main component and a plurality of second conductive layers including a metallic element as a main component provided respectively between the first conductive layers. The method includes making a hole to pierce the stacked body. The method includes making a slit to divide the stacked body. The method includes making a gap between the first conductive layers by removing the second conductive layers by etching via the slit or the hole. The method includes forming a memory film including a charge storage film at a side wall of the hole. The method includes forming a channel body on an inner side of the memory film inside the hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Seiichi Omoto, Yoshihiro Uozumi, Tadashi Iguchi, Osamu Yamane, Kazuyuki Masukawa, Yoshihiro Yanai
  • Patent number: 8912658
    Abstract: An improved interconnect structure including a dielectric layer having a conductive feature embedded therein, the conductive feature having a first top surface that is substantially coplanar with a second top surface of the dielectric layer; a metal cap layer located directly on the first top surface, wherein the metal cap layer does not substantially extend onto the second top surface; a first dielectric cap layer located directly on the second top surface, wherein the first dielectric cap layer does not substantially extend onto the first top surface and the first dielectric cap layer is thicker than the metal cap layer; and a second dielectric cap layer on the metal cap layer and the first dielectric cap layer. A method of forming the interconnect structure is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Ronald Filippi, Ping-Chuan Wang, Griselda Bonilla, Kaushik Chanda, Robert D. Edwards, Andrew H. Simon