Patents Examined by Howard Weiss
  • Patent number: 8907498
    Abstract: A semiconductor device has a first semiconductor die with a shielding layer formed over its back surface. The first semiconductor die is mounted to a carrier. A first insulating layer is formed over the shielding layer. A second semiconductor die is mounted over the first semiconductor die separated by the shielding layer and first insulating layer. A second insulating layer is deposited over the first and second semiconductor die. A first interconnect structure is formed over the second semiconductor die and second insulating layer. A second interconnect structure is formed over the first semiconductor die and second insulating layer. The shielding layer is electrically connected to a low-impedance ground point through a bond wire, RDL, or TSV. The second semiconductor die may also have a shielding layer formed on its back surface. The semiconductor die are bonded through the metal-to-metal shielding layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: STATS ChipPAC, Ltd.
    Inventors: Reza A. Pagaila, Byung Tai Do, Nathapong Suthiwongsunthorn
  • Patent number: 8884360
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first contact in low Ohmic contact with a source region of the device and a first portion of a body region of the device formed in an active area of the device, and a second contact in low Ohmic contact with a second portion of the body region formed in a peripheral area of the device. The minimum width of the second contact at a first surface of the device is larger than the minimum width of the first contact at the first surface so that maximum current density during commutating the semiconductor device is reduced and thus the risk of device damage during hard commutating is also reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventors: Ralf Siemieniec, Oliver Blank, Anton Mauder, Franz Hirler
  • Patent number: 8883554
    Abstract: In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device formed using a thin film transistor, an object is to provide a technique by which the number of photomasks can be reduced, manufacturing cost can be reduced, and improvement in productivity and reliability can be achieved. A main point is that a film forming a channel protective layer is formed over an oxide semiconductor layer having a light-transmitting property, a positive photoresist is formed over the film forming a channel protective layer, and a channel protective layer is selectively formed over a channel formation region in the oxide semiconductor layer by using a back surface light exposure method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Junichiro Sakata, Tadashi Serikawa
  • Patent number: 8872337
    Abstract: A semiconductor package includes a flexible base film having a first surface opposing a second surface, a semiconductor chip mounted on the first surface of the base film, and a touch sensing structure including at least one conductive pattern adjacent to the semiconductor chip. The at least one conductive pattern is disposed through the base film and has a surface exposed at the second surface of the base film. A contact condition of the semiconductor package is determined based on detection of a conductive path between the at least one conductive pattern and a conductive frame or support surface of the semiconductor package. The contact condition provides an indication of heat dissipation that may be expected to occur for the chip during operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Young-Deuk Kim, Ji-Chul Kim
  • Patent number: 8860179
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an inductive element formed by through silicon via interconnections. The inductive element formed by means of the special through silicon via interconnection by using through silicon via technology features advantages such as high inductance and density. Moreover, the through silicon via interconnection integrated process forming the inductive element is compatible with the ordinary through silicon interconnection integrated process without any other steps, thus making the process simple and steady. The inductive element using the present invention is applicable to the through silicon via package manufacturing of various chips, especially the package manufacturing of power control chips and radio-frequency chips.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Fudan University
    Inventors: Pengfei Wang, Qingqing Sun, Wei Zhang
  • Patent number: 8860231
    Abstract: A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a plurality of semiconductor chips stacked in a multi-layer structure; a correction circuit in each semiconductor chip configured to reflect a delay time corresponding to the position of the chip in the stack into an input signal to output to each semiconductor chip; and a plurality of through-chip vias formed vertically through each of the semiconductor chips and configured to transmit the input signal to the semiconductor chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
    Inventor: Chun-Seok Jeong
  • Patent number: 8853865
    Abstract: The size and thickness of a semiconductor device are reduced. A semiconductor package with a flip chip bonding structure includes: a semiconductor chip having a main surface with multiple electrode pads formed therein and a back surface located on the opposite side thereto; four lead terminals each having an upper surface with the semiconductor chip placed thereover and a lower surface located on the opposite side thereto; and a sealing body having a main surface and a back surface located on the opposite side thereto. In this semiconductor package, the distance between adjacent first lower surfaces of the four lead terminals exposed in the back surface of the sealing body is made longer than the distance between adjacent upper surfaces thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroaki Narita
  • Patent number: 8853843
    Abstract: A semiconductor subassembly, a modular sidewall element having modular dimensions that accommodates placement of the semiconductor subassembly in a modular layout and a semiconductor substrate base element coupled to the modular sidewall element. The semiconductor substrate base element has at least one semiconductor element with a layout sized to be accommodated by modular dimensions of the modular sidewall element and the semiconductor substrate base element configured to form a base of the semiconductor subassembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Craig J. Rotay
  • Patent number: 8835231
    Abstract: A method for forming a nanowire field effect transistor (FET) device includes forming a nanowire over a semiconductor substrate, forming a gate stack around a portion of the nanowire, forming a capping layer on the gate stack, forming a spacer adjacent to sidewalls of the gate stack and around portions of nanowire extending from the gate stack, forming a hardmask layer on the capping layer and the first spacer, forming a metallic layer over the exposed portions of the device, depositing a conductive material over the metallic layer, removing the hardmask layer from the gate stack, and removing portions of the conductive material to define a source region contact and a drain region contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Sarunya Bangsaruntip, Guy M. Cohen, Shreesh Narasimha, Jeffrey W. Sleight
  • Patent number: 8838184
    Abstract: A wireless conference call telephone system uses body-worn wired or wireless audio endpoints comprising microphone arrays and, optionally, speakers. These audio-endpoints, which include headsets, pendants, and clip-on microphones to name a few, are used to capture the user's voice and the resulting data may be used to remove echo and environmental acoustic noise. Each audio-endpoint transmits its audio to the telephony gateway, where noise and echo suppression can take place if not already performed on the audio-endpoint, and where each audio-endpoint's output can be labeled, integrated with the output of other audio-endpoints, and transmitted over one or more telephony channels of a telephone network. The noise and echo suppression can also be done on the audio-endpoint. The labeling of each user's output can be used by the outside caller's phone to spatially locate each user in space, increasing intelligibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: AliphCom
    Inventors: Gregory C. Burnett, Michael Goertz, Nicolas Jean Petit, Zhinian Jing, Steven Foster Forestieri, Thomas Alan Donaldson
  • Patent number: 8836127
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device has a dual damascene structure including a lower via portion and an upper line portion. The lower via portion is formed in a polyimide layer, and the upper line portion is formed in an inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer formed of USG or polyimide. A passivation layer is formed on the IMD layer, and a bond pad is formed overlying the passivation layer to electrically connect the upper line portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ching-Yu Lo, Bo-Jiun Lin, Hai-Ching Chen, Tien-I Bao, Shau-Lin Shue, Chen-Hua Yu
  • Patent number: 8836136
    Abstract: A microelectronic package can include wire bonds having bases bonded to respective conductive elements on a substrate and ends opposite the bases. A dielectric encapsulation layer extending from the substrate covers portions of the wire bonds such that covered portions of the wire bonds are separated from one another by the encapsulation layer, wherein unencapsulated portions of the wire bonds are defined by portions of the wire bonds which are uncovered by the encapsulation layer. Unencapsulated portions can be disposed at positions in a pattern having a minimum pitch which is greater than a first minimum pitch between bases of adjacent wire bonds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Invensas Corporation
    Inventors: Ellis Chau, Reynaldo Co, Roseann Alatorre, Philip Damberg, Wei-Shun Wang, Se Young Yang, Zhijun Zhao
  • Patent number: 8829580
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a magnetoresistive memory includes first and second contact plugs in a first interlayer insulating film, a lower electrode on the first interlayer insulating film, a magnetoresistive effect element on the lower electrode, and an upper electrode on the magnetoresistive effect element. The lower electrode has a tapered cross-sectional shape in which a dimension of a bottom surface of the lower electrode is longer than a dimension of an upper surface of the lower electrode, one end of the lower electrode is in contact with an upper surface of the first contact plug. The magnetoresistive effect element is provided at a position shifted from a position immediately above the first contact plug in a direction parallel to a surface of the semiconductor substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kuniaki Sugiura, Yoshiaki Asao, Takeshi Kajiyama
  • Patent number: 8816362
    Abstract: An organic light emitting display is capable of reducing or minimizing the number of wiring lines to improve an aperture ratio. The organic light emitting display includes scan lines and data lines that cross each other at crossing regions, sub pixels located at the crossing regions that display an image in accordance with an amount of current that flows from a first power source to respective organic light emitting diodes in the sub pixels, and first power source lines that are parallel to the data lines, each of the first power source lines corresponding to at least two of the data lines. The first power source lines include a first group of the first power source lines that receive the first power source and a second group of the first power source lines that receive a second power source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Sang-Moo Choi
  • Patent number: 8815624
    Abstract: A method of forming a capped die forms a cap wafer having a top side and a bottom side. The bottom side is formed with 1) a plurality of device cavities having a first depth, and 2) a plurality of second cavities that each have a greater depth than the first depth. At least some of the plurality of second cavities each generally circumscribe at least one of the device cavities. The method then secures the cap wafer to a device wafer in a manner that causes a plurality of the device cavities each to circumscribe at least one of circuitry and structure on the device wafer. Next, the method removes at least a portion of the top side of the cap wafer to expose the second cavities. This forms a plurality of caps that each protect the noted circuitry and structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Mitul Dalal, Li Chen
  • Patent number: 8809909
    Abstract: A high voltage durability III-nitride semiconductor device comprises a support substrate including a first silicon body, an insulator body over the first silicon body, and a second silicon body over the insulator body. The high voltage durability III-nitride semiconductor device further comprises a III-nitride semiconductor body characterized by a majority charge carrier conductivity type, formed over the second silicon body. The second silicon body has a conductivity type opposite the majority charge carrier conductivity type. In one embodiment, the high voltage durability III-nitride semiconductor device is a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) comprising a support substrate including a <100> silicon layer, an insulator layer over the <100> silicon layer, and a P type conductivity <111> silicon layer over the insulator layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: International Rectifier Corporation
    Inventor: Michael A. Briere
  • Patent number: 8803227
    Abstract: A transistor includes a substrate and an electrically conductive material layer stack positioned on the substrate. The electrically conductive material layer stack includes a reentrant profile. A first electrically insulating material layer positioned is in contact with a first portion of the electrically conductive material layer stack. A second electrically insulating material layer is conformally positioned in contact with the first electrically insulating layer, and conformally positioned in contact with a second portion of the electrically conductive material layer stack, and conformally positioned in contact with at least a portion of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Shelby F. Nelson, Lee W. Tutt
  • Patent number: 8802472
    Abstract: A pixel and a pixel array of an image sensor device of the present invention have small pixel sizes by resetting sensed charge using a diode built vertically above a substrate. The pixel and the pixel array also have low noise performance by using a JFET as a source follower transistor for sensing charge. The pixel includes a floating diffusion node configured to sense photo-generated charge, a reset diode configured to reset the floating diffusion node in response to a reset signal, and a junction field effect transistor configured to output a signal having an output voltage level corresponding to a charge level of the floating diffusion node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Intellectual Ventures II LLC
    Inventor: Jaroslav Hynecek
  • Patent number: 8796843
    Abstract: High-power and high-frequency semiconductor devices require high signal integrity and high thermal conductance assembly technologies and packages. In particular, wide-gap-semiconductor devices on diamond benefit from spatially separate electrical and thermal connections. This application discloses assembly and package architectures that offer high signal integrity and high thermal conductance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Element Six Technologies US Corporation
    Inventors: Dubravko I. Babic, Quentin E. Diduck, Alex Schreiber
  • Patent number: 8796846
    Abstract: A semiconductor device is made by forming a first conductive layer over a carrier. The first conductive layer has a first area electrically isolated from a second area of the first conductive layer. A conductive pillar is formed over the first area of the first conductive layer. A semiconductor die or component is mounted to the second area of the first conductive layer. A first encapsulant is deposited over the semiconductor die and around the conductive pillar. A first interconnect structure is formed over the first encapsulant. The first interconnect structure is electrically connected to the conductive pillar. The carrier is removed. A portion of the first conductive layer is removed. The remaining portion of the first conductive layer includes an interconnect line and UBM pad. A second interconnect structure is formed over a remaining portion of the first conductive layer is removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: STATS ChipPAC, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yaojian Lin, Xusheng Bao, Kang Chen, Jianmin Fang