Patents Examined by Jarrett Stark
  • Patent number: 9876110
    Abstract: Methods and structures for forming highly-doped, ultrathin layers for transistors formed in semiconductor-on-insulator substrates are described. High dopant concentrations may be achieved in ultrathin semiconductor layers to improve device characteristics. Ion implantation at elevated temperatures may mitigate defect formation for stoichiometric dopant concentrations up to about 30%. In-plane stressors may be formed adjacent to channels of transistors formed in ultrathin semiconductor layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Jocelyne Gimbert
  • Patent number: 9876087
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a fin-shaped semiconductor layer and a pillar-shaped semiconductor layer. A diffusion layer resides in an upper portion of the fin-shaped semiconductor layer. A metal contact electrode is around the pillar-shaped semiconductor layer and a metal contact line is connected thereto. A fourth contact surrounds an upper sidewall of the pillar-shaped semiconductor layer and is connected to the metal contact electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: UNISANTIS ELECTRONICS SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.
    Inventors: Fujio Masuoka, Hiroki Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9870991
    Abstract: A semiconductor device may be provided. The semiconductor device may include conductive patterns surrounding a channel film. The conductive patterns may be stacked and spaced apart from one another. The semiconductor device may include a gate contact plug coupled to one of the conductive patterns. The semiconductor device may include support pillars penetrating the conductive patterns in a periphery of the gate contact plug.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventors: Do Youn Kim, Hyoung Soon Yune
  • Patent number: 9870900
    Abstract: Provided are methods and systems for managing semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A method may include preventive maintenance involving steps of disassembling, cleaning, and assembling parts of a chamber. The assembling of the parts may include checking whether the parts are correctly assembled, using reflectance and absorptivity of a high-frequency voltage applied to the parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kye Hyun Baek, Ohyung Kwon, Junghyun Cho, Haejoong Park
  • Patent number: 9871006
    Abstract: A semiconductor module including an insulated circuit substrate having a substrate, a circuit layer on a front surface of the substrate, and a metal layer on a back surface of the substrate; a semiconductor element electrically connected to the circuit layer; a cooling unit having a ceiling board bonded to the metal layer, a bottom board opposite the ceiling board, a side wall connecting a periphery of the ceiling board and a periphery of the bottom board, and a fin connecting the ceiling board and bottom board, where thickness of the ceiling board is at least 0.5 mm and at most 2.0 mm and total thickness of the ceiling board and bottom board is at least 3 mm and at most 6 mm; and a solder layer that bonds together the metal layer and the ceiling board by melting at a temperature of at least 200° C. and at most 350° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ryoichi Kato, Takafumi Yamada, Hiromichi Gohara
  • Patent number: 9865511
    Abstract: In an aspect of the present invention, a field-effect transistor (FET) structure is formed. The FET structure comprises a plurality of fins formed on a semiconductor substrate, wherein the plurality of fins includes a set of fins that include a base portion that is comprised of relaxed silicon-germanium (SiGe) and an upper portion that is comprised of semiconductor material. In one aspect, a first set of one or more fins that include an upper portion comprised of a first semiconductor material. In another aspect, a second set of one or more fins that include an upper portion comprised of a second semiconductor material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Pouya Hashemi, Ali Khakifirooz, Alexander Reznicek
  • Patent number: 9865728
    Abstract: A switching device including a semiconductor substrate including a trench (gate electrode) extending in a mesh shape is provided, and the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate is covered by the interlayer insulating film. Within an element range a contact hole is provided in an interlayer insulating film above each cell region while within a surrounding range an entire upper surface of each cell region is covered by the interlayer insulating film. The first metal layer covers the interlayer insulating film, and has recesses above the contact holes. The insulating protective film covers an outer peripheral side portion of the first metal layer within the surrounding range. The second metal layer covers the first metal layer within an opening of the insulating protective film. Within the surrounding range, a second conductivity-type region extending to below lower ends of the trench and is electrically connected to the body region, is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akitaka Soeno, Masaru Senoo, Takashi Kuno, Satoshi Kuwano, Noriyuki Kakimoto, Toshitaka Kanemaru, Kenta Hashimoto, Yuma Kagata
  • Patent number: 9859433
    Abstract: An advanced metal conductor structure is described. An integrated circuit device including a substrate having a patterned dielectric layer. The pattern includes a set of features in the dielectric for a set of metal conductor structures. An adhesion promoting layer is disposed over the set of features in the patterned dielectric. A metal layer fills a first portion of the set of features and is disposed over the adhesion promoting layer. A ruthenium layer is disposed over the metal layer. A cobalt layer is disposed over the ruthenium layer fills a second portion of the set of features. The cobalt layer is formed using a physical vapor deposition process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel C Edelstein, Chih-Chao Yang
  • Patent number: 9859421
    Abstract: A method is presented for forming a vertical field effect transistor (VFET) structure. The method includes forming a plurality of vertical fins over a substrate, forming a dummy gate between the plurality of vertical fins, removing the dummy gate with a subway etch to define a gate cavity, and forming a high-k metal gate (HKMG) stack within the gate cavity. The method further includes forming the first and second source/drain regions before the HKMG stack. The method further includes defining the HKMG stack by a replacement metal gate (RMG) process, the RMG process defined in part by the subway etch. The subway etch enables removal of the dummy gate from a side portion of the VFET structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Robert R. Robison, Reinaldo A. Vega, Rajasekhar Venigalla
  • Patent number: 9859286
    Abstract: A method of fabricating an SRAM semiconductor device includes forming first and second FinFETs on an upper surface of a bulk substrate. The first FinFET includes a first source/drain region containing first dopants, and the second FinFET includes a second source/drain region containing second dopants. The method further includes selectively controlling a temperature of the second FinFET with respect to a temperature of the first FinFET during an anneal process to activate the first and second dopants such that the second source/drain region is formed having a different electrical resistance with respect to the first source/drain region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Veeraraghavan S. Basker, Dechao Guo, Zuoguang Liu, Tenko Yamashita, Chun-Chen Yeh
  • Patent number: 9853148
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and the method of manufacturing the same are provided. The semiconductor device comprises a well region, a first doped region, a drain region, a source region and a gate electrode. The first doped region of a first conductivity type is located at a first side within the well region. The drain region of the first conductivity type is within the first doped region. The source region of the first conductivity type is at a second side within the well region, wherein the second side being opposite to the first side. The gate electrode is over the well region and between the source region and the drain region. A surface of the drain region and a surface of the source region define a channel and the surface of the source region directly contacts the well region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
    Inventors: Shiang-Yu Chen, Kuo-Ming Wu, Yi-Chun Lin, Alexander Kalnitsky
  • Patent number: 9853144
    Abstract: A planar gate power MOSFET includes a substrate having a semiconductor surface doped a first conductivity type, a plurality of transistor cells (cells) including a first cell and at least a second cell each having a gate stack over a body region. A trench has an aspect ratio of >3 extending down from a top side of the semiconductor surface between the gate stacks providing a source contact (SCT) from a source doped a second conductivity type to the substrate. A field plate (FP) is over the gate stacks that provides a liner for the trench. The trench has a refractory metal or platinum-group metal (PGM) metal filler within. A drain doped the second conductivity type is in the semiconductor surface on a side of the gate stacks opposite the trench.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Furen Lin, Frank Baiocchi, Yunlong Liu, Lark Liu, Tianping Lv, Peter Lin, Ho Lin
  • Patent number: 9842815
    Abstract: A semiconductor device has a top metal layer, a first passivation layer over the top metal layer, a first redistribution layer over the first passivation layer, a first polymer layer, and a first conductive via extending through the first polymer layer. The first polymer layer is in physical contact with the first passivation layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Chen-Hua Yu, Tin-Hao Kuo, Chung-Shi Liu, Hao-Yi Tsai
  • Patent number: 9837359
    Abstract: An integrated fan-out package including a die attach film, an integrated circuit component, an insulating encapsulation, and a redistribution circuit structure is provided. The integrated circuit component is disposed on the die attach film and includes a plurality of conductive terminals. The die attach film includes an uplifted edge which raises toward sidewalls of the integrated circuit component. The insulating encapsulation encapsulates the uplifted edge and the integrated circuit component. The redistribution circuit structure is disposed on the integrated circuit component and the insulating encapsulation, and the redistribution circuit structure is electrically connected to the conductive terminals of the integrated circuit component. A method of fabricating the integrated fan-out package are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ming-Yen Chiu, Ching-Fu Chang, Hsin-Chieh Huang
  • Patent number: 9831420
    Abstract: A magnetoresistive element according to an embodiment includes: a first layer containing nitrogen; a reference layer opposed to the first layer, the reference layer having a magnetization perpendicular to a face thereof opposed to the first layer, the magnetization of the reference layer being fixed; a storage layer disposed between the first layer and the reference layer, the storage layer having a magnetization perpendicular to a face thereof opposed to the first layer, the magnetization of the storage layer being changeable, and the storage layer including a second layer containing boron, and a third layer disposed between the second layer and the reference layer and containing boron, a boron concentration of the third layer being lower than a boron concentration of the second layer; and an intermediate layer disposed between the third layer and the reference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Eiji Kitagawa, Takao Ochiai
  • Patent number: 9831340
    Abstract: A semiconductor structure is disclosed. The semiconductor structure includes: a substrate of a first conductivity; a first region of the first conductivity formed in the substrate; a second region of the first conductivity formed in the first region, wherein the second region has a higher doping density than the first region; a source region of a second conductivity formed in the second region; a drain region of the second conductivity formed in the substrate; a pickup region of the first conductivity formed in the second region and adjacent to the source region; and a resist protective oxide (RPO) layer formed on a top surface of the second region. An associated fabricating method is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
    Inventors: Chen-Liang Chu, Ta-Yuan Kung, Ker-Hsiao Huo, Yi-Huan Chen
  • Patent number: 9818869
    Abstract: A ferroelectric device and a manufacturing method are provided. While holding a nonvolatile memory retention capability and a multiple rewriting endurance as the distinctive features of a ferroelectric device, the disclosed ferroelectric device is wider in memory window and more adaptively made microfiner than a conventional ferroelectric device that has used a ferroelectric mainly constituted of Sr—Bi—Ta—O as an oxide of strontium, bismuth and tantalum. Directly on or with intermediary of an insulator on a semiconductor there are layered a first ferroelectric and a conductor to form a gate stack, the first ferroelectric being mainly constituted of Sr—Ca—Bi—Ta—O as an oxide of strontium, calcium, bismuth and tantalum and being built up by a metal organic vapor deposition technique from a suitable film-forming raw material. The gate stack is heat-treated to cause the first ferroelectric to develop its ferroelectricity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignees: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, WACOM R&D CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shigeki Sakai, Mitsue Takahashi, Masaki Kusuhara, Masayuki Toda, Masaru Umeda
  • Patent number: 9818835
    Abstract: In a semiconductor device in the present disclosure, a first nitride semiconductor layer has a two-dimensional electron gas channel in a vicinity of an interface with a second nitride semiconductor layer. In plan view, an electrode portion is provided between a first electrode and a second electrode with a space between the first electrode and the second electrode, and a space between the second electrode and the electrode portion is smaller than the space between the first electrode and the electrode portion. An energy barrier is provided in a junction surface between the electrode portion and the second nitride semiconductor layer, the energy barrier indicating a rectifying action in a forward direction from the electrode portion to the second nitride semiconductor layer, and a bandgap of the second nitride semiconductor layer is wider than a bandgap of the first nitride semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Saichirou Kaneko, Hiroto Yamagiwa, Ayanori Ikoshi, Masayuki Kuroda, Manabu Yanagihara, Kenichiro Tanaka, Tetsuyuki Fukushima
  • Patent number: 9818935
    Abstract: Some embodiments relate to an integrated circuit including a magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) cell. The integrated circuit includes a semiconductor substrate and an interconnect structure disposed over the semiconductor substrate. The interconnect structure includes a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of metal layers that are stacked over one another in alternating fashion. The plurality of metal layers include a lower metal layer and an upper metal layer disposed over the lower metal layer. A bottom electrode is disposed over and in electrical contact with the lower metal layer. A magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) is disposed over an upper surface of bottom electrode. A top electrode is disposed over an upper surface of the MTJ and is in direct electrical contact with a lower surface of the upper metal layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Harry-Hak-Lay Chuang, Chern-Yow Hsu, Shih-Chang Liu
  • Patent number: 9818870
    Abstract: An apparatus including a heterostructure disposed on a substrate and defining a channel region, the heterostructure including a first material having a first band gap less than a band gap of a material of the substrate and a second material having a second band gap that is greater than the first band gap; and a gate stack on the channel region, wherein the second material is disposed between the first material and the gate stack. A method including forming a first material having a first band gap on a substrate; forming a second material having a second band gap greater than the first band gap on the first material; and forming a gate stack on the second material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Willy Rachmady, Van H. Le, Ravi Pillarisetty, Marko Radosavljevic, Gilbert Dewey, Niloy Mukherjee, Jack T. Kavalieros, Robert S. Chau, Benjamin Chu-Kung, Roza Kotlyar