Patents Examined by John Nebling
  • Patent number: 6803285
    Abstract: A method of forming an MOS integrated circuit having at least two types of NFET, each type having a different threshold voltage, and at least two types of PFET, each type having a different threshold voltage, includes forming at least four active regions in a substrate, each region having a different doping profile. A conventional two threshold voltage CMOS process is modified to produce four transistor threshold voltages with only one additional masked implant operation. This additional implant raises the threshold voltage of one type of MOSFET while lowering that of the other MOSFET type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2004
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Kaizad R. Mistry, Ian R. Post
  • Patent number: 6800494
    Abstract: The present invention is generally directed to various methods of controlling copper barrier/seed deposition processes, and a system for accomplishing same. In one illustrative embodiment, the method comprises performing at least one process operation to form a barrier metal layer and a copper seed layer above a wafer, sensing at least one parameter of at least one process operation and determining an acceptability metric for the barrier metal layer and the copper seed layer based upon the sensed at least one parameter. In some embodiments, the method further comprises modifying at least one parameter of said at least one process operation to be performed to form a barrier metal layer and a copper seed layer on a subsequently processed wafer based upon said determined acceptability metric. In some embodiments, the method further comprises identifying a wafer as unacceptable if said acceptability metric falls below a preselected level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2004
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Howard Ernest Castle, William S. Brennan
  • Patent number: 6767774
    Abstract: A polymer or organic light emitting display may be formed on a substrate by patterning the light emitting material using a screen printing technique. In this way, displays may be formed economically, overcoming the difficulties associated with photoprocessing light emitting materials. A binary optic material may be selectively incorporated into sol gel coatings coated over light emitting elements formed from the light emitting material. A tricolor display may be produced using a light emitting material that produces a single color.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2004
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Robert C. Sundahl, Azar Assadi
  • Patent number: 6740955
    Abstract: A method of forming a trench device isolation structure, wherein, after forming a trench in a predetermined area of a semiconductor substrate, a lower isolation pattern, an upper liner pattern, and an upper isolation pattern are sequentially formed to fill the trench. A lower device isolation layer is formed on an entire surface of the semiconductor substrate, and then etched to form the lower isolation pattern so that a top surface of the lower isolation pattern is lower than a top surface of the semiconductor substrate. An upper liner layer and an upper device isolation layer are formed on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the lower isolation pattern, and then etched to form the upper liner pattern. As a result, the upper liner pattern covers the top surface of the lower isolation pattern and surrounds the bottom and the sidewall of the upper isolation pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2004
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Soo-Jin Hong, Jin-Hwa Heo
  • Patent number: 6716664
    Abstract: A functional device free from cracking and having excellent functional characteristics, and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. A low-temperature softening layer (12) and a heat-resistant layer (13) are formed in this order on a substrate (11) made of an organic material such as polyethylene terephthalate, and a functional layer (14) made of polysilicon is formed thereon. The functional layer (14) is formed by crystallizing an amorphous silicon layer, which is a precursor layer, with laser beam irradiation. When a laser beam is applied, heat is transmitted to the substrate (11) and the substrate (11) tends to expand. However, a stress caused by a difference in a thermal expansion coefficient between the substrate (11) and the functional layer (14) is absorbed by the low-temperature softening layer (12), so that no cracks and peeling occurs in the functional layer (14). The low-temperature softening layer (12) is preferably made of a polymeric material containing an acrylic resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Akio Machida, Dharam Pal Gosain, Setsuo Usui
  • Patent number: 6713371
    Abstract: A method to enhance grain size in polysilicon films while avoiding formation of hemispherical grains (HSG) is disclosed. The method begins by depositing a first amorphous silicon film, then depositing silicon nuclei, which will act as nucleation sites, on the amorphous film. After deposition of silicon nuclei, crystallization, and specifically HSG, is prevented by lowering temperature and/or raising pressure. Next a second amorphous silicon layer is deposited over the first layer and the nuclei. Finally an anneal is performed to induce crystallization from the embedded nuclei. Thus grains are formed from the silicon bulk, rather than from the surface, HSG is avoided, and a smooth polysilicon film with enhanced grain size is produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Assignee: Matrix Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventor: Shuo Gu