Patents Examined by John Niebling
  • Patent number: 5858806
    Abstract: A method wherein an IC component is mounted to electrodes provided in a transparent portion of a flat panel display with interposition of an anisotropic conductive adhesive or film, includes steps of detecting, when mounting the IC component onto the transparent portion of the flat panel display for temporary bonding to the adhesive or film, positional displacement amounts of first positional alignment portions in two positions of the mounted IC component relative to second positional alignment portions in two positions of the transparent portion of the flat panel display in correspondence with the first positional alignment portions by a camera from a side of the flat panel display opposite from a side on which the IC component is mounted, thereby inspecting positional alignment state of bumps of the IC component with the electrodes of the flat panel display, feeding back the positional displacement amount of the IC component with respect to the flat panel display when the positional alignment state is not a
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1999
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kazuto Nishida
  • Patent number: 5858863
    Abstract: Disclosed is a fabricating system including a plurality of processing apparatuses connected to each other by means of an inter-apparatus transporter, wherein one group of semiconductor wafers are processed in processing apparatuses and other group of wafers are transported to specified processing apparatuses for a time interval from (To+T) to a time To; and another group of wafers are processed and the remaining group of wafers are transported for a time interval from (To+T) to (To+2T). Since processing apparatuses can receive at least one of works from the inter-apparatus transporter for a time interval T min, the distribution of works from the transporter to processing apparatuses is completed for the time interval T min. The transporter is emptied for each time interval T min, and works are unloaded to the emptied transporter, which makes easy the scheduling, control and management of the transporting of a plurality of works in the fabricating system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1999
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Natsuki Yokoyama, Yoshifumi Kawamoto, Eiichi Murakami, Fumihiko Uchida, Kenichi Mizuishi, Yoshio Kawamura
  • Patent number: 5856228
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and a manufacturing method therefor which can simultaneously realize both a reduction in base transit time by a reduction in base width and a reduction in base resistance by a reduction in link base resistance. The semiconductor device is manufactured by the method including the steps of forming a first impurity diffused layer of a first conduction type in a semiconductor substrate; forming a conducting film connected to the first impurity diffused layer; forming a first insulating film on the conducting film; forming a first hole through a laminated film composed of the first insulating film and the conducting film; forming a second impurity diffused layer of the first conduction type in the semiconductor substrate exposed to the first hole; forming a side wall from a second insulating film in the first hole to form a second hole; and forming a third impurity diffused layer of the first conduction type in the semiconductor substrate exposed to the second hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Miwa, Shigeru Kanematsu, Takayuki Gomi, Hiroaki Anmo, Takashi Noguchi, Katsuyuki Kato, Hirokazu Ejiri, Norikazu Ouchi
  • Patent number: 5856241
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for reducing the size of a semiconductor chip to be manufactured and improving the precision of processing a fine resist pattern provided for manufacturing the semiconductor chip. In particular, to manufacture a semiconductor chip having a small number of regularly-arranged elements, such as those of a memory cell array, the method uses a fine resist pattern which is formed to have regularly arranged opening portions and a dummy region surrounding the opening portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1999
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventor: Kazuhito Narita
  • Patent number: 5856215
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a CMOS transistor which can further reduce the size of a chip since it is not necessary to consider the metal contact process margin since a gate electrode of a PMOS transistor and a gate electrode of an NMOS transistor are directly connected with a polysilicon wiring during a process of forming the gate electrodes, which can prevent the formation of a parasitic transistor by forming a cell space region in an active region below the polysilicon wiring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1999
    Assignee: Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Chae Hyun Jung
  • Patent number: 5856218
    Abstract: In an NPN bipolar transistor having a special structure in which each impurity region is formed by ion implantation, a width of a base region is significantly reduced, and therefore, current amplification factor hfe is increased, resulting in improvement in performance thereof. Furthermore, a Bi-CMOS transistor can be manufactured using a CMOS process. The use of the bipolar transistor having a special structure for a driving circuit allows implementation of a driving circuit having large driving force with slight increase in cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1999
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsushi Kinoshita, Tomohisa Wada
  • Patent number: 5855756
    Abstract: An electrorefining cell permits increased electrolyte flow rates while maintaining the slime layer at the bottom of the cell and on the anode faces substantially intact. The cell includes an inlet manifold located near the bottom of the cell and having a plurality of discharge orifices for the electrolyte solution. An inlet baffle shrouds the discharge orifices to regulate and direct the flow of electrolyte solution within the cell. The inlet baffle and the cell wall form an elongated slot that resides beneath the surface of the electrolyte solution. An analogous configuration is employed for electrolyte discharge to enable relatively high electrolyte flow into and out of the cell. The specific shape, size, and location of the inlet baffle and an outlet baffle may be selected to optimize the electrolyte flow characteristics of the cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1999
    Assignee: BHP Copper Inc.
    Inventor: Gerald C. Anzalone, III
  • Patent number: 5854117
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a varicap diode whereby a silicon substrate with an epitaxial layer of a first conductivity type is provided with a first zone through the provision of dopant atoms of a first conductivity type in the epitaxial layer and is provided with a second zone adjoining a surface of the epitaxial layer through the provision of dopant atoms of a second conductivity type opposed to the first in the epitaxial layer, a pn junction being formed between the second zone and the first zone. According to the invention, the method is characterized in that the second zone is provided in that a layer of polycrystalline silicon provided with dopant atoms of the second conductivity type is provided on the surface, and in that the dopant atoms are diffused from this layer into the epitaxial layer, whereby a pn junction is formed at a distance of less than 0.3 .mu.m from the polycrystalline silicon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Frederikus R. J. Huisman, Oscar J. A. Buyk, Wolfgang Bindke
  • Patent number: 5854135
    Abstract: An anisotropic RIE procedure for creating a small diameter SAC opening, in an insulator layer, used in the fabrication sequence of a MOSFET device, and using a large area test site for RIE end point monitoring, has been developed. The RIE procedure features a RIE ambient, including oxygen as part of the RIE ambient, resulting in equal amounts of polymer deposition on the small diameter SAC opening, as well as on the large area test sites, during the reactive ion etching of the small diameter, SAC opening. This allows accurate monitoring of the RIE procedure to be performed on the large area test site, using optical ellipsometry procedures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Assignee: Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Jun-Cheng Ko
  • Patent number: 5854130
    Abstract: A method for forming multilevel interconnects in a semiconductor IC device is provided. The method involves a simplified planarization process for planarization of inter-metal dielectrics that allows for easy and cost-effective fabrication of the device. By this method, an insulating layer is formed over a substrate, then a first conductive layer is formed over the insulating layer and which is selectively removed to form conductive interconnects. Subsequently, a dielectric layer is formed over the conductive interconnects. A photoresist layer is then formed and patterned over the dielectric layer by a spin-coating process. An etching process is then conducted on the photoresist layer and the dielectric layer with a 1:1 etching ratio until the photoresist layer is completely removed. At the same moment when the photoresist layer is completely removed, the via holes are formed. The following steps are the same for fabricating the next-level interconnects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Assignee: Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventors: Fu-Liang Yang, Yin Chen
  • Patent number: 5854122
    Abstract: Micromachining a microelectromechanical structure requires one or more heavily doped silicon layers. Intricately patterned structures are created in a heavily doped surface layer on a relatively undoped substrate. The substrate is subsequently dissolved in a selective etch. The doping prevents the patterned structures from dissolving. In this invention, a doped layer is grown epitaxially onto the first substrate rather than by diffusing a dopant into the substrate. This produces additional planarity, thickness control, and dopant profile control. The structure may then be placed into a larger device, such as an infrared sensor, an accelerometer, or an angular rate sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Kenneth Maxwell Hays, Bradley Leonard Halleck, Eugene Coleman Whitcomb
  • Patent number: 5854128
    Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention discloses a memory device having an array with digit lines arranged in complementary pairs, the array comprising; a substantially planar layer having trenches therein; a first level of digit lines residing at least partially in the trenches; a second level of digit lines residing on the surface of the layer, the second level extending in generally parallel relation to the digit lines in the first level. The first level of digit lines are in alternating positions with the second level of digit lines and the alternating positions comprise a repeating pattern of a first complementary pair of digit lines at the first level adjacent a second complementary pair of digit lines at the second level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Kin F. Ma, Eric T. Stubbs
  • Patent number: 5854141
    Abstract: An inorganic seal for encapsulation of an organic layer during passivation of an integrated circuit device and method for making the same is disclosed. The seal creates a structure which forms an inorganic to inorganic passivation seal over Reactive Ion Etched (RIE) edges in an all organic planar back end of the line (BEOL) insulator. The edge seal prevents the delamination of the passivation layer from the integrated circuit device or a metallization ring which may lead to subsequent formation of moisture-filled channels and corrosion of the metal lines of the device and the failure of the integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: John Edward Cronin, Barbara Jean Luther
  • Patent number: 5851846
    Abstract: In a dielectric isolation substrate, an end point of a polishing process for selective polishing for forming an SOI layer is detected with a high precision. When polishing a wafer with a polishing pad, the temperature of a region of the polishing pad having polished the wafer at a position immediately thereafter is detected by a temperature sensor and the selective polishing process is ended by discriminating that the rate of variation in the detected temperature has changed from a positive to a negative state and then to a fixed saturated state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Matsui, Masatake Nagaya, Akinari Fukaya, Hiroaki Himi
  • Patent number: 5851886
    Abstract: A channel region formation process in field effect transistors directed toward reducing threshold voltage sensitivity to variations in gate length resulting from manufacturing techniques. A polysilicon gate is formed over the substrate and a channel region is subsequently implanted at a large angle measured from perpendicular to the substrate. Large angle implantation results in a non-uniform doping concentration in the channel region, improving threshold voltage sensitivity. Improvement can also be seen in other parameters, including source-drain current, substrate current, leakage current, magnification factor, and hot electron channel injection efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Advanced MIcro Devices, Inc.
    Inventor: Jack Zezhong Peng
  • Patent number: 5851847
    Abstract: A photonic device according to the present inventions obtained by resin molding a photonic element mounted on a base using a light-transmitting resin wherein the cured hardness of the light-transmitting resin is set at a value for optimally minimizing the adhesion of dust particles on the surface of the light-transmitting resin and the generation rate of internal cracks of the light-transmitting resin for a predetermined temperature change on the basis of the correlation between the two. A process for fabricating a photonic device according to the present invention comprises resin molding a photonic element by potting a light-transmitting resin having a predetermined viscosity, and applying a predetermined heat treatment for curing the resin to a final hardness after driving out the bubbles from the inside of the light-transmitting resin and for relaxing the curing shrinkage stress.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Hideo Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 5851867
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a rugged stacked oxide layer structure which remarkably increases an area of a subsequent deposition layer over the rugged stacked oxide layer. The enlargement of the area of a deposition layer over the rugged oxide layer enables one to ameliorate an electrical characteristic of a device and provide a higher integration density. For example, the rugged stacked oxide layer can be used to provide a higher capacitance by enlarging the area of a storage electrode of a capacitor. Similarly it can also be used to increase light absorption of a photodetector per unit area by enlarging an interfacial area of a P-N junction of the photodetector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Mosel Vitellic Incorporated
    Inventors: Kuang-Chao Chen, Tuby Tu
  • Patent number: 5851844
    Abstract: A ferroelectric semiconductor device (10) and a method of manufacturing the ferroelectric semiconductor device (10). The ferroelectric semiconductor device (10) has a layer (15) of ferroelectric material disposed on a semiconductor substrate (11) and a gate structure (27) formed on the semiconductor substrate (11). A source region (23) and a drain region (24) are formed on the semiconductor substrate such that the source region (23) and the drain region (24) are laterally spaced apart from the gate structure (27).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: William J. Ooms, Jerald A. Hallmark
  • Patent number: 5851872
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a DRAM which includes a capacitor and a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor. A field oxide layer is formed on a silicon substrate. A gate oxide layer is formed on the silicon substrate. A first polysilicon layer is deposited on the gate oxide layer. An insulator is deposited on the first polysilicon layer. A first silicon nitride layer is deposited on the insulator. The first silicon nitride layer, the insulator, the first polysilicon layer and the gate oxide layer are processed to form a gate electrode. First spacers are formed between the insulator and the substrate on sidewall on opposite sides of the gate electrode. Source-drain regions are formed on the substrate on the opposite sides of the gate electrode. A contact window is formed on the drain electrode. Second spacers are formed on surfaces of the first spacers which are adjacent to the contact window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corporation
    Inventors: Hwi-Huang Chen, Gary Hong
  • Patent number: 5851858
    Abstract: A method for producing a multiplicity of microelectronic circuits on SOI produces n-CMOS or p-CMOS transistors, NPN transistors or PNP transistors, for instance, through the use of a standardized process, in an especially simple way. All that is required to do so is to adapt the implantations that are performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Karlheinz Mueller