Patents Examined by Kenneth A Bratland, Jr.
  • Patent number: 12195876
    Abstract: Gas-phase reactor systems and methods suitable for use with precursors that are solid phase at room temperature and pressure are disclosed. The systems and methods as described herein can be used to, for example, form amorphous, polycrystalline, or epitaxial layers (e.g., one or more doped semiconductor layers) on a surface of a substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: ASM IP Holding B.V.
    Inventors: John Tolle, Joseph P. Margetis
  • Patent number: 12188153
    Abstract: A single-crystal pulling apparatus including: a pulling furnace having a central axis; and a magnetic field generation device arranged around the pulling furnace and having superconducting coils, the apparatus applying a horizontal magnetic field to the molten semiconductor raw material, two coil axes in the two pairs of the superconducting coils are included in a single horizontal plane, and when a direction of lines of magnetic force at the central axis of the pulling furnace in the horizontal plane is determined as an X axis, a center angle ? having the X axis between the two coil axes is 100 degrees or more and 120 degrees or less. This makes it possible to reduce the height of the coils, to raise the magnetic field center close to the melt surface of the semiconductor raw material, and to obtain a single crystal having a lower oxygen concentration than conventional single crystals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2025
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU HANDOTAI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kiyotaka Takano, Kosei Sugawara, Hiroyuki Kamada, Takahide Onai, Tomohiko Ohta
  • Patent number: 12180611
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to silicon carbide coated base substrates, silicon carbide substrates thereof, and methods for forming silicon carbide coated base substrates. In some embodiments, a method includes introducing a first silicon-containing precursor to a process chamber at a first temperature of about 800° C. to less than 1,000° C. to form a first silicon carbide layer on a base substrate. The method includes introducing a second silicon-containing precursor, that is the same or different than the first silicon-containing precursor, to the process chamber at a second temperature of about 1,000° C. to about 1,400° C. to form a second silicon carbide layer on the first silicon carbide layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2024
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Yen Lin Leow, Xinning Luan, Hui Chen, Kirk Allen Fisher, Shawn Thomas
  • Patent number: 12163252
    Abstract: An ?- or ?-Ga2O3 crystal is produced by bringing an aqueous solution including a Ga ion into a supercritical state having a temperature of 400° C. or more and a pressure of 22.1 MPa or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Jun Yoshikawa, Miho Maeda
  • Patent number: 12157955
    Abstract: A method for simultaneously manufacturing more than one single crystal of a semiconductor material by physical vapor transport (PVT) includes connecting a pair of reactors to a vacuum pump system by a common vacuum channel and creating and/or controlling, with the vacuum pump system, a common gas phase condition in the inner chambers of the pair of reactors. Each reactor has an inner chamber adapted to accommodate a PVT growth structure for growth of a semiconductor single crystal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2024
    Assignee: SiCrystal GmbH
    Inventors: Erwin Schmitt, Michael Vogel
  • Patent number: 12157953
    Abstract: There is provided a growing method for monocrystalline silicon by a Czochralski process, the method including: pulling the monocrystalline silicon while rotating the monocrystalline silicon; and dropping a granular dopant onto a liquid surface of a silicon melt while a straight body of the monocrystalline silicon is being pulled, in which in the dropping of the dopant, a dropping position of the granular dopant is set above a region where a flow away from the straight body is dominant in the liquid surface of the silicon melt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2024
    Assignee: SUMCO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Norihito Fukatsu, Ryusuke Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 12139812
    Abstract: A method forms one or more diamonds. The method provides a growth chamber having a gas environment. A single crystal diamond substrate is positioned within the growth chamber. Diamond material is deposited on the single crystal diamond substrate for epitaxial growth. The single crystal diamond substrate has a given crystal orientation. Growth is continued at a prescribed temperature, prescribed pressure, and with a prescribed gas content for the gas environment. The prescribed gas environment has a nitrogen concentration of greater than about 0.5 ppm and less than about 5.0 ppm. The prescribed temperature is greater than about 650 degrees C. and less than about 950 degrees C. The prescribed pressure is greater than about 130 Torr and less than about 175 Torr.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: Advanced Diamond Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: John P. Ciraldo, Jonathan Levine-Miles
  • Patent number: 12116693
    Abstract: A cylinder assembly of a single crystal pulling apparatus and a single crystal pulling apparatus are provided in the present disclosure. The cylinder assembly includes an inner cylinder, an outer cylinder, an annular plate and a sleeve. The inner cylinder has a shape of inverted conical. An upper end of the inner cylinder is connected to an upper end of the outer cylinder. A lower end of the outer cylinder is hermetically connected to an outer edge of the annular plate. A lower end of the inner cylinder is fixedly connected to an upper surface of the annular plate. The sleeve passes through and is fixed in an annular opening of the annular plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignees: XI'AN ESWIN MATERIAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., XI'AN ESWIN SILICON WAFER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Wenwu Yang, Bokcheol Sim
  • Patent number: 12116271
    Abstract: A method of forming a monocrystalline nitinol film on a single crystal silicon wafer can comprise depositing a first seed layer of a first metal on the single crystal silicon wafer, the first seed layer growing epitaxially on the single crystal silicon wafer in response to the depositing the first seed layer of the first metal; and depositing the monocrystalline nitinol film on a final seed layer, the monocrystalline nitinol film growing epitaxially on the final seed layer in response to the depositing the monocrystalline nitinol film. The method can form a multilayer stack for a micro-electromechanical system MEMS device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University
    Inventors: Jagannathan Rajagopalan, Rohit Berlia
  • Patent number: 12110610
    Abstract: A method of making 2D material such as graphene includes introducing a purge gas into a gas confining space within a reaction chamber to purge the gas confining space of oxygen; introducing a donor gas into the gas confining space within the reaction chamber; moving a forming layer within the gas confining space within the reaction chamber when the donor gas is within the gas confining space; and heating the forming layer within the gas confining space to a temperature sufficient to form 2D material while the gas confining space is open to a surrounding atmosphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: General Graphene Corp.
    Inventors: James Vig Sherrill, Gregory E. Erickson
  • Patent number: 12104275
    Abstract: Cooling jacket devices of ingot puller apparatus used to prepare silicon ingots by the Czochralski method are disclosed. The cooling jacket device may include an inner shell that forms an inner chamber through which the ingot is pulled. The cooling jacket includes an outer shell. A plurality of tubes are disposed between the inner shell and outer shell. Each tube forms a cooling fluid passageway through which cooling fluid passes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Benjamin Michael Meyer, Justin Scott Kayser
  • Patent number: 12104280
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method of producing a substrate having a wrinkle pattern of a single-layer rhenium disulfide (ReS2) nanoflakes deposited thereon. The method is characterized by using ammonium rhenium and sulfur powders as the rhenium source and the sulfur source, respectively; and with the addition of molecular sieve to control the release of the rhenium source during the deposition of ReS2, in which a single layer of ReS2 is deposited on a substrate via chemical vapor deposition. The single-layer ReS2 is then exposed to UV light to induce the formation of a wrinkle pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
    Inventors: Thuc Hue Ly, Lingli Huang, Honglin Chen
  • Patent number: 12098476
    Abstract: The present invention addresses the problem of providing a novel SiC substrate production method. The SiC substrate production method according to the present invention comprises an etching step S10 of etching a SiC base substrate 10, a crystal growth step S20 of growing a SiC substrate layer 13 on the SiC base substrate 10 to produce a SiC substrate body 20, and a peeling step S30 of peeling at least a portion of the SiC substrate body 20 to produce a SiC substrate 30, the method being characterized in that each of the etching step S10 and the crystal growth step S20 is a step of arranging the SiC base substrate 10 and a SiC material 40 so as to face each other and heating the SiC base substrate 10 and the SiC material 40 so as to form a temperature gradient between the SiC base substrate 10 and the SiC material 40.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignees: KWANSEI GAKUIN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, TOYOTA TSUSHO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tadaaki Kaneko, Kiyoshi Kojima
  • Patent number: 12098478
    Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus for preparing a large-size single crystal, which relates to the field of semiconductor material preparation, and more particularly, to an apparatus for preparing a large-size single crystal from a plurality of small-size single crystals by connecting them in solid states. The apparatus includes a hydrocooling furnace, a solid connection chamber hermetically disposed in the hydrocooling furnace, and combined fixtures provided in the solid connection chamber, wherein a plurality of crystal pieces are fixed by the combined fixtures, a top column or a stress block is used for pressing the crystal piece through the combined fixtures, a heating wire surrounding the solid connection chamber is provided in the hydrocooling furnace, a vacuum tube is communicated with the solid connection chamber, and a thermocouple is disposed close to the combined fixtures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignee: THE 13TH RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF CHINA ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY GROUP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shujie Wang, Niefeng Sun, Yanlei Shi, Huimin Shao, Xiaolan Li, Yang Wang, Lijie Fu, Senfeng Xu, Jian Jiang, Huisheng Liu, Tongnian Sun
  • Patent number: 12098475
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to large area single crystal diamond (SCD) surfaces and substrates, and their methods of formation. Typical large area substrates can be at least about 25 mm, 50 mm, or 100 mm in diameter or square edge length, and suitable thicknesses can be about 100 ?m to 1000 ?m. The large area substrates have a high degree of crystallographic alignment. The large area substrates can be used in a variety of electronics and/or optics applications. Methods of forming the large area substrates generally include lateral and vertical growth of SCD on spaced apart and crystallographically aligned SCD seed substrates, with the individual SCD growth layers eventually merging to form a composite SCD layer of high quality and high crystallographic alignment. A diamond substrate holder can be used to crystallographically align the SCD seed substrates and reduce the effect of thermal stress on the formed SCD layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignees: BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, Fraunhofer USA
    Inventors: Timothy A. Grotjohn, Ramon Diaz, Aaron Hardy
  • Patent number: 12091749
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein include processes and apparatuses relate to epitaxial deposition. A method for epitaxially depositing a material is provided and includes positioning a substrate on a substrate support surface of a susceptor within a process volume of a chamber body, where the process volume contains upper and lower chamber regions. The method includes flowing a process gas containing one or more chemical precursors from an upper gas inlet on a first side of the chamber body, across the substrate, and to an upper gas outlet on a second side of the chamber body, flowing a purge gas from a lower gas inlet on the first side of the chamber body, across the lower surface of the susceptor, and to a lower gas outlet on the second side of the chamber body, and maintaining a pressure of the lower chamber region greater than a pressure of the upper chamber region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Ishikawa, Swaminathan T. Srinivasan, Matthias Bauer, Manjunath Subbanna, Ala Moradian, Kartik Bhupendra Shah, Errol Antonio C Sanchez, Michael R. Rice, Peter Reimer, Marc Shull
  • Patent number: 12084788
    Abstract: A method for producing a silicon single crystal, wherein a silicon nitride powder is introduced into a raw material before start of melting and the silicon single crystal doped with nitrogen is pulled by Czochralski method, wherein nitrogen doping is performed while an upper limit amount of usable silicon nitride powder is limited based on an amount of carbon impurities contained in the silicon nitride powder so that a carbon concentration in the silicon single crystal is equal to or less than allowable value. This makes it possible to achieve the required nitrogen doping amount at low cost while achieving the low carbon-concentration specification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU HANDOTAI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kosei Sugawara, Ryoji Hoshi, Tomohiko Ohta
  • Patent number: 12071704
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing a single crystal by growing a single crystal according to a Czochralski method, the apparatus including: main chamber configured to house crucible configured to accommodate raw-material melt, and heater configured to heat raw-material melt; pulling chamber continuously provided at upper portion of main chamber and configured to accommodate single crystal grown and pulled; cooling cylinder extending from at least ceiling portion of main chamber toward raw-material melt so as to surround single crystal being pulled, cooling cylinder configured to be forcibly cooled with coolant; and auxiliary cooling cylinder fitted in an inside of cooling cylinder. Auxiliary cooling cylinder is made of any one or more materials of graphite, carbon composite, stainless steel, molybdenum, and tungsten. The auxiliary cooling cylinder has structure covering bottom surface of cooling cylinder facing raw-material melt. Gap between auxiliary cooling cylinder and bottom surface of cooling cylinder is 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU HANDOTAI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuya Yanase, Atsushi Okai
  • Patent number: 12071706
    Abstract: A process for producing a monocrystalline layer of AlN material comprises the transfer of a monocrystalline seed layer of SiC-6H material to a carrier substrate of silicon material, followed by the epitaxial growth of the monocrystalline layer of AlN material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: SOITEC
    Inventor: Bruno Ghyselen
  • Patent number: 12065755
    Abstract: The present invention provides a preparation method of a gallium nitride single crystal based on a ScAlMgO4 substrate, comprising following steps: (1) providing a ScAlMgO4 substrate; (2) growing a buffer layer on a surface of the ScAlMgO4 substrate; (3) annealing the buffer layer; (4) growing a GaN crystal on the buffer layer; (5) performing cooling, so that the GaN crystal is automatically peeled off from the ScAlMgO4 substrate. The present invention does not need to use a complex MOCVD process for GaN deposition and preprocessing to make a mask or a separation layer, which effectively reduces production costs; compared with traditional substrates such as sapphire, it has higher quality and a larger radius of curvature, and will not cause a problem of OFFCUT non-uniformity for growing GaN over 4 inches; finally, the present invention can realize continuous growth into a crystal bar with a thickness of more than 5 mm, which further reduces the costs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Inventors: Haitao Zhang, Bin Xu, Bo Pang, Lianghong Liu