Patents Examined by Mahshid Saadat
  • Patent number: 6215167
    Abstract: A power semiconductor device having an breakdown voltage improving structure and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. A collector region and a base region create a pn junction between them. At least one accelerating region of the same conductivity type as the collector region is formed spaced from the pn junction and at a dose higher than that of the collector region. A field plate overlaps the pn junction and the accelerating region. The field plate has an edge portion that extends past the accelerating region. When a voltage of a reverse direction is applied to the pn junction, an electric field becomes concentrated on the accelerating region as well as on the pn junction and on the edge portion of the field plate. This increases an electric field distribution area and thus also increases the breakdown voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Chan-ho Park
  • Patent number: 6215172
    Abstract: An integrated circuit die and method of fabricating the same. The method comprises further grinding, polishing or otherwise treating one or more perimeter edges of an individual circuit die. The perimeter edges are treated to remove a substantial portion of the remaining substrate material layer or scribe therefrom without exposing the active circuitry of the die. The process reduces the overall length and width dimensions of a die producing a smaller circuit die without reducing the amount of circuitry on the die.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Aaron Schoenfeld
  • Patent number: 6211574
    Abstract: A semiconductor package includes a semiconductor die mounted on an upper surface of a substrate. A number of wire bonds electrically connect between a number of bonding pads on the upper surface of the substrate and a number of bonding pads on an upper surface of the semiconductor die. A fixing portion surrounds the semiconductor die and covers a mediate portion of each wire bond. Encapsulating material is molded over the semiconductor die and the wire bonds to form an encapsulant. In an alternative embodiment, the fixing portion is provided on the upper surface of the substrate adjacent to a mold gate of the substrate where the wire sweeping is most likely to occur while molding. The fixing portion does not cover the semiconductor die to avoid thermal strain acting on the semiconductor die due to the different coefficients of thermal expansion between the fixing portion and the encapsulant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc.
    Inventors: Su Tao, Chun-Hung Lin, Tai-Chun Huang
  • Patent number: 6211558
    Abstract: A surface micro-machined sensor uses a pedestal in a cavity to support a flexible structure and reduce the span of the flexible structure. The reduced span per sense area allows larger sensor areas without permitting forces to permanently deform the flexible structure or cause the structure to touch an opposite wall of the cavity. The flexible structure bonded to the pedestal and an elevated region surrounding the pedestal defines a cavity between the flexible membrane and a lower plane region. Active regions can be formed in the lower plane region for capacitors or transistors. A pedestal can be of various shapes including a circular, ovoid, rectangular or polygonal shape. The lower plane region can be of various shapes including a ring or donut shape, ovoid, rectangular or polygonal shape with an inner dimension corresponding to the outer dimension of the pedestal. The elevated region can be of various shapes with an inner dimension corresponding to the outer dimension of the lower plane region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Kavlico Corporation
    Inventors: M. Salleh Ismail, Raffi M. Garabedian
  • Patent number: 6208004
    Abstract: An improved gate electrode provides greater tolerances to higher temperature annealing treatments, and is useful in connection with the formation of self-aligned contacts as are needed for high density embedded DRAM applications. Consistent with one embodiment, a process for manufacturing a polycide transistor gate electrode involves forming a cap dielectric and dielectric spacer, with the electrode exhibiting a reduced diffusion transport of dopants between an underlying doped polysilicon layer and an overlying silicide layer. The reduced transport results from the presence of a thin barrier layer between the doped polysilicon layer and silicide layer, and the gate electrode process forms a thermally-oxidized thin polysilicon side-wall film against the polysilicon layer, the barrier layer, the silicide layer, and the cap dielectric layer. The polysilicon side-wall film is used for blocking substantial oxidation of the barrier film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Philips Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventor: James A. Cunningham
  • Patent number: 6208027
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a bump nest which allows a semiconductor device to be temporarily connected with a package without having to be fused to the package. The disclosed temporary interconnect includes a contact group comprising at least three projecting contact elements. Each of the respective contact elements includes a projecting contact guide, which is concentrically located on an encircling contact. The projecting contact guides and the encircling contact are spaced in a manner so as to surround a ball or a bump of the semiconductor device. In the preferred embodiment, the temporary interconnect may also include a base pad on which each of the encircling contacts is accurately positioned to surround the ball or bump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Jerrold Lynn King, Mohammad Khan
  • Patent number: 6207990
    Abstract: An EEPROM memory cell integrated in a semiconductor substrate comprises a floating gate MOS transistor having a source region, a drain region, and a gate region projecting from the substrate and is isolated from the substrate by an oxide layer including a thinner tunnel portion and heavily doped regions formed under said tunnel portion and extending to beneath the drain region, and a selection transistor having a source region, a drain region and a gate region, wherein said source region is heavily doped and formed simultaneously with said heavily doped regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, S.r.l.
    Inventor: Fedrico Pio
  • Patent number: 6208011
    Abstract: The present invention provides a power semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor substrate; a voltage-controlled transistor comprising a first electrode formed on the lower surface of the semiconductor substrate, a gate formed on the semiconductor substrate with a gate oxide interpolated in between and a second electrode formed on the semiconductor substrate; and a zener diode formed on the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate so as to be connected between the gate and the second electrode; wherein p-type regions and n-type regions alternately formed between the zener diode and the second electrode on the semiconductor substrate, a plurality of pad electrodes on the semiconductor substrate provided with the alternate p-type regions and n-type regions so as to allow one or not less than two diodes are series connected between the zener diode and the second electrode, and the distance between the adjacent pad electrodes is set so that when the diode is subjected to a current not less than a predet
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yukio Yasuda
  • Patent number: 6204520
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a thin film transistor (TFT), liquid crystal display (LCD) and fabricating methods thereof, and more particularly to a TFT having source/drain lines on which an insulating layer and an active layer are located lie on an insulated substrate, to an LCD using the TFT and fabricating methods of the TFT and LCD. The TFT has a BBC (Buried Bus Coplanar) structure by forming a source/drain line on a substrate and by forming a buffer layer which covers the source/drain line which simplifies the process by means of reducing the number of deposition steps. The BBC structure of TFT has a source/drain line on a substrate, an insulating layer covering the source/drain line and the entire disclosed surface and a coplanar structure on the insulating layer. The present invention also provides a data line in the TFT of the BBC structure having low resistance applicable to a wide-screen by means of forming both the buffer layer and the source/drain line with a sufficient thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: LG. Philips LCD Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yong-Min Ha, Joo-Cheon Yeo
  • Patent number: 6204519
    Abstract: A thin film semiconductor device comprising a substrate having an insulating surface, gate electrodes disposed on the insulating surface, gate insulating films disposed on upper portions of the gate electrodes, and thin film semiconductors disposed on the gate insulating films and including channel forming regions, source regions and drain regions. Two kinds of thin film semiconductor unit are disposed on the substrate. A first thin film semiconductor unit includes the thin film semiconductor of polycrystal, an insulating film covering an upper portion of the channel forming region, impurity semiconductor films doped with trivalent or pentavalent impurities and covering the source region and the drain region, and conductive films disposed on the impurity semiconductor films. A second thin film semiconductor unit includes the thin film semiconductor of amorphous, and other components similar to the first thin film semiconductor unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: Semicondutor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Toshiji Hamatani, Takeshi Fukada
  • Patent number: 6204548
    Abstract: To provide a semiconductor device fuse, which does not damage the lower layer when it is cut by irradiation with a laser beam. In forming a fuse 2 by forming an electroconductive thin film on the surface of a semiconductor substrate and patterning it, a cut part 4 is constituted by installing an expanding part 5 in a narrow-width part 3, and the cut part 4 is cut by irradiation with a laser beam. Even if scattering of the intensity of the laser beam and scattering of the irradiation position occur, no damage occurs in the lower layer, and an electrical element can be formed even at the position directly under the fuse 2. The cut part 4 preferably has a circular shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Yutaka Komai
  • Patent number: 6204562
    Abstract: A wafer-level chip scale package. The structure is applicable in packing at least two dies into a same package. The volume of the package is approximately equal to the total volume of the packed dies. A first die is provided. A pad redistribution step is performed on the first chip. Using flip chip technique, a second die is connected onto the first die. The first die has a surface area larger than that of the second die. Using a molding process, a molding material is infilled into spaces between the first and the second die. In addition, bumps are formed on the first chip with one ends thereof exposed and the other part covered by the molding material. Solder balls are formed on the exposed end of the bumps as terminals to electrically connect an external circuit or device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventors: Kai-Kuang Ho, Te-Sheng Yang
  • Patent number: 6204543
    Abstract: A gate electrode is formed on a first conductive type semiconductor. Next, a second conductive type first impurity is selectively introduced in a drain formation planned region at a surface of the semiconductor substrate to form a first diffusion layer. Then, a second conductive type second impurity having a diffusion coefficient smaller than that of the first impurity is selectively introduced in a source formation planned region at the surface of the semiconductor substrate to form a second diffusion layer. Thereafter, a side wall is formed on a side surface of the gate electrode. Then, a second conductive type third impurity is introduced at the surface of the semiconductor substrate at a density higher than the first and second impurities, using the gate electrode and the side wall as a mask.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Toshio Komuro
  • Patent number: 6204549
    Abstract: The invention relates to an overvoltage protection device and to a method for fabricating such a device. A substrate (1) is provided with a first electrode layer (2), above which extends a second electrode layer (3) which is separated from the first electrode layer (2) by a distance (d) determined by the thickness of a spacing layer (4). The spacing layer (4) has an opening (5) which forms a cavity (6) between the electrode layers (2, 3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: Micronas Intermetall GmbH
    Inventors: Guenter Igel, Joachim Krumrey
  • Patent number: 6201289
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an inductor. A silicon substrate of a first conductive type is provided. A spiral conductive layer is formed over the silicon substrate. A doped region of a second conductive type is formed in the substrate below the spiral conductive layer. A doped region of the first conductive type is next formed in the substrate around the doped region of the second conductive type. A reverse-bias voltage is applied to the doped region of the first conductive type and the doped region of the second conductive type. The application of a reverse-bias voltage creates a depletion region beneath the doped region of the second conductive type and the space between the doped regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventor: Chewnpu Jou
  • Patent number: 6201296
    Abstract: A copy-protection device for a semiconductor chip with a cover has a resonant oscillating circuit whose elements are located on the chip surface and within the cover. The semiconductor chip also has an evaluation circuit connected to the oscillating circuit. The evaluation circuit disables the semiconductor chip if the oscillating circuit is detuned and thus stopped from resonating. This detuning of the oscillating circuit occurs when the cover is removed, since the cover acts as a dielectric for the capacitor. After the cover has been removed, it is impossible to operate the semiconductor chip, in order to copy or analyze it.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Manfred Fries, Peter Stampka
  • Patent number: 6201261
    Abstract: A semiconductor device having a substrate, a conductive intermediate layer deposited onto said substrate, wherein the intermediate layer serves as a back electrode, an optical reflector, and an interface for impurity gettering, and a semiconductor layer deposited onto said intermediate layer, wherein the semiconductor layer has a grain size at least as large as the layer thickness, and preferably about ten times the layer thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Midwest Research Institute
    Inventor: Bhushan L. Sopori
  • Patent number: 6201291
    Abstract: A semiconductor device, for example an IC, having conductor tracks (3) of a metal (3) exhibiting a better conductance than aluminium, such as copper, silver, gold or an alloy thereof. The tracks are situated on an insulating layer (2) and are connected to a semiconductor region (1A) or to an aluminium conductor track by means of a metal plug (5), for example of tungsten, which is situated in an aperture (4) in the insulating layer (2). The bottom and walls of the aperture (4) are provided with an electroconductive material (6), such as titanium nitride, which forms a diffusion barrier for the metal (3). In accordance with the invention, the insulating layer (2) comprises a sub-layer (2A), which forms a diffusion barrier for the metal (3) and which extends, outside the aperture (4), throughout the surface of the semiconductor body (10). As a result, the conductor tracks (3) no longer have to be provided with a sheath serving as a diffusion barrier for the metal (3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Srdjan Kordic, Cornelis A. H. A. Mutsaers, Mareike K. Klee, Wilhelm A. Groen
  • Patent number: 6201284
    Abstract: A movable electrode structure is formed in a single sensor element, and this movable electrode structure can be displaced along two axes within a plane, and one axis outside the plane. A detecting fixed electrode is provided via a constant space with each of these detecting axes, and a change in capacitances between the movable electrodes and the fixed electrodes is detected. As a result, the acceleration components of the two axes, or the three axes are detected. The dynamic characteristic of the sensor is controlled based on the mass of the variable electrode, the structure and length of the beam for supporting the movable electrode, and also the ratio of the length to the section of this beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiaki Hirata, Masahiro Tsugai, Nobuaki Konno
  • Patent number: 6201282
    Abstract: A dual bit read only memory cell has two bits separately stored in two different areas of the channel, such as the left and right bit line junctions of the channel. A programmed bit has a threshold pocket implant self-aligned to its bit line junction and an unprogrammed bit has no such implant. An array of such cells is manufactured by laying down a bit line mask and separately programming the two bit line junctions. For each bit line junction, the bit line junctions which are to remain unprogrammed are first covered, with a junction mask, after which the array is exposed to a threshold pocket implant at a 15-45° angle, to the right or to the left. The junction mask is removed and the process repeated for the other bit line junction. Finally, the bit line mask is removed. In an alternative embodiment, the threshold pocket implant is two implants, of two different materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Saifun Semiconductors Ltd.
    Inventor: Boaz Eitan