Patents Examined by Robert M Kunemund
  • Patent number: 12282189
    Abstract: A mask material is deposited on a substrate or growth template. The substrate or growth template is compatible with crystalline growth of a crystalline optical material. Patterned portions of the mask material are removed to expose one or more regions of the substrate or growth template. The one or more regions have target shapes of one or more optical components. The crystalline optical material is selectively grown in the one or more regions to form the one or more optical components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Thomas Wunderer
  • Patent number: 12281407
    Abstract: A device for producing single crystals of silicon carbide has a furnace and a chamber with a crucible and a seed crystal, the chamber being accommodated in the furnace, wherein a base material containing silicon carbide is arranged in the crucible, wherein the base material contains a mixture of silicon carbide powder and silicon carbide lumps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: EBNER Industrieofenbau GmbH
    Inventors: Robert Ebner, Kanaparin Ariyawong, Ghassan Barbar, Chih-Yung Hsiung
  • Patent number: 12276040
    Abstract: The single crystal furnace charging system includes a control system configured to send a charging request, a material preparation system configured to receive the charging request and prepare materials based on the charging request, a feeding system configured to receive the charging request, obtain the materials, and compare an actual feeding amount with a preset feeding amount to obtain a difference between the actual feeding amount and the preset charging amount, in response to the difference being within a first preset threshold, charge a single crystal furnace. The single crystal furnace charging system further includes a calibration system configured to obtain a total charging weight, and obtain a difference between the total charging weight and a preset charging amount of the single crystal furnace, in response to the difference being within a second preset threshold, update a total charging amount to the total charging weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2025
    Assignees: JINKO SOLAR CO., LTD., SICHUAN JINKO SOLAR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ziyang Ou, Yin Tang, Bo Xiong, Peng Xiang
  • Patent number: 12278104
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to the technical field of semiconductors. Disclosed is a multi-layer semiconductor material structure and a preparation method thereof, solving the problems of the existing semiconductor materials that have poor heat dissipation, high cost, and cannot be mass-produced. The multi-layer semiconductor material structure includes a highly thermally conductive support substrate and a crystallized device function layer, where the device function layer is provided on the highly thermally conductive support substrate, and has a single-crystal surface layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2025
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics of the Chines Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Fengwen Mu, Xinhua Wang, Sen Huang, Ke Wei, Xinyu Liu
  • Patent number: 12270123
    Abstract: A method for producing a substrate for the epitaxial growth of a gallium-based III-N alloy layer comprises the following successive steps: —providing a donor substrate of single-crystal silicon carbide; —implanting ions in the donor substrate to form an embrittlement zone defining a thin film layer of single-crystal SiC; —bonding the donor substrate onto a first receiving substrate via a bonding layer; —detaching the donor substrate along the embrittlement zone to transfer the thin film of SiC onto the first receiving substrate; —epitaxially growing a layer of semi-insulating SiC having a thickness greater than 1 ?m on the thin film of SiC; —bonding the layer of semi-insulating SiC onto a second receiving substrate having a high electrical resistivity; —removing at least a portion of the bonding layer to detach the first receiving substrate; and —removing the transferred thin film of single-crystal SiC, to expose the semi-insulating SiC layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventor: Eric Guiot
  • Patent number: 12258674
    Abstract: A production apparatus for a metal oxide single crystal according to the present invention includes a crucible for housing a crystal raw material and a seed crystal, which has a first end and a second end, and in which the crystal raw material is disposed on a first end side, and the seed crystal is disposed on a second end side, a heater that heats the crucible, and a cooling rod, which has a third end and a fourth end, and in which the third end is provided in contact with or in proximity to the second end of the crucible so as to cool the second end by depriving the second end of heat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Fujikoshi Machinery Corp.
    Inventors: Keigo Hoshikawa, Toshinori Taishi, Takumi Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 12252812
    Abstract: A method for growth of group III metal nitride crystals includes providing one or more transfer vessels, a source vessel containing a condensable mineralizer composition, and a receiving vessel, chilling a metallic surface within the one or more transfer vessels, transferring a quantity of the condensable mineralizer composition to the one or more transfer vessels via a vapor phase and causing condensation of the condensable mineralizer composition within the one or more transfer vessels, measuring the quantity of the condensable mineralizer composition within the at least one transfer vessel, transferring at least a portion of the condensable mineralizer composition to the receiving vessel, and forming at least a portion of a group III metal nitride boule by an ammonothermal crystal growth process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: SLT Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark P. D'Evelyn, Paul M. Von Dollen, Lisa M. Gay, Douglas W. Pocius, Jonathan D. Cook
  • Patent number: 12252811
    Abstract: A method of site-selective growth of a nanocrystal from an anisotropic seed can include immersing an anisotropic seed functionalized with a ligand in a growth solution having a nanocrystal precursor, a complexing agent, and a reducing agent to form a growth solution, wherein an amount of the reducing agent and/or any amount of the complexing agent is selected to define a supersaturation of the growth solution that is sufficient for overcoming an energy barrier of one or more selected regions of the functionalized seed to selectively growth the nanocrystal at the one or more selected regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Chad A. Mirkin, Yuanwei Li, Haixin Lin, Wenjie Zhou
  • Patent number: 12247314
    Abstract: A method for producing a silicon ingot includes withdrawing a seed crystal from a melt that includes melted silicon in a crucible that is enclosed in a vacuum chamber containing a cusped magnetic field. At least one process parameter is regulated in at least two stages, including a first stage corresponding to formation of the silicon ingot up to an intermediate ingot length, and a second stage corresponding to formation of the silicon ingot from the intermediate ingot length to the total ingot length. During the second stage process parameter regulation may include reducing a crystal rotation rate, reducing a crucible rotation rate, and/or increasing a magnetic field strength relative to the first stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Gaurab Samanta, Parthiv Daggolu, Sumeet Bhagavat, Soubir Basak, Nan Zhang
  • Patent number: 12247923
    Abstract: Embodiments relate to a layered material (having a substrate, at least a buffer layer, with zero or more growth layers) that has been intercalated via a process that decouples (physically and electronically) the buffer layer from the substrate, thereby resulting in the creation of few-atom thick metal layers that exhibit a range of optical properties, including plasmonic or electronic resonance, that enables superior optical (e.g. Raman) detection of molecules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: THE PENN STATE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Joshua A. Robinson, Natalie Briggs, Kenneth Knappenberger, Tian Zhao
  • Patent number: 12247317
    Abstract: Metal oxides and method for forming the method oxides are provided. The disclosed functional metal oxides are single crystalline or polycrystalline metal oxides, such as, for example, SrVO3, and have dimensions, phase purity, and crystalline quality previously unachievable. The disclosed methods include a combination of a gas atmosphere, vacuum sintering, and laser-based directional solidification of a seed rod in contact with a feed rod that is scalable for production quantities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: William A. Phelan, Tanya Berry, Mekhola Sinha, Tyrel Matthew McQueen
  • Patent number: 12221718
    Abstract: A method of growing a single crystal ingot includes growing a single crystal silicon ingot from a silicon melt in a crucible within an inner chamber, adding a volatile dopant into a feed tube, positioning the feed tube within an inner chamber at a first height relative to a surface of the melt, adjusting the feed tube within the inner chamber to a second height at a speed rate, and heating the volatile dopant to form a gaseous dopant as the feed tube is moved from the first height to the second height at the speed rate. Each of the second height and the speed rate are selected to control a vaporization rate of the volatile dopant. The method also includes introducing dopant species into the melt while growing the ingot by contacting the surface of the melt with the gaseous dopant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2025
    Assignee: GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chieh Hu, Hsien-Ta Tseng, Chun-Sheng Wu, William Lynn Luter, Liang-Chin Chen, Sumeet Bhagavat, Carissima Marie Hudson, Yu-Chiao Wu
  • Patent number: 12209327
    Abstract: A PVT method is utilized for production of single crystals in an apparatus, which comprises a growth cell, a process chamber in which the growth cell is located and a heating device surrounding the process chamber for heating the growth cell. In this method, a source material and a seed are introduced into the growth cell, and the process chamber is filled with a process gas and the growth cell is heated, causing the source material to sublimated and resublimated at the seed. An apparatus designed for production of single crystals using the PVT method includes a highly heatable growth cell for accommodation of a source material and a seed, a process chamber accommodating the growth cell with a connection to a process gas source for filling it with a process gas, and a heating device for heating the growth cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: PVA TEPLA AG
    Inventors: Michael Schöler, Lorenz Vogel, Karsten Viehmann, Tomas Baumecker
  • Patent number: 12205821
    Abstract: A topological material includes a lattice crystalline structure; and a material defect in the lattice crystalline structure that is treatable by hydrogen passivation that chemically mitigates an electronic charge associated with the material defect. The lattice crystalline structure includes dangling bonds in an atomic arrangement of the material defect of the lattice crystalline structure, and the hydrogen passivation may apply hydrogen to chemically passivate the dangling bonds of the material defect. The hydrogen passivation may be achieved by diffusing hydrogen into common materials of the lattice crystalline structure. The hydrogen passivation may chemically and/or electrostatically neutralize an electronic activity associated with the material defect.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2025
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Patrick J. Taylor, George J. de Coster
  • Patent number: 12203191
    Abstract: A method of growing large GaAs or GaP IR window slabs by HVPE, and in embodiments by LP-HVPE, includes obtaining a plurality of thin, single crystal, epitaxial-quality GaAs or GaP wafers, cleaving the wafers into tiles having ultra-flat, atomically smooth, substantially perpendicular edges, and then butting the tiles together to form an HVPE substrate larger than 4 inches for GaP, and larger than 8 inches or even 12 inches for GaAs. Subsequent HVPE growth causes the individual tiles to fuse by optical bonding into a large “tiled” single crystal wafer, while any defects nucleated at the tile boundaries are healed, causing the tiles to merge with themselves and with the slab with no physical boundaries, and no degradation in optical quality. A dopant such as Si can be added to the epitaxial gases during the final HVPE growth stage to produce EMI shielded GaAs windows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2025
    Assignee: BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.
    Inventors: Peter G. Schunemann, Kevin T. Zawilski
  • Patent number: 12195871
    Abstract: A method of growing a single crystal ingot includes growing a single crystal silicon ingot from a silicon melt in a crucible within an inner chamber, adding a volatile dopant into a feed tube, positioning the feed tube within an inner chamber at a first height relative to a surface of the melt, adjusting the feed tube within the inner chamber to a second height at a speed rate, and heating the volatile dopant to form a gaseous dopant as the feed tube is moved from the first height to the second height at the speed rate. Each of the second height and the speed rate are selected to control a vaporization rate of the volatile dopant. The method also includes introducing dopant species into the melt while growing the ingot by contacting the surface of the melt with the gaseous dopant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chieh Hu, Hsien-Ta Tseng, Chun-Sheng Wu, William Lynn Luter, Liang-Chin Chen, Sumeet Bhagavat, Carissima Marie Hudson, Yu-Chiao Wu
  • Patent number: 12195879
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for making polycrystalline thin films having very large grains sizes and exhibiting improved properties over existing thin films.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
    Inventor: David Scott Albin
  • Patent number: 12198924
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method that includes depositing a first layer onto a substrate, depositing a second layer onto a surface of the first layer, and separating the substrate from the second layer, where the substrate includes a first III-V alloy, the second layer includes second III-V alloy, and the first layer includes a material that includes at least two of a Group 1A element, a Group 2A element, a Group 6A element, and/or a halogen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
    Inventors: Brelon James May, David Levi Young, Aaron Joseph Ptak
  • Patent number: 12187765
    Abstract: A crystallization method for making high-quality molecular crystals containing complexes of diacylglycerol (DAG)-effector proteins and ligands thereof. For example, some of such crystals are of a quality sufficient for crystal-structure determination by X-ray crystallography with a spatial resolution of at least 3.0 ? or, in some cases, of about 1 ?. At least some embodiments of the crystallization method and of the molecular crystals produced thereby can beneficially be used, e.g., to provide high-resolution guides for the design and development of exogenous agonists of DAG-effector proteins of therapeutic interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2025
    Inventors: Tatyana I. Igumenova, Sachin S. Katti
  • Patent number: 12173428
    Abstract: A high-throughput method for identifying single crystal hexagonal-SiC off-axis surfaces that support surface chemistries and kinetics to selectively produce various epitaxial growth modes of the metastable 3C-SiC polytype is provided. In execution of the aforementioned method, the present invention also encompasses the use of a single crystal hexagonal-SiC domed substrate, and a method for manufacturing thereof. Said method for screening silicon carbide growth surfaces is comprised of: fabrication of a silicon carbide domed substrate; forming a step-terrace growth surface on the domed surface of said silicon carbide domed substrate by hydrogen etching; performing silicon carbide deposition upon said growth surface, thereby creating an silicon carbide epitaxial domed wafer; and characterization of said silicon carbide epitaxial domed wafer. Silicon carbide deposition upon a silicon carbide domed growth surface allows for the modulation of the supersaturation ratio under a single set of growth conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2024
    Assignee: Mainstream Engineering Corporation
    Inventors: Jesse A. Johnson, II, Brian P. Tucker, Adam J. Duzik, Justin J. Hill