Patents Examined by Sean Ayers Winters
  • Patent number: 11973034
    Abstract: Exemplary methods of electroplating a metal with a nanotwin crystal structure are described. The methods may include plating a metal material into at least one opening on a patterned substrate, where at least a portion of the metal material is characterized by a nanotwin crystal structure. The methods may further include polishing an exposed surface of the metal material in the opening to reduce an average surface roughness of the exposed surface to less than or about 1 nm. The polished exposed surface may include at least a portion of the metal material characterized by the nanotwin crystal structure. In additional examples, the nanotwin-phased metal may be nanotwin-phased copper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric J. Bergman, John L. Klocke, Marvin L. Bernt, Jing Xu, Kwan Wook Roh
  • Patent number: 11956955
    Abstract: A liner is formed laterally-outside of individual channel-material strings in one of first tiers and in one of second tiers. The liners are isotropically etched to form void-spaces in the one second tier above the one first tier. Individual of the void-spaces are laterally-between the individual channel-material strings and the second-tier material in the one second tier. Conductively-doped semiconductive material is formed against sidewalls of the channel material of the channel-material strings in the one first tier and that extends upwardly into the void-spaces in the one second tier. The conductively-doped semiconductive material is heated to diffuse conductivity-increasing dopants therein from the void-spaces laterally into the channel material laterally there-adjacent and upwardly into the channel material that is above the void-spaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: John D. Hopkins, Nancy M. Lomeli
  • Patent number: 11955499
    Abstract: An image sensor package includes a glass substrate configured to focus incident light, a first redistribution layer and a second redistribution layer both disposed under the glass substrate while being horizontally spaced apart from each other by a first distance, an image sensor disposed such that an upper surface thereof is vertically spaced apart from both a lower surface of the first redistribution layer and a lower surface of the second redistribution layer by a second distance, and a first connector that connects both the first redistribution layer and the second redistribution layer to the image sensor. The thickness of the glass substrate is 0.6 to 0.8 mm. The first distance is smaller than the horizontal length of the image sensor by 50 ?m to 1 mm. The second distance is equal to or less than 0.1 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Minjung Kim, Dongkyu Kim, Kyounglim Suk, Jaegwon Jang, Hyeonjeong Hwang
  • Patent number: 11943915
    Abstract: A three-dimensional memory device includes a lower stack and an upper stack stacked one on the other, and each including a plurality of word lines which are stacked alternately with a plurality of interlayer dielectric layers, wherein each of the lower stack and the upper stack includes a first cell part, a second cell part, a coupling part which couples the first cell part and the second cell part, and a staircase part which extends parallel to the coupling part from the first cell part and in which pad areas of the word lines are disposed in a stepwise manner, and wherein the coupling part of the upper stack is disposed to overlap with the staircase part of the lower stack, and the staircase part of the upper stack is disposed to overlap with the coupling part of the lower stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventor: Sung Lae Oh
  • Patent number: 11937421
    Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor memory device and method of fabricating the semiconductor memory device. A semiconductor memory device includes a gate stack and a plurality of channel structures. The gate stack includes a plurality of stacked conductive patterns spaced apart from each other. The plurality of the channel structures is formed through the gate stack. Each of the channel structures includes a first channel pillar, a second channel pillar and a gate insulation layer. The first channel pillar is formed through the conductive patterns except for an uppermost conductive pattern. The second channel pillar is formed through the uppermost conductive pattern. The second channel pillar is configured to make contact with the first channel pillar. The gate insulation layer is interposed between the uppermost conductive pattern and the first and second channel pillars.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventors: Ki Chang Jeong, Nam Kuk Kim
  • Patent number: 11937431
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a first area and a second area and an active area limited by an isolation layer in the first area and the second area, a p-type gate electrode doped with p-type impurities and including a p-type lower gate layer and a p-type upper gate layer on the p-type lower gate layer with a first gate dielectric layer disposed between the active area and the p-type gate electrode in the first area, and an n-type gate electrode doped with n-type impurities and including an n-type lower gate layer and an n-type upper gate layer on the n-type lower gate layer with a second gate dielectric layer disposed between the active area and the n-type gate electrode in the second area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Sanghoon Lee
  • Patent number: 11923409
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a source/drain feature over a semiconductor substrate, channel layers over the semiconductor substrate and connected to the source/drain feature, a gate portion between vertically adjacent channel layers, and an inner spacer between the source/drain feature and the gate portion and between adjacent channel layers. The semiconductor device further includes an air gap between the inner spacer and the source/drain feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Po-Yu Lin, Wei-Yang Lee, Chia-Pin Lin, Tzu-Hua Chiu, Kuan-Hao Cheng, Wei-Han Fan, Li-Li Su, Wei-Min Liu
  • Patent number: 11903199
    Abstract: A through via structure includes a through via and a capping pattern. The through via includes a metal pattern extending in a vertical direction, and a barrier pattern on a sidewall and a lower surface of the metal pattern. The capping pattern contacts an upper surface of the through via. A lowermost surface of an edge portion of the capping pattern is not higher than a lowermost surface of a central portion of the capping pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jeeyong Kim, Junghwan Lee
  • Patent number: 11894460
    Abstract: A semiconductor device structure is provided. The device includes one or more first semiconductor layers, and a dipole layer surrounding each first semiconductor layer of the one or more first semiconductor layers, wherein the dipole layer comprises germanium. The structure also includes a capping layer surrounding and in contact with the dipole layer, wherein the capping layer comprises silicon, one or more second semiconductor layers disposed adjacent the one or more first semiconductor layers. The structure further includes a gate electrode layer surrounding each first semiconductor layer of the one or more first semiconductor layers and each second semiconductor layer of the one or more second semiconductor layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Chung-Wei Hsu, Kuo-Cheng Chiang, Mao-Lin Huang, Lung-Kun Chu, Jia-Ni Yu, Kuan-Lun Cheng, Chih-Hao Wang
  • Patent number: 11844250
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a display panel and a display device. The display panel includes: a base substrate, a low temperature poly-silicon semiconductor layer, an oxide semiconductor layer and a source-drain metal layer, wherein the source-drain metal layer corresponding to a bending region is provided with a plurality of mutually insulated traces extending in a first direction and arranged in a second direction; an inorganic layer between the base substrate and the source-drain metal layer, wherein the inorganic layer is provided with a groove in the bending region, and the traces are disposed above the groove; and a flexible insulating material between the inorganic layer in the bending region and the traces, wherein the flexible insulating material fills the groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignees: Chengdu BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yao Huang, Benlian Wang, Yue Long, Weiyun Huang, Yingsong Xu
  • Patent number: 11805702
    Abstract: A perpendicular magnetoresistive element comprises (counting from the element bottom): a reference layer having magnetic anisotropy in a direction perpendicular to a film surface and having an invariable magnetization direction; a tunnel barrier layer; a crystalline recording layer having magnetic anisotropy in a direction perpendicular to a film surface and having a variable magnetization direction; an oxide buffer layer; and a cap layer, wherein the crystalline recording layer consists of a CoFe alloy that is substantially free of boron and has BCC (body-centered cubic) CoFe grains having epitaxial growth with (100) plane parallel to a film surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Inventors: Yimin Guo, Rongfu Xiao, Jun Chen
  • Patent number: 11791271
    Abstract: An additional set of interconnects is created in bulk material, allowing connections to active devices to be made from both above and below. The interconnects below the active devices can form a power distribution network, and the interconnects above the active devices can form a signaling network. Various accommodations can be made to suit different applications, such as encapsulating buried elements, using sacrificial material, and replacing the bulk material with a dielectric. Epitaxial material can be used throughout the formation process, allowing for the creation of a monolithic substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Daniel Chanemougame, Lars Liebmann, Jeffrey Smith
  • Patent number: 11764238
    Abstract: An image sensing device is provided to include a pixel array of unit pixels, each pixel structured to respond to incident light to produce photocharges and including different photosensing sub-pixels at different locations within the unit pixel to detect incident light, different detection structures formed at peripheral locations of the different photosensing sub-pixels of the unit pixel, respectively, and configured to receive the photocharges that are generated by the different photosensing sub-pixels of and are carried by a current in the unit pixel, a unit pixel voltage node located at a center portion of the unit pixel and electrically coupled to electrically bias an electrical potential of the different photosensing sub-pixels, and a control circuit coupled to the different detection structures of the unit pixel to supply sub-pixel detection control signals to the different detection structures of the unit pixel, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: SK HYNIX INC.
    Inventors: Jae Hyung Jang, Hyung June Yoon, Jong Chae Kim, Hoon Moo Choi
  • Patent number: 11756964
    Abstract: A method for etching an insulating layer includes: sequentially forming a first gate insulating layer, an amorphous silicon layer, a first interlayer insulating layer, and a second interlayer insulating layer on a substrate; applying a photoresist on the second interlayer insulating layer, and patterning the photoresist through a photo-process; first etching the second interlayer insulating layer and the first interlayer insulating layer until at least a portion of the amorphous silicon layer is exposed by using the patterned photoresist as a mask; second etching the second interlayer insulating layer and the first interlayer insulating layer; third etching the amorphous silicon layer; and fourth etching the first gate insulating layer, wherein an etching gas used in the second etching includes a material having a higher etching selection ratio of the first and second interlayer insulating layers to the amorphous silicon layer than an etching gas used in the first etching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Dae Soo Kim, Yu-Gwang Jeong, Sung Won Cho
  • Patent number: 11737274
    Abstract: A vertical memory structure comprises a stack of alternating layers of insulator material and word line material with a vertical opening through the alternating layers. One of the layers of insulating material and layers of word line material have recessed inside surfaces facing the opening. First and second conductive pillars are disposed inside the vertical opening. A data storage structure is disposed on the inside surfaces of the layers of word line material, including on the recessed inside surfaces. A semiconductor channel layer is disposed on the data storage structures around a perimeter of the vertical opening, and having first and second source/drain terminals at contacts with the first and second conductive pillars.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: MACRONIX INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kuan-Yuan Shen