Patents Examined by Stephen Stein
  • Patent number: 6972154
    Abstract: We have developed a method of anodic bonding which directs cations to a location within a bonding structure which is away from critical bonding surfaces. This prevents the formation of compounds comprising the cations at the critical bonding surfaces. The anodic bonding electrode contacts are made in a manner which concentrates the cations and compounds thereof in a portion of the bonded structure which can be removed, or cleaned to remove the compounds from the structure. A device formed from the bonded structure contains minimal, if any, of the cation-comprising compounds which weaken bond strength within the structure. In the alternative, the cations and compounds thereof are directed to a portion of the bonding structure which does not affect the function of a device which includes the bonded structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2005
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Harald S. Gross
  • Patent number: 6964804
    Abstract: A micromachined structure, comprising: a substarte; a first wet etched pit disposed in the substrate; a second wet etched pit disposed in the substrate, the second pit extending into the substrate a greater depth than the first pit; and a dry pit disposed between, and adjacent to, the first and second pits. Also disclosed is a micromachined substrate comprising: a wet etched pit; and a dry-etched hole disposed in the wet etched pit, wherein the dry hole extends through the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2005
    Assignee: Shipley Company, L.L.C.
    Inventors: Dan A. Steinberg, Jasean Rasnake, David W. Sherrer
  • Patent number: 6964812
    Abstract: An objective of the present invention is to provide an aluminum nitride sintered body making it possible to keep a volume resistivity of 108 ?·cm or more, and guarantee covering-up capability, a large radiant heat amount and measurement accuracy with a thermoviewer. A carbon-containing aluminum nitride sintered body of the present invention of the present invention comprising: carbon whose peak cannot be detected on its X-ray diffraction chart or whose peak is below its detection limit thereon; in a matrix made of aluminum nitride.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2005
    Assignee: Ibiden Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasutaka Ito, Yasuji Hiramatsu
  • Patent number: 6964815
    Abstract: A sol-form application liquid 3 is prepared by mixing together two solvents A and B and two film components C and D. The sol-form application liquid 3 thus prepared is applied onto a glass substrate 200, thus forming a mixed layer 401 on the glass substrate 200. The glass substrate 200 having the mixed layer 401 formed thereon is left at room temperature, whereupon the solvent A evaporates and phase separation of the mixed layer 401 into an upper layer 403 and a lower layer 402 occurs. The mixed layer 401 is then heated, thus evaporating the solvent B in the lower layer 402 and gelating the film component C in the upper layer 403 and the film component D in the lower layer 402, and hence forming an internal scattering layer 404.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2005
    Assignee: Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Yoshitake, Toshifumi Tsujino, Kazutaka Kamitani
  • Patent number: 6958194
    Abstract: An imaging cell reduces recombination losses and increases sensitivity by forming a low resistance lateral path with a silicon germanium layer of a conductivity type that is sandwiched between silicon layers of the same conductivity type. The silicon germanium layer also provides a quantum well from which photo-generated electrons find it difficult to escape, thereby providing a barrier that reduces cross-talk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2005
    Assignee: Foveon, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter J. Hopper, Philipp Lindorfer, Michael Mian, Robert Drury
  • Patent number: 6955841
    Abstract: The invention relates to an artificial grass lawn suitable for sports fields, which artificial grass lawn consists of a base layer, on which first artificial grass fibres are disposed. In accordance with the invention, the artificial grass lawn is characterized in that said base layer comprises a material having damping properties, which is present thereon and/or therein. Thus the properties of a natural grass field are approximated very closely, and also the style of play on the sports field is positively affected. Furthermore, the artificial grass field thus obtained is substantially free of maintenance and of injury.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2005
    Assignee: Ten Cate Thiolon B.V.
    Inventors: Marinus Hendrikus Olde Weghuis, Geurt Bastiaan Slootweg
  • Patent number: 6955858
    Abstract: Transition metal doped II–V nitride material films exhibit ferromagnetic properties at or above room temperature. A III–V nitride material film may be doped with a transition metal film in-situ during metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and/or by solid-state diffusion processes. Doping of the III–V nitride material films may proceed in the absence of hydrogen and/or in the presence of nitrogen. In some embodiments, transition metal-doped III–V nitride material films comprise carbon concentrations of at least 1017 atoms per cubic centimeter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2005
    Assignee: North Carolina State University
    Inventors: Nadia A. ElMasry, Salah M. Bedair, Meredith L. Reed, Hans Stadelmaier
  • Patent number: 6951695
    Abstract: AlxGayInzN, wherein 0?x?1, 0?y?1, 0?z?1, and x+y+z=1, characterized by a root mean square surface roughness of less than 1 nm in a 10×10 ?m2 area. The AlxGayInzN may be in the form of a wafer, which is chemically mechanically polished (CMP) using a CMP slurry comprising abrasive particles, such as silica or alumina, and an acid or a base. High quality AlxGayInzN wafers can be fabricated by steps including lapping, mechanical polishing, and reducing internal stress of said wafer by thermal annealing or chemical etching for further enhancement of its surface quality. CMP processing may be usefully employed to highlight crystal defects of an AlxGayInzN wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2005
    Assignee: Cree, Inc.
    Inventors: Xueping Xu, Robert P. Vaudo
  • Patent number: 6949299
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of spray forming a boron steel metal article, and to the formed article. In at least one embodiment, the method comprises (a) providing a spray forming pattern, (b) spraying metallic particles onto the spray forming pattern, and (c) allowing the sprayed metallic particles to cool to form a metal article. In at least one embodiment, the metallic particles are sprayed from a carbon steel feedstock having a boron content of 0.25-2.25 weight percent, based on the total weight of the feedstock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: Ford Motor Company
    Inventors: Allen Dennis Roche, David Robert Collins, Richard L. Allor
  • Patent number: 6949293
    Abstract: A mesoporous silica has uniform mesopores and a periodic structure, which contains a Zr element in the form of a Si—O—Zr bond and wherein the Zr content in the Si—O—Zr bond, represented by [Zr/(Si+Zr)] is 0.05 to 20 mole %. The mesoporous silica is superior in alkali resistance and is suitably used particularly as a separation membrane (e.g. a ceramic membrane) and a catalytic support for solid-liquid system, in which an alkaline liquid may be used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignees: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Norikazu Nishiyama, Yasuyuki Egashira, Korekazu Ueyama
  • Patent number: 6946200
    Abstract: Layers of boron-doped silicon having reduced out-of-plane curvature are disclosed. The layers have substantially equal concentrations of boron near the top and bottom surfaces. Since the opposing concentrations are substantially equal, the compressive stresses on the layers are substantially balanced, thereby resulting in layers with reduced out-of-plane curvature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2005
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Cleopatra Cabuz, Max C. Glenn, Francis M. Erdmann, Robert D. Horning
  • Patent number: 6942918
    Abstract: A process provides a ceramic film, such as a mesoporous silica film, on a substrate, such as a silicon wafer. The process includes preparing a film-forming fluid containing a ceramic precursor, a catalyst, a surfactant and a solvent, depositing the film-forming fluid on the substrate, and removing the solvent from the film-forming fluid on the substrate to produce the ceramic film on the substrate. The ceramic film has a dielectric constant below 2.3, a halide content of less than 1 ppm and a metal content of less than 500 ppm, making it useful for current and future microelectronics applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
    Inventors: James Edward MacDougall, Kevin Ray Heier, Scott Jeffrey Weigel
  • Patent number: 6936357
    Abstract: Bulk GaN and AlGaN single crystal boules, preferably fabricated using a modified HVPE process, are provided. The single crystal boules typically have a volume in excess of 4 cubic centimeters with a minimum dimension of approximately 1 centimeter. If desired, the bulk material can be doped during growth, for example to achieve n-, i-, or p-type conductivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignee: Technologies and Devices International, Inc.
    Inventors: Yuri V. Melnik, Vitali Soukhoveev, Vladimir Ivantsov, Katie Tsvetkov, Vladimir A. Dmitriev
  • Patent number: 6933041
    Abstract: A method for increasing the surface area of foil electrodes of electrolytic capacitors. A valve metal is deposited by evaporation on a valve metal foil in a low pressure inert atmosphere including oxygen at a pressure one to two orders of magnitude lower than the pressure of the inert gas. The resulting surface is fractal-like. The foil thus treated is suitable as such for use as a cathode. Prior to anodization to produce an anode, a discontinuous layer of a valve metal oxide is deposited on the foil, to preserve the high surface area of the fractal-like surface and otherwise promote the formation of a dielectric coating whose interface with the metal foil has a high surface area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2005
    Assignee: Acktar Ltd.
    Inventors: Dina Katsir, Iris Tartakovsky, Israel Tartakovsky
  • Patent number: 6929875
    Abstract: The present invention provides a dispersant and foaming agent combination that is useful in the production of gypsum wallboard and other aqueous cementitious products, a method of forming a gypsum wallboard and a gypsum wallboard. The dispersant in the combination according to the invention is a naphthalene sulfonate-aldehyde condensate alkali salt polymer having a weight average molecular weight of from about 17,000 to about 47,000. The alkali is preferably an alkali metal and/or an alkaline earth metal. The aldehyde is preferably formaldehyde. The foaming agent used in the combination according to the invention is a soap, preferably an alkali salt of an alkyl ether sulfate and/or an alkyl sulfate. The combination of a high molecular weight dispersant and a foaming agent produces a gypsum wallboard core effect that more efficiently entrains air (i.e., creates void space), thereby lowering overall board weight without detrimentally affecting strength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2005
    Assignee: GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc.
    Inventors: Arpad Savoly, Dawn P. Elko, Bennie Veal, James McCrary
  • Patent number: 6921561
    Abstract: An ornament hanger has a main piece in the form of a star or other decorative shape to which a pair of oppositely directed hooks are rotatably mounted so as to be detachable. An upper hook supports the hanger and a bottom hook supports another ornament. A series of ornament hangers can be used to secure string ornaments on a Christmas tree. The hanger can be used by itself as an ornament by detaching one hook.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Inventor: Jan M. Maier
  • Patent number: 6921591
    Abstract: An organic luminescent device material, comprising an amine compound represented by the following formula (I): wherein R1, R2 and R3, which are the same or different, each represents an unsubstituted or substituted aryl group, an unsubstituted or substituted heterocyclic group or an unsubstituted or substituted aliphatic hydrocarbon group, provided that at least two among R1, R2 and R3 are each an unsubstituted or substituted aryl or heterocyclic group; or any two among R1, R2 and R3 combine with each other to complete a ring; provided that at least one among R1, R2 and R3 has a moiety represented by the following formula (II), wherein R4, R5 and R6 each represents a hydrogen atom or a substituent group, Z1 represents atoms forming a 5, 6 or 7-membered ring, and m represents 0, 1 or 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazumi Nii, Terukazu Yanagi
  • Patent number: 6918531
    Abstract: A metal foil connection of first and second metal foils having a thickness of less than 0.05 mm includes a connecting point in which the metal foils are brazed to one another. The connecting point forms a wedge which is filled with brazing medium. A mass of the brazing medium, and a mass of sections of the metal foils which the brazing medium contacts in the wedge, have a given ratio. A honeycomb body, a brazing medium particle fraction and a method for manufacturing metal foil connections with a thickness of less than 50 micrometers, are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2005
    Assignee: Emitec Gesellschaft fuer Emissionstechnologie mbH
    Inventors: Ludwig Wieres, Ferdi Kurth, Helge Schlotmann
  • Patent number: 6919127
    Abstract: Improved silicon carbide composites made by an infiltration process feature a metal phase in addition to any residual silicon phase. Not only are properties such as mechanical toughness improved, but the infiltrant can be so engineered as to have much diminished amounts of expansion upon solidification, thereby enhancing net-shape-making capabilities. Further, multi-component infiltrant materials may have a lower liquidus temperature than pure silicon, thereby providing the practitioner greater control over the infiltration process. In particular, the infiltration may be conducted at the lower temperatures, where low-cost but effective bedding or barrier materials can terminate the infiltration process once the infiltrant has migrated through the permeable mass up to the boundary between the mass and the bedding material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2005
    Assignee: M Cubed Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: W. Michael Waggoner, Barry R. Rossing, Michael A. Richmond, Michael K. Aghajanian, Allyn L. McCormick
  • Patent number: 6916560
    Abstract: The invention relates to a silicone nitride based substrate for semi-conductor components, said substrate containing silicon nitride (Si3N4), silicon carbide (SIC) and silicon oxynitride(Si2N2O) as crystalline phases. The silicon phase content is less or equal to 5%, the shrinkage during production is less than 5% and the open porosity of the substrate is less than 15% vol. %. The invention also relates to a method for the production and use of said substrate as an element of semi-conductor components, particularly thin film solar cells, and semi-conductor components which contain said substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2005
    Assignee: H. C. Starck Ceramics GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Gerhard Wötting, Peter Woditsch, Christian Hässler, Gunther Stollwerck