Patents Examined by Zandra Smith
  • Patent number: 9601367
    Abstract: A design layout is provided such that an underlying conductive line structure underlies a stitch region in an overlying conductive line structure. A stitch-induced via structure can be formed between the underlying conductive line structure and the overlying conductive line structure when a stitch region in a hard mask layer is etched multiple times. At least one of the underlying conductive line structure and the overlying conductive line structure is electrically isolated from other conductive line structures in a same design level so as to avoid unintentional electrical shorts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Stephen E. Greco, Rasit O. Topaloglu
  • Patent number: 9601341
    Abstract: A method of etching a feature in a substrate includes forming a mask structure over the substrate, the mask structure defining at least one re-entrant opening, etching the substrate through the opening to form the feature using a cyclic etch and deposition process, and removing the mask.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: SPTS Technologies Limited
    Inventor: Huma Ashraf
  • Patent number: 9595449
    Abstract: Oxidation treatment of a Si1-xGex (0<x<1) substrate forms on the substrate an interfacial layer comprised of silicon oxide and germanium oxide. The presence of germanium oxide in the interfacial layer is deleterious to the quality of the interfacial layer/Si1-xGex conducting channel as evidenced by an increase in charge interface states and a decrease in carrier mobility. Germanium oxide is scavenged from the interfacial layer in a scavenging step comprising heating the interfacial layer/substrate in a hydrogen-containing reducing atmosphere at a temperature of from about 450° C. to about 800° C. to reduce the germanium oxide content of the interfacial layer to not more than about 10% by weight, for example, not more than about 1% by weight, of the weight of the scavenged interfacial layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hemanth Jagannathan, ChoongHyun Lee
  • Patent number: 9595434
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: forming a pattern on a surface of a semiconductor substrate; placing the substrate on a platform of a substrate treatment apparatus; rotating the wafer while applying a cleaning liquid from a first nozzle and a wetting liquid from a second nozzle to treat a first region on the surface of the substrate; vertically changing the distance of the second nozzle together with the first nozzle with respect to the platform; after the vertical change, rotating the wafer while applying the cleaning liquid from the first nozzle and the wetting liquid from the second nozzle to treat a second region on the surface of the substrate; and forming a semiconductor device from the treated substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kyoungseob Kim, Yongsun Ko, Kyoung Hwan Kim, SeokHoon Kim, Kuntack Lee, Hyosan Lee
  • Patent number: 9589877
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes an expanded semiconductor chip having a first semiconductor chip and an expanded portion extending outward from a side surface of the first semiconductor chip, a second semiconductor chip provided so as to be connected to the expanded semiconductor chip via a plurality of first bumps, and a base provided so as to be connected to the expanded semiconductor chip via a plurality of second bumps. The first bumps are provided between the first semiconductor chip and the second semiconductor chip. The second bumps are provided between the expanded portion and the base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Shigefumi Dohi, Kiyomi Hagihara
  • Patent number: 9589974
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes: an interlayer insulating film; an element separating region separating a semiconductor layer in the memory cell region; a gate electrode provided on one of plurality of semiconductor regions in the memory cell region; a contact electrode having a sidewall in contact with the interlayer insulating film and electrically connected to the one of the plurality of semiconductor regions in the memory cell region; a first wiring layer connected to an upper end of the contact electrode in the memory cell region; and a second wiring layer in a third direction, having an upper end higher than the upper end of the contact electrode, having a lower end lower than the upper end of the contact electrode, and having a sidewall at least partly in contact with the interlayer insulating film in the peripheral region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Jun Iijima, Yoshiaki Himeno, Takamasa Usui
  • Patent number: 9590050
    Abstract: Provided is a crystalline multilayer structure having good semiconductor properties. In particular, the crystalline multilayer structure has good electrical properties as follows: the controllability of conductivity is good; and vertical conduction is possible. A crystalline multilayer structure includes a metal layer containing a uniaxially oriented metal as a major component and a semiconductor layer disposed directly on the metal layer or with another layer therebetween and containing a crystalline oxide semiconductor as a major component. The crystalline oxide semiconductor contains one or more metals selected from gallium, indium, and aluminum and is uniaxially oriented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: FLOSFIA, INC.
    Inventors: Toshimi Hitora, Masaya Oda, Akio Takatsuka
  • Patent number: 9590043
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, and a P-well and an N-type drift region disposed in the semiconductor substrate. The P-well includes a lower well region and an upper well region disposed above the lower well region. The lower well region includes a first surface that is near the N-type drift region, and the upper well region includes a second surface that is near the N-type drift region. A distance from the first surface of the lower well region to the N-type drift region is greater than a distance from the second surface of the upper well region to the N-type drift region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation
    Inventor: Lei Fang
  • Patent number: 9589913
    Abstract: An interposer and a method for stacking dies utilizing such an interposer in an integrated circuit are disclosed. The interposer includes a substrate and a plurality of vias defined in the substrate. At least one of the plurality of vias of the interposer is positioned to establish a connection with at least one of the plurality of vias of a first die. At least one additional die is positioned to establish a connection with the first die utilizing the connection established between the interposer and the first die through at least one of the vias.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Sarah M. Shepard, Bret W. Simon, Alan P. Boone
  • Patent number: 9589960
    Abstract: A method for forming a semiconductor structure includes forming a trench in a semiconductor substrate; forming a first dielectric layer over a bottom surface and sidewalls of the trench; forming a second dielectric layer over the first dielectric layer; forming a sacrificial layer that fills the trench, over the second dielectric layer; etching the sacrificial layer and the second dielectric layer, and forming a sacrificial filler and a dielectric liner that are positioned in the trench; removing the sacrificial filler; forming a conductive layer that fills the trench, over the dielectric liner and the first dielectric layer; and etching the conductive layer to be buried in the trench.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
    Inventor: Kyung-Kyu Min
  • Patent number: 9582629
    Abstract: At least one method disclosed herein involves creating an overall pattern layout for an integrated circuit that is to be manufactured using a self-aligned double patterning (SADP) process, forming a first metal feature having a first width on a first track of a metal layer using the SADP process, forming a second metal feature having a second width on a second track of the metal layer. The second track is adjacent to the first track. The method also includes forming an electrical connection between the first metal feature and the second metal feature to provide an effectively single metal pattern having a third width that is the sum of the first and second widths, rendering the first and second features decomposable using the SADP process; and decomposing the overall pattern layout with the first and second metal features into a mandrel mask pattern and a block mask pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: Lei Yuan, Li Yang, Jongwook Kye
  • Patent number: 9583628
    Abstract: A device includes a semiconductor substrate. A gate stack on the semiconductor substrate includes a gate dielectric layer and a gate conductor layer. Low-k spacers are adjacent to the gate dielectric layer. Raised source/drain (RSD) regions are adjacent to the low-k spacers. The low-k spacers are embedded in an ILD on the RSD regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: Kangguo Cheng, Bruce B. Doris, Ali Khakifirooz, Douglas C. La Tulipe, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9583689
    Abstract: An LED package includes a chip carrier, an adhesive layer, one high-voltage LED die, and an encapsulating member. The chip carrier defines a receiving space. The adhesive layer is disposed in the receiving space and has a thermal conductivity of larger than or equal to 1 W/mK. The high-voltage LED die is attached to the adhesive layer to be received in the reflective space and has a top surface formed with a trench. The trench of the high-voltage LED die is disposed at an optical center of the receiving space. The encapsulating member encapsulates the high-voltage LED die and includes a plurality of diffusers. The trench is embedded with the encapsulating member and has a width ranging from 1 ?m to 10 ?m and a depth of less than or equal to 50 ?m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignees: Lite-On Opto Technology (Changzhou) Co., Ltd., Lite-On Technology Corp.
    Inventors: Yi-Fei Lee, Tsan-Yu Ho, Shih-Chang Hsu, Chen-Hsiu Lin
  • Patent number: 9583488
    Abstract: An integrated circuit and method with dual stress liners and with NMOS transistors with gate overhang of active that is longer than the minimum design rule and with PMOS transistors with gate overhang of active that are not longer than the minimum design rule.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Younsung Choi, Steven Lee Prins
  • Patent number: 9583531
    Abstract: A process for transferring a buried circuit layer comprises taking a donor substrate comprising an internal etch stop zone and covered on its front side with a circuit layer, producing over the entire circumference of the donor substrate either a peripheral trench or a peripheral routing, the routing or trench being produced over a depth such that they pass entirely through the circuit layer and extend into the donor substrate, depositing on the circuit layer and on the routed side or on the walls of the trench a layer of an etch stop material that is selective with respect to etching of the circuit layer, without filling the trench, bonding a receiver substrate to the donor substrate, and thinning the donor substrate by etching its back side until reaching the etch stop zone so as to obtain the transfer of the buried circuit layer to the receiver substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Marcel Broekaart, Laurent Marinier
  • Patent number: 9576947
    Abstract: In a semiconductor integrated circuit device, a plurality of electrode pads for external connection are arranged in a zigzag pattern. Some electrode pads of the electrode pads of the plurality of I/O cells which are closer to a side of the semiconductor chip, each have an end portion closer to the side of the semiconductor chip, the end portion being set at the same position as that of an end portion of the corresponding I/O cell. A power source-side protective circuit and a ground-side protective circuit against discharge of static electricity are provided with the power source-side protective circuit being closer to the scribe region. A distance between a center position of one of the electrode pads and the ground-side protective circuit of the corresponding I/O cell and a distance between a center position of the other one electrode pad and the ground-side protective circuit of the corresponding I/O cell are both short and are substantially equal between each I/O cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: SOCIONEXT INC.
    Inventors: Koichi Taniguchi, Masato Maede
  • Patent number: 9573799
    Abstract: A MEMS device (40) includes a base structure (42) and a microstructure (44) suspended above the structure (42). The base structure (42) includes an oxide layer (50) formed on a substrate (48), a structural layer (54) formed on the oxide layer (50), and an insulating layer (56) formed over the structural layer (54). A sacrificial layer (112) is formed overlying the base structure (42), and the microstructure (44) is formed in another structural layer (116) over the sacrificial layer (112). Methodology (90) entails removing the sacrificial layer (112) and a portion of the oxide layer (50) to release the microstructure (44) and to expose a top surface (52) of the substrate (48). Following removal, a width (86) of a gap (80) produced between the microstructure (44) and the top surface (52) is greater than a width (88) of a gap (84) produced between the microstructure (44) and the structural layer (54).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew C. McNeil, Yizhen Lin, Lisa Z. Zhang
  • Patent number: 9576970
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first source layer; at least one of a second source layer, the second source layer formed substantially in the first source layer; a plurality of conductive layers stacked substantially over the first source layer; channel layers that pass through the plurality of conductive layers and couple to the second source layer; and at least one of a third source layer, the third source layer formed substantially in the second source layer, wherein the third source layer passes through the second source layer and is coupled to the first source layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: SK HYNIX INC.
    Inventors: Ki Hong Lee, Seung Ho Pyi, Seok Min Jeon
  • Patent number: 9576813
    Abstract: Provided is a method of fabricating a semiconductor device. In the method, a double patterning technology is used to form various patterns with different widths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Seunghan Yoo
  • Patent number: 9577204
    Abstract: A field effect transistor includes a substrate and a gate dielectric formed on the substrate. A channel material is formed on the dielectric layer. The channel material includes carbon nanotubes. A patterned resist layer has openings formed therein. Metal contacts are formed on the channel material in the openings in the patterned resist layer and over portions of the patterned resist layer to protect sidewalls of the metal contacts to prevent degradation of the metal contacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shu-Jen Han, Jianshi Tang