Patents by Inventor Chao Zhao

Chao Zhao has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8779475
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a semiconductor device, comprising: a substrate, an insulating isolation layer formed on the substrate, a first active region layer and a second active region layer formed in the insulating isolation layer, characterized in that the carrier mobility of the first active region layer and/or second active region layer is higher than that of the substrate. In accordance with the semiconductor device and the manufacturing method thereof in the present invention, an active region formed of a material different from that of the substrate is used, the carrier mobility in the channel region is enhanced, thereby the device response speed is substantially improved and the device performance is enhanced greatly. Furthermore, unlike the existing STI manufacturing process, for the present invention, an STI is formed first, and then filling is performed to form an active region, thus avoiding the problem of generation of holes in STI, and improving the device reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Inventors: Guilei Wang, Chunlong Li, Chao Zhao
  • Publication number: 20140187880
    Abstract: A method for measuring a physiological signal is provided. The method is applicable to optical physiological measurement with at least two types of light sources. The method includes a processing for adjusting amplitudes of signals of the at least two types of light sources to a predetermined ratio by adjusting intensities of the light sources, so as to increase a signal dynamic range as well as a signal-to-noise ratio.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2013
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Applicant: INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    Inventors: Tsung-Min Hsieh, Chen-Liang Lin, Jun-Chao Zhao, Hung-Sen Tsao
  • Patent number: 8749067
    Abstract: The present invention provides a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device comprises contact plugs that comprise a first contact plug formed by a first barrier layer arranged on the source and drain regions and a tungsten layer arranged on the first barrier layer; and second contact plugs comprising a second barrier layer arranged on both of the metal gate and the first contact plug and a conductive layer arranged on the second barrier layer. The conductivity of the conductive layer is higher than that of the tungsten layer. A method for forming the semiconductor device is also provided. The present invention provides the advantage of enhancing the reliability of the device when using the copper contact technique.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Chao Zhao, Wenwu Wang, Huilong Zhu
  • Patent number: 8748983
    Abstract: An embedded source/drain MOS transistor and a formation method thereof are provided. The embedded source/drain MOS transistor comprises: a semiconductor substrate; a gate structure on the semiconductor substrate; and a source/drain stack embedded in the semiconductor substrate at both sides of the gate structure with an upper surface of the source/drain stack being exposed, wherein the source/drain stack comprises a dielectric layer and a semiconductor layer above the dielectric layer. The present invention can cut off the path for the leakage current from the source region and the drain region to the semiconductor substrate, thereby reducing the leakage current from the source region and the drain region to the semiconductor substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Huicai Zhong, Chao Zhao, Qingqing Liang
  • Patent number: 8703567
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: forming an insulating isolation layer on a substrate; forming an insulating isolation layer trench in the insulating isolation layer; forming an active region layer in the insulating isolation layer trench; forming a semiconductor device structure in and above the active region layer; characterized in that the carrier mobility of the active region layer is higher than that of the substrate. Said active region is formed of a material different from that of the substrate, the carrier mobility in the channel region is enhanced, thereby the device response speed is improved and the device performance is enhanced. Unlike the existing STI manufacturing process, for the present invention, an STI is formed first, and then filling is performed to form an active region, thus avoiding the problem of generation of holes in STI, and improving the device reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: The Institute of Microelectronics Chinese Academy of Science
    Inventors: Guilei Wang, Chunlong Li, Chao Zhao
  • Patent number: 8685851
    Abstract: A manufacturing method of a MOS device with memory function is provided, which includes: providing a semiconductor substrate, a surface of the semiconductor substrate being covered by a first dielectric layer, a metal interconnect structure being formed in the first dielectric layer; forming a second dielectric layer overlying a surface of the first dielectric layer and the metal interconnect structure; forming an opening in the second dielectric layer, a bottom of the opening revealing the metal interconnect structure; forming an alloy layer at the bottom of the opening, material of the alloy layer containing copper and other metal; and performing a thermal treatment to the alloy layer and the metal interconnect structure to form, on the surface of the metal interconnect structure, a compound layer containing oxygen element. The compound layer containing oxygen element and the MOS device formed in the semiconductor substrate constitute a MOS device with memory function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Chao Zhao, Wenwu Wang
  • Patent number: 8686534
    Abstract: A trench isolation structure and a method of forming the same are provided. The trench isolation structure includes: a semiconductor substrate, and trenches formed in the semiconductor substrate and filled with a dielectric layer, where the material of the dielectric layer is a crystalline material. By using the present invention, the size of the divot can be reduced, and device performances can be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Huicai Zhong, Chao Zhao, Qingqing Liang
  • Patent number: 8647987
    Abstract: The invention provides a method for improving uniformity of chemical-mechanical planarization process, comprising the steps of: forming features on a substrate; forming a first dielectric isolation layer between the features; planarizing the first dielectric isolation layer until the features are exposed, causing the first dielectric isolation layer between the features to have a recess depth; forming a second dielectric isolation layer on the features and the first dielectric isolation layer, whereby reducing the difference in height between the second dielectric isolation layer between the features and the second dielectric isolation layer on the top of the features; planarizing the second dielectric isolation layer until the features are exposed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2014
    Assignee: The Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Science
    Inventors: Tao Yang, Chao Zhao, Junfeng Li
  • Patent number: 8642433
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device is disclosed, comprising: providing a substrate, a gate region on the substrate and a semiconductor region at both sides of the gate region; forming sacrificial spacers, which cover a portion of the semiconductor region, on sidewalls of the gate region; forming a metal layer on a portion of the semiconductor region outside the sacrificial spacers and on the gate region; removing the sacrificial spacers; performing annealing so that the metal layer reacts with the semiconductor region to form a metal-semiconductor compound layer on the semiconductor region; and removing unreacted metal layer. By separating the metal layer from the channel and the gate region of the device with the thickness of the sacrificial spacers, the effect of metal layer diffusion on the channel and the gate region is reduced and performance of the device is improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Huicai Zhong, Jun Luo, Chao Zhao, Qingqing Liang
  • Publication number: 20140001646
    Abstract: A solid hole array and a manufacture method thereof are provided. The method for manufacturing the solid hole array comprises: forming a top hole array base and a bottom hole array base on a top surface and a bottom surface of a substrate respectively; forming a front hole in the top hole array base; forming a top protection layer on the substrate with the top hole array base, and forming a bottom protection layer on the bottom hole array base; forming a rear window in the bottom hole array base and the bottom protection layer; and etching through the substrate by alkali corrosion to connect the front hole with the rear window. In addition, the present disclosure also provides a solid hole array. Using the method of the present disclosure, the intensity of the front film is enhanced, the process steps are simplified, the cost is decreased, and a large scale manufacture is more likely.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2012
    Publication date: January 2, 2014
    Inventors: Lijun Dong, Chao Zhao
  • Patent number: 8606836
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for frequency division and filtering are provided. The apparatus includes a memory unit, an extrema calculation unit, and an envelope calculation unit. The memory unit is for storing sample data. The extrema calculation unit is for outputting and storing a number of maximum values and a number of minimum values to the memory unit according to the sample data. The envelope calculation unit is for calculating a mean envelope according to the maximum values and the minimum values, wherein within a duration when the envelope calculation unit respectively calculates an upper envelope and a lower envelope according to the maximum values and the minimum values, the envelope calculation unit outputs a value of the mean envelope to the memory unit according to a value of the upper envelope and a value of the lower envelope with respect to a corresponding identical address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
    Inventors: Ting-Hsuan Chen, Gaung-Hui Gu, Ying-Chiang Hu, Tsung-Min Hsieh, Jun-Chao Zhao
  • Publication number: 20130313655
    Abstract: A semiconductor device comprises a substrate; a shallow trench isolation embedded in the substrate and forms at least one opening region; a channel region located in the opening region; a gate stack including a gate dielectric layer and a gate electrode layer, located above said channel region; a source/drain region located on both sides of the channel region, including a stress layer which provides strain for the channel region. A liner layer is provided between the shallow trench isolation and the stress layer, which serves as a crystal seed layer of the stress layer. A liner layer and a pad oxide layer are provided between the substrate and the shallow trench isolation. The liner layer is inserted between the STI and the stress layer of the source/drain region as a crystal seed layer or nucleating layer for epitaxial growth, thereby eliminating the STI edge effect during the source/drain strain engineering.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2012
    Publication date: November 28, 2013
    Applicant: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy Of Sciences
    Inventors: Guilei Wang, Hushan Cui, Chao Zhao
  • Publication number: 20130302952
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a gate stack structure on a substrate; forming source and drain regions as well as a gate spacer on both sides of the gate stack structure; depositing a first metal layer on the source and drain regions; performing a first annealing such that the first metal layer reacts with the source and drain regions, to epitaxially grow a first metal silicide; depositing a second metal layer on the first metal silicide; and performing a second annealing such that the second metal layer reacts with the first metal silicide as well as the source and drain regions, to form a second metal silicide.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2012
    Publication date: November 14, 2013
    Inventors: Jun Luo, Jian Deng, Chao Zhao, Junfeng Li, Dapeng Chen
  • Patent number: 8575019
    Abstract: There is provided a method for forming a metal interlayer via, comprising: forming a seed layer on a first dielectric layer and a first metal layer embedded in the first dielectric layer; forming a mask pattern on the seed layer to expose a portion of the seed layer covering some of the first metal layer; growing a second metal layer on the exposed portion of the seed layer; removing the mask pattern and a portion of the seed layer carrying the mask pattern to expose side walls of the second metal layer, a portion of the first metal layer and the first dielectric layer; forming an insulating barrier layer on the side walls, the portion of the first metal layer and the first dielectric layer. There is also provided a method for forming a metal interconnection line. Both of them can suppress the occurrence of voids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventor: Chao Zhao
  • Publication number: 20130273669
    Abstract: The invention provides a method for improving uniformity of chemical-mechanical planarization process, comprising the steps of: forming features on a substrate; forming a first dielectric isolation layer between the features; planarizing the first dielectric isolation layer until the features are exposed, causing the first dielectric isolation layer between the features to have a recess depth; forming a second dielectric isolation layer on the features and the first dielectric isolation layer, whereby reducing the difference in height between the second dielectric isolation layer between the features and the second dielectric isolation layer on the top of the features; planarizing the second dielectric isolation layer until the features are exposed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2012
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Inventors: Tao Yang, Chao Zhao, Junfeng Li
  • Patent number: 8557677
    Abstract: A stack-type semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate; and a plurality of wafer assemblies arranged in various levels on the semiconductor substrate, in which the wafer assembly in each level includes an active part and an interconnect part, and the active part and the interconnect part each have conductive through vias, wherein the conductive through vias in the active part are aligned with the conductive through vias in the interconnect part in a vertical direction, so that the active part in each level is electrically coupled with the active part in the previous level and/or the active part in the next level by the conductive through vias. Such a stack-type semiconductor device and the related methods can be applied in a process after the FEOL or in a semiconductor chip packaging process and provide a 3-dimensional semiconductor device of high integration and high reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Qingqing Liang, Huicai Zhong, Chao Zhao, Huilong Zhu
  • Publication number: 20130267073
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method of manufacturing a fin field effect transistor, which comprises the steps of forming a plurality of first fin structures on a substrate, which extend along a first direction parallel to the substrate; forming a plurality of second fin structures on a substrate, which extend along a second direction parallel to the substrate and the second direction intersecting with the first direction; selectively removing a part of the second fin structures to form a plurality of gate lines; and selectively removing a part of the first fin structures to form a plurality of substrate lines.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2012
    Publication date: October 10, 2013
    Inventors: Huaxiang Yin, Wei He, Huicai Zhong, Chao Zhao, Dapeng Chen
  • Publication number: 20130249012
    Abstract: This invention discloses a CMOS device, which includes: a first MOSFET; a second MOSFET different from the type of the first MOSFET; a first stressed layer covering the first MOSFET and having a first stress; and a second stressed layer covering the second MOSFET, wherein the second stressed layer is doped with ions, and thus has a second stress different from the first stress. This invention's CMOS device and method for manufacturing the same make use of a partitioned ion implantation method to realize a dual stress liner, without the need of removing the tensile stressed layer on the PMOS region or the compressive stressed layer on the NMOS region by photolithography/etching, thus simplifying the process and reducing the cost, and at the same time, preventing the stress in the liner on the NMOS region or PMOS region from the damage that might be caused by the thermal process of the deposition process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2012
    Publication date: September 26, 2013
    Inventors: Qiuxia Xu, Chao Zhao, Gaobo Xu
  • Patent number: 8541296
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a dummy gate in a gate last process, which comprises the steps of forming a dummy gate material layer and a hard mask material layer sequentially on a substrate; etching the hard mask material layer to form a top-wide-bottom-narrow hard mask pattern; dry etching the dummy gate material layer using the hard mask pattern as a mask to form a top-wide-bottom-narrow dummy gate. According to the dummy gate manufacturing method of the present invention, instead of vertical dummy gates used conventionally, top-wide-bottom-narrow trapezoidal dummy gates are formed, and after removing the dummy gates, trapezoidal trenches can be formed. It facilitates the subsequent filling of the high-k or metal gate material and enlarges the window for the filling process; as a result, the device reliability will be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: The Institute Of Microelectronics Chinese Academy of Science
    Inventors: Tao Yang, Chao Zhao, Jiang Yan, Junfeng Li, Yihong Lu, Dapeng Chen
  • Publication number: 20130240996
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a semiconductor device, comprising a substrate, a plurality of gate stack structures on the substrate, a plurality of gate spacer structures on both sides of each gate stack structure, a plurality of source and drain regions in the substrate on both sides of each gate spacer structure, the plurality of gate spacer structures comprising a plurality of first gate stack structures and a plurality of second gate stack structures, wherein each of the first gate stack structures comprises a first gate insulating layer, a first work function metal layer, a second work function metal diffusion blocking layer, and a gate filling layer, the work function is close to the valence band (conduction band) edge; each of the second gate stack structures comprises a second gate insulating layer, a modified first work function metal layer, a second work function metal layer, and a gate filling layer, characterized in that the second work function metal layer comprises implanted work function-regu
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2012
    Publication date: September 19, 2013
    Inventors: Huaxiang Yin, Qiuxia Xu, Chao Zhao, Dapeng Chen