Patents by Inventor David Newell Nichols

David Newell Nichols 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).

  • Solid state imager with inorganic lens array
    Patent number: 6211916
    Abstract: An imager, including: a semiconductor substrate; a plurality of spaced image pixels formed in the substrate; and a dielectric layer formed over the image pixels, the dielectric layer having a top surface. The imager further includes a plurality of depressions formed in the top surface; and a plurality of lenses having top surfaces, each lens formed in the depression corresponding to an underlying image pixel, the top surface of each lens being optically planar with the top surface of the dielectric.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Gilbert Alan Hawkins, David Newell Nichols, David Lawrence Losee, Robert Leroy Nielsen
  • Method for forming inorganic lens array for solid state imager
    Patent number: 5824236
    Abstract: A method of making an imager including the steps of providing a semiconductor substrate; forming a plurality of spaced image pixels in the substrate; depositing a dielectric layer over the image pixels and making this layer optically planar by chemical mechanical polishing, thereby forming an optically flat surface. The method further includes forming a plurality of depressions in the optically flat surface; uniformly depositing a lens material on the optically flat surface, entirely filling the depressions; and forming the lens material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 20, 1998
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Gilbert Alan Hawkins, David Newell Nichols, David Lawrence Losee, Robert Leroy Nielsen