Patents by Inventor Fan-Chi Frank Hou

Fan-Chi Frank Hou 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).

  • Publication number: 20110050275
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer includes a plurality of die areas including circuit elements, and at least one test module (TM) on the wafer outside the die areas. The TMs include a test circuit including plurality of test transistors arranged in a plurality of rows and columns. The plurality of test transistors include at least three terminals (G, S, D and B). The TMs each include a plurality of pads. The pads include a first plurality of locally shared first pads each coupled to respective ones of a first of the three terminals, a second plurality of locally shared second pads each coupled to respective ones of a second of the three terminals, and at least one of the plurality of pads coupled to a third of the three terminals. The TM provides at least 2 pin transistor selection for uniquely selecting from the plurality of test transistors for testing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2009
    Publication date: March 3, 2011
    Applicant: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: MARTIN B. MOLLAT, DOUG WEISER, FAN-CHI FRANK HOU
  • Publication number: 20100264466
    Abstract: The disclosure herein pertains to fashioning a low noise junction field effect transistor (JFET) where transistor gate materials are utilized in forming and electrically isolating active areas of a the JFET. More particularly, active regions are self aligned with patterned gate electrode material and sidewall spacers which facilitate desirably locating the active regions in a semiconductor substrate. This mitigates the need for additional materials in the substrate to isolate the active regions from one another, where such additional materials can introduce noise into the JFET. This also allows a layer of gate dielectric material to remain over the surface of the substrate, where the layer of gate dielectric material provides a substantially uniform interface at the surface of the substrate that facilitates uninhibited current flow between the active regions, and thus promotes desired device operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2010
    Publication date: October 21, 2010
    Applicant: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Xiaoju Wu, Fan-Chi Frank Hou, Pinghai Hao
  • Patent number: 7745274
    Abstract: The disclosure herein pertains to fashioning a low noise junction field effect transistor (JFET) where transistor gate materials are utilized in forming and electrically isolating active areas of a the JFET. More particularly, active regions are self aligned with patterned gate electrode material and sidewall spacers which facilitate desirably locating the active regions in a semiconductor substrate. This mitigates the need for additional materials in the substrate to isolate the active regions from one another, where such additional materials can introduce noise into the JFET. This also allows a layer of gate dielectric material to remain over the surface of the substrate, where the layer of gate dielectric material provides a substantially uniform interface at the surface of the substrate that facilitates uninhibited current flow between the active regions, and thus promotes desired device operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Xiaoju Wu, Fan-Chi Frank Hou, Pinghai Hao
  • Publication number: 20080217664
    Abstract: The disclosure herein pertains to fashioning a low noise junction field effect transistor (JFET) where transistor gate materials are utilized in forming and electrically isolating active areas of a the JFET. More particularly, active regions are self aligned with patterned gate electrode material and sidewall spacers which facilitate desirably locating the active regions in a semiconductor substrate. This mitigates the need for additional materials in the substrate to isolate the active regions from one another, where such additional materials can introduce noise into the JFET. This also allows a layer of gate dielectric material to remain over the surface of the substrate, where the layer of gate dielectric material provides a substantially uniform interface at the surface of the substrate that facilitates uninhibited current flow between the active regions, and thus promotes desired device operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2007
    Publication date: September 11, 2008
    Inventors: Xiaoju Wu, Fan-Chi Frank Hou, Pinghai Hao