Patents by Inventor Hajime Imai

Hajime Imai 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: 20200020756
    Abstract: An oxide semiconductor TFT (201) of an active matrix substrate includes an oxide semiconductor layer (107), an upper gate electrode (112) disposed on a part of the oxide semiconductor layer via a gate insulating layer, and a source electrode (113) and a drain electrode (114). As viewed from a normal direction of the substrate, the oxide semiconductor layer (107) includes a first portion (p1) that overlaps the upper gate electrode, and a second portion (p2) that is located between the first portion and the source contact region or drain contact region, such that the gate insulating layer does not cover the second portion. The upper gate electrode (112) has a multilayer structure including an alloy layer (112L) that is in contact with the gate insulating layer and a metal layer (112U) that is disposed on the alloy layer. The metal layer is made of a first metallic element M; the alloy layer is made of an alloy containing the first metallic element M; and the first metallic element M is Cu, Mo, or Cr.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2018
    Publication date: January 16, 2020
    Inventors: Teruyuki UEDA, Hideki KITAGAWA, Tohru DAITOH, Hajime IMAI, Masahiko SUZUKI, Setsuji NISHIMIYA, Tetsuo KIKUCHI, Toshikatsu ITOH, Kengo HARA
  • Patent number: 10520761
    Abstract: A method of producing a substrate having an alignment mark includes a process of forming a lower layer side metal film on a substrate and forming a lower layer side alignment mark base having a lower layer side alignment mark that is a hole, a process of forming an upper layer side metal film on the substrate and the lower layer side metal film, a process of forming a photoresist film on the upper layer side metal film and forming a lower layer side alignment mark overlapping portion overlapping a part of the lower layer side alignment mark with patterning, an etching process of removing with etching selectively portions of the lower and upper layer side metal films not overlapping the lower layer side alignment mark overlapping portion and forming an upper layer side alignment mark that is the upper layer side metal film, and a photoresist removing process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaki Maeda, Yoshihito Hara, Tohru Daitoh, Hajime Imai, Hideki Kitagawa, Toshikatsu Itoh, Tatsuya Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 10481453
    Abstract: A method includes a pixel electrode forming process of forming a pixel electrode formed from a transparent electrode film on a gate insulation film that covers a gate electrode, a semiconductor film forming process being performed after the pixel electrode forming process and forming a semiconductor film on the gate insulation film such that a part of the semiconductor film covers the pixel electrode, an annealing process being performed after the semiconductor film forming process and processing the semiconductor film with annealing, and an etching process being performed after the annealing process and processing the semiconductor film with etching such that a channel section overlapping the gate electrode is formed in a same layer as the pixel electrode. The etching and the annealing performed on one of the transparent electrode film and the semiconductor film is less likely to adversely affect another one of the films.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshihito Hara, Tohru Daitoh, Hajime Imai, Masaki Maeda, Hideki Kitagawa, Toshikatsu Itoh, Tatsuya Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20190333461
    Abstract: An active-matrix substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of first TFTs that are arranged within a display area, an inorganic insulating layer that covers the plurality of first TFTs, an organic insulating layer that is provided on the inorganic insulating layer, a plurality of second TFTs that are arranged within a non-display area, and a source and gate metal connection portion that is positioned within the non-display area, a first conductive layer that is formed from an identical conductive film with a gate wiring line and a second conductive layer that is formed from an identical conductive film with a source wiring line being connected to each other at the source and gate metal connection portion. Each of the plurality of first TFTs is an oxide semiconductor TFT. At least one second TFT among the plurality of second TFTs is covered with the organic insulating layer. The source and gate metal connection portion is not covered with the organic insulating layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2017
    Publication date: October 31, 2019
    Inventors: Tetsuo KIKUCHI, Hajime IMAI, Takashi TERAUCHI, Shinya OHIRA, Isao OGASAWARA, Satoshi HORIUCHI
  • Publication number: 20190326443
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a thin film transistor including a semiconductor layer, a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode, the semiconductor layer includes a layered structure including a first oxide semiconductor layer including In and Zn, in which an atomic ratio of In with respect to all metallic elements included in the first oxide semiconductor layer is higher than an atomic ratio of Zn, a second oxide semiconductor layer including In and Zn, in which an atomic ratio of Zn with respect to all metallic elements included in the second oxide semiconductor layer is higher than an atomic ratio of In, and an intermediate oxide semiconductor layer arranged between the first oxide semiconductor layer and the second oxide semiconductor layer, and the first and second oxide semiconductor layers are crystalline oxide semiconductor layers, and the intermediate oxide semiconductor layer is an amorphous oxide semiconductor layer, and the first oxide semiconductor layer is
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2017
    Publication date: October 24, 2019
    Inventors: Masahiko SUZUKI, Hajime IMAI, Hideki KITAGAWA, Tetsuo KIKUCHI, Setsuji NISHIMIYA, Teruyuki UEDA, Kengo HARA, Tohru DAITOH, Toshikatsu ITOH
  • Publication number: 20190302506
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in which a decrease in the aperture ratio is prevented while the load capacity is maintained. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes a step (A-1) of applying a negative photoresist to a surface of a first substrate including a thin-film transistor element to form a first film, a step (A-2) of exposing the first film in an exposure pattern including a first exposure region and a second exposure region in which an exposure dose is lower than an exposure dose in the first exposure region, and a step (A-3) of developing the first film to form a first spacer in the first exposure region and a second spacer with a height less than a height of the first spacer in the second exposure region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Inventors: JUN NISHIMURA, YOSHIMASA CHIKAMA, YOSHIHARU HIRATA, HAJIME IMAI, TOHRU DAITOH
  • Publication number: 20190296056
    Abstract: An active matrix substrate includes a source metal layer including a plurality of source bus lines and a gate metal layer including a plurality of gate bus lines, and a thin film transistor arranged in each pixel region, wherein: the thin film transistor includes a gate electrode, an oxide semiconductor layer arranged on the gate electrode with a gate insulating layer interposed therebetween, and a source electrode and a drain electrode, wherein the gate electrode is formed in the gate metal layer and is electrically connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of gate bus lines, the gate metal layer has a layered structure including a copper alloy layer and a copper layer arranged on the copper alloy layer, wherein the copper alloy layer is of a copper alloy including Cu and at least one additive metal element, wherein the additive metal element includes Al, and an Al content of the copper alloy is 2 at % or more and 8 at % or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Publication date: September 26, 2019
    Inventors: TERUYUKI UEDA, YOSHIHITO HARA, TOHRU DAITOH, HAJIME IMAI, HIDEKI KITAGAWA, MASAKI MAEDA, TATSUYA KAWASAKI, YOSHIHARU HIRATA, TETSUO KIKUCHI, TOSHIKATSU ITOH
  • Publication number: 20190280126
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a thin film transistor, wherein: a semiconductor layer of the thin film transistor has a layered structure including a lower oxide semiconductor layer including In, Ga, Zn and Sn and an upper oxide semiconductor layer arranged on the lower oxide semiconductor layer and including In, Ga and Zn; a thickness of the lower oxide semiconductor layer is 20 nm or less; an atomic ratio of Sn with respect to all metal elements of the lower oxide semiconductor layer is 5% or more; the upper oxide semiconductor layer includes no Sn, or an atomic ratio of Sn with respect to all metal elements of the upper oxide semiconductor layer is smaller than an atomic ratio of Sn with respect to all metal elements of the lower oxide semiconductor layer; and a first angle ?1 between a side surface and a lower surface of the lower oxide semiconductor layer is smaller than a second angle ?2 between a side surface and a lower surface of the upper oxide semiconductor layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2019
    Publication date: September 12, 2019
    Inventors: Tetsuo KIKUCHI, Masahiko SUZUKI, Setsuji NISHIMIYA, Teruyuki UEDA, Masamitsu YAMANAKA, Tohru DAITOH, Hajime IMAI, Kengo HARA
  • Patent number: 10381487
    Abstract: A thin film transistor includes a channel section formed from semiconductor material, a source electrode connected to one end of the channel section, a drain electrode connected to another end of the channel section, an upper gate electrode included in an upper layer than the channel section and overlapping the channel section, a lower gate electrode included in a lower layer than the channel section and overlapping the channel section, an upper gate insulation film disposed between the upper gate electrode and the channel section, and a lower gate insulation film disposed between the lower gate electrode and the channel section and having a film thickness relatively greater than that of the upper gate insulation film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kengo Hara, Tohru Daitoh, Hajime Imai, Tetsuo Kikuchi, Masahiko Suzuki, Setsuji Nishimiya, Teruyuki Ueda
  • Patent number: 10332968
    Abstract: A semiconductor device (100) is provided with a thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer (5), a gate electrode (3), a gate insulating layer (4), and a source electrode (7s) and a drain electrode (7d) that are in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, at least one electrode of the source electrode (7s), the drain electrode (7d), and the gate electrode (3) has a multilayer structure that includes a first layer (3A, 7A) containing copper and a second layer (3B, 7B) containing titanium or molybdenum, the thickness of the first layer (3A, 7A) is more than the thickness of the second layer (3B, 7B), when the source electrode (7s) or the drain electrode (7d) has the multilayer structure, the second layer is arranged on the oxide semiconductor layer side of the first layer so as to be in contact with the surface of the oxide semiconductor layer (5), when the gate electrode (3) has the multilayer structure, the second layer is arranged on the substrate (1) side of the first layer, and the thick
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fujita, Hajime Imai, Hisao Ochi, Tetsuo Kikuchi, Hideki Kitagawa, Masahiko Suzuki, Shingo Kawashima, Tohru Daitoh
  • Publication number: 20190148558
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate and an oxide semiconductor TFT including an oxide semiconductor layer supported by the substrate and having a multilayer structure including a protective oxide semiconductor layer and a channel oxide semiconductor layer disposed closer to the substrate than the protective oxide semiconductor layer, an upper insulating layer on the oxide semiconductor layer, an upper gate electrode disposed on the upper insulating layer, an interlayer insulating layer covering the oxide semiconductor layer and the upper gate electrode, and first and second electrodes electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor layer, wherein a first opening extends through at least the interlayer insulating layer and the protective oxide semiconductor layer, and exposes a portion of the channel oxide semiconductor layer, and the first electrode is disposed on the interlayer insulating layer and within the first opening, and is in direct contact with, within the first opening, the portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2018
    Publication date: May 16, 2019
    Inventors: Masahiko SUZUKI, Tohru DAITOH, Hajime IMAI, Tetsuo KIKUCHI, Setsuji NISHIMIYA, Teruyuki UEDA, Kengo HARA
  • Publication number: 20190121189
    Abstract: An active matrix substrate includes source bus lines, gate bus lines, a thin-film transistor and a pixel electrode provided for each pixel region, a common electrode disposed on the pixel electrode with a dielectric layer interposed therebetween, and a spin-on-glass layer disposed, in a display region, between a gate metal layer and a source metal layer. The pixel electrode is formed of the same metal oxide film of which an oxide semiconductor layer of the thin-film transistor is formed. The spin-on-glass layer has an opening, in each pixel region, in a portion where the thin-film transistor is formed. At an intersection portion where one of the source bus lines and one of the gate bus lines intersect, the spin-on-glass layer is located between the source bus line and gate bus line. In each pixel region, the spin-on-glass layer is located between at least a portion of the pixel electrode and a substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2018
    Publication date: April 25, 2019
    Inventors: YOSHIHITO HARA, HIDEKI KITAGAWA, TOHRU DAITOH, HAJIME IMAI, MASAKI MAEDA, TATSUYA KAWASAKI, TOSHIKATSU ITOH
  • Publication number: 20190113789
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a display panel substrate includes a transparent conductive film formation step of forming a transparent conductive film on a flattening film that covers a switching component disposed on a substrate, a metallic film formation step of forming a metallic film so as to cover the transparent conductive film after the transparent conductive film formation step, a line formation step of forming a line by etching the metallic film after the metallic film formation step, and a transparent electrode formation step of forming a transparent electrode that is connected to the line by etching the transparent conductive film after the wire formation step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2018
    Publication date: April 18, 2019
    Inventors: Toshikatsu ITOH, Tohru DAITOH, Hajime IMAI, Masaki MAEDA, Hideki KITAGAWA, Yoshihito HARA, Tatsuya KAWASAKI
  • Patent number: 10263016
    Abstract: An active matrix substrate includes a first TFT (10), a second TFT (20) disposed per pixel, and a circuit including the first TFT. The first and second TFTs each include a gate electrode (102A, 102B), a gate insulating layer (103), an oxide semiconductor layer (104A, 104B), and source and drain electrodes in contact with an upper surface of the oxide semiconductor layer. The oxide semiconductor layer (104A, 104B) has a stacked structure including a first semiconductor layer (104e, 104c) in contact with the source and drain electrodes and a second semiconductor layer that is disposed on a substrate-side of the first semiconductor layer and that has a smaller energy gap than the first semiconductor layer. The oxide semiconductor layers (104A) and (104B) are different from each other in terms of the composition and/or the number of stacked layers. The first TFT has a larger threshold voltage than the second TFT.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hisao Ochi, Tohru Daitoh, Hajime Imai, Tetsuo Fujita, Hideki Kitagawa, Tetsuo Kikuchi, Masahiko Suzuki, Teruyuki Ueda
  • Publication number: 20190109159
    Abstract: A semiconductor device (100A) is provided with: a gate electrode (3); an oxide semiconductor layer (5); a thin-film transistor (101) including a gate insulating layer (4), a source electrode (7S), and a drain electrode (7D); an inter-layer insulating layer (11) arranged so as to cover the thin-film transistor (101) and come into contact with a channel area (5c) of the thin-film transistor (101); and a transparent electroconductive layer (19) arranged on the inter-layer insulating layer (11), the source electrode (7S) and the drain electrode (7D) each having a copper layer (7a), and the device being further provided with a copper oxide film (8) arranged between the source and drain electrodes and the inter-layer insulating layer (11). The inter-layer insulating layer (11) covers the drain electrode (7D) with the copper oxide film (8) interposed therebetween.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Inventors: HIDEKI KITAGAWA, TOHRU DAITOH, HAJIME IMAI, HISAO OCHI, TETSUO FUJITA, TETSUO KIKUCHI, SHINGO KAWASHIMA, MASAHIKO SUZUKI
  • Publication number: 20190109155
    Abstract: An array substrate including a spin-on glass layer formed of spin-on glass material, a first line disposed on a lower side with respect to the spin-on glass layer, the first line including a copper containing layer formed of copper or a copper alloy and a metal upper layer formed of one selected from a group consisting of titanium, an aluminum alloy, a copper alloy, a tungsten alloy, and a tantalum alloy, and the metal upper layer disposed on the copper containing layer and disposed between the copper containing layer and the spin-on glass layer, and a second line disposed on an upper side with respect to the spin-on glass layer and overlapping the first line in a plan view.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Inventors: SETSUJI NISHIMIYA, TOHRU DAITOH, HAJIME IMAI, MASAHIKO SUZUKI, TETSUO KIKUCHI, TERUYUKI UEDA, KENGO HARA
  • Publication number: 20190102025
    Abstract: A display panel includes a substrate, pixel electrodes, position detection electrodes, switching components, position detection lines, and an insulating film. The pixel electrodes are disposed on the substrate. The position detection electrodes are disposed on the substrate and configured to detect positions of input by a position input member. The switching components are disposed in a layer lower than layers in which the pixel electrodes and the position detection electrodes are disposed on the substrate and connected to the pixel electrodes, respectively. The position detection lines are disposed in a layer lower than the layer in which the switching components are disposed and electrically connected to the position detection electrodes. The insulating film is disposed between the position detection lines and the switching components.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Hideki KITAGAWA, Tohru DAITOH, Hajime IMAI, Yoshihito HARA, Masaki MAEDA, Toshikatsu ITOH, Tatsuya KAWASAKI
  • Publication number: 20190103421
    Abstract: A TFT array substrate includes gate electrodes constructed from a first metal film, a first insulating film on the first metal film, channels constructed from a semiconductor film on the first insulating film, source electrodes constructed from a second metal film on the semiconductor film, drain electrodes constructed from the second metal film, pixel electrodes constructed from portions of the semiconductor film having reduced resistances, a second insulating film on the semiconductor film and the second metal film, and a common electrode constructed from a transparent electrode film on the second insulating film. The channels overlap the gate electrodes. The source electrodes and the drain electrodes are connected to first ends and second ends of the channels, respectively. The pixel electrodes are connected to the drain electrodes. The second insulating film includes sections overlapping the pixel electrodes without openings. The common electrode overlaps at least the pixel electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Tetsuo KIKUCHI, Tohru DAITOH, Hajime IMAI, Masahiko SUZUKI, Setsuji NISHIMIYA, Teruyuki UEDA, Kengo HARA
  • Publication number: 20190101804
    Abstract: A display panel includes a substrate, pixel electrodes, switching components, an electrode, a line, a terminal, an insulating film, and a conductive film. The switching components are disposed in a layer lower than the pixel electrodes. The electrode is disposed in a layer different from a layer in which the pixel electrodes are disposed. The line includes sections disposed in a layer lower than the switching components in a display area. The terminal is disposed in a layer upper than the line in a non-display area. The insulating film includes a section disposed between the line and the switching components in the display area and a section disposed between the terminal and the substrate in the non-display area. The conductive film is disposed on the insulating film in a layer between the line and the terminal to connect the line to the terminal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: HIDEKI KITAGAWA, TOHRU DAITOH, HAJIME IMAI, YOSHIHITO HARA, MASAKI MAEDA, TOSHIKATSU ITOH, TATSUYA KAWASAKI
  • Publication number: 20190103494
    Abstract: A thin film transistor includes a channel section formed from semiconductor material, a source electrode connected to one end of the channel section, a drain electrode connected to another end of the channel section, an upper gate electrode included in an upper layer than the channel section and overlapping the channel section, a lower gate electrode included in a lower layer than the channel section and overlapping the channel section, an upper gate insulation film disposed between the upper gate electrode and the channel section, and a lower gate insulation film disposed between the lower gate electrode and the channel section and having a film thickness relatively greater than that of the upper gate insulation film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Kengo HARA, Tohru DAITOH, Hajime IMAI, Tetsuo KIKUCHI, Masahiko SUZUKI, Setsuji NISHIMIYA, Teruyuki UEDA