Patents by Inventor Hiroaki Himi

Hiroaki Himi 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: 5874768
    Abstract: A high breakdown voltage semiconductor device formed in an SOI structure is disclosed. An MOS transistor composed of a drift layer, p well, a source, a gate, and a drain is formed in an island region surrounded by insulators on a semiconductor substrate. Furthermore, an electricfield-alleviating layer is formed in a bottom portion of the Si island region. The electric-field-alleviating layer is a semiconductor layer of exceeding low concentration, e.g., intrinsic, and therefore a virtual PIN structure is structured among the p well and the drift layer. Because the electric-field-alleviating layer corresponds to an I layer of the PIN structure, a depletion layer is created within the electric-field-alleviating layer when high voltage is applied to the MOS transistor, the high voltage is distributed throughout this depletion layer, and high breakdown voltage can be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 23, 1999
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Himi, Seiji Fujino
  • Patent number: 5851846
    Abstract: In a dielectric isolation substrate, an end point of a polishing process for selective polishing for forming an SOI layer is detected with a high precision. When polishing a wafer with a polishing pad, the temperature of a region of the polishing pad having polished the wafer at a position immediately thereafter is detected by a temperature sensor and the selective polishing process is ended by discriminating that the rate of variation in the detected temperature has changed from a positive to a negative state and then to a fixed saturated state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Matsui, Masatake Nagaya, Akinari Fukaya, Hiroaki Himi
  • Patent number: 5847516
    Abstract: A scan driver IC for an EL element in an EL display device supplies, in a positive field, a positive polarity scan voltage and an offset voltage which is higher than ground to scan side driver ICs from voltage supply circuits, and the scan side driver ICs set voltage of scan electrodes to be the offset voltage in the positive field, together with outputting the positive polarity scan voltage to the scan electrodes during electroluminescence timing. Consequently, a voltage of Vr-Vm is applied to the scan side driver ICs, and so the breakdown voltage can be lowered by an amount corresponding to the offset voltage Vm. Circuits for providing such voltages, for providing alternating current drive voltages, and for reducing power consumption of the drive circuits are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 8, 1998
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kishita, Masahiko Osada, Hiroaki Himi, Nobuei Ito, Tadashi Hattori, Hideki Saito
  • Patent number: 5777365
    Abstract: A semiconductor device of SOI structure exhibits a excellent heat-radiating characteristic while assuring breakdown-voltage and element-isolating performance. A buried silicon oxide film having a thickness required by the breakdown-voltage of a semiconductor element is buried between a SOI layer and a silicon substrate. A SOI layer is divided into island silicon regions by a groove for electrical-isolation use, and the groove is filled with dielectric such as an oxide film and polycrystalline silicon. In an island silicon region, a LDMOS transistor having high breakdown voltage may be formed as the semiconductor element, and potential distribution is created in accordance with a voltage application to the semiconductor element. The buried silicon oxide film at a region where low electric potential is distributed, for example a region below a grounded well region of the LDMOS transistor, is made thin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 7, 1998
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Yamaguchi, Toshiyuki Morishita, Hiroaki Himi
  • Patent number: 5650354
    Abstract: A multi-channel type intelligent power IC which solves the problems of parasitic transistor and increase in an area of isolation region, both of which are inherent problem in a pn junction isolation substrate. The power IC also enhances heat-radiation performance. An n type first semiconductor substrate and p type second semiconductor substrate are directly bonded, and a buried oxide film is formed in a portion of a bonding interface thereof. Subsequently, a plurality of isolation trenches are formed and the first semiconductor substrate is separated into an SOI isolation region and a pn isolation region. Logic elements are then formed in the SOI isolation region, and power elements are formed in the pn isolation region. In the case wherein two or more logic elements are hereby formed, the logic elements are isolated by isolation trenches. In the case wherein two or more power elements are formed, a parasitic current extracting portion is formed between mutual power elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 22, 1997
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroaki Himi, Harutsugu Fukumoto, Seiji Fujino
  • Patent number: 5525824
    Abstract: A multi-channel type intelligent power IC which solves the problems of parasitic transistor and increase in an area of isolation region, both of which are inherent problem in a pn junction isolation substrate. The power IC also enhances heat-radiation performance. An n type first semiconductor substrate and p type second semiconductor substrate are directly bonded, and a buried oxide film is formed in a portion of a bonding interface thereof. Subsequently, a plurality of isolation trenches are formed and the first semiconductor substrate is separated into an SOI isolation region and a pn isolation region. Logic elements are then formed in the SOI isolation region, and power elements are formed in the pn isolation region. In the case wherein two or more logic elements are hereby formed, the logic elements are isolated by isolation trenches. In the case wherein two or more power elements are formed, a parasitic current extracting portion is formed between mutual power elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 11, 1996
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroaki Himi, Harutsugu Fukumoto, Seiji Fujino
  • Patent number: 5488243
    Abstract: A semiconductor device of an SOIMOSFET comprising a semiconductor substrate, an insulating layer and a thin film single-crystalline semiconductor layer, the insulating layer containing a floating electrically conductive layer buried therein at a portion corresponding to the channel, the floating electrically conductive layer being electrically insulated from the other portions, the semiconductor device further comprising an electrode adjacent to the floating electrically conductive layer for applying a voltage by which an electric charge is injected into and stored in the floating electroconductive layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 30, 1996
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Tsuruta, Hiroaki Himi, Akiyoshi Asai, Seiji Fujino
  • Patent number: 5451547
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor substrate by bonding two silicon crystalline wafers, and particularly, to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor substrate capable of reduced electrical resistance at the bonding interface. In the disclosed method, the silicon wafers to be bonded have at least one surface mirror-polished. Then they are washed, thus forming a natural oxide film on the surface. Then they are soaked in a concentrated HF solution for enough time to remove the oxide film formed on the surface. After that, the silicon wafers are soaked in ultra pure water to replace the fluorine atoms terminated on the surface thereof by OH groups, followed by drying. The silicon wafers thus treated are closely contacted with each other in such a manner that the mirror-polished surfaces are opposed to each other. The silicon wafers are thus bonded to each other by the hydrogen bonding forces due to the OH groups, and then heat treated for reinforcing the bonding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 19, 1995
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroaki Himi, Masaki Matsui, Tosiaki Nisizawa, Seiji Fujino