Patents by Inventor Hironobu Shoji

Hironobu Shoji 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: 20090289341
    Abstract: An object is to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device having resistance to external stress and electrostatic discharge while achieving reduction in thickness and size. Another object is to prevent defective shapes and deterioration in characteristics due to external stress or electrostatic discharge in a manufacture process to manufacture a semiconductor device with a high yield. A first insulator and a second insulator facing each other, a semiconductor integrated circuit and an antenna provided between the first insulator and the second insulator facing each other, a conductive shield provided on one surface of the first insulator, and a conductive shield provided on one surface of the second insulator are provided. The conductive shield provided on one surface of the first insulator and the conductive shield provided on one surface of the second insulator are electrically connected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2009
    Publication date: November 26, 2009
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Yoshiaki Oikawa, Hironobu Shoji, Yutaka Shionoiri, Kiyoshi Kato, Masataka Nakada
  • Publication number: 20090289340
    Abstract: A conductive shield covering a semiconductor integrated circuit prevents electrostatic breakdown of the semiconductor integrated circuit (e.g., malfunction of a circuit and damage to a semiconductor element) due to electrostatic discharge. Further, with use of a pair of insulators between which the semiconductor integrated circuit is sandwiched, a highly reliable semiconductor having resistance can be provided while achieving reduction in the thickness and size. Moreover, also in the manufacturing process, external stress, or defective shapes or deterioration in characteristics resulted from electrostatic discharge are prevented, and thus the semiconductor device can be manufactured with high yield.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2009
    Publication date: November 26, 2009
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Yoshiaki Oikawa, Hironobu Shoji, Yutaka Shionoiri, Kiyoshi Kato, Masataka Nakada
  • Patent number: 7585714
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a laser irradiation apparatus being able to crystallize the semiconductor film homogeneously while suppressing the variation of the crystallinity in the semiconductor film and the unevenness of the state of the surface thereof. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using the laser irradiation apparatus which can suppress the variation of on-current, mobility, and threshold of TFT, and to further provide a semiconductor device manufactured with the manufacturing method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2009
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Osamu Nakamura, Hironobu Shoji
  • Patent number: 7564058
    Abstract: A manufacturing method of a display device having TFTs capable of high-speed operation with few variations of threshold voltage is provided, in which materials are used with high efficiency and a small number of photomasks is required.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2009
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hironobu Shoji, Shinji Maekawa, Osamu Nakamura, Tatsuya Honda, Gen Fujii, Yukie Suzuki, Ikuko Kawamata
  • Publication number: 20090075476
    Abstract: The manufacturing method of a substrate having a conductive layer has the steps of: forming an inorganic insulating layer over a substrate; forming an organic resin layer with a desired shape over the inorganic insulating layer; forming a low wettability layer with respect to a composition containing conductive particles on a first exposed portion of the inorganic insulating layer; removing the organic resin layer; and coating a second exposed portion of the inorganic insulating layer with a composition containing conductive particles and baking, thereby forming a conductive layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2008
    Publication date: March 19, 2009
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Gen FUJII, Masafumi MORISUE, Hironobu SHOJI, Junya MARUYAMA, Kouji DAIRIKI, Tomoyuki AOKI
  • Patent number: 7449372
    Abstract: The manufacturing method of a substrate having a conductive layer has the steps of: forming an inorganic insulating layer over a substrate; forming an organic resin layer with a desired shape over the inorganic insulating layer; forming a low wettability layer with respect to a composition containing conductive particles on a first exposed portion of the inorganic insulating layer; removing the organic resin layer; and coating a second exposed portion of the inorganic insulating layer with a composition containing conductive particles and baking, thereby forming a conductive layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2008
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Gen Fujii, Masafumi Morisue, Hironobu Shoji, Junya Maruyama, Kouji Dairiki, Tomoyuki Aoki
  • Publication number: 20080261379
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an SOI substrate having an SOI layer that can be used in practical applications with high yield even when a flexible substrate such as a glass substrate or a plastic substrate is used. Further, it is another object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a thin semiconductor device using such an SOI substrate with high yield. When a single-crystal semiconductor substrate is bonded to a flexible substrate having an insulating surface and the single-crystal semiconductor substrate is separated to manufacture an SOI substrate, one or both of bonding surfaces are activated, and then the flexible substrate having an insulating surface and the single-crystal semiconductor substrate are attached to each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2008
    Publication date: October 23, 2008
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Jinbo, Hironobu Shoji, Hideto Ohnuma, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20080246036
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a substrate having a film pattern such as an insulating film, a semiconductor film, or a conductive film with an easy process, and further, a semiconductor device and a television set having a high throughput or a high yield at low cost and a manufacturing method thereof. One feature of the invention is that a first film pattern is formed by a droplet discharge method, a photosensitive material is discharged or applied to the first film pattern, a mask pattern is formed by irradiating a region where the first film pattern and the photosensitive material are overlapped with a laser beam and by developing, and a second film pattern having a desired shape is formed by etching the first film pattern using the mask pattern as a mask.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2005
    Publication date: October 9, 2008
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hironobu Shoji, Yasuyuki Arai
  • Publication number: 20080227232
    Abstract: An object is to provide a display device that can be manufactured by improvement of use efficiency of a material and simplification of a manufacturing process. A light absorbing layer is formed, an insulating layer is formed over the light absorbing layer, the light absorbing layer and the insulating layer are selectively irradiated with laser light, an irradiated region in the insulating layer is removed to form an opening in the insulating layer, and a conductive film is formed in the opening so as to be in contact with the light absorbing layer. The conductive film is formed in the opening so as to be in contact with the light absorbing layer, which is exposed, so that the light absorbing layer and the conductive layer can be electrically connected with the insulating layer interposed therebetween.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2007
    Publication date: September 18, 2008
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Koichiro Tanaka, Hironobu Shoji, Hirotada Oishi
  • Publication number: 20080199992
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for manufacturing a display device comprising the steps of forming a first film pattern using a photosensitive material over a substrate, forming a second film pattern in such a way that the first film pattern is exposed by being irradiated with a laser beam, modifying a surface of the second film pattern into a droplet-shedding surface, forming a source electrode and a drain electrode by discharging a conductive material to an outer edge of the droplet-shedding surface by a droplet-discharging method, and forming a semiconductor region, a gate-insulating film, and a gate electrode over the source electrode and the drain electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2008
    Publication date: August 21, 2008
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinji MAEKAWA, Shunpei YAMAZAKI, Hironobu SHOJI
  • Publication number: 20080182349
    Abstract: A display device which can be manufactured with improved material use efficiency and through a simplified manufacturing process, and a manufacturing technique thereof. A light-absorbing layer is formed, an insulating layer is formed over the light-absorbing layer, the light-absorbing layer and the insulating layer are selectively irradiated with laser light to remove an irradiated region of the insulating layer so that a first opening is formed in the insulating layer, and the light-absorbing layer is selectively removed by using the insulating layer having the first opening as a mask so that a second opening is formed in the insulating layer and the light-absorbing layer. A conductive film is formed in the second opening to be in contact with the light-absorbing layer, thereby electrically connecting to the light-absorbing layer with the insulating layer interposed therebetween.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2007
    Publication date: July 31, 2008
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Koichiro Tanaka, Hironobu Shoji, Ikuko Kawamata
  • Publication number: 20080182207
    Abstract: An object is to provide a display device that can be manufactured with increased use efficiency of a material by a simplified manufacturing process and a manufacturing technique thereof. A light-absorbing layer is formed, an insulating layer is formed over the light-absorbing layer, the light-absorbing layer and the insulating layer are selectively irradiated with laser light, so that an irradiated region of the light-absorbing layer and an irradiated region of the insulating layer are removed, and accordingly an opening is formed in the light-absorbing layer and the insulating layer, and a conductive film is formed in the opening so as to be in contact with the light-absorbing film. The conductive film is formed in the opening so as to be in contact with the exposed light-absorbing layer, so that the light-absorbing layer and the conductive film are electrically connected to each other with the insulating layer interposed therebetween.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2007
    Publication date: July 31, 2008
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Koichiro Tanaka, Hironobu Shoji, Yasuyuki Arai
  • Publication number: 20080099878
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a high-performance and high reliable semiconductor device and to provide a technique of manufacturing the semiconductor device at low cost with high yield. The semiconductor device is manufactured by steps of forming a first conductive layer, forming a first liquid-repellent layer over the first conductive layer, discharging a composition containing a material for a mask layer over the first liquid-repellent layer to form a mask layer, processing the first liquid-repellent layer with the use of the mask layer, forming a second liquid-repellent layer, forming an insulating layer over the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, and forming a second conductive layer over the insulating layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2006
    Publication date: May 1, 2008
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mikio Yukawa, Gen Fujii, Hironobu Shoji
  • Patent number: 7365805
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for manufacturing a display device comprising the steps of forming a first film pattern using a photosensitive material over a substrate, forming a second film pattern in such a way that the first film pattern is exposed by being irradiated with a laser beam, modifying a surface of the second film pattern into a droplet-shedding surface, forming a source electrode and a drain electrode by discharging a conductive material to an outer edge of the droplet-shedding surface by a droplet-discharging method, and forming a semiconductor region, a gate-insulating film, and a gate electrode over the source electrode and the drain electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinji Maekawa, Shunpei Yamazaki, Hironobu Shoji
  • Patent number: 7358165
    Abstract: A crystallizing method that can control the orientation of crystal grains with the use of a metal element for promoting crystallization. In the method, the metal element for promoting crystallization is added to selectively form a crystalline semiconductor film, and the crystalline semiconductor film is irradiated with a pulsed laser to form a film having small crystal grains in grid pattern at a regular intervals wherein adjacent crystal grains have the same orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2008
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Hironobu Shoji, Akihisa Shimomura, Masaki Koyama
  • Patent number: 7348222
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for removing the metal element from the semiconductor film which is different from the conventional gettering step for removing the metal element from the semiconductor film. In the present invention, when Ni element (Ni) is used as the metal element and a silicon-based film (referred to as a silicon film) is used as the semiconductor film, nickel silicide segregates in the ridge formed in the silicon film by irradiating the pulsed laser light. Next, etching solution of hydrofluoric acid based etchant is used to remove the nickel silicide segregated in the ridge. When the surface of the semiconductor film is rough after removing the metal element by means of etching, the laser light may be irradiated to the semiconductor film under the insert atmosphere to flatten the surface thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2008
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihisa Shimomura, Hideto Ohnuma, Hironobu Shoji
  • Publication number: 20080050921
    Abstract: A first layer is formed over a substrate, a light absorbing layer is formed over the first layer, and a layer having a light-transmitting property is formed over the light absorbing layer. The light absorbing layer is selectively irradiated with a laser beam via the layer having a light-transmitting property. When the light absorbing layer absorbs energy of the laser beam, due to emission of gas that is within the light absorbing layer, or sublimation, evaporation, or the like of the light absorbing layer, a part of the light absorbing layer and a part of the layer having a light-transmitting property in contact with the light absorbing layer are removed. By using the remaining part of the layer having a light-transmitting property or the remaining part of the light absorbing layer as a mask and etching the first layer, the first layer can be processed into a desired shape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2007
    Publication date: February 28, 2008
    Inventors: Hidekazu Miyairi, Koichiro Tanaka, Hironobu Shoji, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20080044744
    Abstract: When a mask layer is formed, a first liquid composition containing a mask-layer-forming material is applied on an outer side of a pattern that is desired to be formed (corresponding to a contour or an edge portion of a pattern) to form a first mask layer having a frame shape. A second liquid composition containing a mask-layer-forming material is applied so as to fill a space inside the first mask layer having a frame shape to form a second mask layer. The first mask layer and the second mask layer are formed to be in contact with each other, and the first mask layer is formed to surround the second mask layer. Therefore, the first mask layer and the second mask layer can be used as one continuous mask layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2007
    Publication date: February 21, 2008
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hironobu Shoji, Ikuko Kawamata
  • Publication number: 20080042288
    Abstract: When a conductive layer is formed, a first liquid composition containing a conductive material is applied on an outer side of a pattern that is desired to be formed (corresponding to a contour or an edge portion of a pattern), and a first conductive layer (insulating layer) having a frame-shape is formed. A second liquid composition containing a conductive material is applied so as to fill a space inside the first conductive layer having a frame-shape, whereby a second conductive layer is formed. The first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are formed so as to be in contact with each other, and the first conductive layer is formed so as to surround the second conductive layer. Therefore, the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer can be used as one continuous conductive layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2007
    Publication date: February 21, 2008
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hironobu Shoji, Ikuko Kawamata
  • Patent number: 7326630
    Abstract: Crystallization by irradiation of laser light forms a plurality of convex portions (ridges) on the surface of a crystalline semiconductor film that is obtained, which decreases a film quality. A method of laser irradiation comprises the steps of: overlapping an area which is irradiated with a first laser beam of a pulsed oscillation having a wavelength of equal to or shorter than that of visible light with an area which is irradiated with a second laser beam of a pulsed oscillation having a longer wavelength than that of the first laser beam; and irradiating a subject to be irradiated with the first laser beam and the second laser beam while synchronizing the pulsed oscillation of the first laser beam with that of the second laser beam, and moving the subject to be irradiated, and the first laser beam and the second laser beam relatively each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2008
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koichiro Tanaka, Hidekazu Miyairi, Hironobu Shoji