Patents by Inventor Howard Leo Kalter

Howard Leo Kalter 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: 6316309
    Abstract: A densely packed array of vertical semiconductor devices, having pillars, deep trench capacitors, vertical transistors, and methods of making thereof are disclosed. The pillars act as transistor channels, and may be formed utilizing the application of hybrid resist over a block of semiconductor material. Drain doped regions are formed on the top of each pillar. The source doped regions and the plate doped regions are self-aligned and are created by diffusion in the trenches surrounding the pillars. The array has columns of bitlines and rows of wordlines. The capacitors are formed by isolating n+ polysilicon in trenches separating said pillars. The array is suitable for GBit DRAM applications because the deep trench capacitors do not increase array area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2001
    Inventors: Steven John Holmes, Howard Leo Kalter, Sandip Tiwari, Jeffrey John Welser
  • Patent number: 6137128
    Abstract: A densely packed array of vertical semiconductor devices, having pillars, deep trench capacitors, vertical transistors, and methods of making thereof are disclosed. The pillars act as transistor channels, and may be formed utilizing the application of hybrid resist over a block of semiconductor material. Drain doped regions are formed on the top of each pillar. The source doped regions and the plate doped regions are self-aligned and are created by diffusion in the trenches surrounding the pillars. The array has columns of bitlines and rows of wordlines. The capacitors are formed by isolating n.sup.+ polysilicon in trenches separating said pillars. The array is suitable for GBit DRAM applications because the deep trench capacitors do not increase array area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Steven John Holmes, Howard Leo Kalter, Sandip Tiwari, Jeffrey John Welser
  • Patent number: 6077745
    Abstract: A densely packed array of vertical semiconductor devices, having pillars with stack capacitors thereon, and methods of making thereof are disclosed. The pillars act as transistor channels, and are formed between upper and lower doped regions. The lower doped regions are self-aligned and are located below the pillars. The array has columns of bitlines and rows of wordlines. The lower doped regions of adjacent bitlines may be isolated from each other without increasing the cell size and allowing a minimum area of approximately 4 F.sup.2 to be maintained. The array is suitable for Gbit DRAM applications because the stack capacitors do not increase array area. The array may have an open bitline, a folded, or an open/folded architecture with dual wordlines, where two transistors are formed on top of each other in each trench. The lower regions may be initially implanted. Alternatively, the lower regions may be diffused below the pillars after forming thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Stuart Mcallister Burns, Jr., Hussein Ibrahim Hanafi, Jeffrey J. Welser, Waldemar Walter Kocon, Howard Leo Kalter
  • Patent number: 6034389
    Abstract: A densely packed array of vertical semiconductor devices, having pillars and deep trench capacitors, and methods of making thereof are disclosed. The pillars act as transistor channels, and are formed between upper and lower doped regions. The lower doped regions are self-aligned and are located below the pillars. The array has columns of bitlines and rows of wordlines. The lower doped regions of all the cells are isolated from each other without increasing the cell size and allowing a minimum area of approximately 4F.sup.2 to be maintained. The array is suitable for Gbit DRAM applications because the deep trench capacitors do not increase array area. The array may have an open bitline, a folded, or an open/folded architecture with dual wordlines, where two transistors are formed on top of each other in each trench. The lower regions may be initially implanted. Alternatively, the lower regions may be diffused below the pillars after forming thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Stuart Mcallister Burns, Jr., Hussein Ibrahim Hanafi, Howard Leo Kalter, Jeffrey J. Welser, Waldemar Walter Kocon
  • Patent number: 6013548
    Abstract: A densely packed array of vertical semiconductor devices, having pillars and deep trench capacitors, and methods of making thereof are disclosed. The pillars act as transistor channels, and are formed between upper and lower doped regions. The lower doped regions are self-aligned and are located below the pillars. The array has columns of bitlines and rows of wordlines. The lower doped regions of all the cells are isolated from each other without increasing the cell size and allowing a minimum area of approximately 4F.sup.2 to be maintained The array is suitable for Gbit DRAM applications because the deep trench capacitors do not increase array area. The array may have an open bitline, a folded, or an open/folded architecture with dual wordlines, where two transistors are formed on top of each other in each trench. The lower regions may be initially implanted. Alternatively, the lower regions may be diffused below the pillars after forming thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Stuart Mcallister Burns, Jr., Hussein Ibrahim Hanafi, Howard Leo Kalter, Jeffrey J. Welser, Waldemar Walter Kocon
  • Patent number: 5961653
    Abstract: An integrated chip having a DRAM embedded in logic is tested by an in-situ processor oriented BIST macro. The BIST is provided with two ROMS, one for storing test instructions and a second, which is scannable, that provides sequencing for the test instructions stored in the first ROM, as well as branching and looping capabilities. The BIST macro has, in addition, a redundancy allocation logic section for monitoring failures within the DRAM and for replacing failing word and/or data lines. By stacking the DRAM in 0.5 mb increments up to a 4.0 mb maximum or in 1.0 mb increments up to an 8 mb maximum, all of which are controlled and tested by the BIST macro, a customized chip design with a high level of granularity can be achieved and tailored to specific applications within a larger ASIC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Howard Leo Kalter, John Edward Barth, Jr., Jeffrey Harris Dreibelbis, Rex Ngo Kho, John Stuart Parenteau, Jr., Donald Lawrence Wheater, Yotaro Mori
  • Patent number: 5929477
    Abstract: A densely packed array of vertical semiconductor devices, having pillars with stack capacitors thereon, and methods of making thereof are disclosed. The pillars act as transistor channels, and are formed between upper and lower doped regions. The lower doped regions are self-aligned and are located below the pillars. The array has columns of bitlines and rows of wordlines. The lower doped regions of adjacent bitlines may be isolated from each other without increasing the cell size and allowing a minimum area of approximately 4F.sup.2 to be maintained. The array is suitable for Gbit DRAM applications because the stack capacitors do not increase array area. The array may have an open bitline, a folded, or an open/folded architecture with dual wordlines, where two transistors are formed on top of each other in each trench. The lower regions may be initially implanted. Alternatively, the lower regions may be diffused below the pillars after forming thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Stuart McAllister Burns, Jr., Hussein Ibrahim Hanafi, Jeffrey J. Welser, Waldemar Walter Kocon, Howard Leo Kalter
  • Patent number: 5925924
    Abstract: Integrated Circuit ("IC") chips are formed with precisely defined edges and sizing. At the wafer processing level, trenches are lithographically etched in the kerf regions to define the edges of the IC chips on the wafer. The trenches are filled with insulating material, and upper level wiring and metallization is completed for the IC chips on the wafer. Further trenches are defined down to the filled previously formed trenches. The wafer is thinned from its bottom up to the filled trenches, and the insulating material therein is removed to separate the individual IC chips from the wafer. The precision of IC chip edge definition facilitates forming the IC chips into stacks more easily because many stack level alignment processes become unnecessary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: John Edward Cronin, Wayne John Howell, Howard Leo Kalter, Patricia Ellen Marmillion, Anthony Palagonia, Bernadette Ann Pierson, Dennis Arthur Schmidt
  • Patent number: 5875470
    Abstract: Provides within a semiconductor chip a plurality of internal DRAM arrays connected to each section data bus. A cross-point switch simultaneously connects the plural section data buses to a corresponding plurality of port registers that transfer data between a plurality of ports (I/O pins) on the chip and the section data buses in parallel in either data direction to effectively support a high multi-port data rate to/from the memory chip. For any section, the data may be transferred entirely in parallel between the associated port and a corresponding port register, or the data may be multiplexed between each port and its port register in plural sets of parallel bits. Each of the DRAM banks in the chip is addressed and accessed in parallel with the other DRAM banks through a bank address control in the chip which receives all address requests from four processors in a computer system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 23, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey Harris Dreibelbis, Wayne Frederick Ellis, Thomas James Heller, Jr., Michael Ignatowski, Howard Leo Kalter, David Meltzer
  • Patent number: 5866443
    Abstract: Disclosed is an integrated circuit configuration including a carrier having recesses for supporting individual semiconductor die units. The semiconductor die units and the carrier recesses have lithographically defined dimensions so as to enable precise alignment and a high level of integration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: H. Bernhard Pogge, Johann Greschner, Howard Leo Kalter, Raymond James Rosner
  • Patent number: 5796662
    Abstract: An integrated circuit chip with RAM, a RAM macro or bit slice data logic and at least one spare array element or spare slice element and the redundancy scheme therefor. The chip includes a wide data path with a plurality of interchangeable elements such as bit slice elements or memory element and at least one more element than the number of bits in the wide data path; selection logic for deselecting defective data elements; and, switches for selectively coupling each bit of the wide I/O data path to one element or to an element adjacent the one element responsive to the selection means. The integrated circuit chip may further include drive means for selectively driving data from the switches to the element or, otherwise, passing data from the elements to the switches. The switches preferably are three-way switches, such as three CMOS pass gates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 18, 1998
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Howard Leo Kalter, John Edward Barth, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5770884
    Abstract: Disclosed is an integrated circuit configuration including a carrier having recesses for supporting individual semiconductor die units. The semiconductor die units and the carrier recesses have lithographically defined dimensions so as to enable precise alignment and a high level of integration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 23, 1998
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: H. Bernhard Pogge, Johann Greschner, Howard Leo Kalter, Raymond James Rosner
  • Patent number: 5702984
    Abstract: An integrated multichip memory module structure and method of fabrication wherein stacked semiconductor memory chips are integrated by a controlling logic chip such that a more powerful memory architecture is defined with the appearance of a single, higher level memory chip. A memory subunit is formed having N memory chips with each memory chip of the subunit having M memory devices. The controlling logic chip coordinates external communication with the N memory chips such that a single memory chip architecture with N.times.M memory devices appears at the module's I/O pins. A preformed electrical interface layer is employed at one end of the memory subunit to electrically interconnect the controlling logic chip with the memory chips comprising the subunit. The controlling logic chip has smaller dimensions than the dimensions of the memory chips comprising the subunit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 30, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Claude Louis Bertin, Wayne John Howell, Erik Leigh Hedberg, Howard Leo Kalter, Gordon Arthur Kelley, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5691248
    Abstract: Integrated Circuit ("IC") chips are formed with precisely defined edges and sizing. At the wafer processing level, trenches are lithographically etched in the kerf regions to define the edges of the IC chips on the wafer. The trenches are filled with insulating material, and upper level wiring and metallization is completed for the IC chips on the wafer. Further trenches are defined down to the filled previously formed trenches. The wafer is thinned from its bottom up to the filled trenches, and the insulating material therein is removed to separate the individual IC chips from the wafer. The precision of IC chip edge definition facilitates forming the IC chips into stacks more easily because many stack level alignment processes become unnecessary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 25, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: John Edward Cronin, Wayne John Howell, Howard Leo Kalter, Patricia Ellen Marmillion, Anthony Palagonia, Bernadette Ann Pierson, Dennis Arthur Schmidt
  • Patent number: 5682394
    Abstract: In a memory system comprising a plurality of memory units each of which possesses unit-level error correction capabilities and each of which is tied to a system level error correction function, memory reliability is enhanced by providing a mechanism for disabling the unit-level error correction capability, for example, in response to the occurrence of an uncorrectable error in one of the memory units. This counter-intuitive approach which disables an error correction function nonetheless enhances overall memory system reliability since it enables the employment of the complement/recomplement algorithm which depends upon the presence of reproducible errors for proper operation. Thus, chip level error correction systems, which are increasingly desirable at high packaging densities, are employed in a way which does not interfere with system level error correction methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 28, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Robert Martin Blake, Douglas Craig Bossen, Chin-Long Chen, John Atkinson Fifield, Howard Leo Kalter
  • Patent number: 5663924
    Abstract: A boundary independent decoder for a Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM) with an n bit burst transfer block length. A user, usually a processor or microprocessor requests access to a block of SDRAM memory. The requested block may begin between array decode boundaries. A column address is decoded by an SDRAM column decoder. The decoder selects a starting boundary for 2n bits. The first requested bit is in the first n bits of the 2n selected bits. Thus, the entire n bit block is included in the selected 2n bit block. The n bit block is selected from the selected 2n bits and latched in a high speed decoder/register in a sequentially scrambled order, i.e., the i.sup.th bit is the first requested bit and the requested bit order is i, . . . , (n-1), . . . , 0, . . . , (i-1). Latched data is scrambled either sequentially or interleaved, if required. Scrambled data is burst transferred off chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: John Edward Barth, Jr., Howard Leo Kalter
  • Patent number: 5656544
    Abstract: A semiconductor device memory array formed on a semiconductor substrate comprising a multiplicity of field effect transistor DRAM devices disposed in array is disclosed. Each of the DRAM devices is paired with a non-volatile EEPROM cell and the EEPROM cells are disposed in a shallow trench in the semiconductor substrate running between the DRAM devices such that each DRAM-EEPROM pair shares a common drain diffusion. The EEPROM cells are arranged in the trench such that there are discontinuous laterally disposed floating gate polysilicon electrodes and continuous horizontally disposed program and recall gate polysilicon electrodes. The floating gate is separated from the program and recall gates by a silicon rich nitride. The array of the invention provides high density shadow RAMs. Also disclosed are methods for the fabrication of devices of the invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 12, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Albert Stephan Bergendahl, Claude Louis Bertin, John Edward Cronin, Howard Leo Kalter, Donald McAlpine Kenney, Chung Hon Lam, Hsing-San Lee
  • Patent number: 5648684
    Abstract: An endcap chip is provided for a multichip stack comprising multiple integrated circuit chips laminated together. The endcap chip has a substrate with an upper surface and a edge surface, which extends in a plane orthogonal to the upper surface. At least one conductive, monolithic L-connect is disposed over the substrate such that a first leg extends at least partially over the upper surface of the substrate and a second leg extends at least partially over the edge surface of the substrate. When the endcap chip is located at the end of the multichip stack, the at least one conductive, monolithic L-connect electrically connects metal on an end face of the stack to metal on a side face of the stack. A fabrication process is set forth for producing the endcap chip with lithographically defined dimensions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 15, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Claude Louis Bertin, Wayne John Howell, Howard Leo Kalter
  • Patent number: 4021789
    Abstract: Semiconductor integrated circuits, including, e.g., field effect transistors and memory cells employing field effect transistors, are formed by providing at a surface of semiconductor substrate a pair of isolation mediums and a plurality of spaced apart conductive lines extending between the isolation mediums. The conductive lines, such as polycrystalline silicon or polysilicon lines, are preferably thermally, chemically or anodically self insulatable in an unmasked batch process step and are made of a material suitable for defining a barrier to a dopant for the semiconductor substrate. Signal or bias voltages are applied to selected or predetermined conductive lines to provide control electrodes or field shields for the transistors. When the substrate has deposited on its surface an insulating medium made of a dual dielectric, such as silicon dioxide-silicon nitride, the dopant may be ion implanted through the insulating medium to form, e.g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1975
    Date of Patent: May 3, 1977
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Anatol Furman, Howard Leo Kalter, Johann Werner Nagel
  • Patent number: 3993917
    Abstract: A high speed ratioless FET sense amplifier for sensing stored information in a semiconductor memory system. The amplifier is capable of sensing very small voltage signals provided by charges stored in a plurality of single FET/capacitor memory cells. The amplifier comprises a pair of cross-coupled FET devices coupled to a pair of bit/sense lines by clock signal responsive switching devices. The source electrodes of the cross-coupled FETs are each independently capacitively coupled to another clock signal and also to a source of low potential through a pair of clock driven source pull-down FETs. The amplifier uses minimal size devices and is process parameter independent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1975
    Date of Patent: November 23, 1976
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Howard Leo Kalter