Patents by Inventor John H. Zhang

John H. Zhang 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: 20190259673
    Abstract: An analog integrated circuit is disclosed in which short channel transistors are stacked on top of long channel transistors, vertically separated by an insulating layer. With such a design, it is possible to produce a high density, high power, and high performance analog integrated circuit chip including both short and long channel devices that are spaced far enough apart from one another to avoid crosstalk. In one embodiment, the transistors are FinFETs and the long channel devices are multi-gate FinFETs. In one embodiment, single and dual damascene devices are combined in a multi-layer integrated circuit cell. The cell may contain various combinations and configurations of the short and long-channel devices. A high density cell can be made by simply shrinking the dimensions of the cells and replicating two or more cells in the same size footprint as the original cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2019
    Publication date: August 22, 2019
    Inventors: Qing Liu, John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 10388659
    Abstract: A vertical tunneling FET (TFET) provides low-power, high-speed switching performance for transistors having critical dimensions below 7 nm. The vertical TFET uses a gate-all-around (GAA) device architecture having a cylindrical structure that extends above the surface of a doped well formed in a silicon substrate. The cylindrical structure includes a lower drain region, a channel, and an upper source region, which are grown epitaxially from the doped well. The channel is made of intrinsic silicon, while the source and drain regions are doped in-situ. An annular gate surrounds the channel, capacitively controlling current flow through the channel from all sides. The source is electrically accessible via a front side contact, while the drain is accessed via a backside contact that provides low contact resistance and also serves as a heat sink. Reliability of vertical TFET integrated circuits is enhanced by coupling the vertical TFETs to electrostatic discharge (ESD) diodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventor: John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 10388639
    Abstract: Self-aligned three dimensional vertically stacked chip stacks and processes for forming the same generally include two or more vertically stacked chips supported by a scaffolding structure, the scaffolding structure defined by a first scaffolding trench and at least one additional scaffolding trench, the first scaffolding trench comprising a bottom surface having a width and a sidewall having a height extending from the bottom surface to define a lowermost trench in a scaffolding layer, the at least one additional scaffolding trench overlaying the first scaffolding trench having a sidewall having a height and a width, wherein the width of the at least one scaffolding trench is greater than the first scaffolding trench width to define a first stair between the first scaffolding trench and the at least one additional trench; a first chip secured to the first scaffolding trench having a height less than the first scaffolding trench sidewall height; and at least one additional chip secured to and supported by the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Lawrence A. Clevenger, Carl J. Radens, Yiheng Xu, John H. Zhang
  • Publication number: 20190252551
    Abstract: A semi-floating gate transistor is implemented as a vertical FET built on a silicon substrate, wherein the source, drain, and channel are vertically aligned, on top of one another. Current flow between the source and the drain is influenced by a control gate and a semi-floating gate. Front side contacts can be made to each one of the source, drain, and control gate terminals of the vertical semi-floating gate transistor. The vertical semi-floating gate FET further includes a vertical tunneling FET and a vertical diode. Fabrication of the vertical semi-floating gate FET is compatible with conventional CMOS manufacturing processes, including a replacement metal gate process. Low-power operation allows the vertical semi-floating gate FET to provide a high current density compared with conventional planar devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2019
    Publication date: August 15, 2019
    Inventors: Qing LIU, John H. Zhang
  • Publication number: 20190229019
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to semiconductor structures and, more particularly, to a contact over an active gate structure and methods of manufacture. The structure includes: an active gate structure composed of conductive material located between sidewall material; an upper sidewall material above the sidewall material, the upper sidewall material being different material than the sidewall material; and a contact structure in electrical contact with the conductive material of the active gate structure. The contact structure is located between the sidewall material and between the upper sidewall material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2018
    Publication date: July 25, 2019
    Inventors: Jiehui Shu, Xusheng Wu, Haigou Huang, John H. Zhang, Pei Liu, Laertis Economikos
  • Patent number: 10347617
    Abstract: Self-aligned three dimensional vertically stacked chip stacks and processes for forming the same generally include two or more vertically stacked chips supported by a scaffolding structure, the scaffolding structure defined by a first scaffolding trench and at least one additional scaffolding trench, the first scaffolding trench comprising a bottom surface having a width and a sidewall having a height extending from the bottom surface to define a lowermost trench in a scaffolding layer, the at least one additional scaffolding trench overlaying the first scaffolding trench having a sidewall having a height and a width, wherein the width of the at least one scaffolding trench is greater than the first scaffolding trench width to define a first stair between the first scaffolding trench and the at least one additional trench; a first chip secured to the first scaffolding trench having a height less than the first scaffolding trench sidewall height; and at least one additional chip secured to and supported by the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Lawrence A. Clevenger, Carl J. Radens, Yiheng Xu, John H. Zhang
  • Publication number: 20190196101
    Abstract: A sequence of processing steps presented herein is used to embed an optical signal path within an array of nanowires, using only one lithography step. Using the techniques disclosed, it is not necessary to mask electrical features while forming optical features, and vice versa. Instead, optical and electrical signal paths can be created substantially simultaneously in the same masking cycle. This is made possible by a disparity in the widths of the respective features, the optical signal paths being significantly wider than the electrical ones. Using a damascene process, the structures of disparate widths are plated with metal that over-fills narrow trenches and under-fills a wide trench. An optical cladding material can then be deposited into the trench so as to surround an optical core for light transmission.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Publication date: June 27, 2019
    Inventor: John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 10325777
    Abstract: A chemical material is deposited on a surface of a substrate. A mandrel composition is deposited on a surface of the chemical material. A mandrel hard mask pattern is deposited on a surface of the mandrel composition. The mandrel composition is etched. The mandrel hard mask pattern is removed. A plurality of spacer materials are deposited sequentially onto a surface of the chemical material and a surface of the mandrel composition. A portion of each of the plurality of spacer materials are removed sequentially. A remainder of the mandrel composition is removed. The substrate is etched. The chemical material and at least one of the spacer materials of the plurality of spacer materials are removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence A. Clevenger, John H. Zhang, Carl Radens
  • Patent number: 10325778
    Abstract: A chemical material is deposited on a surface of a substrate. A mandrel composition is deposited on a surface of the chemical material. A mandrel hard mask pattern is deposited on a surface of the mandrel composition. The mandrel composition is etched. The mandrel hard mask pattern is removed. A plurality of spacer materials are deposited sequentially onto a surface of the chemical material and a surface of the mandrel composition. A portion of each of the plurality of spacer materials are removed sequentially. A remainder of the mandrel composition is removed. The substrate is etched. The chemical material and at least one of the spacer materials of the plurality of spacer materials are removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence A. Clevenger, John H. Zhang, Carl Radens
  • Patent number: 10325927
    Abstract: Single gate and dual gate FinFET devices suitable for use in an SRAM memory array have respective fins, source regions, and drain regions that are formed from portions of a single, contiguous layer on the semiconductor substrate, so that STI is unnecessary. Pairs of FinFETs can be configured as dependent-gate devices wherein adjacent channels are controlled by a common gate, or as independent-gate devices wherein one channel is controlled by two gates. Metal interconnects coupling a plurality of the FinFET devices are made of a same material as the gate electrodes. Such structural and material commonalities help to reduce costs of manufacturing high-density memory arrays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: John H. Zhang
  • Publication number: 20190181270
    Abstract: Metal quantum dots are incorporated into doped source and drain regions of a MOSFET array to assist in controlling transistor performance by altering the energy gap of the semiconductor crystal. In a first example, the quantum dots are incorporated into ion-doped source and drain regions. In a second example, the quantum dots are incorporated into epitaxially doped source and drain regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Publication date: June 13, 2019
    Inventor: John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 10319647
    Abstract: An analog integrated circuit is disclosed in which short channel transistors are stacked on top of long channel transistors, vertically separated by an insulating layer. With such a design, it is possible to produce a high density, high power, and high performance analog integrated circuit chip including both short and long channel devices that are spaced far enough apart from one another to avoid crosstalk. In one embodiment, the transistors are FinFETs and the long channel devices are multi-gate FinFETs. In one embodiment, single and dual damascene devices are combined in a multi-layer integrated circuit cell. The cell may contain various combinations and configurations of the short and long-channel devices. A high density cell can be made by simply shrinking the dimensions of the cells and replicating two or more cells in the same size footprint as the original cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Qing Liu, John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 10319630
    Abstract: A plurality of metal tracks are formed in a plurality of intermetal dielectric layers stacked in an integrated circuit die. Thin protective dielectric layers are formed around the metal tracks. The protective dielectric layers act as a hard mask to define contact vias between metal tracks in the intermetal dielectric layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignees: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC., INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: John H. Zhang, Lawrence A. Clevenger, Carl Radens, Yiheng Xu
  • Publication number: 20190172748
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first trench on a mandrel line through a top mask layer and stopping at a middle mask layer; and a second trench on a non-mandrel line through the top mask layer and stopping at the middle mask layer. A spacer material is removed from a structure resulting from etching the first trench and the second trench. The device includes a first via structure, formed using a removable material, in the first trench; a second via structure, formed using a removable material, in the second trench; an air-gap formed in a third trench created at a location of the spacer; a fourth trench formed by etching, to remove the first via structure and a first portion of a bottom mask layer under the first via structure; and a self-aligned line-end via on the mandrel line formed by filling the fourth trench with a conductive metal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Publication date: June 6, 2019
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence A. Clevenger, Carl J. Radens, John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 10304815
    Abstract: Self-aligned three dimensional vertically stacked chip stacks and processes for forming the same generally include two or more vertically stacked chips supported by a scaffolding structure, the scaffolding structure defined by a first scaffolding trench and at least one additional scaffolding trench, the first scaffolding trench comprising a bottom surface having a width and a sidewall having a height extending from the bottom surface to define a lowermost trench in a scaffolding layer, the at least one additional scaffolding trench overlaying the first scaffolding trench having a sidewall having a height and a width, wherein the width of the at least one scaffolding trench is greater than the first scaffolding trench width to define a first stair between the first scaffolding trench and the at least one additional trench; a first chip secured to the first scaffolding trench having a height less than the first scaffolding trench sidewall height; and at least one additional chip secured to and supported by the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Lawrence A. Clevenger, Carl J. Radens, Yiheng Xu, John H. Zhang
  • Publication number: 20190148494
    Abstract: A first vertical field effect transistor (VFET) and a second VFET are formed on a substrate. The VFETs are parallel and adjacent to one another, and each comprises: a fin-shaped semiconductor; a lower source/drain (S/D) element; an upper S/D element; and a gate conductor. A portion of a gate conductor of the second VFET that is positioned over a lower S/D element of the second VFET is removed to leave a trench. An isolation spacer is formed to contact the gate conductor of the second VFET in a first portion of the trench. A lower S/D contact of the second VFET is formed on the lower S/D element of the second VFET in a second portion of the trench, a lower S/D contact of the first VFET is formed to a lower S/D element of the first VFET, and contacts are formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Publication date: May 16, 2019
    Applicant: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: Ruilong Xie, Lars Liebmann, Daniel Chanemougame, Chanro Park, John H. Zhang, Steven Bentley, Hui Zang
  • Patent number: 10269812
    Abstract: A first vertical field effect transistor (VFET) and a second VFET are formed on a substrate. The VFETs are parallel and adjacent to one another, and each comprises: a fin-shaped semiconductor; a lower source/drain (S/D) element; an upper S/D element; and a gate conductor. A portion of a gate conductor of the second VFET that is positioned over a lower S/D element of the second VFET is removed to leave a trench. An isolation spacer is formed to contact the gate conductor of the second VFET in a first portion of the trench. A lower S/D contact of the second VFET is formed on the lower S/D element of the second VFET in a second portion of the trench, a lower S/D contact of the first VFET is formed to a lower S/D element of the first VFET, and contacts are formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: Ruilong Xie, Lars Liebmann, Daniel Chanemougame, Chanro Park, John H. Zhang, Steven Bentley, Hui Zang
  • Patent number: 10256351
    Abstract: A semi-floating gate transistor is implemented as a vertical FET built on a silicon substrate, wherein the source, drain, and channel are vertically aligned, on top of one another. Current flow between the source and the drain is influenced by a control gate and a semi-floating gate. Front side contacts can be made to each one of the source, drain, and control gate terminals of the vertical semi-floating gate transistor. The vertical semi-floating gate FET further includes a vertical tunneling FET and a vertical diode. Fabrication of the vertical semi-floating gate FET is compatible with conventional CMOS manufacturing processes, including a replacement metal gate process. Low-power operation allows the vertical semi-floating gate FET to provide a high current density compared with conventional planar devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Qing Liu, John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 10247881
    Abstract: A sequence of processing steps presented herein is used to embed an optical signal path within an array of nanowires, using only one lithography step. Using the techniques disclosed, it is not necessary to mask electrical features while forming optical features, and vice versa. Instead, optical and electrical signal paths can be created substantially simultaneously in the same masking cycle. This is made possible by a disparity in the widths of the respective features, the optical signal paths being significantly wider than the electrical ones. Using a damascene process, the structures of disparate widths are plated with metal that over-fills narrow trenches and under-fills a wide trench. An optical cladding material can then be deposited into the trench so as to surround an optical core for light transmission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventor: John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 10249568
    Abstract: A method for making a semiconductor device may include forming a first dielectric layer above a semiconductor substrate, forming a first trench in the first dielectric layer, filling the first trench with electrically conductive material, removing upper portions of the electrically conductive material to define a lower conductive member with a recess thereabove, forming a filler dielectric material in the recess to define a second trench. The method may further include filling the second trench with electrically conductive material to define an upper conductive member, forming a second dielectric layer over the first dielectric layer and upper conductive member, forming a first via through the second dielectric layer and underlying filler dielectric material to the lower conductive member, and forming a second via through the second dielectric layer to the upper conductive member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventor: John H. Zhang