Patents by Inventor Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher

Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher 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: 20190112708
    Abstract: There is disclosed a system for the electrostatic control of a metal wetting layer during deposition and a method of electrostatically controlling a metal wetting layer during deposition using a deposition system. In one example, control of the metal wetting layer is provided by changing or applying an electrostatic field acting on a deposited material or acting on a substrate on which a material is deposited. In another example, control is of the thickness of the metal wetting layer. In another example, control is of the presence or absence of the metal wetting layer. The metal wetting layer can be a liquid metal or liquid metal alloy, for example the metal wetting layer could be Boron, Aluminium, Indium, Gallium or Thallium. In another example, control is of the thickness, or presence, of a Gallium wetting layer during GaN film growth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2018
    Publication date: April 18, 2019
    Inventor: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher
  • Publication number: 20170183776
    Abstract: There is disclosed a system for the electrostatic control of a metal wetting layer during deposition and a method of electrostatically controlling a metal wetting layer during deposition using a deposition system. In one example, control of the metal wetting layer is provided by changing or applying an electrostatic field acting on a deposited material or acting on a substrate on which a material is deposited. In another example, control is of the thickness of the metal wetting layer. In another example, control is of the presence or absence of the metal wetting layer. The metal wetting layer can be a liquid metal or liquid metal alloy, for example the metal wetting layer could be Boron, Aluminium, Indium, Gallium or Thallium. In another example, control is of the thickness, or presence, of a Gallium wetting layer during GaN film growth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2015
    Publication date: June 29, 2017
    Inventor: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher
  • Patent number: 9045824
    Abstract: A method of producing a thin film using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, including the steps of supplying a cation species to a substrate region when there is at most a relatively low flux of a plasma based anion species in the substrate region, and supplying the plasma based anion species to the substrate region when there is at most a relatively low flux of the cation species in the substrate region. This enables delivery of gaseous reactants to be separated in time in PECVD and/or RPECVD based film growth systems, which provides a significant reduction in the formation of dust particles for these plasma based film growth techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Inventor: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher
  • Publication number: 20140037865
    Abstract: A method of producing a thin film using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, including the steps of supplying a cation species to a substrate region when there is at most a relatively low flux of a plasma based anion species in the substrate region, and supplying the plasma based anion species to the substrate region when there is at most a relatively low flux of the cation species in the substrate region. This enables delivery of gaseous reactants to be separated in time in PECVD and/or RPECVD based film growth systems, which provides a significant reduction in the formation of dust particles for these plasma based film growth techniques.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2013
    Publication date: February 6, 2014
    Inventor: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher
  • Patent number: 8580670
    Abstract: A method of producing a thin film using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, including the steps of supplying a cation species to a substrate region when there is at most a relatively low flux of a plasma based anion species in the substrate region, and supplying the plasma based anion species to the substrate region when there is at most a relatively low flux of the cation species in the substrate region. This enables delivery of gaseous reactants to be separated in time in PECVD and/or RPECVD based film growth systems, which provides a significant reduction in the formation of dust particles for these plasma based film growth techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Inventor: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher
  • Patent number: 8298624
    Abstract: A process and apparatus for growing a group (III) metal nitride film by remote plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition are described. The process comprises heating an object selected from the group consisting of a substrate and a substrate comprising a buffer layer in a growth chamber to a temperature in the range of from about 400° C. to o about 750° C., producing active neutral nitrogen species in a nitrogen plasma remotely located from the growth chamber and transferring the active neutral nitrogen species to the growth chamber. A reaction mixture is formed in the growth chamber, the reaction mixture containing a species of a group (III) metal that is capable of reacting with the nitrogen species so as to form a group (III) metal nitride film and a film of group (III) s metal nitride is formed on the heated object under conditions whereby the film is suitable for device purposes. Also described is a group (III) metal nitride film which exhibits an oxygen concentration below 1.6 atomic %.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Gallium Enterprises Pty Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher, Marie-Pierre Francoise Wintrebert ep Fouquet, Patrick Po-Tsang Chen, John Leo Paul Ten Have, David Ian Johnson
  • Publication number: 20100210067
    Abstract: A method of producing a thin film using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, including the steps of supplying a cation species to a substrate region when there is at most a relatively low flux of a plasma based anion species in the substrate region, and supplying the plasma based anion species to the substrate region when there is at most a relatively low flux of the cation species in the substrate region. This enables delivery of gaseous reactants to be separated in time in PECVD and/or RPECVD based film growth systems, which provides a significant reduction in the formation of dust particles for these plasma based film growth techniques.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2010
    Publication date: August 19, 2010
    Inventor: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher
  • Patent number: 7553368
    Abstract: A process for the manufacture of a gallium rich gallium nitride film is described. The process comprises (a) preparing a reaction mixture containing a gallium species and a nitrogen species, the gallium species and the nitrogen species being selected such that, when they react with each other, gallium nitride is formed; and (b) growing the gallium rich gallium nitride film from the reaction mixture, by allowing the gallium species to react with the nitrogen species and to deposit gallium nitride on a substrate selected from the group consisting of silicon, glass, sapphire, quartz and crystalline materials having a lattice constant closely matched to gallium nitride, including zinc oxide, optionally with a zinc oxide buffer layer, at a temperature of from about 480° C. to about 900 ° C. and in the presence of a gaseous environment in which the partial pressure of oxygen is less than 10?4 Torr, wherein the ratio of gallium atoms to nitrogen atoms in the gallium rich gallium nitride film is from 1.01 to 1.20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2009
    Assignee: Gallium Enterprises Pty Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher, Trevor Lionel Tansley, Afifuddin
  • Publication number: 20090020768
    Abstract: A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; a first contact; a first layer of doped semiconductor material deposited on the substrate; a semiconductor junction region deposited on the first layer; a second layer of doped semiconductor material deposited on the junction region, the second layer having opposite semiconductor doping polarity to that of the first layer; and a second contact; wherein the second contact is in electrical communication with the second layer and the first contact is embedded within the semiconductor device between the substrate and the junction region and is in electrical communication with the first layer; and processes for manufacture of an embedded contact semiconductor device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2008
    Publication date: January 22, 2009
    Applicant: Gallium Enterprise Pty Ltd., an Australian company
    Inventors: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher, Marie-Pierre Francoise Wintrebert ep Fouquet, Alanna Julia June Fernandes
  • Publication number: 20080282978
    Abstract: A process for the manufacture of a gallium rich gallium nitride film is described. The process comprises (a) preparing a reaction mixture containing a gallium species and a nitrogen species, the gallium species and the nitrogen species being selected such that, when they react with each other, gallium nitride is formed; and (b) growing the gallium rich gallium nitride film from the reaction mixture, by allowing the gallium species to react with the nitrogen species and to deposit gallium nitride on a substrate selected from the group consisting of silicon, glass, sapphire, quartz and crystalline materials having a lattice constant closely matched to gallium nitride, including zinc oxide, optionally with a zinc oxide buffer layer, at a temperature of from about 480° C. to about 900° C. and in the presence of a gaseous environment in which the partial pressure of oxygen is less than 10?4 Torr, wherein the ratio of gallium atoms to nitrogen atoms in the gallium rich gallium nitride film is from 1.01 to 1.20.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2008
    Publication date: November 20, 2008
    Inventors: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher, Trevor Lionel Tansley, Afifuddin
  • Publication number: 20080272463
    Abstract: A process and apparatus for growing a group (III) metal nitride film by remote plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition are described. The process comprises heating an object selected from the group consisting of a substrate and a substrate comprising a buffer layer in a growth chamber to a temperature in the range of from about 400° C. to o about 750° C., producing active neutral nitrogen species in a nitrogen plasma remotely located from the growth chamber and transferring the active neutral nitrogen species to the growth chamber. A reaction mixture is formed in the growth chamber, the reaction mixture containing a species of a group (III) metal that is capable of reacting with the nitrogen species so as to form a group (III) metal nitride film and a film of group (III) s metal nitride is formed on the heated object under conditions whereby the film is suitable for device purposes. Also described is a group (III) metal nitride film which exhibits an oxygen concentration below 1.6 atomic %.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2005
    Publication date: November 6, 2008
    Inventors: Kenneth Scott Alexander Butcher, Marie-Pierre Francoise Wintrebert ep Fouquet, Patrick Po-Tsang Chen, John Leo Paul Ten Have, David Ian Johnson