Patents by Inventor Markus Zundel

Markus Zundel 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: 20140299972
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a first side and a second side opposite the first side, an active area and a through contact area, the active area including a transistor structure having a control electrode, the through contact area including a semiconductor mesa having insulated sidewalls. The semiconductor device further includes a first metallization on the first side in the active area and a recess extending from the first side into the semiconductor substrate and between the active area and the through contact area and including in the through contact area a horizontally widening portion, the recess being at least partly filled with a conductive material forming a first conductive region in ohmic contact with the semiconductor mesa and the transistor structure. The semiconductor device also includes a control metallization on the second side and in ohmic contact with the semiconductor mesa.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2014
    Publication date: October 9, 2014
    Inventors: Hermann Gruber, Thomas Gross, Andreas Peter Meiser, Markus Zundel
  • Publication number: 20140291816
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a continuous silicate glass structure over a first surface of a semiconductor body, including a first part of the continuous glass structure over an active area of the semiconductor body and a second part of the continuous glass structure over an area of the semiconductor body outside of the active area. A first composition of dopants included in the first part of continuous glass structure differs from a second composition of dopants of the second part of the continuous glass structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2014
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Inventors: Hans-Joachim Schulze, Alexander Susiti, Markus Zundel, Reinhard Ploss
  • Publication number: 20140251408
    Abstract: An embodiment of the invention relates to a Seebeck temperature difference sensor that may be formed in a trench on a semiconductor device. A portion of the sensor may be substantially surrounded by an electrically conductive shield. A plurality of junctions may be included to provide a higher Seebeck sensor voltage. The shield may be electrically coupled to a local potential, or left electrically floating. A portion of the shield may be formed as a doped well in the semiconductor substrate on which the semiconductor device is formed, or as a metal layer substantially covering the sensor. The shield may be formed as a first oxide layer on a sensor trench wall with a conductive shield formed on the first oxide layer, and a second oxide layer formed on the conductive shield. An absolute temperature sensor may be coupled in series with the Seebeck temperature difference sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2014
    Publication date: September 11, 2014
    Applicant: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Donald Dibra, Christoph Kadow, Markus Zundel
  • Patent number: 8823087
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a trench region extending into a drift zone of a semiconductor body from a surface. The semiconductor device further includes a dielectric structure including a first step and a second step along a lateral side of the trench region. The semiconductor device further includes an auxiliary structure of a first conductivity type between the first step and the second step, a gate electrode in the trench region and a body region of a second conductivity type other than the first conductivity type of the drift zone. The auxiliary structure adjoins each one of the drift zone, the body region and the dielectric structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventors: Franz Hirler, Markus Zundel
  • Patent number: 8809966
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes an active area having a source and a gate. A gate metal contact is deposited above and forms an electrical contact with the gate and a source metal contact is deposited above and forms an electrical contact with the source. The source metal contact includes a plurality of metal through contacts positioned adjacent a side of the active area, the plurality of metal through contacts being spaced at intervals from one another and arranged in two or more rows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Markus Zundel
  • Patent number: 8803297
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a main body having a single crystalline semiconductor body. A layered structure directly adjoins a central portion of a main surface of the main body and includes a hard dielectric layer provided from a first dielectric material with Young's modulus greater than 10 GPa. A stress relief layer directly adjoins the layered structure opposite to the main body and extends beyond an outer edge of the layered structure. Providing the layered structure at a distance to the edge of the main body and covering the outer surface of the layered structures with the stress relief layer enhances device reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Peter Nelle, Uwe Schmalzbauer, Juergen Holzmueller, Markus Zundel
  • Patent number: 8796761
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a trench region extending into a drift zone of a semiconductor body from a surface. The semiconductor device further includes a dielectric structure extending along a lateral side of the trench region, wherein a part of the dielectric structure is a charged insulating structure. The semiconductor device further includes a gate electrode in the trench region and a body region of a conductivity type other than the conductivity type of the drift zone. The charged insulating structure adjoins each one of the drift zone, the body region and the dielectric structure and further adjoins or is arranged below a bottom side of a gate dielectric of the dielectric structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventors: Franz Hirler, Markus Zundel
  • Publication number: 20140209905
    Abstract: An integrated circuit including a semiconductor device has a power component including a plurality of trenches in a cell array, the plurality of trenches running in a first direction, and a sensor component integrated into the cell array of the power component and including a sensor cell having an area which is smaller than an area of the cell array of the power component. The integrated circuit further includes isolation trenches disposed between the sensor component and the power component, an insulating material being disposed in the isolation trenches. The isolation trenches run in a second direction that is different from the first direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2013
    Publication date: July 31, 2014
    Applicant: INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG
    Inventors: Andreas Meiser, Markus Zundel, Steffen Thiele
  • Patent number: 8785997
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor body including a first surface. The semiconductor device further includes a continuous silicate glass structure over the first surface. A first part of the continuous glass structure over an active area of the semiconductor body includes a first composition of dopants that differs from a second composition of dopants in a second part of the continuous glass structure over an area of the semiconductor body outside of the active area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Hans-Joachim Schulze, Alexander Susiti, Markus Zundel, Reinhard Ploss
  • Patent number: 8779506
    Abstract: Disclosed is a semiconductor component arrangement and a method for producing a semiconductor component arrangement. The method comprises producing a trench transistor structure with at least one trench disposed in the semiconductor body and with at least an gate electrode disposed in the at least one trench. An electrode structure is disposed in at least one further trench and comprises at least one electrode. The at least one trench of the transistor structure and the at least one further trench are produced by common process steps. Furthermore, the at least one electrode of the electrode structure and the gate electrode are produced by common process steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Markus Zundel, Franz Hirler, Norbert Krischke
  • Patent number: 8772861
    Abstract: One embodiment of the invention relates to a field effect trench transistor with a multiplicity of transistor cells that are arranged like an array and whose gate electrodes are arranged in active trenches formed in a semiconductor body. Inactive trenches are arranged in the array of the transistor cells, there being no gate electrodes situated in said inactive trenches, and a series of polysilicon diodes are integrated in one or more of the inactive trenches which diodes, for protection against damage to the gate oxide through ESD pulses, are contact-connected to a source metallization at one of their ends and to a gate metallization at their other end, and/or alternatively or additionally one or more polysilicon zener diodes connected in series is or are integrated in the inactive trench or trenches and contact-connected to the gate metallization by one of its or their ends and to drain potential by its or their other end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Markus Zundel, Norbert Krischke, Thorsten Meyer
  • Patent number: 8772835
    Abstract: A lateral HEMT includes a first semiconductor layer on a second semiconductor layer, a heterojunction at an interface between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, and a rectifying Schottky junction. The rectifying Schottky junction has a first terminal electrically coupled to a source electrode and a second terminal electrically coupled to the second semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventors: Markus Zundel, Franz Hirler
  • Publication number: 20140184306
    Abstract: A method for operating a field-effect transistor having a source terminal, a drain terminal, a gate terminal, a drift region and a dielectric region adjoining the drift region, is provided. The method includes: connecting at least one of the drain terminal and the source terminal to a load; applying a sequence of voltage pulses between the gate terminal and the source terminal to repetitively switch the field-effect transistor such that the field-effect transistor is driven in an avalanche mode between the voltage pulses, during the avalanche mode avalanche multiplication occurring in the drift region close to the dielectric region; and applying at least one relaxation pulse to the field-effect transistor to reduce an accumulation of charges in the dielectric region due to hot charge carriers generated in the avalanche mode. Further, a field-effect transistor and a circuit configuration including the field-effect transistor are provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 2012
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Inventors: Markus Zundel, Peter Nelle
  • Patent number: 8766394
    Abstract: An embodiment of the invention relates to a Seebeck temperature difference sensor that may be formed in a trench on a semiconductor device. A portion of the sensor may be substantially surrounded by an electrically conductive shield. A plurality of junctions may be included to provide a higher Seebeck sensor voltage. The shield may be electrically coupled to a local potential, or left electrically floating. A portion of the shield may be formed as a doped well in the semiconductor substrate on which the semiconductor device is formed, or as a metal layer substantially covering the sensor. The shield may be formed as a first oxide layer on a sensor trench wall with a conductive shield formed on the first oxide layer, and a second oxide layer formed on the conductive shield. An absolute temperature sensor may be coupled in series with the Seebeck temperature difference sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Donald Dibra, Christoph Kadow, Markus Zundel
  • Publication number: 20140167044
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a main surface with a polygonal geometry and a main electric circuit manufactured within a main region on the semiconductor substrate. The main electric circuit is operable to perform an electric main function. The main region extends over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate leaving open at least one corner area at a corner of the polygonal geometry of the main surface of the semiconductor substrate. The corner area extends at least 300 ?m along the edges of the semiconductor substrate beginning at the corner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2013
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Markus Zundel, Vanessa Capodieci, Markus Dinkel, Uwe Schmalzbauer
  • Publication number: 20140167209
    Abstract: A semiconductor device is manufactured in a semiconductor substrate comprising a first main surface, the semiconductor substrate including chip areas. The method of manufacturing the semiconductor substrate comprises forming components of the semiconductor device in the first main surface in the chip areas, removing substrate material from a second main surface of the semiconductor substrate, the second main surface being opposite to the first main surface, forming a separation trench into a first main surface of the semiconductor substrate, the separation trench being disposed between adjacent chip areas. The method further comprises forming at least one sacrificial material in the separation trench, and removing the at least one sacrificial material from the trench.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Inventors: Andreas Meiser, Markus Zundel, Martin Poelzl, Paul Ganitzer, Georg Ehrentraut
  • Publication number: 20140167155
    Abstract: A semiconductor component arrangement and method for producing thereof is disclosed. One embodiment provides at least one power semiconductor component integrated in a semiconductor body and at least one logic component integrated in the semiconductor body. The logic component includes a trench extending into the semiconductor body proceeding from a first side, at least one gate electrode arranged in the trench and insulated from the semiconductor body by a gate dielectric, and at least one source zone and at least one drain zone of a first conduction type, which are formed in the semiconductor body in a manner adjacent to the gate dielectric and in a manner spaced apart from one another in a peripheral direction of the trench and between which at least one body zone of a second conduction type is arranged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2013
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventors: Markus Zundel, Norbert Krischke
  • Publication number: 20140167154
    Abstract: One embodiment of a semiconductor device includes a dense trench transistor cell array. The dense trench transistor cell array includes a plurality of transistor cells in a semiconductor body. A width w3 of a transistor mesa region of each of the plurality of transistor cells and a width w1 of a first trench of each of the plurality of transistor cells satisfy the following relationship: w3<1.5×w1. The semiconductor device further includes semiconductor diodes. At least one of the semiconductor diodes is arranged between first and second parts of the plurality of transistor cells and includes a diode mesa region adjoining opposing walls of second trenches. A depth d1 of the first trench and a depth d2 of the second trenches differ by at least 20%.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Peter Nelle, Markus Zundel
  • Publication number: 20140167043
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a main surface with a polygonal geometry and a main electric circuit manufactured within a main region on the semiconductor substrate. The main electric circuit is operable to perform an electric main function. The main region extends over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate leaving open at least one corner area at a corner of the polygonal geometry of the main surface of the semiconductor substrate. The corner area extends at least 300 ?m along the edges of the semiconductor substrate beginning at the corner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Markus Zundel, Vanessa Capodieci, Markus Dinkel, Uwe Schmalzbauer
  • Patent number: 8735262
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, a method of forming a semiconductor device includes: providing a wafer having a semiconductor substrate with a first side a second side opposite the first side, and a dielectric region arranged on the first side; mounting the wafer with the first side on a carrier system; etching a deep vertical trench from the second side through the semiconductor substrate to the dielectric region, thereby insulating a mesa region from the remaining semiconductor substrate; and filling the deep vertical trench with a dielectric material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Hermann Gruber, Thomas Gross, Andreas Peter Meiser, Markus Zundel