Patents by Inventor Michael Liehr

Michael Liehr 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: 10186401
    Abstract: In a known plasma-chemical coating apparatus, a plasma chamber is provided within which at least one linear antenna is arranged for producing a plasma by means of electromagnetic power, in which a supply for a carrier gas terminates and which comprises a plasma exit opening in the direction of a treatment chamber for a plasma-assisted modification of a substrate. Starting from this, to achieve cleaning cycles as in coating apparatuses with comparatively slow coating processes, it is suggested according to the invention that the plasma exit opening is configured as an elongated narrowing and defined preferably on both sides by cylinders which extend in parallel with each other and are rotatable about their cylinder axis, and that a cleaning zone is respectively provided for each of the cylinders, into which an area of the outer surface of the respective cylinder which is to be cleaned can be introduced by rotation about the cylinder axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: W & L Coating Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Liehr, Hans-Dieter Wurczinger
  • Publication number: 20160211122
    Abstract: In a known plasma-chemical coating apparatus, a plasma chamber is provided within which at least one linear antenna is arranged for producing a plasma by means of electromagnetic power, in which a supply for a carrier gas terminates and which comprises a plasma exit opening in the direction of a treatment chamber for a plasma-assisted modification of a substrate. Starting from this, to achieve cleaning cycles as in coating apparatuses with comparatively slow coating processes, it is suggested according to the invention that the plasma exit opening is configured as an elongated narrowing and defined preferably on both sides by cylinders which extend in parallel with each other and are rotatable about their cylinder axis, and that a cleaning zone is respectively provided for each of the cylinders, into which an area of the outer surface of the respective cylinder which is to be cleaned can be introduced by rotation about the cylinder axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2014
    Publication date: July 21, 2016
    Inventors: Michael LIEHR, Hans-Dieter WURCZINGER
  • Patent number: 8969200
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided for integrating TSVs into devices prior to device contacts processing. The apparatus includes a semiconducting layer; one or more CMOS devices mounted on a top surface of the semiconducting layer; one or more TSVs integrated into the semiconducting layer of the device wafer; at least one metal layer applied over the TSVs; and one or more bond pads mounted onto a top layer of the at least one metal layer, wherein the at least one metal layer is arranged to enable placement of the one or more bond pads at a specified location for bonding to a second device wafer. The method includes obtaining a wafer of semiconducting material, performing front end of line processing on the wafer; providing one or more TSVs in the wafer; performing middle of line processing on the wafer; and performing back end of line processing on the wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: The Research Foundation of State University of New York
    Inventors: Jeremiah Hebding, Megha Rao, Colin McDonough, Matthew Smalley, Douglas Duane Coolbaugh, Joseph Piccirillo, Jr., Stephen G. Bennett, Michael Liehr, Daniel Pascual
  • Patent number: 8697542
    Abstract: A method is provided for bonding a die to a base technology wafer and includes: providing a device wafer having a front, back, at least one side, and at least one TSV, wherein the back contains a substrate material; providing a carrier wafer having a front, back, and at least one side; bonding the wafers using an adhesive; removing the substrate material and wet etching, from the device wafer's back side, to expose at least one metallization scheme feature; processing the device wafer's back side to create at least one backside redistribution layer; removing the device wafer from the carrier wafer; dicing the device wafer into individual die; providing a base technology wafer; coating the front of the base technology wafer with a sacrificial adhesive; placing the front of the individual die onto the front of the base technology wafer; and bonding the individual die to the base technology wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: The Research Foundation of State University of New York
    Inventors: Daniel Pascual, Jeremiah Hebding, Megha Rao, Colin McDonough, Douglas Duane Coolbaugh, Joseph Piccirillo, Jr., Michael Liehr
  • Publication number: 20130270711
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided for integrating TSVs into devices prior to device contacts processing. The apparatus includes a semiconducting layer; one or more CMOS devices mounted on a top surface of the semiconducting layer; one or more TSVs integrated into the semiconducting layer of the device wafer; at least one metal layer applied over the TSVs; and one or more bond pads mounted onto a top layer of the at least one metal layer, wherein the at least one metal layer is arranged to enable placement of the one or more bond pads at a specified location for bonding to a second device wafer. The method includes obtaining a wafer of semiconducting material, performing front end of line processing on the wafer; providing one or more TSVs in the wafer; performing middle of line processing on the wafer; and performing back end of line processing on the wafer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2012
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Applicant: The Research Foundation Of State University Of New York
    Inventors: Jeremiah HEBDING, Megha RAO, Colin McDONOUGH, Matthew SMALLEY, Douglas Duane COOLBAUGH, Joseph PICCIRILLO, JR., Stephen G. BENNETT, Michael LIEHR, Daniel PASCUAL
  • Publication number: 20130273691
    Abstract: A method is provided for bonding a die to a base technology wafer and includes: providing a device wafer having a front, back, at least one side, and at least one TSV, wherein the back contains a substrate material; providing a carrier wafer having a front, back, and at least one side; bonding the wafers using an adhesive; removing the substrate material and wet etching, from the device wafer's back side, to expose at least one metallization scheme feature; processing the device wafer's back side to create at least one backside redistribution layer; removing the device wafer from the carrier wafer; dicing the device wafer into individual die; providing a base technology wafer; coating the front of the base technology wafer with a sacrificial adhesive; placing the front of the individual die onto the front of the base technology wafer; and bonding the individual die to the base technology wafer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2012
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Applicant: THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
    Inventors: Daniel PASCUAL, Jeremiah HEBDING, Megha RAO, Colin McDONOUGH, Douglas Duane COOLBAUGH, Joseph PICCIRILLO, JR., Michael LIEHR
  • Publication number: 20080113108
    Abstract: A system and method for coating a substrate with a film is described. One embodiment includes a process that provides a substrate on which to deposit a film; generates a plasma to produce radicals from a support gas; produces the radicals from the support gas; disassociates a precursor gas using the radicals; deposits material from the disassociated precursor gas on the substrate; and controls the amount of electromagnetic radiation to which the deposited material is exposed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2006
    Publication date: May 15, 2008
    Inventors: Michael W. Stowell, Michael Liehr, Jose Manuel Dieguez-Campo
  • Publication number: 20070190808
    Abstract: A system and method for producing a film is described. One embodiment of the process includes the following processes: providing a substrate comprising a glass plate, electrodes; and bus bars; heating the substrate to an approximate critical temperature; initiating the chemical vapor deposition process when the substrate is near the approximate critical temperature, thereby depositing a film on the substrate; maintaining the upper portion of the film at approximately the critical temperature while the chemical vapor deposition process is ongoing; terminating the chemical vapor deposition process once the film has reached a desired thickness; and cooling the substrate and the deposited film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2006
    Publication date: August 16, 2007
    Inventors: Michael W. Stowell, Jose M. Dieguez-Campo, Michael Liehr
  • Publication number: 20070095281
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a system for depositing films on a substrate. This systems includes a vacuum chamber; a linear discharge tube housed inside the vacuum chamber; a magnetron configured to generate a microwave power signal that can be applied to the linear discharge tube; a power supply configured to provide a signal to the magnetron; and a pulse control connected to the power supply. The pulse control is configured to control the duty cycle of the plurality of pulses, the frequency of the plurality of pulses, and/or the contour of the plurality of pulses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2005
    Publication date: May 3, 2007
    Inventors: Michael Stowell, Michael Liehr, Stephan Wieder, Jose Dieguez-Campo
  • Publication number: 20060032737
    Abstract: The invention relates to a magnetron sputtering device particularly comprising at least one vacuum chamber and being intended for the coating of multicomponent films on a substrate by means of magnetron co-sputtering; said device is provided with a cylindrical cathode (1, 1?) mounted rotatably around the axial longitudinal shaft and is further provided with a magnetic system arranged inside the cylindrical cathode (1, 1?). The cylindrical cathode (1, 1?) includes at least two segments (2, 2?, 3, 3?, 4, 4?, 5, 5?) having different target materials. In addition, the invention relates to a method of coating multicomponent films on a substrate by way of magnetron co-sputtering in a vacuum coating system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2005
    Publication date: February 16, 2006
    Applicant: Applied Films GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Michael Liehr
  • Patent number: 6566612
    Abstract: A method for direct chip attach of a semiconductor chip to a circuit board by using solder bumps and an underfill layer is disclosed. In the method, a layer of in-situ polymeric mold material is first screen printed on the top surface of the semiconductor chip exposing a multiplicity of bond pads. The in-situ polymeric mold layer is formed with a multiplicity of apertures which are then filled with solder material in a molten solder screening process to form solder bumps. A thin flux-containing underfill material layer is then placed on top of a circuit board over a plurality of conductive pads which are arranged in a mirror image to the bond pads on the semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip and the circuit board are then pressed together with the underfill layer inbetween and heated to a reflow temperature of higher than the melting temperature of the solder material until electrical communication is established between the bond pads and the conductive pads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2003
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Guy P. Brouillette, David H. Danovitch, Peter A. Gruber, Michael Liehr, Carlos J. Sambucetti
  • Publication number: 20030000826
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for the production on a substrate of gas- and liquid-impermeable layers, which have a relatively high elasticity. This elasticity is attained through the inclusion of carbon in a layer comprised of a metal or semiconductor oxide. In order to attain such an inclusion, a metal or semiconductor is ionized by means of an arc discharge. Subsequently, a reactive gas, for example O2, is introduced, with which the ionized metal or the ionized semiconductor forms an oxide. In addition, a carbon-containing gas is added, which releases its carbon such that on the substrate an oxide layer is formed, in which carbon is included.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2002
    Publication date: January 2, 2003
    Inventors: Jorg Krempel-Hesse, Michael Liehr, Volker Hacker, Elisabeth Budke, Helmut Grimm
  • Patent number: 6487986
    Abstract: In an apparatus for depositing polycrystalline diamond by plasma technology onto substrates (5) of large area, having a process chamber (1) with airlock (6a), a plurality of microwave plasma sources (9, 9′, . . . ) arranged in a common plane above the substrates (5) and extending transversely across the direction of substrate advancement, and gas inlet and gas outlet tubes (10, 10′, . . . , 11, 11′, . . . , 12, 12′, . . . , 13, 13′, . . . , 13a, . . . ) leading into the process chamber (1) are provided, a plurality of gas inlet and gas outlet tubes distributed over the length of the source are associated with each of the linear sources (9, 9′, . . . ), and the outlet openings of the gas inlet tubes being situated each directly above the linear source (9, 9′, . . . ), and the openings of the gas outlet tubes (13, 13′, . . . ) each in the area between two linear sources (9, 9′, . . .
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignees: Unaxis Deutschland Holding GmbH, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Michael Liehr, Lothar Schäfer
  • Patent number: 6416292
    Abstract: Method for transporting at least one vaporous substance through the wall (4) of a vacuum chamber and into the vacuum chamber and device for executing and utilizing the method. In the method, a vaporous substance is introduced from the outside through an interior pipe (1) of a double-walled pipe into the vacuum chamber, with electric current from a power supply (3) applied to the interior pipe (1) and exterior pipe (2) of the double-walled pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2002
    Assignee: Leybold Systems GmbH
    Inventor: Michael Liehr
  • Publication number: 20020062556
    Abstract: A method for direct chip attach of a semiconductor chip to a circuit board by using solder bumps and an underfill layer is disclosed. In the method, a layer of in-situ polymeric mold material is first screen printed on the top surface of the semiconductor chip exposing a multiplicity of bond pads. The in-situ polymeric mold layer is formed with a multiplicity of apertures which are then filled with solder material in a molten solder screening process to form solder bumps. A thin flux-containing underfill material layer is then placed on top of a circuit board over a plurality of conductive pads which are arranged in a mirror image to the bond pads on the semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip and the circuit board are then pressed together with the underfill layer inbetween and heated to a reflow temperature of higher than the melting temperature of the solder material until electrical communication is established between the bond pads and the conductive pads.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Publication date: May 30, 2002
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Guy P. Brouillette, David H. Danovitch, Peter A. Gruber, Michael Liehr, Carlos J. Sambucetti
  • Patent number: 6341418
    Abstract: A method for direct chip attach of a semiconductor chip to a circuit board by using solder bumps and an underfill layer is disclosed. In the method, a layer of in-situ polymeric mold material is first screen printed on the top surface of the semiconductor chip exposing a multiplicity of bond pads. The in-situ polymeric mold layer is formed with a multiplicity of apertures which are then filled with solder material in a molten solder screening process to form solder bumps. A thin flux-containing underfill material layer is then placed on top of a circuit board over a plurality of conductive pads which are arranged in a mirror image to the bond pads on the semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip and the circuit board are then pressed together with the underfill layer inbetween and heated to a reflow temperature of higher than the melting temperature of the solder material until electrical communication is established between the bond pads and the conductive pads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2002
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Guy P. Brouillette, David H. Danovitch, Peter A. Gruber, Michael Liehr, Carlos J. Sambucetti
  • Patent number: 6340630
    Abstract: A method of forming interconnects on an electronic device that can be bonded to another electronic device at a low processing temperature can be carried out by depositing a first interconnect material on the electronic device forming protrusions and then depositing a second interconnect material to at least partially cover the protrusions, wherein the second interconnect material has a lower flow temperature than the first interconnect material. The method is carried out by flowing a molten solder into a mold having microcavities to fill the cavities and then allowed to solidify. The mold is then aligned with a silicon wafer containing chips deposited with high melting temperatures solder bumps such that each microcavity of the mold is aligned with each high melting temperature solder bump on the chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2002
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel George Berger, Guy Paul Brouillette, David Hirsch Danovitch, Peter Alfred Gruber, Bruce Lee Humphrey, Michael Liehr, William Thomas Motsiff, Carlos Juan Sambucetti
  • Patent number: 6242053
    Abstract: A process and device is shown for coating the delineating surfaces of a hollow object, preferably a hollow object having at least one sealable opening, by means of plasma coating, via the action of plasma on the delineating surface of the hollow object that is to be coated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: Leybold Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Friedrich Anderle, Jürgen Henrich, Wilfried Dicken, Heinrich Grünwald, Michael Liehr, Klaus Nauenburg, Rudolf Beckmann
  • Patent number: 6194835
    Abstract: A device for producing plasma includes an isolating pipe formed of an isolating material, a rod-shaped conductor positioned inside of the pipe, the rod-shaped conductor having an inner diameter that is smaller than the diameter of the of the isolating pipe, and an inner alternating electromagnetic field source connected to a first end of the conductor. The device also includes a conductive pipe positioned inside of the isolating pipe and concentrically around the conductor, the conductive pipe being formed so as to partially enclose the conductor, and an outer alternating electromagnetic field source connected to a first end of the conductive pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2001
    Assignee: Leybold Systems GmbH
    Inventor: Michael Liehr
  • Patent number: 6191532
    Abstract: For an arrangement for producing plasma in a vacuum chamber (3) with the aid of electromagnetic alternating fields, a rod-shaped conductor (4) is guided though a vacuum chamber (3) within a tube (5) of insulating material, with the inner diameter of the insulating tube (5) being greater than the diameter of the conductor (4) and at least one end of the insulating tube (5) being held in a wall (6,7) of the vacuum chamber (3) and the outer surface of the insulating tube being sealed with respect to the vacuum chamber, with at least one end of the conductor (4) being connected to a first source (8,9) for producing electromagnetic alternating fields and the region of the section of the rod-shaped conductor (4) which extends into the vacuum chamber (3) being in the form of a helix (2), with the winding length (L) of said section amounting to L=C/cos(&agr;) for a wavelength &lgr;0=10°<&agr;<15°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2001
    Assignee: Leybold Systems GmbH
    Inventor: Michael Liehr