Patents by Inventor Montray Leavy

Montray Leavy 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: 8268156
    Abstract: Processes are provided herein for the fabrication of MEMS utilizing both a primary metal that is integrated into the final MEMS structure and two or more sacrificial secondary metals that provide structural support for the primary metal component during machining. A first secondary metal is thinly plated around the primary metal and over the entire surface of the substrate without using photolithography. A second secondary metal, is then thickly plated over the deposited first secondary metal without using photolithography. Additionally, techniques are disclosed to increase the deposition rate of the first secondary metal between primary metal features in order to prevent voiding and thus enhance structural support of the primary metal during machining.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Advantest America, Inc.
    Inventor: Montray Leavy
  • Publication number: 20120070980
    Abstract: Processes are provided herein for the fabrication of MEMS utilizing both a primary metal that is integrated into the final MEMS structure and two or more sacrificial secondary metals that provide structural support for the primary metal component during machining. A first secondary metal is thinly plated around the primary metal and over the entire surface of the substrate without using photolithography. A second secondary metal, is then thickly plated over the deposited first secondary metal without using photolithography. Additionally, techniques are disclosed to increase the deposition rate of the first secondary metal between primary metal features in order to prevent voiding and thus enhance structural support of the primary metal during machining.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2011
    Publication date: March 22, 2012
    Applicant: TOUCHDOWN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Montray Leavy
  • Publication number: 20110100826
    Abstract: Processes are provided herein for the fabrication of MEMS utilizing both a primary metal that is integrated into the final MEMS structure and a sacrificial secondary metal that provides structural support for the primary metal component during machining More specifically, techniques are disclosed to increase the rate of secondary metal deposition between primary metal features in order to prevent voiding in the sacrificial secondary metal and thus enhance structural support of the primary metal during machining.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2009
    Publication date: May 5, 2011
    Applicant: TOUCHDOWN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Montray Leavy
  • Publication number: 20110100829
    Abstract: Processes are provided herein for the fabrication of MEMS utilizing both a primary metal that is integrated into the final MEMS structure and two or more sacrificial secondary metals that provide structural support for the primary metal component during machining. A first secondary metal is thinly plated around the primary metal and over the entire surface of the substrate without using photolithography. A second secondary metal, is then thickly plated over the deposited first secondary metal without using photolithography. Additionally, techniques are disclosed to increase the deposition rate of the first secondary metal between primary metal features in order to prevent voiding and thus enhance structural support of the primary metal during machining.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2009
    Publication date: May 5, 2011
    Applicant: TOUCHDOWN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Montray Leavy
  • Patent number: 7256121
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for forming an interconnect on a semiconductor substrate 100. The method includes forming an opening 230 over an inner surface of the opening 130, the depositing forming a reentrant profile near a top portion of the opening 130. A portion of barrier 230 is etched, which removes at least a portion of the barrier 230 to reduce the reentrant profile. The etching also removes at least a portion of the barrier 230 layer at the bottom of the opening 130.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2007
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Duofeng Yue, Stephan Grunow, Satyavolu S. Papa Rao, Noel M. Russell, Montray Leavy
  • Patent number: 7189615
    Abstract: The formation of a MIM (metal insulator metal) capacitor (164) and concurrent formation of a resistor (166) is disclosed. A copper diffusion barrier (124) is formed over a copper deposition (110) that serves as a bottom electrode (170) of the capacitor (164). The copper diffusion barrier (124) mitigates unwanted diffusion of copper from the copper deposition (110), and is formed via electro-less deposition such that little to none of the barrier material is deposited at locations other than over a top surface (125) of the deposition of copper/bottom electrode. Subsequently, layers of dielectric (150) and conductive (152) materials are applied to form a dielectric (172) and top electrode (174) of the MIM capacitor (164), respectively, where the layer of conductive top electrode material (152) also functions to concurrently develop the resistor (166) on the same chip as the capacitor (164).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2007
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Satyavolu Srinivas Papa Rao, Darius Lammont Crenshaw, Stephan Grunow, Kenneth D. Brennan, Somit Joshi, Montray Leavy, Phillip D. Matz, Sameer Kumar Ajmera, Yuri E. Solomentsev
  • Patent number: 7148140
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. An interlayer dielectric layer is formed on one or more semiconductor layers (402). One or more feature regions are formed in the interlayer dielectric layer (404). A first conductive layer is formed in at least a portion of the feature regions and on the interlayer dielectric layer (406)). A first anneal is performed that promotes grain growth of the first conductive layer (408). An additional conductive layer is formed on the first conductive layer (410) and an additional anneal is performed (412) that promotes grain growth of the additional conductive layer and further promotes grain size growth of the first conductive layer. Additional conductive layers can be formed and annealed until a sufficient overburden amount has been obtained. Subsequently, a planarization process is performed that removes excess conductive material and thereby forms and isolates conductive features in the semiconductor device (414).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2006
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Montray Leavy, Stephan Grunow, Satyavolu S. Papa Rao, Noel M. Russell
  • Publication number: 20060160299
    Abstract: The formation of a MIM (metal insulator metal) capacitor (164) and concurrent formation of a resistor (166) is disclosed. A copper diffusion barrier (124) is formed over a copper deposition (110) that serves as a bottom electrode (170) of the capacitor (164). The copper diffusion barrier (124) mitigates unwanted diffusion of copper from the copper deposition (110), and is formed via electro-less deposition such that little to none of the barrier material is deposited at locations other than over a top surface (125) of the deposition of copper/bottom electrode. Subsequently, layers of dielectric (150) and conductive (152) materials are applied to form a dielectric (172) and top electrode (174) of the MIM capacitor (164), respectively, where the layer of conductive top electrode material (152) also functions to concurrently develop the resistor (166) on the same chip as the capacitor (164).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2005
    Publication date: July 20, 2006
    Inventors: Satyavolu Rao, Darius Crenshaw, Stephan Grunow, Kenneth Brennan, Somit Joshi, Montray Leavy, Phillip Matz, Sameer Ajmera, Yuri Solomentsev
  • Publication number: 20060121724
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for forming an interconnect on a semiconductor substrate 100. The method includes forming an opening 230 over an inner surface of the opening 130, the depositing forming a reentrant profile near a top portion of the opening 130. A portion of barrier 230 is etched, which removes at least a portion of the barrier 230 to reduce the reentrant profile. The etching also removes at least a portion of the barrier 230 layer at the bottom of the opening 130.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2004
    Publication date: June 8, 2006
    Applicant: Texas Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Duofeng Yue, Stephan Grunow, Satyavolu Papa Rao, Noel Russell, Montray Leavy
  • Publication number: 20060024962
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. An interlayer dielectric layer is formed on one or more semiconductor layers (402). One or more feature regions are formed in the interlayer dielectric layer (404). A first conductive layer is formed in at least a portion of the feature regions and on the interlayer dielectric layer (406)). A first anneal is performed that promotes grain growth of the first conductive layer (408). An additional conductive layer is formed on the first conductive layer (410) and an additional anneal is performed (412) that promotes grain growth of the additional conductive layer and further promotes grain size growth of the first conductive layer. Additional conductive layers can be formed and annealed until a sufficient overburden amount has been obtained. Subsequently, a planarization process is performed that removes excess conductive material and thereby forms and isolates conductive features in the semiconductor device (414).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2004
    Publication date: February 2, 2006
    Inventors: Montray Leavy, Stephan Grunow, Satyavolu Papa Rao, Noel Russell