Patents by Inventor Nicholas C. Fuller

Nicholas C. Fuller 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: 10607933
    Abstract: A structure having fully aligned via connecting metal lines on different Mx levels. The structure may include a first metal line and a second metal line in a first ILD, a cap covering the first ILD, the second metal line and a portion of the first metal line, a second ILD on the cap, and a via that electrically connects the first metal line to a third metal line, wherein the third metal line is above the first metal line and runs perpendicular to the first metal line, the via is fully aligned to the first metal line and the third metal line, and the via electrically connects the first metal line to the third metal line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel C. Edelstein, Nicholas C. Fuller, Elbert E. Huang, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, David L. Rath
  • Patent number: 10340182
    Abstract: A process comprises insulating a porous low k substrate with an organic polymer coating where the polymer does not penetrate or substantially penetrate the pores of the substrate, e.g., pores having a pore diameter of about one nm to about 5 nm, thereby completely or substantially mitigating the potential for capacitance increase of the substrate. The substrate comprises porous microcircuit substrate materials with surface pores optionally opening into subsurface pores. The organic polymer has a molecular weight greater than about 5,000 to greater than about 10,000 and a glass transition temperature greater than about 200° C. up to about the processing temperature required for forming the imaging layer and antireflective layer in a microcircuit, e.g., greater than about 225° C. The invention includes production of a product by this process and an article of manufacture embodying these features.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: International Business Machines corporation
    Inventors: James P. Doyle, Geraud Dubois, Nicholas C. Fuller, Teddie P. Magbitang, Robert D. Miller, Sampath Purushothaman, Willi Volksen
  • Publication number: 20190157201
    Abstract: A structure having fully aligned via connecting metal lines on different Mx levels. The structure may include a first metal line and a second metal line in a first ILD, a cap covering the first ILD, the second metal line and a portion of the first metal line, a second ILD on the cap, and a via that electrically connects the first metal line to a third metal line, wherein the third metal line is above the first metal line and runs perpendicular to the first metal line, the via is fully aligned to the first metal line and the third metal line, and the via electrically connects the first metal line to the third metal line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 2, 2019
    Publication date: May 23, 2019
    Inventors: Daniel C. Edelstein, Nicholas C. Fuller, Elbert E. Huang, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, David L. Rath
  • Patent number: 10204856
    Abstract: A structure having fully aligned via connecting metal lines on different Mx levels. The structure may include a first metal line and a second metal line in a first ILD, a cap covering the first ILD, the second metal line and a portion of the first metal line, a second ILD on the cap, and a via that electrically connects the first metal line to a third metal line, wherein the third metal line is above the first metal line and runs perpendicular to the first metal line, the via is fully aligned to the first metal line and the third metal line, and the via electrically connects the first metal line to the third metal line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel C. Edelstein, Nicholas C. Fuller, Elbert E. Huang, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, David L. Rath
  • Publication number: 20180138084
    Abstract: A process comprises insulating a porous low k substrate with an organic polymer coating where the polymer does not penetrate or substantially penetrate the pores of the substrate, e.g., pores having a pore diameter of about one nm to about 5 nm, thereby completely or substantially mitigating the potential for capacitance increase of the substrate. The substrate comprises porous microcircuit substrate materials with surface pores optionally opening into subsurface pores. The organic polymer has a molecular weight greater than about 5,000 to greater than about 10,000 and a glass transition temperature greater than about 200° C. up to about the processing temperature required for forming the imaging layer and antireflective layer in a microcircuit, e.g., greater than about 225° C. The invention includes production of a product by this process and an article of manufacture embodying these features.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2018
    Publication date: May 17, 2018
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: James P. Doyle, Geraud Dubois, Nicholas C. Fuller, Teddie P. Magbitang, Robert D. Miller, Sampath Purushothaman, Will Volksen
  • Publication number: 20180102317
    Abstract: A structure having fully aligned via connecting metal lines on different Mx levels. The structure may include a first metal line and a second metal line in a first ILD, a cap covering the first ILD, the second metal line and a portion of the first metal line, a second ILD on the cap, and a via that electrically connects the first metal line to a third metal line, wherein the third metal line is above the first metal line and runs perpendicular to the first metal line, the via is fully aligned to the first metal line and the third metal line, and the via electrically connects the first metal line to the third metal line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2017
    Publication date: April 12, 2018
    Inventors: Daniel C. Edelstein, Nicholas C. Fuller, Elbert E. Huang, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, David L. Rath
  • Patent number: 9911690
    Abstract: A structure having fully aligned via connecting metal lines on different Mx levels. The structure may include a first metal line and a second metal line in a first ILD, a cap covering the first ILD, the second metal line and a portion of the first metal line, a second ILD on the cap, and a via that electrically connects the first metal line to a third metal line, wherein the third metal line is above the first metal line and runs perpendicular to the first metal line, the via is fully aligned to the first metal line and the third metal line, and the via electrically connects the first metal line to the third metal line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel C. Edelstein, Nicholas C. Fuller, Elbert E. Huang, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, David L. Rath
  • Patent number: 9886310
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for dynamic resource allocation in MapReduce are provided herein. A method includes partitioning input data into one or more sized items of input data associated with a MapReduce job; determining a total number of mapper components, and a total number of reducer components for the MapReduce job based on said partitioning; dynamically determining an allocation of resources to each of the total number of mapper components and reducer components during run-time of the MapReduce job, wherein said dynamically determining the allocation of resources comprises monitoring one or more utilization parameters for each of the total number of mapper components and total number of reducer components during run-time of the MapReduce job; and dynamically determining a number of concurrently executing mapper components and reducer components from the total number of mapper components and the total number of reducer components for the MapReduce job.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas C. Fuller, Min Li, Shicong Meng, Jian Tan, Liangzhao Zeng, Li Zhang
  • Patent number: 9766940
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for enabling dynamic task-level configuration in MapReduce are provided herein. A method includes generating a first set of configurations for a currently executing MapReduce job, wherein said set of configurations comprises job-level configurations and task-level configurations; dynamically modifying configurations associated with a mapper component and/or a reducer component associated with at least one ongoing map task and/or ongoing reduce task of the MapReduce job based on the generated first set of configurations; and deploying said first set of configurations to the mapper component and/or the reducer component associated with the MapReduce job.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas C. Fuller, Minkyong Kim, Min Li, Shicong Meng, Jian Tan, Liangzhao Zeng, Li Zhang
  • Publication number: 20170154812
    Abstract: A process comprises insulating a porous low k substrate with an organic polymer coating where the polymer does not penetrate or substantially penetrate the pores of the substrate, e.g., pores having a pore diameter of about one nm to about 5 nm, thereby completely or substantially mitigating the potential for capacitance increase of the substrate. The substrate comprises porous microcircuit substrate materials with surface pores optionally opening into subsurface pores. The organic polymer has a molecular weight greater than about 5,000 to greater than about 10,000 and a glass transition temperature greater than about 200° C. up to about the processing temperature required for forming the imaging layer and antireflective layer in a microcircuit, e.g., greater than about 225° C. The invention includes production of a product by this process and an article of manufacture embodying these features.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2015
    Publication date: June 1, 2017
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: James P. DOYLE, Geraud Dubois, Nicholas C. Fuller, Teddie P. Magbitang, Robert D. Miller, Sampath Purushothaman, Willi Volksen
  • Patent number: 9582189
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for dynamic tuning of memory in MapReduce systems are provided herein. A method includes analyzing (i) memory usage of a first sub-set of multiple tasks associated with a MapReduce job and (ii) an amount of data utilized across the first sub-set of the multiple tasks; determining a memory size to be allocated to the first sub-set of the multiple tasks based on said analyzing, wherein said memory size minimizes a cost function related to said memory usage and said amount of data utilized; performing a task-wise performance comparison among a second sub-set of the multiple tasks associated with the MapReduce job using the determined memory size to be allocated to the first sub-set of the multiple tasks to generate a set of memory allocation results; and dynamically applying the set of memory allocation results to one or more additional tasks associated with the MapReduce job.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas C. Fuller, Min Li, Shicong Meng, Jian Tan, Liangzhao Zeng, Li Zhang
  • Publication number: 20160163640
    Abstract: A structure having fully aligned via connecting metal lines on different Mx levels. The structure may include a first metal line and a second metal line in a first ILD, a cap covering the first ILD, the second metal line and a portion of the first metal line, a second ILD on the cap, and a via that electrically connects the first metal line to a third metal line, wherein the third metal line is above the first metal line and runs perpendicular to the first metal line, the via is fully aligned to the first metal line and the third metal line, and the via electrically connects the first metal line to the third metal line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2016
    Publication date: June 9, 2016
    Inventors: Daniel C. Edelstein, Nicholas C. Fuller, Elbert E. Huang, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, David L. Rath
  • Patent number: 9324650
    Abstract: A method of forming a fully aligned via connecting two metal lines on different Mx levels by forming a recessed opening above a first metal line in a first ILD; forming a cap on the first ILD and in the recessed openings; forming a second ILD on the cap; forming a metal trench hardmask above the second ILD, forming a metal trench pattern in the metal trench hardmask; forming a via pattern that is self aligned to the metal trench pattern and above a portion of the first metal line; forming a via opening exposing the first metal line by transferring the via pattern and metal trench pattern to lower levels, the via pattern is self-aligned to the recessed opening; and forming a via and a third metal line in the via opening and the transferred metal trench pattern, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel C. Edelstein, Nicholas C. Fuller, Elbert E. Huang, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, David L. Rath
  • Publication number: 20160049364
    Abstract: A method of forming a fully aligned via connecting two metal lines on different Mx levels by forming a recessed opening above a first metal line in a first ILD; forming a cap on the first ILD and in the recessed openings; forming a second ILD on the cap; forming a metal trench hardmask above the second ILD, forming a metal trench pattern in the metal trench hardmask; forming a via pattern that is self aligned to the metal trench pattern and above a portion of the first metal line; forming a via opening exposing the first metal line by transferring the via pattern and metal trench pattern to lower levels, the via pattern is self-aligned to the recessed opening; and forming a via and a third metal line in the via opening and the transferred metal trench pattern, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2014
    Publication date: February 18, 2016
    Inventors: Daniel C. Edelstein, Nicholas C. Fuller, Elbert E. Huang, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, David L. Rath
  • Publication number: 20150309731
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for dynamic tuning of memory in MapReduce systems are provided herein. A method includes analyzing (i) memory usage of a first sub-set of multiple tasks associated with a MapReduce job and (ii) an amount of data utilized across the first sub-set of the multiple tasks; determining a memory size to be allocated to the first sub-set of the multiple tasks based on said analyzing, wherein said memory size minimizes a cost function related to said memory usage and said amount of data utilized; performing a task-wise performance comparison among a second sub-set of the multiple tasks associated with the MapReduce job using the determined memory size to be allocated to the first sub-set of the multiple tasks to generate a set of memory allocation results; and dynamically applying the set of memory allocation results to one or more additional tasks associated with the MapReduce job.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2014
    Publication date: October 29, 2015
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas C. Fuller, Min Li, Shicong Meng, Jian Tan, Liangzhao Zeng, Li Zhang
  • Publication number: 20150248690
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for cost optimization for bundled licenses are provided herein. A method includes generating a decision matrix associated with multiple licenses and multiple products, wherein said decision matrix comprises one or more programmable properties; populating the decision matrix with input, wherein said input comprises multiple product and license correlations among the multiple licenses and the multiple products associated with the decision matrix; applying one or more user-configurable rules to the populated decision matrix; and determining a cost optimization for the multiple licenses and the multiple products associated with the decision matrix based on said applying said one or more user-configurable rules to the populated decision matrix.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Publication date: September 3, 2015
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Li Ya Fan, Nicholas C. Fuller, Jian B.J. Qiu, Zhe Zhang
  • Publication number: 20150227393
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for dynamic resource allocation in MapReduce are provided herein. A method includes partitioning input data into one or more sized items of input data associated with a MapReduce job; determining a total number of mapper components, and a total number of reducer components for the MapReduce job based on said partitioning; dynamically determining an allocation of resources to each of the total number of mapper components and reducer components during run-time of the MapReduce job, wherein said dynamically determining the allocation of resources comprises monitoring one or more utilization parameters for each of the total number of mapper components and total number of reducer components during run-time of the MapReduce job; and dynamically determining a number of concurrently executing mapper components and reducer components from the total number of mapper components and the total number of reducer components for the MapReduce job.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas C. Fuller, Min Li, Shicong Meng, Jian Tan, Liangzhao Zeng, Li Zhang
  • Publication number: 20150227392
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for enabling dynamic task-level configuration in MapReduce are provided herein. A method includes generating a first set of configurations for a currently executing MapReduce job, wherein said set of configurations comprises job-level configurations and task-level configurations; dynamically modifying configurations associated with a mapper component and/or a reducer component associated with at least one ongoing map task and/or ongoing reduce task of the MapReduce job based on the generated first set of configurations; and deploying said first set of configurations to the mapper component and/or the reducer component associated with the MapReduce job.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas C. Fuller, Minkyong Kim, Min Li, Shicong Meng, Jian Tan, Liangzhao Zeng, Li Zhang
  • Patent number: 9006108
    Abstract: A method for fabricating recessed source and recessed drain regions of aggressively scaled CMOS devices. In this method a processing sequence of plasma etch, deposition, followed by plasma etch is used to controllably form recessed regions of the source and the drain in the channel of a thin body, much less than 40 nm, device to enable subsequent epitaxial growth of SiGe, SiC, or other materials, and a consequent increase in the device and ring oscillator performance. A Field Effect Transistor device is also provided, which includes: a buried oxide layer; a silicon layer above the buried oxide layer; an isotropically recessed source region; an isotropically recessed drain region; and a gate stack which includes a gate dielectric, a conductive material, and a spacer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas C Fuller, Steve Koester, Isaac Lauer, Ying Zhang
  • Publication number: 20140231809
    Abstract: A Field Effect Transistor device includes a buried oxide layer, a silicon layer above the buried oxide layer, an isotropically recessed source region, and a gate stack comprising a gate dielectric, a conductive material, and a spacer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2012
    Publication date: August 21, 2014
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nicholas C. Fuller, Steve Koester, Isaac Lauer, Ying Zhang