Patents by Inventor Ricardo Sousa

Ricardo Sousa 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: 12292486
    Abstract: A method for measuring the intensity of an external magnetic field by using a magnetic memory point including a storage layer having a magnetisation switchable between two magnetisation directions substantially perpendicular to the plane of the layer; a reference layer having a fixed magnetisation perpendicular to the plane of the layer; and a tunnel barrier layer separating the storage layer and the reference layer; the method including successively applying a plurality of currents or voltages of different amplitudes to the memory point until switching of the magnetisation direction of the storage layer takes place to determine a minimum switching current value of the magnetisation direction of the storage layer or a minimum switching voltage value of the magnetisation direction of the storage layer, and determining the intensity of the external magnetic field to be measured from the minimum switching current value or the minimum switching voltage value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2025
    Assignees: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
    Inventors: Ricardo Sousa, Ioan-Lucian Prejbeanu
  • Patent number: 12100437
    Abstract: A magnetic tunnel junction includes at least one free layer, at least one reference layer, and at least one tunnel barrier separating the free layer and the reference layer, wherein the free layer is an inhomogeneous granular layer including at least two grains, each grain of the at least two grains being sensibly magnetically decoupled from the other adjacent grains of the at least two grains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignees: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS), INSTITUT POLYTECHNIQUE DE GRENOBLE
    Inventors: Bernard Dieny, Marco Mansueto, Ricardo Sousa, Ioan-Lucian Prejbeanu, Liliana Buda-Prejbeanu
  • Patent number: 12046268
    Abstract: A cryogenic magnetic device includes a free layer having a free magnetisation and a magnetic anisotropy favouring the orientation of the free magnetisation according to a first orientation or a second orientation, the magnetic anisotropy being defined by an energy barrier separating the first orientation and the second orientation, the amplitude of the energy barrier being less than 6300 kB, the free layer having a Gilbert damping factor comprised between 0.02 and 0.4; a tunnel barrier extending in contact with the free layer; and a system configured to apply a voltage pulse through the tunnel barrier so as to reduce the amplitude of the energy barrier and switch the free magnetisation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2024
    Assignees: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, UNIVERSITE GRENOBLE ALPES, INSTITUT NATIONAL POLYTECHNIQUE DE GRENOBLE, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE
    Inventors: Bernard Dieny, Pedro Brandao Veiga, Ricardo Sousa, Liliana Buda-Prejbeanu, Hélène Bea, Cécile Grezes
  • Patent number: 11856140
    Abstract: A computer implemented method and computer system for generating outbound calls in a call center in which a plurality of agents are to communicate respectively with outside parties through the outbound calls. The method includes determining a number of agents available for outbound calls, determining phone numbers respectively corresponding to the outside parties, creating an ordered list of calls corresponding to the phone numbers and periodically generating new call attempts by automatically dialing the phone numbers at a dynamic rate, wherein a number of new call attempts is based on a predictive algorithm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Talkdesk, Inc.
    Inventors: Nuno Oliveira, Carolina Bellani, Gabriela Soares, Mafalda Sá Velho, Ricardo Sousa
  • Publication number: 20230358826
    Abstract: A method for measuring the intensity of an external magnetic field by using a magnetic memory point including a storage layer having a magnetisation switchable between two magnetisation directions substantially perpendicular to the plane of the layer; a reference layer having a fixed magnetisation perpendicular to the plane of the layer; and a tunnel barrier layer separating the storage layer and the reference layer; the method including successively applying a plurality of currents or voltages of different amplitudes to the memory point until switching of the magnetisation direction of the storage layer takes place to determine a minimum switching current value of the magnetisation direction of the storage layer or a minimum switching voltage value of the magnetisation direction of the storage layer, and determining the intensity of the external magnetic field to be measured from the minimum switching current value or the minimum switching voltage value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Publication date: November 9, 2023
    Inventors: Ricardo SOUSA, Ioan-Lucian PREJBEANU
  • Publication number: 20230283716
    Abstract: A computer implemented method and computer system for generating outbound calls in a call center in which a plurality of agents are to communicate respectively with outside parties through the outbound calls. The method includes determining a number of agents available for outbound calls, determining phone numbers respectively corresponding to the outside parties, creating an ordered list of calls corresponding to the phone numbers and periodically generating new call attempts by automatically dialing the phone numbers at a dynamic rate, wherein a number of new call attempts is based on a predictive algorithm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2022
    Publication date: September 7, 2023
    Applicant: Talkdesk Inc
    Inventors: Nuno Oliveira, Carolina Bellani, Gabriela Soares, Mafalda Sá Velho, Ricardo Sousa
  • Publication number: 20220262417
    Abstract: A cryogenic magnetic device includes a free layer having a free magnetisation and a magnetic anisotropy favouring the orientation of the free magnetisation according to a first orientation or a second orientation, the magnetic anisotropy being defined by an energy barrier separating the first orientation and the second orientation, the amplitude of the energy barrier being less than 6300 kB, the free layer having a Gilbert damping factor comprised between 0.02 and 0.4; a tunnel barrier extending in contact with the free layer; and a system configured to apply a voltage pulse through the tunnel barrier so as to reduce the amplitude of the energy barrier and switch the free magnetisation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2022
    Publication date: August 18, 2022
    Inventors: Bernard DIENY, Pedro BRANDAO VEIGA, Ricardo SOUSA, Liliana BUDA-PREJBEANU, Hélène BEA, Cécile GREZES
  • Publication number: 20220068339
    Abstract: A magnetic tunnel junction includes at least one free layer, at least one reference layer, and at least one tunnel barrier separating the free layer and the reference layer, wherein the free layer is an inhomogeneous granular layer including at least two grains, each grain of the at least two grains being sensibly magnetically decoupled from the other adjacent grains of the at least two grains.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Publication date: March 3, 2022
    Inventors: Bernard DIENY, Marco MANSUETO, Ricardo SOUSA, Ioan-Lucian PREJBEANU, Liliana BUDA-PREJBEANU
  • Patent number: 11139099
    Abstract: The invention relates to a directional magnetic field generator with a magnetic circuit comprising: a first vertical-axis pole end (37) arranged above a horizontal plane; and at least two second pole ends (28A to 28D) symmetrically arranged on said horizontal plane, the generator further comprising coils arranged such that each magnetic circuit portion connecting two pole ends passes inside at least one coil, these coils being suitable for being connected to circuits for circulating currents of adjustable intensity in selected directions therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignees: CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE, COMMISSARIAT À L'ÉNERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ÉNERGIES ALTERNATIVES
    Inventors: Isabelle Joumard, Ricardo Sousa
  • Patent number: 10978234
    Abstract: A magnetic stack includes a first element including a ferromagnetic layer; a second element including a metal layer able to confer on the assembly formed by the first and the second elements a magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to the plane of the layers. The first element further includes a refractory metal material, the second element being arranged on the first element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignees: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, UNIVERSITÉ GRENOBLE ALPES, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS)
    Inventors: Jyotirmoy Chatterjee, Paulo Veloso Coelho, Bernard Dieny, Ricardo Sousa, Lucian Prejbeanu
  • Patent number: 10930841
    Abstract: A magnetic tunnel junction with out-of-plane magnetisation includes a storage layer; a reference layer; a tunnel barrier layer, the two magnetisation states of the storage layer being separated by an energy barrier, the magnetic tunnel junction having a thermal stability factor dependent on the energy barrier and on the temperature of use of the magnetic tunnel junction. The storage layer has a thickness comprised between 0.5 times and 8 times a characteristic dimension of a planar section of the tunnel junction; the composition and the thickness of the storage layer are chosen such that the absolute value of the derivative of the thermal stability factor compared to a characteristic dimension of a planar section of the tunnel junction is less than 10 nm?1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignees: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS), INSTITUT POLYTECHNIQUE DE GRENOBLE
    Inventors: Nicolas Perrissin-Fabert, Bernard Dieny, Lucian Prejbeanu, Ricardo Sousa
  • Patent number: 10818329
    Abstract: A magnetic tunnel junction with out-of-plane magnetisation includes a storage layer; a reference layer; and a tunnel barrier layer. The two magnetisation states of the storage layer are separated by an energy barrier including a contribution due to the shape anisotropy of the storage layer and a contribution of interfacial origin for each interface of the storage layer. The storage layer has a thickness comprised between 0.8 and 8 times a characteristic dimension of a planar section of the tunnel junction. The contribution to the energy barrier due to the shape anisotropy of the storage layer is at least two times greater and preferably at least 4 times greater than the contributions to the energy barrier of interfacial origin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignees: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS), INSTITUT POLYTECHNIQUE DE GRENOBLE
    Inventors: Nicolas Perrissin-Fabert, Bernard Dieny, Lucian Prejbeanu, Ricardo Sousa
  • Patent number: 10658574
    Abstract: A synthetic antiferromagnetic layer includes a first ferromagnetic layer containing an amorphizing element, the first ferromagnetic layer having a first structural symmetry; a second ferromagnetic layer having a second structural symmetry; wherein the first and the second ferromagnetic layers are antiferromagnetically coupled by a trifunctional non-magnetic multi-layered structure, the antiferromagnetic coupling being an Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) coupling, the non-magnetic multi-layered structure including at least two non-magnetic layers, the non-magnetic multilayered structure being at least partially nano-crystalline or amorphous in order to ensure a structural transition between the first ferromagnetic layer having the first structural symmetry and the second ferromagnetic layer having the second structural symmetry, the non-magnetic multilayered structure being adapted to absorb at least part of the amorphizing element out of the first ferromagnetic layer in contact with the non-magnetic multi
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignees: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS), UNIVERSITE GRENOBLE ALPES
    Inventors: Jyotirmoy Chatterjee, Bernard Dieny, Ricardo Sousa, Stéphane Auffret
  • Publication number: 20190326508
    Abstract: A magnetic tunnel junction with out-of-plane magnetisation includes a storage layer; a reference layer; a tunnel barrier layer, the two magnetisation states of the storage layer being separated by an energy barrier, the magnetic tunnel junction having a thermal stability factor dependent on the energy barrier and on the temperature of use of the magnetic tunnel junction. The storage layer has a thickness comprised between 0.5 times and 8 times a characteristic dimension of a planar section of the tunnel junction; the composition and the thickness of the storage layer are chosen such that the absolute value of the derivative of the thermal stability factor compared to a characteristic dimension of a planar section of the tunnel junction is less than 10 nm?1.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2019
    Publication date: October 24, 2019
    Inventors: Nicolas PERRISSIN-FABERT, Bernard DIENY, Lucian PREJBEANU, Ricardo SOUSA
  • Publication number: 20190287591
    Abstract: A magnetic tunnel junction with out-of-plane magnetisation includes a storage layer; a reference layer; and a tunnel barrier layer. The two magnetisation states of the storage layer are separated by an energy barrier including a contribution due to the shape anisotropy of the storage layer and a contribution of interfacial origin for each interface of the storage layer. The storage layer has a thickness comprised between 0.8 and 8 times a characteristic dimension of a planar section of the tunnel junction. The contribution to the energy barrier due to the shape anisotropy of the storage layer is at least two times greater and preferably at least 4 times greater than the contributions to the energy barrier of interfacial origin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2019
    Publication date: September 19, 2019
    Inventors: Nicolas PERRISSIN-FABERT, Bernard DIENY, Lucian PREJBEANU, Ricardo SOUSA
  • Publication number: 20190252601
    Abstract: A magnetic stack includes a first element including a ferromagnetic layer; a second element including a metal layer able to confer on the assembly formed by the first and the second elements a magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to the plane of the layers. The first element further includes a refractory metal material, the second element being arranged on the first element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2019
    Publication date: August 15, 2019
    Inventors: Jyotirmoy CHATTERJEE, Paulo VELOSO COELHO, Bernard DIENY, Ricardo SOUSA, Lucian PREJBEANU
  • Patent number: 10300870
    Abstract: An energy harvesting device for a transport vehicle comprising an electric converter circuit and a power take-off unit is disclosed. The electric converter circuit comprises: an electric energy storage; a first DC bus; an electric generator connected to the first DC bus through an electronic brake controller; a second DC bus connected to the first DC bus through a DC/DC converter, and an inverter connected to the second DC bus and having an output connected to the electrical load of the energy harvesting device. The power take-off unit comprises: a rotatable pivot plate for coupling to the vehicle chassis and supporting the electric generator; an electric generator pulley coupled to the electric generator; a shaft pulley; a shaft attachment for attaching the shaft pulley to the vehicle driveline shaft; and a belt connecting the electric generator pulley and the shaft pulley.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignees: UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO, ADDVOLT, S.A.
    Inventors: Adriano Da Silva Carvalho, Bruno Filipe Azevedo Costa, José Manuel Ferreira Duarte, José Ricardo Sousa Soares, Justino Miguel Neto De Sousa, Rodrigo Manuel Marinho Pires
  • Publication number: 20190051822
    Abstract: A synthetic antiferromagnetic layer includes a first ferromagnetic layer containing an amorphizing element, the first ferromagnetic layer having a first structural symmetry; a second ferromagnetic layer having a second structural symmetry; wherein the first and the second ferromagnetic layers are antiferromagnetically coupled by a trifunctional non-magnetic multi-layered structure, the antiferromagnetic coupling being an RKKY coupling, the non-magnetic multi-layered structure including at least two non-magnetic layers, the non-magnetic multilayered structure being at least partially nano-crystalline or amorphous in order to ensure a structural transition between the first ferromagnetic layer having the first structural symmetry and the second ferromagnetic layer having the second structural symmetry, the non-magnetic multilayered structure being adapted to absorb at least part of the amorphizing element out of the first ferromagnetic layer in contact with the non-magnetic multi-layered structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2018
    Publication date: February 14, 2019
    Inventors: Joytirmoy CHATTERJEE, Bernard DIENY, Ricardo SOUSA, Stéphane AUFFRET
  • Publication number: 20190027291
    Abstract: The invention relates to a directional magnetic field generator with a magnetic circuit comprising: a first vertical-axis pole end (37) arranged above a horizontal plane; and at least two second pole ends (28A to 28D) symmetrically arranged on said horizontal plane, the generator further comprising coils arranged such that each magnetic circuit portion connecting two pole ends passes inside at least one coil, these coils being suitable for being connected to circuits for circulating currents of adjustable intensity in selected directions therein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Publication date: January 24, 2019
    Inventors: Isabelle JOUMARD, Ricardo SOUSA
  • Publication number: 20170259764
    Abstract: An energy harvesting device for a transport vehicle comprising an electric converter circuit and a power take-off unit is disclosed. The electric converter circuit comprises: an electric energy storage; a first DC bus; an electric generator connected to the first DC bus through an electronic brake controller; a second DC bus connected to the first DC bus through a DC/DC converter, and an inverter connected to the second DC bus and having an output connected to the electrical load of the energy harvesting device. The power take-off unit comprises: a rotatable pivot plate for coupling to the vehicle chassis and supporting the electric generator; an electric generator pulley coupled to the electric generator; a shaft pulley; a shaft attachment for attaching the shaft pulley to the vehicle driveline shaft; and a belt connecting the electric generator pulley and the shaft pulley.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 25, 2015
    Publication date: September 14, 2017
    Inventors: Adriano DA SILVA CARVALHO, Bruno Filipe AZEVEDO COSTA, José Manuel FERREIRA DUARTE, José Ricardo SOUSA SOARES, Justino Miguel NETO DE SOUSA, Rodrigo Manuel MARINHO PIRES