Patents by Inventor Shunpei Yamazaki

Shunpei Yamazaki 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: 20060244391
    Abstract: The present invention provides a driving method of a display device for expressing gray scales with n bits (n is an integer) by dividing one frame into a plurality of subframes. By this driving method, pseudo contours which occur in displaying images by a time gray scale method can be reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Inventors: Hideaki Shishido, Hajime Kimura, Shunpei Yamazaki, Jun Koyama
  • Publication number: 20060243989
    Abstract: A light emitting device having a high definition, a high aperture ratio and a high reliability is provided. The present invention realizes a high definition and a high aperture ratio for a flat panel display of full colors using luminescent colors of red, green and blue without being dependent upon the film formation method and deposition precision of an organic compound layer by forming the laminated sections 21, 22 by means of intentionally and partially overlapping different organic compound layers of adjacent light emitting elements. Moreover, the protective film 32a containing hydrogen is formed and the drawback in the organic compound layer is terminated with hydrogen, thereby realizing the enhancement of the brightness and the reliability.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Masaaki Hiroki, Masakazu Murakami, Hideaki Kuwabara
  • Publication number: 20060246640
    Abstract: The present invention provides a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device at low cost and with high reliability.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazutaka Kuwashima, Tamae Takano, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20060246644
    Abstract: In order to manufacture a highly reliable and compact TFT, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device for forming a gate electrode, a source wiring and a drain wiring with high reliability, and a semiconductor device. In the method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, a semiconductor film is formed over a substrate having an insulated surface, a gate insulating film is formed over the semiconductor film, a gate electrode is formed over the gate insulating film, and a nitride film is formed over the surface of the gate electrode by nitriding the surface of the gate electrode by using high-density plasma.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuo Isobe, Satoshi Murakami, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20060244063
    Abstract: The present invention provides a thin film transistor in which a substantial length of a channel is shortened to miniaturize a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof. In addition, the present invention provides a semiconductor device which realizes high-speed operation and high-performance of the semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof. Further in addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method in which a manufacturing process is simplified. The semiconductor device of the present invention has an island-shaped semiconductor film formed over a substrate having an insulating surface and a gate electrode formed over the island-shaped semiconductor film, in which the gate electrode is oxidized its surface by high-density plasma to be slimmed and the substantial length of a channel is shortened.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuo Isobe, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20060244699
    Abstract: To solve degradation with time of a light emitting element by a new method. When the potential of an electrode of a monitor pixel is sampled and fed back to a light emitting pixel, degradation with time of a light emitting element can be corrected. In addition, when a writing period is divided into a plurality of periods during which a plurality of rows are selected, a gray scale can be expressed by a weighted light emitting period. That is to say, a light emitting device of the invention has a plurality of monitoring light emitting elements, a monitor line for monitoring changes in the potentials of electrodes of the plurality of light emitting elements, and a means for preventing, when any one of the plurality of monitoring light emitting elements is short-circuited, a current from flowing to the short-circuited monitoring light emitting element through the monitor line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei YAMAZAKI
  • Publication number: 20060243970
    Abstract: A light emitting device and electronic equipment having a long life at a low electric power consumption are provided. A hole transporting region composed of a hole transporting material, an electron transporting region composed of an electron transporting material, and a mixture region in which both the hole transporting material and the electron transporting material are mixed at a fixed ratio are formed within an organic compound film. Regions having a concentration gradient are formed between the mixture region and carrier transporting regions until the fixed ratio is achieved. In addition, by doping a light emitting material into the mixture region, functions of hole transportation, electron transportation, and light emission can be respectively expressed while all of the interfaces existing between layers of a conventional lamination structure are removed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Satoshi Seo, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20060246633
    Abstract: In forming a thin film transistor, to form a film superior in quality to a film formed by a conventional CVD method and to form a film equal or superior in quality to a film formed by a thermal oxidation method at a temperature which does not affect a substrate. Plasma oxidation or plasma nitridation with a low electron temperature and a high electron density is performed to at least one of a glass substrate, a semiconductor film containing amorphous silicon formed into a predetermined pattern, a gate electrode and a wire pulled from the gate electrode, an insulating film to be a gate insulating film, and a protective film with a temperature of the glass substrate set at a temperature 100° C. or more lower than a strain point of the glass substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuyuki Arai, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20060246638
    Abstract: The orientation ratio of a crystalline semiconductor film obtained by crystallizing an amorphous semiconductor film through heat treatment and irradiation of intense light such as laser light, ultraviolet rays, or infrared rays is enhanced, and a semiconductor device whose active region is formed from the crystalline semiconductor film and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device are provided. In a semiconductor film containing silicon and germanium as its ingredient and having a crystal structure, the {101} plane reaches 30% or more of all the lattice planes detected by Electron backscatter diffraction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Taketomi Asami, Mitsuhiro Ichijo, Satoshi Toriumi, Takashi Ohtsuki, Toru Mitsuki, Kenji Kasahara, Tamae Takano, Chiho Kokubo, Shunpei Yamazaki, Takeshi Shichi
  • Publication number: 20060246738
    Abstract: A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device of the present invention includes the steps of forming a first insulating film over a substrate, forming a semiconductor film over the first insulating film, oxidizing or nitriding the semiconductor film by conducting a plasma treatment to the semiconductor film under a condition of an electron density of 1×1011 cm?3 or more and 1×1013 cm?3 or less and an electron temperature of 0.5 eV or more and 1.5 eV or less, using a high frequency wave, forming a second insulating film to cover the semiconductor film, forming a gate electrode over the second insulating film, forming a third insulating film to cover the gate electrode, and forming a conductive film over the third insulating film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuo Isobe, Satoshi Murakami, Tamae Takano, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20060244373
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a light emitting device including an organic light emitting layer and an organic compound and having high light emitting efficient along with less deterioration in characteristics. In the light emitting device, an anode, a cathode facing the anode, light emitting layers each comprising an organic compound and being provided between the anode and the cathode, and carrier transporting layers each comprising an organic compound, are provided over a substrate. Each of the light emitting layers and each of the carrier transporting layers are alternately stacked. A thickness of each of the carrier transporting layers is thinner than that of each of the light emitting layers. When each of the carrier transporting layers is a hole transporting layer, each of the light emitting layers has an electron transporting property. When each of the carrier transporting layers is an electron transporting layer, each of the light emitting layers has a hole transporting property.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Inventors: Ryoji Nomura, Kaoru Kato, Satoshi Yoshimoto, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20060243967
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a light emitting element with high luminous efficiency, less defects, and low voltage, and a light emitting device having such a light emitting element. It is another object of the invention to provide a method of manufacturing such a light emitting element in simpler manner compared with a conventional manner. A light emitting element of the present invention includes a pair of electrodes, a layer containing a composite material, and a light emitting region; wherein the layer containing a composite material contains an organic compound and an inorganic compound; the light emitting region contains a material having a high light emitting property and a material having a high carrier transporting property, and a region containing high concentration of the material having a high light emitting property and a region containing high concentration of the material having a high carrier transporting property are alternately stacked in the light emitting region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryoji NOMURA, Yasuyuki ARAI, Kaoru KATO, Shunpei YAMAZAKI
  • Patent number: 7129102
    Abstract: The present invention uses plastic film in vacuum sealing an OLED. Inorganic insulating films which can prevent oxygen or water from being penetrated therein and an organic insulating film which has a smaller internal stress than that of the inorganic insulating films are laminated on an inside of the plastic film. By sandwiching the organic insulating film between the inorganic insulating films, a stress can be relaxed. Further, by laminating a plurality of inorganic insulating films, even if one of the inorganic insulating films has a crack, the other inorganic insulating films can effectively prevent oxygen or water from being penetrated into an organic light emitting layer. Further, the stress of the entire sealing film can be relaxed and cracking due to the stress takes place less often.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 7129917
    Abstract: There is provided an EL light-emitting device with less uneven brightness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Jun Koyama, Mai Osada
  • Patent number: 7129121
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having steps of forming an amorphous semiconductor on a substrate having an insulating surface; patterning the amorphous semiconductor to form plural first island-like semiconductors; irradiating a linearly condensed laser beam on the plural first island-like semiconductors while relatively scanning the substrate, thus crystallizing the plural first island-like semiconductors; patterning the plural first island-like semiconductors that have been crystallized to form plural second island-like semiconductors; forming plural transistors using the plural second island-like semiconductors; and forming a unit circuit using a predetermined number of the transistors, where the second island-like semiconductors used for the predetermined number of the transistors are formed from the first island-like semiconductors that are different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Munehiro Azami, Chiho Kokubo, Aiko Shiga, Atsuo Isobe, Hiroshi Shibata, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 7129523
    Abstract: The reliability of a light-emitting device constituted by a combination of a TFT and a light-emitting element is to be improved. A light-emitting element is formed between a first substrate and a second substrate. The light-emitting device is formed over a first insulating layer made of an organic compound and a second insulating layer made of an inorganic insulating material containing nitrogen formed on the surface of the first insulating layer. In an outer circumferential part of a display area formed by the light-emitting element, a shield pattern surrounding the display area is formed by metal wiring on the second insulating layer, and the first substrate and the second substrate are fixed to each other with an adhesive resin formed in contact with the shield pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratories Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Satoshi Murakami, Masayuki Sakakura, Toru Takayama
  • Patent number: 7129122
    Abstract: An insulating film with a linear concave portion is formed and a semiconductor film is formed thereon by deposition. The semiconductor film is irradiated with laser light to melt the semiconductor film and the melted semiconductor is poured into the concave portion, where it is crystallized. This makes distortion or stress accompanying crystallization concentrate on other regions than the concave portion. A surface of this crystalline semiconductor film is etched away, thereby forming in the concave portion a crystalline semiconductor film which is covered with side walls of the concave portion from the sides and which has no other grain boundaries than twin crystal. TFTs and memory TFTs having this crystalline semiconductor film as their channel regions are highly reliable, have high field effect mobility, and are less fluctuated in characteristic. Accordingly, a highly reliable semiconductor memory device which can operate at high speed is obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Kato, Atsuo Isobe, Hidekazu Miyairi, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 7129120
    Abstract: In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor film, nickel elements are first held as indicated by 103 on the surface of an amorphous silicon film 102. Then a crystalline silicon film 104 is obtained by a heat treatment. At this time, the crystallization is remarkably improved by the action of the nickel elements. During this crystallization, nickel elements are diffused in a film. Then a thermal oxide film 105 is formed as a barrier film, and a silicon film 106 containing a high concentration of phosphorus is formed. By carrying out a heat treatment, the nickel elements in the crystalline silicon film 104 are transferred into the silicon film 106. In this way, the concentration of nickel in the crystalline silicon film 104 is lowered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20060237397
    Abstract: According to the present invention, oxygen and nitrogen are effectively prevented from mixing into the semiconductor film by doping Ar or the like in the semiconductor film in advance, and by irradiating the laser light in the atmosphere of Ar or the like. Therefore, the variation of the impurity concentration due to the fluctuation of the energy density can be suppressed and the variation of the mobility of the semiconductor film can be also suppressed. Moreover, in TFT formed with the semiconductor film, the variation of the on-current in addition to the mobility can be also suppressed. Furthermore, in the present invention, the first laser light converted into the harmonic easily absorbed in the semiconductor film is irradiated to melt the semiconductor film and to increase the absorption coefficient of the fundamental wave.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2006
    Publication date: October 26, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Osamu Nakamura, Hironobu Shoji, Koichiro Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20060236920
    Abstract: Concentration of metal element which promotes crystallization of silicon and which exists within a crystal silicon film obtained by utilizing the metal element is reduced. A first heat treatment for crystallization is implemented after introducing nickel to an amorphous silicon film 103. Then, laser light is irradiated to diffuse the nickel element concentrated locally. After that, another heat treatment is implemented within an oxidizing atmosphere at a temperature higher than that of the previous heat treatment. A thermal oxide film 106 is formed in this step. At this time, the nickel element is gettered to the thermal oxide film 106. Then, the thermal oxide film 106 is removed. Thereby, a crystal silicon film 107 having low concentration of the metal element and a high crystallinity can be obtained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2006
    Publication date: October 26, 2006
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Satoshi Teramoto, Jun Koyama, Yasushi Ogata, Masahiko Hayakawa, Mitsuaki Osame