Patents by Inventor Takeshi Fukunaga

Takeshi Fukunaga 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: 7256776
    Abstract: In an electrooptical device including an electrooptical modulating layer between a first substrate 101 and a second substrate 105, all edges 107 to 109 of the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105, except an edge where IC chips 110 and 111 are attached, are trued up each other between the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105. By this, it is possible to make the area of the first substrate 101 minimum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2007
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Jun Koyama, Yoshiharu Hirakata, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Publication number: 20070177068
    Abstract: To provide a technology for fabricating a high image quality liquid crystal display device, a set range of a cell gap for holding a liquid crystal layer is limited in accordance with a distance of a pixel pitch in which specifically, the cell gap is set to be a distance of one tenth of the pixel pitch, whereby the high image quality liquid crystal display device with no occurrence of image display failure caused by disturbances of an electric field such as disclination, can be realized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2007
    Publication date: August 2, 2007
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hongyong Zhang, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Publication number: 20070108510
    Abstract: A process for producing an adhered SOI substrate without causing cracking and peeling of a single-crystal silicon thin film. The process consists of selectively forming a porous silicon layer in a single-crystal semiconductor substrate, adding hydrogen into the single-crystal semiconductor substrate to form a hydrogen-added layer, adhering the single-crystal semiconductor substrate to a supporting substrate, separating the single-crystal semiconductor substrate at the hydrogen-added layer by thermal annealing, performing thermal annealing again to stabilize the adhering interface, and selectively removing the porous silicon layer to give single-crystal silicon layer divided into islands.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2006
    Publication date: May 17, 2007
    Inventor: Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7208766
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a semiconductor device with high reliability which has TFT of adequate structure arranged according to the circuit performance required. The semiconductor has the driving circuit and the pixel portion on the same substrate. It is characterized in that the storage capacitance is formed between the first electrode formed on the same layer as the light blocking film and the second electrode formed from a semiconductor film of the same composition as the drain region, and the first base insulating film is removed at the part of the storage capacitance so that the second base insulating film is used as the dielectric of the storage capacitance. This structure provides a large storage capacitance in a small area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2007
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Jun Koyama, Hiroshi Shibata, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7202601
    Abstract: In order to emit light from the upper side of a substrate, for example, a treatment is required such that a cathode is thinned. Generally, when light produced in a light emitting layer is passed through the electrode, brightness of a light emitting device is decreased. In the light emitting device of the present invention, an anode and a cathode are located so as to produce an electric field in a direction parallel with the surface of a substrate. Thus, light produced in the light emitting layer is emitted from the lower side or the upper side of the substrate without passing through the electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2007
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7196749
    Abstract: To provide a technology for fabricating a high image quality liquid crystal display device, a set range of a cell gap for holding a liquid crystal layer is limited in accordance with a distance of a pixel pitch in which specifically, the cell gap is set to be a distance of one tenth of the pixel pitch, whereby the high image quality liquid crystal display device with no occurrence of image display failure caused by disturbances of an electric field such as disclination, can be realized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2007
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hongyong Zhang, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7186601
    Abstract: A very thin oxide film is formed on an amorphous silicon film that is formed on a glass substrate, and an aqueous solution such as an acetate solution added with a catalyst element such as nickel by 10 to 200 ppm (adjustment needed) is dropped thereon. After the structure is held in this state for a predetermined period, spin drying is performed by using a spinner. A crystalline silicon film is obtained by subjecting the structure to a heat treatment of 550° C. and 4 hours and then to laser light irradiation. A crystalline silicon film having a smaller defect concentration is obtained by further performing a heat treatment of 550° C. and 4 hours.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2007
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Fukunaga, Hisashi Ohtani, Akiharu Miyanaga
  • Patent number: 7176525
    Abstract: A process for producing an adhered SOI substrate without causing cracking and peeling of a single-crystal silicon thin film. The process consists of selectively forming a porous silicon layer in a single-crystal semiconductor substrate, adding hydrogen into the single-crystal semiconductor substrate to form a hydrogen-added layer, adhering the single-crystal semiconductor substrate to a supporting substrate, separating the single-crystal semiconductor substrate at the hydrogen-added layer by thermal annealing, performing thermal annealing again to stabilize the adhering interface, and selectively removing the porous silicon layer to give single-crystal silicon layer divided into islands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2007
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7176993
    Abstract: Among insulating layers for insulating and separating first wiring lines, second wiring lines, and pixel electrodes constituting a reflection type display device, at least one layer is made of an insulating film in which a carbon-based material or a pigment is dispersed. By this structure, a conventional step of forming a black mask can be greatly simplified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2007
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Publication number: 20070029548
    Abstract: To provide a high throughput film deposition means for film depositing an organic EL material made of polymer accurately and without any positional shift. A pixel portion is divided into a plurality of pixel rows by a bank, and a head portion of a thin film deposition apparatus is scanned along a pixel row to thereby simultaneously apply a red light emitting layer application liquid, a green light emitting layer application liquid, and a blue light emitting layer application liquid in stripe shapes. Heat treatment is then performed to thereby form light emitting layers luminescing each of the colors red, green, and blue.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2006
    Publication date: February 8, 2007
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Kunitaka Yamamoto, Masaaki Hiroki, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7172929
    Abstract: A thin film semiconductor transistor structure has a substrate with a dielectric surface, and an active layer made of a semiconductor thin film exhibiting a crystallinity as equivalent to the single-crystalline. To fabricate the transistor, the semiconductor thin film is formed on the substrate, which film includes a mixture of a plurality of crystals which may be columnar crystals and/or capillary crystal substantially parallel to the substrate. The resultant structure is then subject to thermal oxidation in a chosen atmosphere containing halogen, thereby removing away any metallic element as contained in the film. This may enable formation of a mono-domain region in which the individual columnar or capillary crystal is in contact with any adjacent crystals and which is capable of being substantially deemed to be a single-crystalline region without presence or inclusion of any crystal grain boundaries therein. This region is for use in forming the active layer of the transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2007
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Jun Koyama, Akiharu Miyanaga, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Publication number: 20070018572
    Abstract: The present invention provides a luminescent apparatus having a bright, high-quality image. A reflecting surface-including electrode, and an EL element formed of an organic EL layer and a transparent electrode are provided on an insulator. As shown in FIG. 1, an auxiliary electrode 107 formed of a transparent conductive film is connected to the transparent electrode via a conductor. This structure enables a resistance value of the transparent electrode 104 to be substantially lowered, and a uniform voltage to be applied to the organic EL layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2006
    Publication date: January 25, 2007
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Publication number: 20070020888
    Abstract: A semiconductor device having performance comparable with a MOSFET is provided. An active layer of the semiconductor device is formed by a crystalline silicon film crystallized by using a metal element for promoting crystallization, and further by carrying out a heat treatment in an atmosphere containing a halogen element to carry out gettering of the metal element. The active layer after this process is constituted by an aggregation of a plurality of needle-shaped or column-shaped crystals. A semiconductor device manufactured by using this crystalline structure has extremely high performance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2006
    Publication date: January 25, 2007
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hisashi Ohtani, Jun Koyama, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Publication number: 20070010075
    Abstract: Disclosed is a semiconductor device having a driver circuit operable at high speed and a method for manufacturing same. An active matrix liquid crystal display device uses a polysilicon film for its TFT active layer constituting a pixel matrix circuit because of low off current characteristics. On the other hand, a TFT active layer constituting driver circuits and a signal processing circuit uses a poly silicon germanium film because of high speed operation characteristics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2006
    Publication date: January 11, 2007
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7154120
    Abstract: The present invention provides an inexpensive light emitting device and an inexpensive electric appliance. By reducing the number of photolithography steps in the fabrication of TFTs, the yield of the light emitting devices can be enhanced and the manufacturing period can be shortened. The present invention is substantially characterized in that a gate electrode is formed of a conductive film made of a plurality of layers and the concentration of impurity regions formed in the inside of an active layer can be adjusted by making use of the selection ratio at the time of etching these layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Takeshi Fukunaga, Jun Koyama, Kazutaka Inukai
  • Publication number: 20060283384
    Abstract: There is provided a thin film forming apparatus for precisely forming a film of an organic EL material made of a polymer without a positional deviation and at a high throughput. A pixel portion is divided into a plurality of pixel lines by banks, and a head portion of the thin film forming apparatus is moved along the pixel lines, so that a coating liquid (R), a coating liquid (G), and a coating liquid (B) can be applied respectively in a stripe shape at the same time. Then, luminescent layers emitting lights of respective colors of red, green and blue can be formed by heating these coating liquids.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2006
    Publication date: December 21, 2006
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Kunitaka Yamamoto, Massaaki Hiroki, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7145289
    Abstract: A light-emitting device having the quality of an image high in homogeneity is provided. A printed wiring board (second substrate) (107) is provided facing a substrate (first substrate) (101) that has a luminous element (102) formed thereon. A PWB side wiring (second group of wirings) (110) on the printed wiring board (107) is electrically connected to element side wirings (first group of wirings) (103, 104) by anisotropic conductive films (105a, 105b). At this point, because a low resistant copper foil is used to form the PWB side wiring (110), a voltage drop of the element side wirings (103, 104) and a delay of a signal can be reduced. Accordingly, the homogeneity of the quality of an image is improved, and the operating speed of a driver circuit portion is enhanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2006
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 7138658
    Abstract: A semiconductor device having performance comparable with a MOSFET is provided. An active layer of the semiconductor device is formed by a crystalline silicon film crystallized by using a metal element for promoting crystallization, and further by carrying out a heat treatment in an atmosphere containing a halogen element to carry out gettering of the metal element. The active layer after this process is constituted by an aggregation of a plurality of needle-shaped or column-shaped crystals. A semiconductor device manufactured by using this crystalline structure has extremely high performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hisashi Ohtani, Jun Koyama, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Publication number: 20060258069
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate having an insulating film on its surface, and ac active layer made of a semiconductive thin film on the substrate surface. The thin film contains a mono-domain region formed of multiple columnar and/or needle-like crystals parallel to the substrate surface without including crystal boundaries therein, allowing the active layer to consist of the mono-domain region only. The insulating film underlying the active layer has a specific surface configuration of an intended pattern in profile, including projections or recesses. To fabricate the active layer, form a silicon oxide film by sputtering on the substrate. Pattern the silicon oxide film providing the surface configuration. Form an amorphous silicon film by low pressure CVD on the silicon oxide film. Retain in the silicon oxide film and/or the amorphous silicon film certain metallic element for acceleration of silicon film to a crystalline silicon film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2006
    Publication date: November 16, 2006
    Applicant: SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Jun Koyama, Akiharu Miyanaga, Takeshi Fukunaga
  • Publication number: 20060250080
    Abstract: A light-emitting device having the quality of an image high in homogeneity is provided. A printed wiring board (second substrate) (107) is provided facing a substrate (first substrate) (101) that has a luminous element (102) formed thereon. A PWB side wiring (second group of wirings) (110) on the printed wiring board (107) is electrically connected to element side wirings (first group of wirings) (103, 104) by anisotropic conductive films (105a, 105b). At this point, because a low resistant copper foil is used to form the PWB side wiring (110), a voltage drop of the element side wirings (103, 104) and a delay of a signal can be reduced. Accordingly, the homogeneity of the quality of an image is improved, and the operating speed of a driver circuit portion is enhanced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2006
    Publication date: November 9, 2006
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Takeshi Fukunaga