Patents Issued in March 4, 2014
  • Patent number: 8664693
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a light emitting diode having an AlxGa1-xN buffer layer and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to a light emitting diode having an AlxGa1-xN buffer layer, wherein between a substrate and a GaN-based semiconductor layer, the Al x Ga 1-x N (O?x?1) buffer layer having the composition ratio x of Al decreasing from the substrate to the GaN-based semiconductor layer is interposed to reduce lattice mismatch between the substrate and the GaN-based semiconductor layer, and a method of fabricating the same. To this end, the present invention provides a light emitting diode comprising a substrate; a first conductive semiconductor layer positioned on the substrate; and an AlxGa1-xN (O?x?1) buffer layer interposed between the substrate and the first conductive semiconductor layer and having a composition ratio x of Al decreasing from the substrate to the first conductive semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Seoul Opto Device Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ki Bum Nam
  • Patent number: 8664694
    Abstract: A transistor having a narrow bandgap semiconductor source/drain region is described. The transistor includes a gate electrode formed on a gate dielectric layer formed on a silicon layer. A pair of source/drain regions are formed on opposite sides of the gate electrode wherein said pair of source/drain regions comprise a narrow bandgap semiconductor film formed in the silicon layer on opposite sides of the gate electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Robert S. Chau, Suman Datta, Jack Kavalieros, Justin K. Brask, Mark L. Doczy, Matthew Metz
  • Patent number: 8664695
    Abstract: A transistor comprising a plurality of active semiconductor layers on a substrate, with source and drain electrodes in contact with the semiconductor layers. A gate is formed between the source and drain electrodes and on the plurality of semiconductor layers. A plurality of field plates are arranged over the semiconductor layers, each of which extends from the edge of the gate toward the drain electrode, and each of which is isolated from said semiconductor layers and from the others of the field plates. The topmost of the field plates is electrically connected to the source electrode and the others of the field plates are electrically connected to the gate or the source electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Cree, Inc.
    Inventors: Yifeng Wu, Primit Parikh, Umesh Mishra, Marcia Moore
  • Patent number: 8664696
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a nitride semiconductor device includes a first, a second and a third semiconductor layer, a first and a second main electrode and a control electrode. The first layer made of a nitride semiconductor of a first conductivity type is provided on a substrate. The second layer made of a nitride semiconductor of a second conductivity type is provided on the first layer. The third layer made of a nitride semiconductor is provided on the second layer. The first electrode is electrically connected with the second layer. The second electrode is provided at a distance from the first electrode and electrically connected with the second layer. The control electrode is provided within a first trench via an insulating film. The first trench is disposed between the first and the second main electrodes, penetrates the third and the second layers, and reaches the first layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Akira Yoshioka, Wataru Saito, Yasunobu Saito, Hidetoshi Fujimoto, Tetsuya Ohno
  • Patent number: 8664697
    Abstract: To provide a transistor device, which is composed of a compound semiconductor, having a multilayer structure in which a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) are overlapped on the same substrate and epitaxial-grown thereon, wherein a band gap energy of an indium gallium phosphide layer (InGaP) included in an epitaxial layer, is set to 1.91 eV or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Cable, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Meguro, Jiro Wada, Yoshihiko Moriya
  • Patent number: 8664698
    Abstract: High frequency performance of (e.g., silicon) bipolar devices is improved by reducing the extrinsic base resistance Rbx. An emitter, intrinsic base and collector are formed in a semiconductor body. An emitter contact has a region that overlaps a portion of an extrinsic base contact. A sidewall is formed in the extrinsic base contact proximate a lateral edge of the overlap region of the emitter contact. The sidewall is amorphized during or after formation so that when the emitter contact and the extrinsic base contact are, e.g., silicided, some of the metal atoms forming the silicide penetrate into the sidewall so that part of the highly conductive silicided extrinsic base contact extends under the edge of the overlap region of the emitter contact closer to the intrinsic base, thereby reducing Rbx. Smaller Rbx provides transistors with higher fMAX.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Jay P. John, James A. Kirchgessner, Vishal P. Trivedi
  • Patent number: 8664699
    Abstract: The invention provides methods and devices for fabricating printable semiconductor elements and assembling printable semiconductor elements onto substrate surfaces. Methods, devices and device components of the present invention are capable of generating a wide range of flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices and arrays of devices on substrates comprising polymeric materials. The present invention also provides stretchable semiconductor structures and stretchable electronic devices capable of good performance in stretched configurations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
    Inventors: Ralph G. Nuzzo, John A. Rogers, Etienne Menard, Keon Jae Lee, Dahl-Young Khang, Yugang Sun, Matthew Meitl, Zhengtao Zhu
  • Patent number: 8664700
    Abstract: A bio material receiving device includes a thin film transistor (“TFT”) including a drain electrode, and a nano well accommodating a bio material. The drain electrode includes the nano well. The TFT may be a bottom gate TFT or a top gate TFT. A nano well array may include a plurality of bio material receiving devices. In a method of operating the bio material receiving device, each of the bio material receiving devices may be individually selected in the nano well array. When the bio material is accommodated in the selected bio material receiving device, a voltage is applied so that another bio material is not accommodated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: June-young Lee, Su-hyeon Kim
  • Patent number: 8664701
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a rectifier with a vertical MOS structure is provided. A first trench structure and a first mask layer are formed at a first side of the semiconductor substrate. A second trench structure is formed in the second side of the semiconductor substrate. A gate oxide layer, a polysilicon structure and a metal sputtering layer are sequentially formed on the second trench structure. The rectifier further includes a wet oxide layer and a plurality of doped regions. The wet oxide layer is formed on a surface of the first multi-trench structure and in the semiconductor substrate. The doping regions are formed on a region between the semiconductor substrate and the second trench structure, and located beside the mask layer. The metal sputtering layer is formed on the first mask layer corresponding to the first trench structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: PFC Device Corp.
    Inventors: Kuo-Liang Chao, Mei-Ling Chen, Hung-Hsin Kuo
  • Patent number: 8664702
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a gate structure with a spacer on its side may be used as a mask to form self-aligned trenches in a microelectronic memory, such as a flash memory. A first portion of the gate structure may be used to form the mask, together with sidewall spacers, in some embodiments. Then, after forming the shallow trench isolations, a second portion of the gate structure may be added to form a mushroom shaped gate structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Alessandro Grossi, Marcello Mariani, Paolo Cappelletti
  • Patent number: 8664703
    Abstract: The instant application describes a display device that includes a substrate; a gate electrode provided on the substrate; a gate insulating film provided on the gate electrode; a semiconductor layer provided on the gate insulating film; a source electrode and a drain electrode provided on the semiconductor layer; a protective insulating film provided on the source electrode and the drain electrode; a pixel electrode provided on the protective insulating film, and connected to one of the source electrode and the drain electrode through a contact hole formed through the protective insulating film; and a shield provided on the protective insulating film, the shield not being electrically connected to the pixel electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shin-ichi Shimakawa, Shigekazu Horino, Takao Takano
  • Patent number: 8664704
    Abstract: An electronic component is provided on a substrate. A thin-film capacitor is attached to the substrate, the thin-film capacitor includes a pyrochlore or perovskite dielectric layer between a plurality of electrode layers, the electrode layers being formed from a conductive thin-film material. A reactive barrier layer is deposited over the thin-film capacitor. The reactive barrier layer includes an oxide having an element with more than one valence state, wherein the element with more than one valence state has a molar ratio of the molar amount of the element that is in its highest valence state to its total molar amount in the barrier of 50% to 100%. Optionally layers of other materials may intervene between the capacitor and reactive barrier layer. The reactive barrier layer may be paraelectric and the electronic component may be a tunable capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Marina Zelner, Paul Bun Cheuk Woo, Mircea Capanu, Susan C. Nagy, Andrew Vladimir Claude Cervin
  • Patent number: 8664705
    Abstract: A MOS capacitor includes a substrate, a p-type MOS (pMOS) transistor positioned on the substrate, and an n-type MOS (nMOS) transistor positioned on the substrate. More important, the pMOS transistor and the nMOS transistor are electrically connected in parallel. The MOS transistor further includes a deep n-well that encompassing the pMOS transistor and the nMOS transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventors: Kai-Ling Chiu, Chao-Sheng Cheng, Chih-Yu Tseng, Yu-Jen Liu
  • Patent number: 8664706
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a one-time programmable (OTP) memory cell with improved read current in one of its programmed states, and a memory cell so fabricated. The OTP memory cell is constructed with trench isolation structures on its sides. After trench etch, and prior to filling the isolation trenches with dielectric material, a fluorine implant is performed into the trench surfaces. The implant may be normal to the device surface or at an angle from the normal. Completion of the cell transistor to form a floating-gate metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor is then carried out. Improved on-state current (Ion) results from the fluorine implant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Shanjen “Robert” Pan, Allan T. Mitchell, Weidong Tian
  • Patent number: 8664707
    Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor device that can include a lower interconnection on a substrate and at least one upper interconnection disposed on the lower interconnection. At least one gate structure can be disposed between the upper interconnection and the lower interconnection, where the gate structure can include a plurality of gate lines that are vertically stacked so that each of the gate lines has a wiring portion that is substantially parallel to an upper surface of the substrate and a contact portion that extends from the wiring portion along a direction penetrating an upper surface of the substrate. At least one semiconductor pattern can connect the upper and lower interconnections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Ji-Young Kim, Kang L. Wang, Yong-Jik Park, Jeong-Hee Han, Augustin Jinwoo Hong
  • Patent number: 8664708
    Abstract: A method of forming a device is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate prepared with a cell area and forming first and second gates of first and second transistors in the cell area. The first gate includes a second sub-gate surrounding a first sub-gate. The first and second sub-gates of the first gate are separated by a first intergate dielectric layer. The second gate includes a second sub-gate surrounding a first sub-gate. The first and second sub-gates of the second gate are separated by a second intergate dielectric layer. The method also includes forming first and second junctions of the first and second transistors. A first gate terminal is formed and coupled to the second sub-gate of the first transistor. A second gate terminal is formed and coupled to at least the first sub-gate of the second transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte. Ltd.
    Inventors: Sung Mun Jung, Kian Hong Lim, Jianbo Yang, Swee Tuck Woo, Sanford Chu
  • Patent number: 8664709
    Abstract: A non-volatile memory including a substrate, a stacked gate structure, two doped regions and a plurality of spacers is provided. The stacked gate structure is disposed on the substrate, wherein the stacked gate structure includes a first dielectric layer, a charge storage layer, a second dielectric layer and a conductive layer in sequence from bottom to top relative to the substrate. The doped regions are disposed in the substrate at two sides of the stacked gate structure, respectively, and bottom portions of the doped regions contact with the substrate under the doped regions. The spacers are respectively disposed between each side of each of the doped regions and the substrate, and top portions of the spacers are lower than top portions of the doped regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: MACRONIX International Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shih-Guei Yan, Wen-Jer Tsai, Jyun-Siang Huang
  • Patent number: 8664710
    Abstract: A non-volatile memory and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The non-volatile memory includes a gate dielectric layer, a floating gate, a control gate, an inter-gate dielectric structure and two doped regions. The gate dielectric layer is disposed on a substrate. The floating gate is disposed on the gate dielectric layer. The control gate is disposed on the floating gate. The inter-gate dielectric structure is disposed between the control gate and the floating gate. The inter-gate dielectric structure includes a first oxide layer, a second oxide layer and a charged nitride layer. The first oxide layer is disposed on the floating gate. The second oxide layer is disposed on the first oxide layer. The charged nitride layer is disposed between the first oxide layer and the second oxide layer. The doped regions are disposed in the substrate at two sides of the floating gate, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: MACRONIX International Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shaw-Hung Ku, Chi-Pei Lu, Chun-Lien Su
  • Patent number: 8664711
    Abstract: A method of forming a device is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate and forming a device layer on the substrate having a formed thickness TFD. A capping layer is formed on the substrate having a formed thickness TFC. Forming the capping layer consumes a desired amount of the device layer to cause the thickness of the device layer to be about the target thickness TTD. The thickness of the capping layer is adjusted from TFC to about a target thickness TTC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte. Ltd.
    Inventors: Sung Mun Jung, Swee Tuck Woo, Sanford Chu, Liang Choo Hsia
  • Patent number: 8664712
    Abstract: The invention relates to a flash memory cell having a FET transistor with a floating gate on a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate composed of a thin film of semiconductor material separated from a base substrate by an insulating buried oxide (BOX) layer, The transistor has in the thin film, a channel, with two control gates, a front control gate located above the floating gate and separated from it by an inter-gate dielectric, and a back control gate located within the base substrate directly under the insulating (BOX) layer and separated from the channel by only the insulating (BOX) layer. The two control gates are designed to be used in combination to perform a cell programming operation. The invention also relates to a memory array made up of a plurality of memory cells according to the first aspect of the invention, which can be in an array of rows and columns, and a method of fabricating such memory cells and memory arrays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Soitec
    Inventors: Carlos Mazure, Richard Ferrant
  • Patent number: 8664713
    Abstract: A power device integrated on a semiconductor substrate and having a plurality of conductive bridges within a trench gate structure. In an embodiment, a semiconductor substrate includes a trench having sidewalls and a bottom, the walls and bottom are covered with a first insulating coating layer which then also includes a conductive gate structure. An embodiment provides the formation of the conductive gate structure with covering at least the sidewalls with a second conductive coating layer of a first conductive material. This results in a conductive central region of a second conductive material having a different resistivity than the first conductive material forming a plurality of conductive bridges between said second conductive coating layer and said conductive central region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.R.L.
    Inventors: Angelo Magri, Antonino Sebastiano Alessandria, Stefania Fortuna, Leonardo Fragapane
  • Patent number: 8664714
    Abstract: A power MOSFET includes an epitaxy substrate, conductive trenches, well regions and a dielectric layer. The power MOSFET further has at least one termination structure including at lest one of the conductive trenches, some of the well regions within a termination area and mutually insulated by the conductive trench, a field plate, a contact plug and a heavily-doped region. The field plate including a plate metal and the dielectric layer is on the well regions and the conductive trench within the termination area. The contact plug penetrates through the dielectric layer and connects the plate metal and one of the well regions, so the plate metal has equal potential with the connected well region through the contact plug. The well regions and the conductive trench are electrically coupled to the plate metal by the dielectric layer. The heavily-doped region is between the contact plug and the connected well region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Excelliance MOS Corporation
    Inventor: Chu-Kuang Liu
  • Patent number: 8664715
    Abstract: A transistor is formed inside an isolation structure which includes a floor isolation region and a trench extending from the surface of the substrate to the floor isolation region. The trench may be filled with a dielectric material or may have a conductive material in a central portion with a dielectric layer lining the walls of the trench.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Advanced Analogic Technologies Incorporated
    Inventors: Donald R. Disney, Richard K. Williams
  • Patent number: 8664716
    Abstract: In a lateral-type power MOSFET, high breakdown voltage is achieved with suppressing to increase a cell pitch, and a feedback capacity and an ON resistance are decreased. An n? type silicon region having a high resistance to be a region of maintaining a breakdown voltage is vertically provided with respect to a main surface of an n+ type silicon substrate, and the n? type silicon region having the high resistance is connected to the n+ type silicon substrate. Also, a conductive substance is filled through an insulating substance inside a trench formed to reach the n+ type silicon substrate from the main surface of the n+ type silicon substrate so as to contact with the n? type silicon region having the high resistance, and the conductive substance is electrically connected to a source electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Hashimoto, Takashi Hirao, Noboru Akiyama
  • Patent number: 8664717
    Abstract: This application is directed to a semiconductor device with an oversized local contact as a Faraday shield, and methods of making such a semiconductor device. One illustrative device disclosed herein includes a transistor comprising a gate electrode and a source region, a source region conductor that is conductively coupled to the source region, a Faraday shield positioned above the source region conductor and the gate electrode and a first portion of a first primary metallization layer for an integrated circuit device positioned above and electrically coupled to the Faraday shield.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc.
    Inventors: Yanxiang Liu, Young Way Teh, Vara Vakada
  • Patent number: 8664718
    Abstract: A power MOSFET includes a semiconductor region extending from a top surface of a semiconductor substrate into the semiconductor substrate, wherein the semiconductor region is of a first conductivity type. A gate dielectric and a gate electrode are disposed over the semiconductor region. A drift region of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type extends from the top surface of the semiconductor substrate into the semiconductor substrate. A dielectric layer has a portion over and in contact with a top surface of the drift region. A conductive field plate is over the dielectric layer. A source region and a drain region are on opposite sides of the gate electrode. The drain region is in contact with the first drift region. A bottom metal layer is over the field plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Chih-Chang Cheng, Fu-Yu Chu, Ruey-Hsin Liu, Hsiao-Chin Tuan
  • Patent number: 8664719
    Abstract: A semiconductor device is provided which includes a semiconductor substrate, a gate structure formed on the substrate, sidewall spacers formed on each side of the gate structure, a source and a drain formed in the substrate on either side of the gate structure, the source and drain having a first type of conductivity, a lightly doped region formed in the substrate and aligned with a side of the gate structure, the lightly doped region having the first type of conductivity, and a barrier region formed in the substrate and adjacent the drain. The barrier region is formed by doping a dopant of a second type of conductivity different from the first type of conductivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shu-Wei Vanessa Chung, Kuo-Feng Yu
  • Patent number: 8664720
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the semiconductor device includes a first source of a first doping type disposed in a substrate. A first drain of the first doping type is disposed in the substrate. A first gate region is disposed between the first source and the first drain. A first channel region of a second doping type is disposed under the first gate region. The second doping type is opposite to the first doping type. A first extension region of the first doping type is disposed between the first gate and the first drain. The first extension region is part of a first fin disposed in or over the substrate. A first isolation region is disposed between the first extension region and the first drain. A first well region of the first doping type is disposed under the first isolation region. The first well region electrically couples the first extension region with the first drain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Mayank Shrivastava, Maryam Shojaei Baghini, Cornelius Christian Russ, Harald Gossner, Ramgopal Rao
  • Patent number: 8664721
    Abstract: A field effect transistor (FET) includes source/drain silicide regions located in a silicon layer; source/drain interfacial layers located in between the source/drain silicide regions and the silicon layer; and a fully silicided gate stack comprising a gate oxide layer located on the silicon layer, a gate interfacial layer located on the gate oxide layer, and a gate silicide located on the gate interfacial layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Christian Lavoie, Tak H. Ning, Qiqing Ouyang, Paul Solomon, Zhen Zhang
  • Patent number: 8664722
    Abstract: In a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, a semiconductor film formed over an insulator is doped with an impurity element to a depth less than the thickness of the semiconductor film, thereby forming an impurity doped layer; a metal silicide layer is formed on the impurity doped layer; the metal silicide layer and the semiconductor film are etched to form a recessed portion; and a layer which is not doped with the impurity element and is located at the bottom of the recessed portion of the semiconductor film is thinned to make a channel formation region. Further, a gate electrode is formed in the recessed portion over the thinned non impurity doped layer, with an insulating film interposed therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Shingu, Daisuke Ohgarane, Yurika Sato
  • Patent number: 8664723
    Abstract: A structure includes an isolation ring at a top surface of a substrate. A well region of a first conductivity type is in a surface portion of the substrate. The well region includes a first portion having a top portion encircled by the isolation ring, and a second portion having a top portion encircling the isolation ring. A base resistance tuning ring includes a portion overlapped by the isolation ring, wherein the base resistance tuning ring is between the first portion and the second portion of the well region. The base resistance tuning ring is selected from the group consisting essentially of a ring of the first conductivity type, a substantially neutral ring, and a ring of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jen-Chou Tseng, Wun-Jie Lin
  • Patent number: 8664724
    Abstract: An electrostatic discharge semiconductor device can include a first conductivity type substrate that includes inner first conductivity type wells therein and a plurality of gate electrodes that are on an active region of the substrate. A second conductivity type well can be located in the substrate beneath the plurality of gate electrodes including at least one slit therein providing electrical contact between the inner first conductivity type wells and a first conductivity type outer well outside the active region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Se-Young Kim, Gi-Young Yang
  • Patent number: 8664725
    Abstract: A transistor may include a semiconductor region such as a rectangular doped silicon well. Gate fingers may overlap the silicon well. The gate fingers may be formed from polysilicon and may be spaced apart from each other along the length of the well by a fixed gate-to-gate spacing. The edges of the well may be surrounded by field oxide. Epitaxial regions may be formed in the well to produce compressive or tensile stress in channel regions that lie under the gate fingers. The epitaxial regions may form source-drain terminals. The edges of the field oxide may be separated from the nearest gate finger edges by a distance that is adjusted automatically with a computer-aided-design tool and that may be larger than the gate-to-gate spacing. Dummy gate finger structures may be provided to ensure desired levels of stress are produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Girish Venkitachalam, Che Ta Hsu, Fangyun Richter, Peter J. McElheny
  • Patent number: 8664726
    Abstract: An electrostatic discharge (ESD) device includes a substrate, an external well of a first conductivity type in the substrate, and an internal well of a second conductivity type in the external well, the first conductivity type opposite the second conductivity type. The ESD device further includes a first heavily doped region of the first conductivity type located at a surface of the internal well, a second heavily doped region of the second conductivity type located at a surface of the internal well, and a third heavily doped region of the first conductivity type located at a surface of the external well. The second heavily doped region is interposed between and spaced from each of the first and third heavily doped regions, and at least one of a space between the first and second heavily doped regions and a space between the second and third heavily doped regions is devoid of a device isolation structure of electrical isolation material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Dong-ryul Chang, Oh-kyunm Kwon
  • Patent number: 8664727
    Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor integrated circuit device capable of realizing an analog circuit required to have a high-precision relative ratio between adjacent transistors, which is reduced in size and cost. A single MOS transistor is provided within each of well regions. A plurality of the MOS transistors is combined to serve as an analog circuit block. Since distances between the well regions and channel regions may be made equal to one another, a high-precision semiconductor integrated circuit device can be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventor: Hirofumi Harada
  • Patent number: 8664728
    Abstract: A transistor includes a substrate, a well formed in the substrate, a drain including a first impurity region implanted in the well, a source including a second impurity region implanted in the well and spaced apart from the first impurity region, a channel for current flow from the drain to the source, and a gate to control a depletion region between the source and the drain The channel has an intrinsic breakdown voltage, and the well, drain and source are configured to provide an extrinsic breakdown voltage lower than the intrinsic breakdown voltage and such that breakdown occurs in a breakdown region in the well located outside the channel and adjacent the drain or the source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Volterra Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Yang Lu, Budong You, Marco A. Zuniga, Hamza Yilmaz
  • Patent number: 8664729
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for reduced gate resistance finFET. A metal gate transistor structure is disclosed including a plurality of semiconductor fins formed over a semiconductor substrate, the fins being arranged in parallel and spaced apart; a metal containing gate electrode formed over the semiconductor substrate and overlying a channel gate region of each of the semiconductor fins, and extending over the semiconductor substrate between the semiconductor fins; an interlevel dielectric layer overlying the gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate; and a plurality of contacts disposed in the interlevel dielectric layer and extending through the interlevel dielectric layer to the gate electrode; a low resistance metal strap formed over the interlevel dielectric layer and coupled to the gate electrode by the plurality of contacts; wherein the plurality of contacts are spaced apart from the channel gate regions of the semiconductor fins. Methods for forming the reduced gate finFET are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Chewn-Pu Jou, Tzu-Jin Yeh, Hsieh-Hung Hsieh
  • Patent number: 8664730
    Abstract: A manufacturing method for electronic device, includes: preparing a first substrate having a plurality of first regions; preparing a second substrate having a plurality of second regions; facing the first region and the second region each other, and connecting the first substrate and the second substrate while disposing at least a part of a functional element within a space between the first region and the second region; obtaining a plurality of first divisional substrates by cutting the first substrate at each of the first regions, after the connecting of the first substrate and the second substrate; forming a sealing film covering the plurality of the first divisional substrates on the second substrate, after cutting the first substrate; obtaining a plurality of second divisional substrates by cutting the second substrate at each of the second regions, after forming the sealing film; and obtaining a plurality of individual electronic devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Nobuaki Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 8664731
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a micro-electromechanical device can include a substrate, a beam, and an isolation joint. The beam can be suspended relative to a surface of the substrate. The isolation joint can be between a first portion and a second portion of the beam, and can have a non-linear shape. In another embodiment, a micro-electromechanical device can include a substrate, a beam, and an isolation joint. The beam can be suspended relative to a surface of the substrate. The isolation joint can be between a first portion and a second portion of the beam. The isolation joint can have a first portion, a second portion, and a bridge portion between the first portion and the second portion. The first and second portions of the isolation joint can each have a seam and a void, while the bridge portion can be solid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Kionix, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles W. Blackmer, Scott G. Adams, Andrew S. Hocking, Kristin J. Lynch, Ashish A. Shah
  • Patent number: 8664732
    Abstract: A magnetic pressure sensor is provided that includes a semiconductor body with a top side and a back side, a Hall sensor formed on the top side of the semiconductor body, a spacer connected to the semiconductor body, whereby the spacer has a recess in the center, and a membrane covering the recess, whereby the membrane has a first material and has a ferromagnetic substance. The ferromagnetic substance concentrates a magnetic flux density of a source formed outside the ferromagnetic material, and the spacer is formed as a circumferential wall and has a second material and the second material is different from the first material in at least one element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Micronas GmbH
    Inventor: Gibert Erdler
  • Patent number: 8664733
    Abstract: An improved method for manufacturing an MEMS microphone with a double fixed electrode is specified which results in a microphone which likewise has improved properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Epcos AG
    Inventor: Pirmin Hermann Otto Rombach
  • Patent number: 8664734
    Abstract: A hole-based ultra-deep photodiode in a CMOS image sensor and an associated process are disclosed. A p-type substrate is grounded or connected to a negative power supply. An n-type epitaxial layer is grown on the p-type substrate, and is connected to a positive power supply. An ultra-deep p-type photodiode implant region is formed in the n-type epitaxial layer. Thermal steps are added to insure a smooth and deep doping profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Himax Imaging, Inc.
    Inventors: Yang Wu, Feixia Yu
  • Patent number: 8664735
    Abstract: A pumped sensor system includes a substrate with a first layer formed thereon and doped for a first type conduction and a second layer doped for a second type conduction, whereby the first and second layers form a silicon light detector at an up-conversion wavelength. A ternary rare earth oxide is formed on the second layer and crystal lattice matched to the second layer. The oxide is a crystalline bulk oxide with a controlled percentage of an up-conversion component and a majority component. The majority component is insensitive to any of pump, sense, or up-conversion wavelengths and the up-conversion component is selected to produce energy at the up-conversion wavelength in response to receiving energy at the pump and sense wavelengths. The layer of oxide defines a light input area sensitive to a pump wavelength and a light input area sensitive to a sense wavelength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Translucent, Inc.
    Inventors: Erdem Arkun, Rytis Dargis, Andrew Clark, David L. Williams
  • Patent number: 8664736
    Abstract: A semiconductor device including a device substrate having a front side and a back side. The semiconductor device further includes an interconnect structure disposed on the front side of the device substrate, the interconnect structure having a n-number of metal layers. The semiconductor device also includes a bonding pad disposed on the back side of the device substrate, the bonding pad extending through the interconnect structure and directly contacting the nth metal layer of the n-number of metal layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shuang-Ji Tsai, Dun-Nian Yaung, Jen-Cheng Liu, Jeng-Shyan Lin, Wen-De Wang, Yueh-Chiou Lin
  • Patent number: 8664737
    Abstract: A semiconductor template having a top surface aligned along a (100) crystallographic orientation plane and an inverted pyramidal cavity defined by a plurality of walls aligned along a (111) crystallographic orientation plane. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor template by selectively removing silicon material from a silicon template to form a top surface aligned along a (100) crystallographic plane of the silicon template and a plurality of walls defining an inverted pyramidal cavity each aligned along a (111) crystallographic plane of the silicon template.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Selexel, Inc.
    Inventors: David Xuan-Qi Wang, Mehrdad M. Moslehi
  • Patent number: 8664738
    Abstract: A solid-state imaging apparatus including an insulating structural body having a through opening, a wiring part formed on a front surface of the structural body, a solid-state imaging element which is connected to the wiring part and also is attached to the structural body so as to close the through opening, a translucent member which is opposed to the solid-state imaging element and is attached to the structural body through an adhesive inside an adhesion region R so as to close the through opening, and a solder resist film with which at least a part of the front surface of the structural body is covered, and is characterized in that a region R0 in which the solder resist film is selectively removed is had in the adhesion region R and the removed region R0 is filled with the adhesive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Ken Sugahara, Satoru Takahashi
  • Patent number: 8664739
    Abstract: In accordance with the invention, an improved image sensor includes an array of germanium photosensitive elements integrated with a silicon substrate and integrated with silicon readout circuits. The silicon transistors are formed first on a silicon substrate, using well known silicon wafer fabrication techniques. The germanium elements are subsequently formed overlying the silicon by epitaxial growth. The germanium elements are advantageously grown within surface openings of a dielectric cladding. Wafer fabrication techniques are applied to the elements to form isolated germanium photodiodes. Since temperatures needed for germanium processing are lower than those for silicon processing, the formation of the germanium devices need not affect the previously formed silicon devices. Insulating and metallic layers are then deposited and patterned to interconnect the silicon devices and to connect the germanium devices to the silicon circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Infrared Newco, Inc.
    Inventors: Clifford A. King, Conor S. Rafferty
  • Patent number: 8664740
    Abstract: A semiconductor device improves a Schottky-barrier field-effect transistor. In a semiconductor device including a gate electrode formed with interposition of a gate insulating film on a channel formed on a semiconductor substrate, and a Schottky source/drain formed within a top surface of the substrate to be positioned on both sides of the gate insulating film so that end portions of the Schottky source and the Schottky drain do not cover a lower end portion of the gate insulating film and so as to form Schottky junctions with the semiconductor substrate, a Schottky barrier height at an interface between the end portion of the Schottky source and the semiconductor substrate and a Schottky barrier height at an interface between the end portion of the Schottky drain and the semiconductor substrate are different from Schottky barrier heights at interfaces between portions except the end portions of the Schottky source/drain and the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Kenzo Manabe
  • Patent number: 8664741
    Abstract: Provided is a high voltage semiconductor device that includes a PIN diode structure formed in a substrate. The PIN diode includes an intrinsic region located between a first doped well and a second doped well. The first and second doped wells have opposite doping polarities and greater doping concentration levels than the intrinsic region. The semiconductor device includes an insulating structure formed over a portion of the first doped well. The semiconductor device includes an elongate resistor device formed over the insulating structure. The resistor device has first and second portions disposed at opposite ends of the resistor device, respectively. The semiconductor device includes an interconnect structure formed over the resistor device. The interconnect structure includes: a first contact that is electrically coupled to the first doped well and a second contact that is electrically coupled to a third portion of the resistor located between the first and second portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.
    Inventors: Ru-Yi Su, Fu-Chih Yang, Chun Lin Tsai, Chih-Chang Cheng, Ruey-Hsin Liu
  • Patent number: 8664742
    Abstract: An intermediate semiconductor structure that comprises a substrate and at least one undercut structure formed in the substrate is disclosed. The undercut feature may include a vertical opening having a lateral cavity therein, the vertical opening extending below the lateral cavity. The lateral cavity may include faceted sidewalls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: David H. Wells, H. Montgomery Manning