Schottky Barrier Patents (Class 257/471)
  • Patent number: 8173894
    Abstract: A method and a device for converting energy uses chemical reactions in close proximity to or on a surface to convert a substantial fraction of the available chemical energy of the shorter lived energized products, such as vibrationally excited chemicals and hot electrons, directly into a useful form, such as longer lived charge carriers in a semiconductor. The carriers store the excitation energy in a form that may be converted into other useful forms, such as electricity, nearly monochromatic electromagnetic radiation or carriers for stimulating other surface reactions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Neokismet L.L.C.
    Inventors: Anthony C. Zuppero, Jawahar M. Gidwani
  • Patent number: 8169047
    Abstract: The present invention aims to enhance the reliability of a semiconductor device equipped with a Schottky barrier diode within the same chip, and its manufacturing technology. The semiconductor device includes an n-type n-well region formed over a p-type semiconductor substrate, an n-type cathode region formed in part thereof and higher in impurity concentration than the n-well region, a p-type guard ring region formed so as to surround the n-type cathode region, an anode conductor film formed so as to integrally cover the n-type cathode region and the p-type guard ring region and to be electrically coupled thereto, n-type cathode conduction regions formed outside the p-type guard ring region with each separation portion left therebetween, and a cathode conductor film formed so as to cover the n-type cathode conduction regions and to be electrically coupled thereto. The anode conductor film and the n-type cathode region are Schottky-coupled to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Kunihiko Kato, Hideki Yasuoka, Masatoshi Taya, Masami Koketsu
  • Publication number: 20120098082
    Abstract: A semiconductor rectifier includes a semiconductor substrate having a first type of conductivity. A first layer, which is formed on the substrate, has the first type of conductivity and is more lightly doped than the substrate. A second layer having a second type of conductivity is formed on the substrate and a metal layer is disposed over the second layer. The second layer is lightly doped so that a Schottky contact is formed between the metal layer and the second layer. A first electrode is formed over the metal layer and a second electrode is formed on a backside of the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Publication date: April 26, 2012
    Applicant: VISHAY GENERAL SEMICONDUCTOR LLC
    Inventors: Chih-Wei HSU, Florin UDREA, Yih-Yin LIN
  • Patent number: 8163637
    Abstract: First, a first layer made of Ni or an alloy including Ni may be formed on an upper surface of a semiconductor layer. Next, a second layer made of silicon oxide may be formed on an upper surface of the first layer. Next, a part, which corresponds to a semiconductor region, of the second layer may be removed. Next, second conductive type ion impurities may be injected from upper sides of the first and second layers to the semiconductor layer after the removing step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Masaki Konishi, Hirokazu Fujiwara, Takeshi Endo, Takeo Yamamoto, Takashi Katsuno, Yukihiko Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8158964
    Abstract: A switching element that includes a first semiconductor layer, the first semiconductor layer having a first portion and a second portion; a second semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer having a first portion and a second portion; an insulating layer disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer; a first metal contact in contact with the first portion of the first semiconductor layer forming a first junction and in contact with the first portion of the second semiconductor layer forming a second junction; a second metal contact in contact with the second portion of the first semiconductor layer forming a third junction and in contact with the second portion of the second semiconductor layer forming a fourth junction, wherein the first junction and the fourth junction are Schottky contacts, and the second junction and the third junction are ohmic contacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Young Pil Kim, Nurul Amin, Dadi Setiadi, Venugopalan Vaithyanathan, Wei Tian, Insik Jin
  • Patent number: 8154127
    Abstract: An optical device includes a first electrode of a first conductivity type, and a second electrode of a second conductivity type. A nanowire is positioned between the first and second electrodes. The nanowire has at least two segments and a junction region formed between the at least two segments. One of the segments is the first conductivity type and the other of the segments is the second conductivity type. At least one of the at least two segments has a predetermined characteristic that affects optical behavior of the junction region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Theodore I. Kamins, Alexandre M. Bratkovski, Shashank Sharma
  • Publication number: 20120067410
    Abstract: A Schottky-barrier junction element 1 has a Schottky-barrier junction between an organic semiconductor 3 and an organic conductor 4. The inorganic semiconductor 3 is any one of nitride semiconductors, Si, GaAs, CdS, CdTe, CuInGaSe, InSb, PbTe, PbS, Ge, InN, GaSb, and SiC. A solar cell uses this Schottky-barrier junction element 1, with its photoelectric conversion section including the Schottky junction. A photoelectric conversion element uses this Schottky-barrier junction element 1, with its conversion section for interconverting light and electricity including the Schottky junction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2010
    Publication date: March 22, 2012
    Applicant: NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Matsuki, Yoshihiro Irokawa, Kenji Itaka, Hideomi Koinuma, Masatomo Sumiya
  • Patent number: 8138033
    Abstract: A semiconductor component that includes a Schottky device, an edge termination structure, a non-Schottky semiconductor device, combinations thereof and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor component. A semiconductor material includes a first epitaxial layer disposed on a semiconductor substrate and a second epitaxial layer disposed on the first epitaxial layer. The second epitaxial layer has a higher resistivity than the semiconductor substrate. A Schottky device and a non-Schottky semiconductor device are manufactured from the second epitaxial layer. In accordance with another embodiment, a semiconductor material includes an epitaxial layer disposed over a semiconductor substrate. The epitaxial layer has a higher resistivity than the semiconductor substrate. A doped region is formed in the epitaxial layer. A Schottky device and a non-Schottky semiconductor device are manufactured from the epitaxial layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC
    Inventors: Zia Hossain, Francine Y. Robb, Prasad Venkatraman
  • Patent number: 8134219
    Abstract: Improved Schottky diodes with reduced leakage current and improved breakdown voltage are provided by building a JFET with its current path of a first conductivity type serially located between a first terminal comprising a Schottky contact and a second terminal. The current path lies (i) between multiple substantially parallel finger regions of a second, opposite, conductivity type substantially laterally outboard of the Schottky contact, and (ii) partly above a buried region of the second conductivity type that underlies a portion of the current path, which regions are electrically coupled to the first terminal and the Schottky contact and which portion is electrically coupled to the second terminal. When reverse bias is applied to the first terminal and Schottky contact, the current path is substantially pinched off in vertical or horizontal directions or both, thereby reducing the leakage current and improving the breakdown voltage of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Xin Lin, Daniel J. Blomberg, Jiang-Kai Zuo
  • Patent number: 8129814
    Abstract: An integrated circuit includes a Schottky diode having a cathode defined by an n-type semiconductor region, an anode defined by a cobalt silicide region, and a p-type region laterally annularly encircling the cobalt silicide region. The resulting p-n junction forms a depletion region under the Schottky junction that reduces leakage current through the Schottky diodes in reverse bias operation. An n+-type contact region is laterally separated by the p-type region from the first silicide region and a second cobalt silicide region is formed in the n-type contact region. The silicided regions are defined by openings in a silicon blocking dielectric layer. Dielectric material is left over the p-type region. The p-type region may be formed simultaneously with source/drain regions of a PMOS transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2012
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Sameer Prakash Pendharkar, Eugen Pompiliu Mindricelu
  • Publication number: 20120018836
    Abstract: A Schottky barrier diode includes a semiconductor layer having a plurality of trenches formed by digging in from a top surface and having mesa portions formed between adjacent trenches, and a Schottky metal formed to contact the top surface of the semiconductor layer including inner surfaces of the trenches.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2011
    Publication date: January 26, 2012
    Applicant: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshiteru NAGAI, Kohei Makita
  • Patent number: 8071482
    Abstract: A manufacturing method for a silicon carbide semiconductor device is disclosed. It includes an etching method in which an Al film and Ni film are laid on an SiC wafer in this order and wet-etched, whereby a two-layer etching mask is formed in which Ni film portions overhang Al film portions. Mesa grooves are formed by dry etching by using this etching mask.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasuyuki Kawada
  • Publication number: 20110291749
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods are disclosed, such as those involving protection of a semiconductor junction of a semiconductor device. One such apparatus includes a bipolar transistor including an emitter, a base, and a collector; a first junction protection device including a first end electrically coupled to the emitter of the bipolar transistor, and a second end electrically coupled to a node; and a second junction protection device including a first end electrically coupled to a voltage reference, and a second electrically coupled to the emitter of the bipolar transistor. Each of the first and second junction protection devices may have a substantially higher leakage current than the leakage current of the base-emitter junction of the bipolar transistor when reverse biased.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2010
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: ANALOG DEVICES INC.
    Inventor: Kenneth Lawas
  • Patent number: 8053853
    Abstract: An image sensor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a light-sensing region, and a first and second electrode embedded within the substrate. The first and second electrode forms an array of slits, the array of slits is configured to allow a wavelength of light to pass through to the light-sensing region. A method for making an image sensor device includes providing a semiconductor substrate, forming a plurality of pixels on the semiconductor substrate, and forming a plurality of slits embedded within each of the plurality of pixels. The plurality of slits is configured to allow a wavelength of light to pass through to each of the plurality of pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jiunn-Yih Chyan, Gwo-Yuh Shiau, Chia-Shiung Tsai
  • Publication number: 20110266557
    Abstract: Wide bandgap semiconductor devices are fabricated by providing a wide bandgap semiconductor layer, providing a plurality of recesses in the wide bandgap semiconductor layer, and providing a metal gate contact in the plurality of recesses. A protective layer may be provided on the wide bandgap semiconductor layer, the protective layer having a first opening extending therethrough, a dielectric layer may be provided on the protective layer, the dielectric layer having a second opening extending therethrough that is narrower than the first opening, and a gate contact may be provided in the first and second openings. The metal gate contact may be provided to include a barrier metal layer in the plurality of recesses, and a current spreading layer on the barrier metal layer remote from the wide bandgap semiconductor layer. Related devices and fabrication methods are also discussed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2010
    Publication date: November 3, 2011
    Inventors: Van Mieczkowski, Helmut Hagleitner
  • Patent number: 8044485
    Abstract: A semiconductor device made of a group-III nitride semiconductor having excellent properties is provided. The semiconductor device has a horizontal diode structure of Schottky type or P-N junction type, or combined type thereof having a main conduction pathway in the horizontal direction in a conductive layer with unit anode portions and unit cathode electrodes being integrated adjacently to each other in the horizontal direction. The conductive layer is preferably formed by depositing a group-III nitride layer and generating a two-dimensional electron gas layer on the interface. Forming the conductive layer of the group-III nitride having high breakdown field allows the breakdown voltage to be kept high while the gap between electrodes is narrow, which achieves a semiconductor device having high output current per chip area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Makoto Miyoshi, Yoshitaka Kuraoka
  • Publication number: 20110251071
    Abstract: The application relates to electricity, electro-physics and thermo conductivity of materials, to the phenomena of zero electric resistance, i.e. to hyperconductivity (superconductivity) and zero thermal resistance, i.e. to superthermoconductivity of materials at near-room and higher temperatures. The matter: on the surface of in the volume of non-degenerate or poorly degenerate semiconductor material or layer of such material on semi-insulating or dielectric substrate the electrodes are located forming rectifying contacts to the material. The distance between the electrodes (D) is chosen much smaller comparing to the depth of penetration into the material of the electric field caused by their contact difference of potentials (L), (D<<L) Minimum distance between the electrodes DMIN=20 nanometers, maximum distance between the electrodes DMAX=30 micrometers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2009
    Publication date: October 13, 2011
    Inventor: Vyacheslav Andreevich Vdovenkov
  • Publication number: 20110233382
    Abstract: The inventors disclose a new high performance optical sensor, preferably of nanoscale dimensions, that functions at room temperature based on an extraordinary optoconductance (EOC) phenomenon, and preferably an inverse EOC (I-EOC) phenomenon, in a metal-semiconductor hybrid (MSH) structure having a semiconductor/metal interface. Such a design shows efficient photon sensing not exhibited by bare semiconductors. In experimentation with an exemplary embodiment, ultrahigh spatial resolution 4-point optoconductance measurements using Helium-Neon laser radiation reveal a strikingly large optoconductance property, an observed maximum measurement of 9460% EOC, for a 250 nm device. Such an exemplary EOC device also demonstrates specific detectivity higher than 5.06Ă—1011 cm?Hz/W for 632 nm illumination and a high dynamic response of 40 dB making such sensors technologically competitive for a wide range of practical applications.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2011
    Publication date: September 29, 2011
    Inventors: Stuart A. Solin, Samuel A. Wickline, AKM Shah Newaz, Kirk D. Wallace
  • Publication number: 20110233711
    Abstract: A method for local contacting and local doping of a semiconductor layer including the following process steps: A) Generation of a layer structure on the semiconductor layer through i) application of at least one intermediate layer on one side of the semiconductor layer, and ii) application of at least one metal layer onto the intermediate layer last applied in step i), wherein the metal layer at least partly covers the last applied intermediate layer, B) Local heating of the layer structure in such a manner that in a local region a short-time melt-mixture of at least partial regions of at least the layers: metal layer, intermediate layer and semiconductor layer, forms. After solidification of the melt-mixture, a contacting is created between metal layer and semiconductor layer. It is essential that in step A) i) at least one intermediate layer designed as dopant layer is applied, which contains a dopant wherein the dopant has a greater solubility in the semiconductor layer than the metal of the metal layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2009
    Publication date: September 29, 2011
    Applicant: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V.
    Inventors: Ralf Preu, Andreas Grohe, Daniel Biro, Jochen Rentsch, Marc Hofmann, Jan-Frederik Nekarda, Andreas Wolf
  • Publication number: 20110233712
    Abstract: According to a method for fabricating a semiconductor device, a first semiconductor layer made of a first nitride semiconductor is formed over a substrate. Thereafter, a mask film covering part of the upper surface of the first semiconductor layer is selectively formed on the first semiconductor layer. A multilayer film, in which second and third nitride semiconductors having different band gaps are stacked, is selectively formed on the first semiconductor layer with the mask film used as a formation mask. On the multilayer film, an ohmic electrode is formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2011
    Publication date: September 29, 2011
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiro Murata, Yutaka Hirose, Yasuhiro Uemoto, Tsuyoshi Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8026568
    Abstract: A Schottky contact is disposed atop a surface of a semiconductor. A first Schottky contact metal layer is disposed atop a first portion of the semiconductor surface. A second Schottky contact metal is disposed atop a second portion of the surface layer and adjoins the first Schottky contact metal layer. The first Schottky contact metal layer has a lower work function than the second Schottky contact metal layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: Velox Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Ting Gang Zhu, Marek Pabisz
  • Patent number: 8026146
    Abstract: The invention provides for an alternative and less complex method of manufacturing a bipolar transistor comprising a field plate (17) in a trench (7) adjacent to a collector region (21), which field plate (17) employs a reduced surface field (Resurf) effect. The Resurf effect reshapes the electric field distribution in the collector region (21) such that for the same collector-base breakdown voltage the doping concentration of the collector region (21) can effectively be increased resulting in a reduced collector resistance and hence an increased bipolar transistor speed. The method comprises a step of forming a base window (6) in a first base layer (4) thereby exposing a top surface of the collector region (21) and a part of an isolation region (3). The trench (7) is formed by removing the exposed part of the isolation region (3), after which isolation layers (9,10) are formed on the surface of the trench (7).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Johannes J. T. M. Donkers, Sebastien Nuttinck, Guillaume L. R. Boccardi, Francois Neuilly
  • Patent number: 8018020
    Abstract: The invention provides a Schottky barrier diode in which a forward voltage is low, a backward leakage current is small, and a withstanding voltage of an element is high, by improving both the forward voltage VF and the backward leakage current IR. A Schottky barrier diode of the invention includes a semiconductor substrate whose surface is provided with a semiconductor layer of first conduction type, a plurality of semiconductor layers of second conduction type provided as junction barriers at a predetermined depth from the surface of the semiconductor layer of first conduction type, an annular shape guard ring comprised of a semiconductor layer of second conduction type to surround the semiconductor layer of second conduction type on the surface of the semiconductor layer of first conduction type, and a metal layer disposed so as to contact the semiconductor layer of first conduction type and the semiconductor layer of second conduction type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Oonishi
  • Patent number: 8004058
    Abstract: A semiconductor diode that is disclosed. An exemplary semiconductor diode includes a portion of a semiconductor substrate including a first dopant, a first well with a Schottky region, and a second well with a second dopant; and an isolation region replacement element positioned over the semiconductor substrate and adjacent to the first and second wells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Shou-Mao Chen
  • Patent number: 7999345
    Abstract: Provided is a technology, in a semiconductor device having a power MISFET and a Schottky barrier diode on one semiconductor substrate, capable of suppressing a drastic increase in the on-resistance of the power MISFET while making the avalanche breakdown voltage of the Schottky barrier diode greater than that of the power MISFET. In the present invention, two epitaxial layers, one having a high doping concentration and the other having a low doping concentration, are formed over a semiconductor substrate and the boundary between these two epitaxial layers is located in a region equal in depth to or shallower than the bottom portion of a trench.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshito Nakazawa, Hitoshi Matsuura
  • Patent number: 7982239
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a integrated semiconductor device includes a first Vertical Junction Field Effect Transistor (VJFET) having a source, and a gate disposed on each side of the first VJFET source, and a second VJFET transistor having a source, and a gate disposed on each side of the second VJFET source. At least one gate of the first VJFET is separated from at least one gate of the second VJFET by a channel. The integrated semiconductor device also includes a Junction Barrier Schottky (JBS) diode positioned between the first and second VJFETs. The JBS diode comprises a metal contact that forms a rectifying contact to the channel and a non-rectifying contact to at least one gate of the first and second VJFETs, and the metal contact is an anode of the JBS diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Corporation
    Inventors: Ty R. McNutt, Eric J. Stewart, Rowland C. Clarke, Ranbir Singh, Stephen Van Campen, Marc E. Sherwin
  • Patent number: 7977761
    Abstract: The present invention provides for an array of nanostructures grown on a conducting substrate. The array of nanostructures as provided herein is suitable for manufacturing electronic devices such as an electron beam writer, and a field emission device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Smoltek AB
    Inventor: Mohammad Shafiqul Kabir
  • Patent number: 7964930
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a trench MOS barrier Schottky diode having an integrated PN diode and a method is for manufacturing same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2011
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Alfred Goerlach, Ning Qu
  • Patent number: 7955961
    Abstract: A trench-type Schottky semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the trench-type Schottky semiconductor device are disclosed. The method includes the steps of forming an epitaxial (EPI) layer atop a silicon substrate, forming a nitride layer atop the EPI layer, patterning a plurality of windows in the nitride layer into an active region and a termination region, forming a plurality of trenches in the active and termination regions such that the plurality of trenches in the termination regions are spaced apart from each other so as to form a plurality of mesas, lining the first type of trenches with a gate oxide layer, and converting the mesas to oxide mesas; and then applying a barrier layer metal to the mesas in the device active area and in the termination trenches.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: International Rectifier Corporation
    Inventor: Giovanni Richieri
  • Patent number: 7943994
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an integrated PMOS transistor and Schottky diode, comprising a PMOS transistor which includes a gate, a source, a drain and a channel region between the source and drain, wherein the source, drain and channel region are formed in a substrate, and a parasitic diode is formed between the drain and the channel region; and a Schottky diode formed in the substrate and connected in reverse series with the parasitic diode, the Schottky diode having one end connected with the parasitic diode and the other end connected with the source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2011
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corporation, R.O.C.
    Inventor: Chih-Feng Huang
  • Patent number: 7943472
    Abstract: Cobalt silicide (CoSi2) Schottky diodes fabricated per the current art suffer from excess leakage currents in reverse bias. In this invention, an floating p-type region encircles each anode of a CoSi2 Schottky diode comprising of one or more CoSi2 anodes. The resulting p-n junction forms a depletion region under the Schottky junction that reduces leakage current through the Schottky diodes in reverse bias operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2011
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Sameer Pendharkar, Eugen Pompiliu Mindricelu
  • Patent number: 7939904
    Abstract: A semiconductor device has a semiconductor (e.g., a silicon substrate), an electrically conductive region (e.g., a source region and a drain region) which is in contact with the semiconductor to form a Schottky junction, and an insulator. The insulator is in contact with the semiconductor and the electrically conductive region, and has a fixed-charge containing region which contains a fixed charge and extends across a boundary between the semiconductor and the electrically conductive region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kenji Kimoto
  • Publication number: 20110101485
    Abstract: An apparatus comprises a substrate having a type of conductivity, an intrinsic region above the substrate, and a metal layer on a portion of the surface of the intrinsic region. The intrinsic region has a surface. The metal layer may have a thickness that is configured to allow a plurality of photons to pass through the metal layer into the intrinsic region and form a rectifying contact with the intrinsic region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Publication date: May 5, 2011
    Applicant: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Eric Yuen-Jun Chan
  • Publication number: 20110095301
    Abstract: There was a problem that it was difficult to manufacture silicon carbide semiconductor devices with suppressed variations in characteristics without increasing the number of process steps. A silicon carbide semiconductor device according to the present invention includes an N type SiC substrate and an N type SiC epitaxial layer as a silicon carbide semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, a plurality of recesses intermittently formed in a surface of the N type SiC epitaxial layer, P type regions as second-conductivity-type semiconductor layers formed in the N type SiC epitaxial layer in the bottoms of the plurality of recesses, and a Schottky electrode selectively formed over the surface of the N type SiC epitaxial layer, wherein the plurality of recesses all have an equal depth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2010
    Publication date: April 28, 2011
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yoichiro TARUI
  • Publication number: 20110095391
    Abstract: A Schottky diode device is provided, including a p-type semiconductor structure. An n drift region is disposed over the p-type semiconductor structure, wherein the n drift region comprises first and second n-type doping regions having different n-type doping concentrations, and the second n-type doping region is formed with a dopant concentration greater than that in the first n-type doping region. A plurality of isolation structures is disposed in the second n-type doping region of the n drift region, defining an anode region and a cathode region. A third n-type doping region is disposed in the second n-type doping region exposed by the cathode region. An anode electrode is disposed over the first n-type doping region in the anode region. A cathode electrode is disposed over the third n-type doping region in the cathode region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2009
    Publication date: April 28, 2011
    Applicant: VANGUARD INTERNATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Huang-Lang Pai, Hung-Shern Tsai
  • Publication number: 20110089516
    Abstract: Provided is a rectifier such as a detector in which a cutoff frequency may be increased in a view point different from the reduction in size of the structure. The rectifier includes: a Schottky barrier portion including a Schottky electrode; a barrier portion having a rectifying property with respect to a majority carrier in the Schottky barrier portion; and an ohmic electrode in electrical contact with the barrier portion having the rectifying property, in which each of the Schottky barrier portion and the barrier portion having the rectifying property has an asymmetrical band profile whose gradient on one side is larger than a gradient of another side, and the Schottky barrier portion and the barrier portion having the rectifying property are connected to each other so that the steep gradient side of the band profile is located on a side of the Schottky electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2009
    Publication date: April 21, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Ryota Sekiguchi
  • Patent number: 7928480
    Abstract: A semiconductor device has a semiconductor layer, and a first electrode (Schottky electrode or MIS electrode) and a second electrode (ohmic electrode) which are formed on the semiconductor layer apart from each other. The first electrode has a cross section in the shape of a polygon. A second electrode-side corner of the polygon has an interior angle of which an outward extension line of a bisector crosses the semiconductor layer or the second electrode. The interior angle of such a second electrode-side corner is larger than 90°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaharu Yamashita, John Kevin Twynam
  • Patent number: 7915703
    Abstract: Fabrication of a Schottky diodes may include providing a Schottky contact layer containing a low barrier metal layer with spaced apart high barrier metal islands therein on a first surface of a substrate. A diode contact is formed on a second surface of the substrate that is opposite to the first surface. Formation of the Schottky contact layer may include providing a liquid mixture of a high barrier metal and a low barrier metal on the first surface of the substrate. Temperature and/or relative concentrations of the high and low barrier metals in the liquid mixture may be controlled to cause regions of the high barrier metal to solidify within the liquid mixture and agglomerate to form the spaced apart high barrier metal islands while inhibiting solidification of the low barrier metal. The temperature and relative concentrations may then be controlled to cause the low barrier metal to solidify and form the low barrier metal layer containing the high barrier metal islands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Cree, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason Patrick Henning, Allan Ward
  • Patent number: 7902054
    Abstract: A silicon carbide Schottky barrier semiconductor device provided with a Ta electrode as a Schottky electrode, in which the Schottky barrier height is controlled to a desired value in a range where power loss is minimized without increasing the n factor. The method for manufacturing the silicon carbide Schottky barrier semiconductor device includes the steps of depositing Ta on a crystal face of an n-type silicon carbide epitaxial film, the crystal face having an inclined angle in the range of 0° to 10° from a (000-1) C face, and carrying out a thermal treatment at a temperature range of 300 to 1200° C. to form the Schottky electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2011
    Assignee: Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry
    Inventors: Hidekazu Tsuchida, Tomonori Nakamura, Toshiyuki Miyanagi
  • Publication number: 20110049572
    Abstract: The present invention provides a semiconductor device including: a base substrate; a semiconductor layer which is disposed on the base substrate and has a 2-Dimensional Electron Gas (2DEG) formed therewithin; a first ohmic electrode disposed on a central region of the semiconductor layer; a second ohmic electrode which is formed on the edge regions of the semiconductor layer in such a manner to be disposed to be spaced apart from the first ohmic electrodes, and have a ring shape surrounding the first ohmic electrode; and a Schottky electrode part which is formed on the central region to cover the first ohmic electrode and is formed to be spaced apart from the second ohmic electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 8, 2010
    Publication date: March 3, 2011
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Woo Chul Jeon, Jung Hee Lee, Young Hwan Park, Ki Yeol Park
  • Publication number: 20110037139
    Abstract: A merged PN/Schottky diode is provided having a substrate of a first conductivity type and a grid of doped wells of the second conductivity type embedded in the substrate. A Schottky barrier metal layer makes a Schottky barrier contact with the surface of the substrate above the grid. Selected embedded wells in the grid may make electrical contact to the Schottky bather metal layer, while most embedded wells do not. The diode forward voltage drop is reduced for the same diode area with reverse blocking benefits similar to a conventional JBS structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2010
    Publication date: February 17, 2011
    Applicant: MICROSEMI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Feng Zhao, Bruce Odekirk, Dumitru Sdrulla
  • Patent number: 7880174
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to reduce the conducting loss of an existing conversion circuit while suppressing its noise. The present invention is typically a circuit arrangement includes at least one switching device and a free-wheel diode connected in parallel with the switching device. The free-wheel diode is formed by connecting a silicon PiN diode in parallel with a Schottky barrier diode that uses a semiconductor material having a wider band gap than silicon as a base material. The silicon PiN diode and Schottky barrier diode are separate chips.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Haruka Shimizu, Katsumi Ishikawa, Masahiro Nagasu, Dai Tsugawa
  • Patent number: 7880763
    Abstract: A semiconductor device is obtained, in which excellent characteristics are achieved, the reliability is improved, and an SiC wafer can also be used for the fabrication. A plurality of Schottky-barrier-diode units 10 is formed on an SiC chip 9, and each of the units 10 has an external output electrode 4 independently of each other. Bumps 11 (the diameter is from several tens to several hundreds of ?m) are formed only on the external output electrodes 4 of non-defective units among the units 10 formed on the SiC chip 9, meanwhile bumps are not formed on the external output electrodes 4 of defective units in which the withstand voltage is too low, or the leakage current is too much.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naoki Yutani
  • Patent number: 7875950
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a semiconductor structure comprises a multi-portioned guard ring that includes a first portion and a second portion formed in a region of semiconductor material. A conductive contact layer forms a first Schottky barrier with the region of semiconductor material. The conductive contact layer overlaps the second portion and forms a second Schottky barrier that has an opposite polarity to the first Schottky barrier. The conductive contact layer does not overlap the first portion, which forms a pn junction with the region of semiconductor material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC
    Inventors: Shanghui L. Tu, Fumika Kuramae
  • Publication number: 20110006276
    Abstract: A switching element that includes a first semiconductor layer, the first semiconductor layer having a first portion and a second portion; a second semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer having a first portion and a second portion; an insulating layer disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer; a first metal contact in contact with the first portion of the first semiconductor layer forming a first junction and in contact with the first portion of the second semiconductor layer forming a second junction; a second metal contact in contact with the second portion of the first semiconductor layer forming a third junction and in contact with the second portion of the second semiconductor layer forming a fourth junction, wherein the first junction and the fourth junction are Schottky contacts, and the second junction and the third junction are ohmic contacts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2009
    Publication date: January 13, 2011
    Applicant: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Young Pil Kim, Nurul Amin, Dadi Setiadi, Venugopalan Vaithyanathan, Wei Tian, Insik Jin
  • Publication number: 20110007546
    Abstract: An anti-parallel diode structure and method of fabrication is presently disclosed. In some embodiments, an anti-parallel diode structure has a semiconductor region comprising a first insulator layer disposed between a first semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor layer. The semiconductor region can be bound on a first side by a first metal material and bound on a second side by a second metal material so that current below a predetermined value is prevented from passing through the semiconductor region and current above the predetermined value passes through the semiconductor region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2009
    Publication date: January 13, 2011
    Applicant: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Nurul Amin, Insik Jin, Venugopalan Vaithyanathan, Wei Tian, YoungPil Kim
  • Publication number: 20110002155
    Abstract: A memory element (3) arranged in matrix in a memory device and including a resistance variable element (1) which switches its electrical resistance value in response to a positive or negative electrical pulse applied thereto and retains the switched electrical resistance value; and a current control element (2) for controlling a current flowing when the electrical pulse is applied to the resistance variable element (1); wherein the current control element (2) includes a first electrode; a second electrode; and a current control layer sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode; and wherein the current control layer comprises SiNx, and at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode comprises ?-tungsten.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2009
    Publication date: January 6, 2011
    Inventors: Koji Arita, Takumi Mikawa, Mitsuteru Iijima, Takashi Okada
  • Patent number: 7863682
    Abstract: A semiconductor device having a junction barrier Schottky diode includes: a SiC substrate; a drift layer on the substrate; an insulation film on the drift layer having an opening in a cell region; a Schottky barrier diode having a Schottky electrode contacting the drift layer through the opening of the insulation film and an ohmic electrode on the substrate; a terminal structure having a RESURF layer surrounding the cell region; and multiple second conductive type layers on an inner side of the RESURF layer. The second conductive type layers and the drift layer provide a PN diode. The Schottky electrode includes a first Schottky electrode contacting the second conductive type layers with ohmic contact and a second Schottky electrode contacting the drift layer with Schottky contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Eiichi Okuno, Takeo Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 7863656
    Abstract: A unipolar semiconductor device having a drift layer (3) doped according to a first conductivity type forming a conducting path and regions (7, 8) doped according to a second conductivity type and arranged next to the drift layer, has the drift layer and the regions of a semiconductor material having an ionization energy Ei of dopants of the second conductivity type therein exceeding 0.5 eV and/or a solubility of the dopants of the second conductivity type therein being less than 1018 cm?3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: Cree Sweden AB
    Inventors: Christopher Harris, Mietek Bakowski
  • Publication number: 20100327394
    Abstract: A rectenna capable of power conversion from electromagnetic (EM) waves of high frequencies is provided. In one embodiment, a rectenna element generates currents from two sources—based upon the power of the incident EM wave and from an n-type semiconductor, or another electron source attached to a maximum voltage point of an antenna element. The combined current from both sources increases the power output of the antenna, thereby increasing the detection sensitivity of the antenna of a low power signal. Full wave rectification is achieved using a novel diode connected to a gap in the antenna element of an rectenna element. The diode is conductive at a zero bias voltage, and rectifies the antenna signal generated by the desired EM wave received by antenna. Further, the diode may provide a fixed output voltage regardless of the input signal level. The rectenna element of the present invention may be used as a building block to create large rectenna arrays.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2010
    Publication date: December 30, 2010
    Inventors: Guy Silver, Juinerong Wu