Utilizing Dummy Emitter Patents (Class 438/321)
  • Patent number: 8633996
    Abstract: In previously known imaging devices as in still and motion cameras, for example, image sensor signal response typically is linear as a function of intensity of incident light. Desirably, however, akin to the response of the human eye, response is sought to be nonlinear and, more particularly, essentially logarithmic. Preferred nonlinearity is realized in image sensor devices of the invention upon severely limiting the number of pixel states, combined with clustering of pixels into what may be termed as super-pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2014
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Edoardo Charbon, Luciano Sbaiz, Martin Vetterli, Sabine Susstrunk
  • Patent number: 8198119
    Abstract: A method for fabricating an image sensor is described. A substrate is provided. Multiple photoresist patterns are formed over the substrate, and then a thermal reflow step is performed to convert the photoresist patterns into multiple microlenses arranged in an array. The focal length of the microlens increases from the center of the array toward the edge of the array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventor: Cheng-Yu Hsieh
  • Patent number: 7927958
    Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for providing a self aligned bipolar transistor using a silicon nitride ring. An active region of the transistor is formed and a sacrificial emitter is formed above the active region of the transistor. A silicon nitride ring is formed around the sacrificial emitter. The sacrificial emitter and the silicon nitride ring are formed by depositing a layer of silicon nitride material over the active area of the transistor and performing an etch process to simultaneously create both the sacrificial emitter and the silicon nitride ring. The silicon nitride ring provides support for forming a raised external base for the transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Mingwei Xu, Steven J. Adler
  • Patent number: 7875908
    Abstract: Bipolar transistors and methods of forming the bipolar transistors. The method including forming a P-type collector in a silicon substrate; forming an intrinsic base on the collector, the intrinsic base including a first N-type dopant species, germanium and carbon; forming an N-type extrinsic base over a first region and a second region of the intrinsic base, the first region over the collector and the second region over a dielectric adjacent to the collector, the N-type extrinsic base containing or not containing carbon; and forming a P-type emitter on the first region of the intrinsic base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas N. Adam, Rajendran Krishnasamy
  • Patent number: 7858481
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a MOS transistor having a thinned channel region is described. The channel region is etched following removal of a dummy gate. The source and drain regions have relatively low resistance with the process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2010
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Justin K. Brask, Robert S. Chau, Suman Datta, Mark L. Doczy, Brian S. Doyle, Jack T. Kavalieros, Amlan Majumdar, Matthew V. Metz, Marko Radosavljevic
  • Patent number: 7838375
    Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for providing an improved polyemit module for a self aligned heterojunction bipolar transistor architecture. The polyemit module of the transistor of the present invention is formed using a double layer deposition process. In the double layer deposition process, the first layer is a layer of emitter polysilicon and the second layer is a sacrificial layer of silicon germanium (SiGe). The shape and thickness of the emitter polysilicon layer of the polyemit module provides (1) a reduction in the overall resistance of the emitter and (2) an increase in the contact area between the emitter polysilicon layer and a contact structure that is more than three times the contact area that is provided in prior art polyemit modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Mingwei Xu, Jamal Ramdani
  • Patent number: 7776704
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method of forming a self-aligned heterobipolar transistor (HBT) device in a BiCMOS technology. The method includes forming a raised extrinsic base structure by using an epitaxial growth process in which the growth rate between single crystal silicon and polycrystalline silicon is different and by using a low temperature oxidation process such as a high-pressure oxidation (HIPOX) process to form a self-aligned emitter/extrinsic base HBT structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: James S. Dunn, Alvin J. Joseph, Qizhi Liu
  • Patent number: 7732292
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of forming a transistor in an integrated circuit structure that begins by forming a collector in a substrate and an intrinsic base above the collector. Then, the invention patterns an emitter pedestal for the lower portion of the emitter on the substrate above the intrinsic base. Before actually forming the emitter or associates spacer, the invention forms an extrinsic base in regions of the substrate not protected by the emitter pedestal. After this, the invention removes the emitter pedestal and eventually forms the emitter where the emitter pedestal was positioned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Marwan H. Khater, Francois Pagette
  • Patent number: 7709338
    Abstract: A method of fabricating an heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) structure in a bipolar complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (BiCMOS) process selectively thickens an oxide layer overlying a base region in areas that are not covered by a temporary emitter and spacers such that the temporary emitter can be removed and the base-emitter junction can be exposed without also completely removing the oxide overlying the areas of the base region that are not covered by the temporary emitter or spacers. As a result, a photomask is not required to remove the temporary emitter and to expose the base-emitter junction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Qizhi Liu, Peter B. Gray, Alvin J. Joseph
  • Patent number: 7611954
    Abstract: A self-aligned bipolar transistor structure having a raised extrinsic base comprising an outer region and an inner region of different doping concentrations and methods of fabricating the transistor are disclosed. More specifically, the self-alignment of the extrinsic base to the emitter is accomplished by forming the extrinsic base in two regions. First, a first material of silicon or polysilicon having a first doping concentration is provided to form an outer extrinsic base region. Then a first opening is formed in the first material layer by lithography within which a dummy emitter pedestal is formed, which results in forming a trench between the sidewall of the first opening and the dummy pedestal. A second material of a second doping concentration is then provided inside the trench forming a distinct inner extrinsic base extension region to self-align the raised extrinsic base edge to the dummy pedestal edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2009
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gregory G. Freeman, Marwan H. Khater, Francois Pagette
  • Patent number: 7541249
    Abstract: A process for producing a base connection of a bipolar transistor is provided. The process includes the steps of providing a semiconductor structure that can include a three-dimensional sacrificial structure that is selectively removable with respect to adjacent regions. A first semiconductor layer and a second layer of dielectric material is deposited. The first semiconductor layer is partially exposed by partial removal of the second layer. A first reaction layer is deposited that, together with the first semiconductor layer forms reaction products, which are selectively removable with respect to adjacent regions. Remaining material of the first reaction layer that has not reacted with the material of the first semiconductor layer is removed. A second reaction layer is deposited that, with the first semiconductor layer, forms a low-resistivity compound. Remaining material of the second reaction layer that has not reacted with the material of the first semiconductor layer is removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2009
    Assignee: Atmel Germany GmbH
    Inventor: Christoph Bromberger
  • Patent number: 7399675
    Abstract: An electronic device can include an NVM array, wherein portions of word lines are formed within trenches. Insulating features are formed over heavily doped regions within the substrate. In one embodiment, charge storage stacks and a control gate electrode layer can be formed and substantially fill the trench. The insulating features help to reduce capacitive coupling between the heavily doped regions and the control gate electrode layer. In a particular embodiment, the insulating features are recessed from a top surface of a layer outside the trenches. The control gate electrode layer can form a substantially continuous electrical path along the lengths of the word lines. This particular embodiment substantially eliminates the formation of stringers or other residual etching artifacts from the control gate electrode layer within the array. A process can be performed to form the electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2008
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc
    Inventors: Gowrishankar L. Chindalore, Craig T. Swift
  • Publication number: 20080166850
    Abstract: A bipolar transistor structure includes an intrinsic base layer formed over a collector layer, an emitter formed over the intrinsic base layer, and an extrinsic base layer formed over the intrinsic layer and adjacent the emitter. A ring shaped collector implant structure is formed within an upper portion of the collector layer, wherein the ring shaped collector implant structure is disposed so as to be aligned beneath a perimeter portion of the emitter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2008
    Publication date: July 10, 2008
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Francois Pagette
  • Patent number: 7378324
    Abstract: Bipolar transistors and methods of forming the bipolar transistors. The method including forming a P-type collector in a silicon substrate; forming an intrinsic base on the collector, the intrinsic base including a first N-type dopant species, germanium and carbon; forming an N-type extrinsic base over a first region and a second region of the intrinsic base, the first region over the collector and the second region over a dielectric adjacent to the collector, the N-type extrinsic base containing or not containing carbon; and forming a P-type emitter on the first region of the intrinsic base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas N. Adam, Rajendran Krishnasamy
  • Patent number: 7291536
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a bipolar transistor comprises a base having a top surface. The bipolar transistor further comprises a base oxide layer situated on top surface of the base. The bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial post situated on base oxide layer. The bipolar transistor further comprises a conformal layer situated over the sacrificial post and top surface of the base, where the conformal layer has a density greater than a density of base oxide layer. The conformal layer may be, for example, HDPCVD oxide. According to this exemplary embodiment, the bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial planarizing layer situated over the conformal layer. The sacrificial planarizing layer has a first thickness in a first region between first and second link spacers and a second thickness in a second region outside of first and second link spacers, where the second thickness is generally greater than the first thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2007
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventors: Amol Kalburge, Kevin Q. Yin, Kenneth Ring
  • Patent number: 7282418
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a bipolar transistor comprises a base having a top surface. The bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial post situated on the top surface of the base. The bipolar transistor also comprises a conformal layer situated on a first and a second side of the sacrificial post, where the conformal layer is not separated from the first and second sides of the sacrificial post by spacers. According to this exemplary embodiment, the bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial planarizing layer situated over the conformal layer, the sacrificial post, and the base. The sacrificial planarizing layer has a first thickness in a first region between the first and second sides of the sacrificial post and a second thickness in a second region outside of the first and second sides of the sacrificial post, where the second thickness is greater than the first thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2007
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventors: Amol Kalburge, Kevin Q. Yin
  • Patent number: 7247530
    Abstract: A method of fabricating an ultrathin SOI memory transistor includes preparing a substrate, including forming an ultrathin SOI layer of the substrate; adjusting the threshold voltage of the SOI layer; depositing a layer of silicon oxide on the SOI layer; patterning and etching the silicon oxide layer to form a sacrificial oxide gate in a gate region; depositing a layer of silicon nitride and forming the silicon nitride into a silicon nitride sidewall for the sacrificial oxide gate; depositing and smoothing a layer of amorphous silicon; selectively etching the sacrificial gate oxide; growing a layer of oxide in the gate region; depositing and smoothing a second layer of amorphous silicon; patterning and etching the second layer of amorphous silicon; implanting ion to form a source region and a drain region; annealing the structure; and depositing a layer of passivation oxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2007
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventors: Sheng Teng Hsu, Jong-Jan Lee
  • Patent number: 7041564
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a bipolar transistor comprises a base having a top surface. The bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial post which, in one exemplary embodiment, is situated between first and second link spacers. The bipolar transistor also comprises a conformal layer situated over the sacrificial post. The conformal layer may comprise silicon oxide, for example. According to this exemplary embodiment, the bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial planarizing layer situated over the conformal layer, the sacrificial post, and the base. The sacrificial planarizing layer has a first thickness in a first region between the first and second link spacers and a second thickness in a second region outside of the first and second link spacers, where the second thickness is generally greater than the first thickness. Another embodiment is a method that achieves the above-described bipolar transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2006
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventors: Amol Kalburge, Marco Racanelli
  • Patent number: 7033898
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a bipolar transistor comprises a base having a top surface. The bipolar transistor further comprises a first link spacer and a second link spacer situated on the top surface of the base. The bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial post situated between the first and second link spacers, where the first and second link spacers have a height that is substantially less than a height of the sacrificial post. The bipolar transistor also comprises a conformal layer situated over the sacrificial post and the first and second link spacers. According to this exemplary embodiment, the bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial planarizing layer situated over the conformal layer, the first and second link spacers, the sacrificial post, and the base. The sacrificial planarizing layer may comprise, for example, an organic material such as an organic BARC (“bottom anti-reflective coating”).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2006
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventors: Amol Kalburge, Kevin Q. Yin
  • Patent number: 7022578
    Abstract: A heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT), and manufacturing method therefor, comprising a semiconductor substrate having a collector region, an intrinsic base region of a compound semiconductive material over the collector region, an extrinsic base region, an emitter structure, an interlevel dielectric layer over the collector region, extrinsic base region and emitter structure, and connections through the interlevel dielectric layer to the base region, the emitter structure, and the collector region. The emitter structure is formed by forming a reverse emitter window over the intrinsic base region, which subsequently is etched to form an emitter window having a multi-layer reverse insulating spacer therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2006
    Assignee: Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.
    Inventors: Purakh Raj Verma, Shao-fu Sanford Chu, Lap Chan, Jian Xun Li, Zhen Jia Zheng
  • Patent number: 6979626
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a bipolar transistor comprises a base having a top surface. The bipolar transistor further comprises a base oxide layer situated on top surface of the base. The bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial post situated on the base oxide layer. The bipolar transistor further comprises a conformal layer situated over the sacrificial post and top surface of the base, where the conformal layer has a density greater than a density of the base oxide layer. The conformal layer may be, for example, HDPCVD oxide. According to this exemplary embodiment, the bipolar transistor further comprises a sacrificial planarizing layer situated over the conformal layer. The sacrificial planarizing layer has a first thickness in a first region between first and second link spacers and a second thickness in a second region outside of first and second link spacers, where the second thickness is generally greater than the first thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2005
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventors: Amol Kalburge, Kevin Q. Yin, Kenneth Ring
  • Patent number: 6894328
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a bipolar transistor includes a base having a top surface. The bipolar transistor further includes a first link spacer and a second link spacer situated on the top surface of the base. The bipolar transistor further includes a sacrificial post situated between the first and second link spacers, where the first and second link spacers have a height that is substantially less than a height of the sacrificial post. The bipolar transistor also includes a conformal layer situated over the sacrificial post and the first and second link spacers. According to this exemplary embodiment, the bipolar transistor further includes a sacrificial planarizing layer situated over the conformal layer, the first and second link spacers, the sacrificial post, and the base. The sacrificial planarizing layer may include, for example, an organic material such as an organic BARC (“bottom anti-reflective coating”).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2005
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventors: Amol Kalburge, Kevin Q. Yin
  • Patent number: 6881640
    Abstract: A fabrication method for heterojunction bipolar transistor is disclosed. The method uses ISSG oxide instead of conventional PECVD oxide so that the base/emitter interface damage can be reduced. Moreover, the invention replaces the conventional emitter-window/space mask with an emitter-window reverse-tone mask/line mask to minimize the critical dimension of emitter window. Furthermore, the invention also utilizes a two-steps extrinsic base implantation to form two extrinsic bases with different dopant concentrations so that the base resistance can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2005
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventors: Cheng-Wen Fan, Hua-Chou Tseng
  • Patent number: 6869853
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a transistor is fabricated by forming a sacrificial emitter over a base, forming an oxide layer over the sacrificial emitter, removing a portion of the oxide layer, and then removing the sacrificial emitter. An emitter is later formed in the space formerly occupied by the sacrificial emitter. The sacrificial emitter allows a base implant step to be performed early in the process using a single masking step. The base may comprise epitaxial silicon-germanium or silicon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2005
    Assignee: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Prabhuram Gopalan
  • Patent number: 6867080
    Abstract: A method is provided for eliminating uneven heating of substrate active areas during laser thermal annealing (LTA) due to variations in gate electrode density. Embodiments include adding dummy structures, formed simultaneously with the gate electrodes, to “fill in” the spaces between isolated gate electrodes, such that the spacing between the gate electrodes and the dummy structures is the same as the spacing between the densest array of device structures on the substrate surface. Since the surface features (i.e., the gate electrodes and the dummy structures) appear substantially uniform to the LTA laser, the laser radiation is uniformly absorbed by the substrate, and the substrate surface is evenly heated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2005
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric N. Paton, Robert B. Ogle, Cyrus E. Tabery, Qi Xiang, Bin Yu
  • Patent number: 6818520
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a heterojunction bipolar transistor comprises a base. The heterojunction bipolar transistor further comprises a first nitride spacer and a second nitride spacer situated on the base, where the first nitride spacer and the second nitride spacer are separated by a distance substantially equal to a critical dimension. For example, the first nitride spacer and the second nitride spacer may comprise LPCVD or RTCVD silicon nitride. According to this exemplary embodiment, the heterojunction bipolar transistor further comprises an emitter situated between said first nitride spacer and said second nitride spacer, where the emitter has a width substantially equal to the critical dimension. The emitter may, for example, comprise polycrystalline silicon. In another embodiment, a method that achieves the above-described heterojunction bipolar transistor is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2004
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC dba Jazz Semiconductor
    Inventor: Klaus F. Schuegraf
  • Patent number: 6812107
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a method for fabricating a bipolar transistor, such as a heterojunction bipolar transistor (“HBT”), comprises fabricating a first inner spacer and a second inner spacer on a top surface of a base. The method further comprises forming a first outer spacer adjacent to the first inner spacer and a second outer spacer adjacent to the second inner spacer. According to this exemplary embodiment, the method further comprises depositing an emitter between the first and second inner spacers on the top surface of the base. The method may further comprise depositing an intermediate oxide layer on the first and second outer spacers after forming the first and second outer spacers. The method may further comprise depositing an amorphous layer on the intermediate oxide layer. The method may also comprise depositing an antireflective coating layer on the amorphous layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2004
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventor: Klaus F. Schuegraf
  • Publication number: 20040198012
    Abstract: A wire bond-less electronic component is for use with a circuit external to the wire bond-less electronic component. The wire bond-less electronic component includes a support substrate (110, 410), an electronic device (130) over the support substrate, and a cover (140, 440, 540) located over the electronic device and the support substrate. The cover includes an interconnect structure (141, 441, 541) electrically coupled to the electronic device and adapted to electrically couple together the electronic device and the circuit for providing impedance transformation of an electrical signal between the electronic device and the circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2004
    Publication date: October 7, 2004
    Applicant: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Lakshminarayan Viswanathan, Pierre-Marie Piel, Garry D. Funk, Robert Paul Davidson
  • Publication number: 20040198011
    Abstract: The present invention is relates to a polishing method for polishing a semiconductor wafer (W) by pressing the semiconductor wafer (W) against a polishing surface (10) with use of a top ring (23) for holding the semiconductor wafer (W). A pressure chamber (70) is defined in the top ring (23) by attaching an elastic membrane (60) to a lower surface of a vertically movable member (62). The semiconductor wafer (W) is polished while a pressurized fluid is supplied to the pressure chamber (70) so that the semiconductor wafer (W) is pressed against the polishing surface (10) by a fluid pressure of the fluid. The semiconductor wafer (W) which has been polished is released from the top ring (23) by ejecting the pressurized fluid from an opening (62a) defined centrally in the vertically movable member (62).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2004
    Publication date: October 7, 2004
    Inventors: Tetsuji Togawa, Makoto Fukushima, Kinihiko Sakurai, Hiroshi Yoshida, Osamu Nabeya, Teruhiko ichimura
  • Publication number: 20040192003
    Abstract: A method for depositing metal on a semiconductor device having a substrate, an exposed first surface, and an exposed second surface is provided. Metal ions are deposited on the exposed first surface and on the exposed second layer by applying a first voltage between the substrate and an anode in the presence of an electrolytic bath, and metal ions are removed from the exposed first surface by applying a second voltage between the substrate and the anode in the presence of the electrolytic bath. Other aspects and embodiments are provided herein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2004
    Publication date: September 30, 2004
    Applicant: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Gurtej Sandhu Sandhu, Chris Chang Yu
  • Publication number: 20040192004
    Abstract: By providing appropriate TFT structures arranged in various circuits of the semiconductor device in response to the functions required by the circuits, it is made possible to improve the operating performances and the reliability of a semiconductor device, reduce power consumption as well as realizing reduced manufacturing cost and increase in yield by lessening the number of processing steps. An LDD region of a TFT is formed to have a concentration gradient of an impurity element for controlling conductivity which becomes higher as the distance from a drain region decreases. In order to form such an LDD region having a concentration gradient of an impurity element, the present invention uses a method in which a gate electrode having a taper portion is provided to thereby dope an ionized impurity element for controlling conductivity accelerated in the electric field so that it penetrates through the gate electrode and a gate insulating film into a semiconductor layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2004
    Publication date: September 30, 2004
    Applicant: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Hideomi Suzawa, Koji Ono, Yasuyuki Arai
  • Patent number: 6790722
    Abstract: A method and structure for forming an emitter in a vertical bipolar transistor includes providing a substrate having a collector layer and a base layer over the collector layer, forming a patterning mask over the collector layer, and filling openings in the mask with emitter material in a damascene process. The CMOS/vertical bipolar structure has the collector, base regions, and emitter regions vertically disposed on one another, the collector region having a peak dopant concentration adjacent the inter-substrate isolation oxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2004
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Ramachandra Divakaruni, Russell J. Houghton, Jack A. Mandelman, Wilbur D. Pricer, William R. Tonti
  • Patent number: 6777302
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a high-performance, raised extrinsic base HBT having a narrow emitter width is provided. In accordance with the method, a patterned nitride pedestal region and inner spacers are employed to reduce the width of an emitter opening. The reduced width is achieved without the need of using advanced lithographic tools and/or advanced photomasks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2004
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Huajie Chen, David Angell, Seshadri Subbanna
  • Publication number: 20040082092
    Abstract: An image sensor is disclosed. The image sensor includes a plurality of pixels formed in a semiconductor substrate, each pixel including a light sensitive element. Further, a multilayer stack is formed over the pixels, the multilayer stack adapted to filter incident light in the infrared region. Finally, micro-lenses are formed over the multilayer stack and over the light sensitive element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2002
    Publication date: April 29, 2004
    Inventor: Katsumi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6716711
    Abstract: In one disclosed embodiment, a silicon-germanium base is formed, which includes an extrinsic base region, a link base region, and an intrinsic base region. An etch stop layer, which can be silicon oxide, is deposited over the silicon-germanium base. A polycrystalline silicon layer is then formed on the etch stop layer above the silicon-germanium base. The polycrystalline silicon layer is patterned to form a temporary emitter. The link base regions can be implant doped after fabricating the temporary emitter, for example, to reduce the resistance of the link base regions. Link spacers are then fabricated on the sides of the temporary emitter. The link spacers can be formed by depositing a conformal layer of silicon oxide over the temporary emitter and then etching back the conformal layer. The length of the link base regions, which are below the spacers, can be determined by the deposition thickness of the conformal layer. The extrinsic base regions are implant doped after fabricating the link spacers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventor: Marco Racanelli
  • Patent number: 6680235
    Abstract: According to one exemplary embodiment, a heterojunction bipolar transistor comprises a base having a top surface. The heterojunction bipolar transistor further comprises an epitaxial emitter selectively situated on the top surface of the base. For example, the epitaxial emitter may be N-type single-crystal silicon. The heterojunction bipolar transistor further comprises an etch stop layer situated on the top surface of the base, where the etch stop layer is in contact with the epitaxial emitter. The heterojunction bipolar transistor further comprises a first spacer and a second spacer situated on the etch stop layer, where the epitaxial emitter is situated between the first and second spacer. The first spacer and the second spacer, for example, may be LPCVD silicon nitride. The heterojunction bipolar transistor further comprises a dielectric layer deposited on the first and second spacers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2004
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventors: Greg D. U'Ren, Marco Racanelli, Klaus F. Schuegraf
  • Patent number: 6639257
    Abstract: A bipolar transistor device with a large current capacity is formed by connecting a plurality of transistor elements to each other in parallel, each transistor element having a collector layer, a base layer, and an emitter layer formed respectively in a semiconductor substrate. In the bipolar transistor device, the base layers of a plurality of the transistor elements are extended in parallel to each other and those base layers are separated from each other. In each separated base layer, a first base electrode is formed on a part of the base layer which is separated from an emitter junction with the emitter layer, and a second base electrode is formed on another portion of the base layer closer to the emitter junction than the first base electrode. To dispose the base electrodes of a plurality of the transistor elements in parallel to each other, a base wiring is connected to the first base electrodes of those elements electrically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Kurokawa, Masao Yamane, Kazuhiro Mochizuki
  • Patent number: 6617220
    Abstract: An epitaxial base bipolar transistor including an epitaxial single crystal layer on a single crystal single substrate; a raised emitter on a portion of the single crystal layer; a raised extrinsic base on a surface of the semiconductor substrate; an insulator between the raised emitter and the raised extrinsic base, wherein the insulator is a spacer; and a diffusion from the raised emitter and from the raised extrinsic base to provide an emitter diffusion and an extrinsic base diffusion in the single crystal layer, wherein the emitter diffusion has an emitter diffusion junction depth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2003
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: James Stuart Dunn, David L. Harame, Jeffrey Bowman Johnson, Robb Allen Johnson, Louis DeWolf Lanzerotti, Stephen Arthur St. Onge
  • Patent number: 6573540
    Abstract: A bipolar transistor device with a large current capacity is formed by connecting a plurality of transistor elements to each other in parallel, each transistor element having a collector layer, a base layer, and an emitter layer formed respectively in a semiconductor substrate. In the bipolar transistor device, the base layers of a plurality of the transistor elements are extended in parallel to each other and those base layers are separated from each other. In each separated base layer, a first base electrode is formed on a part of the base layer which is separated from an emitter junction with the emitter layer, and a second base electrode is formed on another portion of the base layer closer to the emitter junction than the first base electrode. To dispose the base electrodes of a plurality of the transistor elements in parallel to each other, a base wiring is connected to the first base electrodes of those elements electrically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2003
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Kurokawa, Masao Yamane, Kazuhiro Mochizuki
  • Patent number: 6569744
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a bipolar transistor. The method includes producing an opening in a dielectric layer located over a substrate and forming a collector in the substrate by implanting a first dopant through the opening. The method further includes creating an intrinsic base region contacting the collector and constructing an emitter contacting the intrinsic base region, both of which are through the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2003
    Assignee: Agere Systems Inc.
    Inventor: Ian Wylie
  • Patent number: 6551889
    Abstract: A method of producing a bipolar transistor includes the step of providing a sacrificial mesa over a layer of SiGe in order to prevent a polysilicon covering layer from forming over a predetermined region of the SiGe layer forming the transistor base. After an etching process removes the sacrificial mesa and the SiGe layer is exposed, an oppositely doped material is applied over top of the SiGe layer to form an emitter. This makes it possible to realize a thin layer of silicon germanium to serve as the transistor base. This method prevents the base layer SiGe from being affected, as it otherwise would be using a conventional double-poly process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: SiGe Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventor: Stephen J. Kovacic
  • Patent number: 6534372
    Abstract: In one disclosed embodiment, a silicon-germanium base is formed, which includes an extrinsic base region, a link base region, and an intrinsic base region. An etch stop layer, which can be silicon oxide, is deposited over the silicon-germanium base. A polycrystalline silicon layer is then formed on the etch stop layer above the silicon-germanium base. The polycrystalline silicon layer is patterned to form a temporary emitter. The link base regions can be implant doped after fabricating the temporary emitter, for example, to reduce the resistance of the link base regions. Link spacers are then fabricated on the sides of the temporary emitter. The link spacers can be formed by depositing a conformal layer of silicon oxide over the temporary emitter and then etching back the conformal layer. The length of the link base regions, which are below the spacers, can be determined by the deposition thickness of the conformal layer. The extrinsic base regions are implant doped after fabricating the link spacers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: Newport Fab, LLC
    Inventor: Marco Racanelli
  • Patent number: 6482697
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method of forming a gate structure of a floating gate MOS field effect transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroki Shirai
  • Patent number: 6465317
    Abstract: A transistor manufacturing process includes the formation, on a layer (15) that will form the base of the transistor, of a stack of an SiGe alloy layer (16), a silicon oxide layer (17) and a silicon nitride layer (18), so as to form in this layer, a false emitter (20), to form, in the layer (15) that will form the base, an extrinsic base region (22) and to siliconize the surface of this extrinsic base region, to cover the extrinsic base region (22) and the false emitter (20) with a silicon dioxide layer (24) which is chemically and mechanically polished down to the level of the false emitter (20), to etch the false emitter (20) in order to form a window (25) and to form, in the window (25) and on the silicon dioxide layer (24), a polysilicon emitter (27). This process has particular application to manufacturing heterojunction bipolar transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventor: Michel Marty
  • Patent number: 6444536
    Abstract: In accordance with the invention, a bipolar transistor is fabricated by disposing a sacrificial layer over the conventional semiconductor workpiece. The sacrificial layer is patterned into a stripe corresponding to the emitter stripe, and the base contacts are formed in relation to the sacrificial stripe. The stripe is removed, and the base and emitter are formed. In the preferred embodiment, the sacrificial layer is a stack of layers providing etch selectivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2002
    Assignee: Agere Systems Guardian Corp.
    Inventor: Ian Wakefield Wylie
  • Patent number: 6403991
    Abstract: A bipolar transistor device with a large current capacity is formed by connecting a plurality of transistor elements to each other in parallel, each transistor element having a collector layer, a base layer, and an emitter layer formed respectively in a semiconductor substrate. In the bipolar transistor device, the base layers of a plurality of the transistor elements are extended in parallel to each other and those base layers are separated from each other. In each separated base layer, a first base electrode is formed on a part of the base layer which is separated from an emitter junction with the emitter layer, and a second base electrode is formed on another portion of the base layer closer to the emitter junction than the first base electrode. To dispose the base electrodes of a plurality of the transistor elements in parallel to each other, a base wiring is connected to the first base electrodes of those elements electrically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Kurokawa, Masao Yamane, Kazuhiro Mochizuki
  • Patent number: 6372594
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method for fabricating a self-aligned submicron gate electrode using an anisotropic etching process. The method involves the steps of laminating a dummy emitter defining a dummy emitter region over a heterojunction bipolar transistor structure including layers sequentially formed over a semiconductor substrate to define a base region, an emitter region, and an emitter cap region, respectively, defining a line having a width of about 1 micron on the dummy emitter by use of a photoresist while using a contact aligner, selectively anisotropic etching the dummy emitter at a region where the line is defined, to allow the dummy emitter to have an etched portion having a bottom surface with a width less than the width of the line defined by the photoresist, and depositing a contact metal on the etched portion of the dummy emitter, thereby forming a gate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2002
    Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
    Inventors: Soo Kun Jeon, Moon Jung Kim, Kyoung Hoon Yang, Young Se Kwon
  • Patent number: 6323075
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of fabricating a semiconductor device in which at least an LDD type insulated-gate field effect transistor and a bipolar transistor are formed on a common base substrate. An insulating layer for forming side walls of an LDD type insulated-gate field effect transistor is formed by a stack of first and second insulating films. An opening is formed in the lower first insulating film at a position in a bipolar transistor forming area, and a single crystal semiconductor layer is formed on a base substrate through the opening. With this configuration, the fabrication steps can be simplified and the reliability of the semiconductor device can be enhanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2001
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Ammo, Hiroyuki Miwa
  • Publication number: 20010039095
    Abstract: A transistor manufacturing process includes the formation, on a layer (15) that will form the base of the transistor, of a stack of an SiGe alloy layer (16), a silicon oxide layer (17) and a silicon nitride layer (18), so as to form in this layer, a false emitter (20), to form, in the layer (15) that will form the base, an extrinsic base region (22) and to siliconize the surface of this extrinsic base region, to cover the extrinsic base region (22) and the false emitter (20) with a silicon dioxide layer (24) which is chemically and mechanically polished down to the level of the false emitter (20), to etch the false emitter (20) in order to form a window (25) and to form, in the window (25) and on the silicon dioxide layer (24), a polysilicon emitter (27). This process has particular application to manufacturing heterojunction bipolar transistors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2001
    Publication date: November 8, 2001
    Inventor: Michel Marty
  • Publication number: 20010026985
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method for fabricating a self-aligned submicron gate electrode using an anisotropic etching process. The method involves the steps of laminating a dummy emitter defining a dummy emitter region over a heterojunction bipolar transistor structure including layers sequentially formed over a semiconductor substrate to define a base region, an emitter region, and an emitter cap region, respectively, defining a line having a width of about 1 micron on the dummy emitter by use of a photoresist while using a contact aligner, selectively anisotropic etching the dummy emitter at a region where the line is defined, to allow the dummy emitter to have an etched portion having a bottom surface with a width less than the width of the line defined by the photoresist, and depositing a contact metal on the etched portion of the dummy emitter, thereby forming a gate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2000
    Publication date: October 4, 2001
    Inventors: Moon Jung Kim, Kyoung Hoon Yang, Young Se Kwon