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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8183150 | Semiconductor device having silicon carbide and conductive pathway interface The present invention provides semiconductor device formed by an in situ plasma reducing process to reduce oxides or other contaminants, using a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, typically ammonia, at relatively low temperatures prior to depositing a subsequent lay... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8183132 | Methods for fabricating group III nitride structures with a cluster tool The present invention generally provides apparatus and methods for forming LED structures. One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for fabricating a compound nitride structure comprising forming a first layer comprising a first group-III element an... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8183081 | Hybrid heterojunction solar cell fabrication using a metal layer mask Embodiments of the invention generally provide a high efficiency solar cell using a novel processing sequence to form a solar cell device. In one embodiment, the methods include forming one or more layers on a backside of a solar cell substrate prior to the texturin... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8182661 | Controllable target cooling A sputter target assembly particularly useful for a large panel plasma sputter reactor having a target assembly sealed both to the main processing chamber and a vacuum pumped chamber housing a moving magnetron. The target assembly to which target tiles are bonded in... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8181596 | Cluster tool architecture for processing a substrate An apparatus for processing substrates using a multi-chamber processing system (e.g., a cluster tool) that has an increased system throughput, increased system reliability, a smaller system footprint, and a more repeatable wafer history. Embodiments provide for a cl... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8181302 | Brush alignment control mechanism A method and apparatus for providing uniform pressure, friction and/or contact between a substrate and a cylindrical roller in a brush-type cleaning system is described. The apparatus includes an alignment member adapted to allow pivotal movement of the cylindrical ... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8178819 | Thermal flux processing by scanning a focused line beam The thermal processing device includes a stage, a continuous wave electromagnetic radiation source, a series of lenses, a translation mechanism, a detection module, a three-dimensional auto-focus, and a computer system. The stage is configured to receive a substrate... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8178155 | Carbon-based ultracapacitor A method of manufacturing a high surface area per unit weight carbon electrode includes providing a substrate, depositing a carbon-rich material on the substrate to form a film, and after the depositing, activating the carbon-rich material to increase the surface ar... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8174400 | Frequency monitoring to detect plasma process abnormality Abnormal conditions within an RF-powered plasma process chamber are detected by detecting whether the frequency of a variable-frequency RF power supply moves outside established lower and upper limits. In a first aspect, a first pair of lower and upper limits are es... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8173473 | Laser system for processing solar wafers in a carrier An apparatus and method for processing the solar cell substrates is provided. In one embodiment, a laser firing chamber for processing solar cell substrates placed in a carrier, comprising a laser module located at a side of the carrier, the laser module being adapt... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8173228 | Particle reduction on surfaces of chemical vapor deposition processing apparatus A method of reducing the amount of particulates generated from the surface of a processing component used during plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of thin films. The body of the processing component comprises an aluminum alloy, and an exterior surface of sai... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8172643 | Polishing system having a track Embodiments described herein relate to a track system in a polishing system. One embodiment described herein provides a track system configured to transfer polishing heads in a polishing system. The track system comprises a supporting frame, a track coupled to the s... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8168543 | Methods of forming a layer for barrier applications in an interconnect structure Methods of forming a barrier layer are provided. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a substrate into a physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber, supplying at least two reactive gases and an inert gas into the PVD chamber, sputtering a source material fr... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8168519 | Plasma immersion ion implantation method using a pure or nearly pure silicon seasoning layer on the chamber interior surfaces Plasma immersion ion implantation employing a very high RF bias voltage on an electrostatic chuck to attain a requisite implant depth profile is carried out by first depositing a partially conductive silicon-containing seasoning layer over the interior chamber surfa... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8168462 | Passivation process for solar cell fabrication Embodiments of the invention contemplate the formation of a high efficiency solar cell using a novel plasma oxidation process to form a passivation film stack on a surface of a solar cell substrate. In one embodiment, the methods include providing a substrate having... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8168318 | Method for high volume manufacturing of thin film batteries Concepts and methods are provided to reduce the cost and complexity of thin film battery (TFB) high volume manufacturing by eliminating and/or minimizing the use of conventional physical (shadow) masks. Laser scribing and other alternative physical maskless patterni... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8168269 | Plasma, UV and ion/neutral assisted ALD or CVD in a batch tool A batch processing chamber includes a chamber housing, a substrate boat for containing a batch of substrates in a process region, and an excitation assembly for exciting species of a processing gas. The excitation assembly is positioned within the chamber housing an... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8168265 | Method for manufacturing electrochromic devices This invention contemplates the use of laser patterning/scribing in electrochromic device manufacture, anywhere during the manufacturing process as deemed appropriate and necessary for electrochromic device manufacturability, yield and functionality, while integrati... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8163626 | Enhancing NAND flash floating gate performance Embodiments described herein generally relate to flash memory devices and methods for manufacturing flash memory devices. In one embodiment, a method for selective removal of nitrogen from the nitrided areas of a substrate is provided. The method comprises positioni... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8163343 | Method of forming an aluminum oxide layer Methods of forming aluminum oxide layers on substrates are disclosed. In some embodiments, the method includes depositing an aluminum oxide seed layer on the substrate using a first process having a first deposition rate. The method further includes depositing a bul... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8163330 | Molten metal spraying for metallization application in solar cells The present invention provides a method of making back side contacts and back surface fields in photovoltaic devices such as silicon solar cells. According to one aspect, the process of the present invention is a non-contact process, overcoming many of the problems ... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8163191 | Apparatus and methods for using high frequency chokes in a substrate deposition apparatus In certain aspects, a substrate deposition apparatus, including a gas tube coupled to a gas source, an RF power source and a substrate processing chamber, is provided. The gas tube is adapted to carry process gas and cleaning plasma from the gas source/remote plasma... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8158526 | Endpoint detection for photomask etching Apparatus and method for endpoint detection are provided for photomask etching. The apparatus provides a plasma etch chamber with a substrate support member. The substrate support member has at least two optical components disposed therein for use in endpoint detect... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8158522 | Method of forming a deep trench in a substrate Methods of forming deep trenches in substrates are described. A method includes providing a substrate with a patterned film disposed thereon, the patterned film including a trench having a first width and a pair of sidewalls, the trench exposing the top surface of t... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8158511 | Method of depositing a uniform barrier layer and metal seed layer with reduced overhang over a plurality of recessed semiconductor features A method of depositing a metal seed layer with underlying barrier layer on a wafer substrate comprising a plurality of recessed device features. A first portion of the barrier layer is deposited on the wafer substrate without excessive build-up of barrier layer mate... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157975 | Sprayed Si- or Si:Al-target with low iron content A sputter target for sputtering a silicon-containing film is provided. The target includes a silicon-containing sputter material layer, and a carrier for carrying the sputter material layer, wherein the sputter material layer contains less than 200 ppm iron. ... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157951 | Capacitively coupled plasma reactor having very agile wafer temperature control A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece includes a reactor chamber, an electrostatic chuck within the chamber having a top surface for supporting a workpiece and having indentations in the top surface that form enclosed gas flow channels whenever covered by a wo... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157614 | Method of making and apparatus having windowless polishing pad and protected fiber A polishing system includes a polishing pad with an aperture that extends through all layers of the polishing pad and a light transmissive film positioned on top of a light-generating or light-guiding element of an optical monitoring system. ... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8156629 | Self-aligning utility autocoupler An apparatus and method for coupling utilities is provided. In one embodiment, an apparatus for coupling utilities comprises a lower plate supported by a box, the plate having an aperture, at least one preloaded spring, at least one utility connection component, and... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8153993 | Front plate for an ion source The present invention relates to a front plate for an ion source that is suitable for an ion implanter. The front plate according to the invention comprises obverse and reverse sides, an exit aperture for allowing egress of ions from the ion source that extends subs... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8153348 | Process sequence for formation of patterned hard mask film (RFP) without need for photoresist or dry etch Method and systems for patterning a hardmask film using ultraviolet light is disclosed according to one embodiment of the invention. Embodiments of the present invention alleviate the processing problem of depositing and etching photoresist in order to produce a har... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8152981 | Methods and compositions for electrophoretic metallization deposition Embodiments of the invention generally provide methods and compositions that are used during electrophoretic deposition (EPD) processes. In one embodiment, a method for forming a metallization material during an EPD process is provided which includes positioning a s... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8150242 | Use of infrared camera for real-time temperature monitoring and control Embodiments of the invention generally contemplate an apparatus and method for monitoring and controlling the temperature of a substrate during processing. One embodiment of the apparatus and method takes advantage of an infrared camera to obtain the temperature pro... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8148977 | Apparatus for characterizing a magnetic field in a magnetically enhanced substrate processing system Embodiments of sensor devices for characterizing magnetic fields formed in substrate processing systems and methods of use thereof are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for characterizing a magnetic field in a substrate processing system may include... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8148663 | Apparatus and method of improving beam shaping and beam homogenization The present invention generally relates to an optical system that is able to reliably deliver a uniform amount of energy across an anneal region contained on a surface of a substrate. The optical system is adapted to deliver, or project, a uniform amount of energy h... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8148269 | Boron nitride and boron-nitride derived materials deposition method A method and apparatus are provided to form spacer materials adjacent substrate structures. In one embodiment, a method is provided for processing a substrate including placing a substrate having a substrate structure adjacent a substrate surface in a deposition cha... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8148241 | Indium surfactant assisted HVPE of high quality gallium nitride and gallium nitride alloy films One embodiment of depositing a gallium nitride (GaN) film on a substrate comprises providing a source of indium (In) and gallium (Ga) and depositing a monolayer of indium (In) on the surface of the gallium nitride (GaN) film. The monolayer of indium (In) acts as a s... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8147614 | Multi-gas flow diffuser Embodiments of the disclosure generally provide a method and apparatus for processing a substrate in a vacuum process chamber. In one embodiment a vacuum process chamber is provided that includes a chamber body and lid disposed on the chamber body. A blocker plate i... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8147137 | Pyrometry for substrate processing A substrate processing system includes a processing chamber, a pedestal for supporting a substrate disposed within the processing chamber, and an optical pyrometry assembly coupled to the processing chamber to measure an emitted light originating substantially from ... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8146973 | Tendon enhanced end effector An end effector assembly for a substrate transfer robot is described. The end effector assembly includes a robot wrist. At least one end effector is secured to the robot wrist. The end effector has a fixed end, a free end, a load-supporting surface and a tension mem... | 04/03/2012 |
