Quotables
"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
Al Gore ; The basis for the later misquote by US Republicans that Gore had "invented" the Internet. Gore was the leading political champion of the modern-day Internet.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of PatentStorm
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest patents by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Got questions? Ask a Patent Expert!
Registered users: Manage your profile, comments and alerts.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7611617 | Method of manufacturing a dielectric component, and dielectric components manufactured by such a method A method of forming a dielectric component, such as a capacitor is disclosed. In such a method, a conductive surface is applied to a dielectric to form a coated dielectric. Then a portion of the conductive surface is removed from the coated dielectric to form at lea... | 11/03/2009 |
| 7488408 | Tin-plated film and method for producing the same The present invention has an object to provide a tin-plated film and a method for producing the same, capable of preventing whiskers from being generated and simultaneously preventing the surface of a substrate to be plated, which is not covered with a tin-plated fi... | 02/10/2009 |
| 7422696 | Multicomponent nanorods Multicomponent nanorods having segments with differing electronic and/or chemical properties are disclosed. The nanorods can be tailored with high precision to create controlled gaps within the nanorods or to produce diodes or resistors, based upon the identities of... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7384530 | Methods for electrochemically fabricating multi-layer structures including regions incorporating maskless, patterned, multiple layer thickness depositions of selected materials The invention includes methods of fabrication and apparatuses. In at least some embodiments of the applicants' invention, the methods include processes of: maskless selective deposition of non-layered structures, selective etching and/or deposition without use of a ... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7332062 | Electroplating tool for semiconductor manufacture having electric field control An electroplating tool for providing a metal or metal film on a semiconductor wafer during processing thereof has a wafer chucking mechanism with a conductor or conductors associated therewith. The conductor(s) are electrically connected to a controller that applies... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7323094 | Process for depositing a layer of material on a substrate An electroplating system (30) and process makes electrical current density across a semiconductor device substrate (20) surface more uniform during plating to allow for a more uniform or tailored deposition of a conductive material. The electrical curr... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7316783 | Method of wiring formation and method for manufacturing electronic components A method of wiring formation includes forming a feeder film partially on a substrate, forming on the substrate a plating base film via a physical film making method so that the plate base film partially overlaps the feeder film, forming a plated wiring on the platin... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7303663 | Multistep release method for electrochemically fabricated structures Multilayer structures are electrochemically fabricated from at least one structural material (e.g. nickel), that is configured to define a desired structure and which may be attached to a substrate, and from at least one sacrificial material (e.g. copper) that surro... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7252750 | Dual contact ring and method for metal ECP process A dual contact ring for contacting a patterned surface of a wafer and electrochemical plating of a metal on the patterned central region of the wafer and removing the metal from the outer, edge region of the wafer. The dual contact ring has an outer voltage ring in ... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7252861 | Methods of and apparatus for electrochemically fabricating structures via interlaced layers or via selective etching and filling of voids Multi-layer structures are electrochemically fabricated by depositing a first material, selectively etching the first material (e.g. via a mask), depositing a second material to fill in the voids created by the etching, and then planarizing the depositions so as to ... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7250101 | Electrochemically fabricated structures having dielectric or active bases and methods of and apparatus for producing such structures Multilayer structures are electrochemically fabricated on a temporary (e.g. conductive) substrate and are thereafter bonded to a permanent (e.g. dielectric, patterned, multi-material, or otherwise functional) substrate and removed from the temporary substrate. In so... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7247227 | Buffer layer in flat panel display In devices such as flat panel displays, an aluminum oxide layer is provided between an aluminum layer and an ITO layer when such materials would otherwise be in contact to protect the ITO from optical and electrical defects sustained, for instance, during anodic bon... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7219414 | Method of manufacturing magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording A main pole layer of a magnetic head includes a first portion disposed at a distance from a medium facing surface, and a second portion that is smaller in thickness than the first portion and disposed between the first portion and the medium facing surface. The step... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7214304 | Process for preparing a non-conductive substrate for electroplating A process for preparing a non-conductive substrate for electroplating is proposed. The proposed process comprises contacting the substrate, after desmear, with a combined neutralization/sacrificial coating solution followed by treatment with a carbon dispersion solu... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7211848 | Masked spacer etching for imagers The invention relates to a dual masked spacer etch for improved dark current performance in imagers. After deposition of spacer material such as oxide, N-channel regions are first opened for N+ source/drain implant and P-channel regions are then opened fo... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7192510 | Fluid control device and method of manufacturing the same A fluid control device has very fine pores with an average diameter not greater than 10 nm and provides a large flux. The fluid control device comprises an anodized alumina film having fine pores and a silicon based micro-porous film having very fine pores and made ... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7160429 | Electrochemically fabricated hermetically sealed microstructures and methods of and apparatus for producing such structures In some embodiments, multilayer structures are electrochemically fabricated from at least one structural material (e.g. nickel), at least one sacrificial material (e.g. copper), and at least one sealing material (e.g. solder). In some embodiments, the layered struct... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7109118 | Electrochemical fabrication methods including use of surface treatments to reduce overplating and/or planarization during formation of multi-layer three-dimensional structures A method of fabricating three-dimensional structures from a plurality of adhered layers of at least a first and a second material wherein the first material is a conductive material and wherein each of a plurality of layers includes treating a surface of a first mat... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7087315 | Method for forming plating film A method for forming a plating film, comprising the steps of: applying a plating film onto an object to be plated at a first current density for a predetermined period in a plating bath having a cathode capable of varying current and an anode and; and maintaining th... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7066234 | Stamping tool, casting mold and methods for structuring a surface of a work piece A simple, cost-effective stamping or molding in the nanometer range is enabled using a stamping surface or molding face with a surface layer having hollow chambers that have been formed by anodic oxidation. ... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7048841 | Contact assemblies, methods for making contact assemblies, and plating machines with contact assemblies for plating microelectronic workpieces Contact assemblies, electroplating machines with contact assemblies, and methods for making contact assemblies that are used in the fabrication of microelectronic workpieces. The contact assemblies can be wet-contact assemblies or dry-contact assemblies. A contact a... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7045039 | Process for applying protective and decorative coating on an article A method for depositing a multi-layered protective and decorative coating on an article comprising first depositing at least one coating layer on the article by electroplating, removing the electroplated article from the electroplating bath and subjecting it to puls... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7029597 | Anodized aluminum etching process and related apparatus A process for selectively etching a surface of an anodized aluminum article. A preferred process includes: providing an aluminum sheet or web including first and second sides having anodized finishes; etching the first side to improve the adhesion capabilities of th... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7029567 | Electrochemical edge and bevel cleaning process and system An edge cleaning system and method is disclosed in which a directed stream of a mild etching solution is supplied to an edge area of a rotating workpiece, including the front surface edge and bevel, while a potential difference between the workpiece and the directed... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7022210 | Locally-distributed electrode and method of fabrication A locally distributed electrode is made by placing a conducting metallic oxide layer and a counter electrode in contact with a noble metal electroplating solution and applying a negative potential to the metallic oxide layer relative to the counter electrode, such t... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7001641 | Seed layer treatment Seed layer treatment to remove impurities in the seed layer that might lead to the formation of voids in interconnect circuit features. In one embodiment, the seed layer is heated in a reducing environment. In another embodiment, the seed layer is washed with a surf... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6986838 | Nanomachined and micromachined electrodes for electrochemical devices A nanomachined and micromachined electrode (10) is disclosed that is produced by providing a layer of aluminum (11) positioned upon a conductive substrate (12), anodizing the layer of aluminum to produce a layer of aluminum oxide (13) hav... | 01/17/2006 |
| 6946066 | Multi step electrodeposition process for reducing defects and minimizing film thickness The present invention relates to a method for forming a planar conductive surface on a wafer. In one aspect, the present invention uses a no-contact process with electrochemical deposition, followed by a contact process with electrochemical mechanical deposition. | 09/20/2005 |
| 6936349 | Method of coloring magnesium material, and housing made of colored magnesium material A housing made of a magnesium material is colored by a non-painting process. In this process, an anode oxide film is grown on the surface of the housing by subjecting the housing to anodization. The anode oxide film is colored without a paint being applied to the su... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6932896 | Method and apparatus for avoiding particle accumulation in electrodeposition Systems and methods to remove or lessen the size of metal particles that have formed on, and to limit the rate at which metal particles form or grow on, workpiece surface influencing devices used during electrodeposition are presented. According to an exemplary meth... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6887367 | Process for the coating of passivated metallic surfaces of components and such coated components The invention relates to a process which is suitable for applying a permanently adhering, stable, dirt and water repellent coating to metallic surfaces, specifically chromium surfaces, specifically sanitary and kitchen fixtures, and also to the components coated in ... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6878260 | Process for forming a high-quality interface between a plated and a non-plated area A process for forming an interface (106) between a plated and a non-plated area (102, 104) on the surface of a plastic component (100) is disclosed. First, an anti-plating layer (110) is formed over the surface of the plastic component. T... | 04/12/2005 |
| 6866764 | Processes for fabricating printed wiring boards using dendritic polymer copper nanocomposite coatings An inexpensive process for depositing an electrically conductive material on selected surfaces of a dielectric substrate may be advantageously employed in the manufacture of printed wiring boards having high quality, high density, fine-line circuitry, thereby allowi... | 03/15/2005 |
| 6837979 | Method and apparatus for depositing and controlling the texture of a thin film The present invention provides a method and apparatus for plating a conductive material to a substrate and also modifying the physical properties of a conductive film while the substrate is being plated. The present invention further provides a method and apparatus ... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6833063 | Electrochemical edge and bevel cleaning process and system The present invention provides an edge cleaning system and method in which a directed stream of a mild etching solution is supplied to an edge area of a rotating workpiece, including the front surface edge and bevel, while a potential difference between the workpiec... | 12/21/2004 |
| 6808617 | Electrolytic polishing method A polishing method and polishing apparatus able to easily flatten an initial unevenness with an excellent efficiency of removal of excess copper film and suppress damage to a lower interlayer insulation film, and a plating method and plating apparatus able to deposi... | 10/26/2004 |
| 6808641 | Method of wiring formation and method for manufacturing electronic components A method of wiring formation includes forming a feeder film partially on a substrate, forming on the substrate a plating base film via a physical film making method so that the plate base film partially overlaps the feeder film, forming a plated wiring on the platin... | 10/26/2004 |
| 6790336 | Method of fabricating damascene structures in mechanically weak interlayer dielectrics A copper damascene process for a mechanically weak low k dielectric layer is described. Electropolishing is used to etch back the copper. A sacrificial conductive layer beneath the barrier layer assures complete planarization of the copper. ... | 09/14/2004 |
| 6773570 | Integrated plating and planarization process and apparatus therefor A method and apparatus are described for performing both electroplating of a metal layer and planarization of the layer on a substrate. Electroplating and electroetching of metal (such as copper) are performed in a repeated sequence, followed by chemical-mechanical ... | 08/10/2004 |
| 6758956 | Method for darkening a superficial layer which contains zinc and which is of a material piece The invention relates to a method for darkening a superficial layer of a workpiece which contains zinc by anodic oxidation. The workpiece is oxidized in a soaking bath containing an aqueous solution comprised of a hydroxide and of a nitrate. The anodic oxidation may... | 07/06/2004 |