Quotables
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
David Sarnoff, American radio pioneer ; 1921
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7897027 | Plating apparatus, plating method and multilayer printed circuit board A plating method includes providing an article in a plating bath, covering a surface of the article with an insulating member in the plating bath, and electrolytically plating the article while moving one of the insulating member and the article relative to each oth... | 03/01/2011 |
| 7575664 | Plating method A cathode potential is applied to a conductive layer formed on a substrate having a depression pattern. A plating solution in electrical contact with an anode is supplied to the conductive layer to form a plating film on the conductive layer. At this time, the plati... | 08/18/2009 |
| 7553400 | Plating apparatus and plating method A plating method is capable of mechanically and electrochemically preferentially depositing a plated film in fine interconnect recesses such as trenches and via holes, and depositing the plated film to a flatter surface. The plating method including: disposing a sub... | 06/30/2009 |
| 7435323 | Method for controlling thickness uniformity of electroplated layers An apparatus which can control thickness uniformity during deposition of conductive material from an electrolyte onto a surface of a semiconductor substrate is provided. The apparatus has an anode which can be contacted by the electrolyte during deposition of the co... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7422677 | Membrane-mediated electropolishing This invention provides a membrane-mediated electropolishing process for polishing and/or planarizing metal work pieces. The work piece is wetted with a low-conductivity fluid. The wetted work piece is contacted with a first side of a charge-selective ion-conducting... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7404886 | Plating by creating a differential between additives disposed on a surface portion and a cavity portion of a workpiece The present invention relates to methods for plating a conductive material on a substrate surface in a highly desirable manner. The invention removes at least one additive adsorbed on the top portion of the workpiece more than at least one additive disposed on a cav... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7378004 | Pad designs and structures for a versatile materials processing apparatus An apparatus capable of assisting in controlling an electrolyte flow and an electric field distribution used for processing a substrate is provided. It includes a rigid member having a top surface of a predetermined shape and a bottom surface. The rigid member conta... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7368045 | Gate stack engineering by electrochemical processing utilizing through-gate-dielectric current flow A method is provided for electroplating a gate metal or other conducting or semiconducting material directly on a dielectric such as a gate dielectric. The method involves selecting a substrate, dielectric layer, and electrolyte solution or melt, wherein the combina... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7341649 | Apparatus for electroprocessing a workpiece surface The present invention deposits a conductive material from an electrolyte solution to a predetermined area of a wafer. The steps that are used when making this application include applying the conductive material to the predetermined area of the wafer using an electr... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7335288 | Methods for depositing copper on a noble metal layer of a work piece Methods for electrodeposition of copper on a noble metal layer of a work piece are provided. An exemplary method includes exposing the noble metal layer to an electrodeposition composition. The electrodeposition composition comprises a copper salt, a suppressor, an ... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7323095 | Integrated multi-step gap fill and all feature planarization for conductive materials A method and apparatus is provided for depositing and planarizing a material layer on a substrate. In one embodiment, an apparatus is provided which includes a partial enclosure, a permeable disc, a diffuser plate and optionally an anode. A substrate carrier is posi... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7303662 | Contacts for electrochemical processing Systems and methods for electrochemically processing. A contact element defines a substrate contact surface positionable in contact a substrate during processing. In one embodiment, the contact element comprises a wire element. In another embodiment the contact elem... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7229535 | Hydrogen bubble reduction on the cathode using double-cell designs An apparatus and method for planarizing a surface of a substrate using a chamber separated into two parts by a membrane, and two separate electrolytes is provided. The embodiments of the present invention generally provide an electrochemical mechanical polishing sys... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7204924 | Method and apparatus to deposit layers with uniform properties The present invention provides a method for forming a conductive film with uniform properties on a wafer surface that has features or cavities. During the process, the workpiece is rotated and laterally moved while an electrodeposition solution is delivered onto the... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7201829 | Mask plate design The present invention includes a mask plate design that includes at least one or a plurality of channels portions on a surface of the mask plate, into which electrolyte solution will accumulate when the mask plate surface is disposed on a surface of wafer, and out o... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7128825 | Method and composition for polishing a substrate Polishing compositions and methods for removing conductive materials from a substrate surface are provided. In one aspect, a composition includes an acid based electrolyte system, one or more chelating agents, one or more corrosion inhibitors, one or more inorganic ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7125477 | Contacts for electrochemical processing Systems and methods for electrochemically processing. A contact element defines a substrate contact surface positionable in contact a substrate during processing. In one embodiment, the contact element comprises a wire element. In another embodiment the contact elem... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7112270 | Algorithm for real-time process control of electro-polishing Method and apparatus for process control of electro-processes. The method includes electro-processing a wafer by the application of two or more biases and determining an amount of charge removed as a result of each bias, separately. In one embodiment, an endpoint is... | 09/26/2006 |
| 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 |
| 7105082 | Composition and method for electrodeposition of metal on a work piece A composition for electrodeposition of a metal on a work piece, which electrodeposition is conducted at an electrodeposition temperature, is provided. The composition comprises a metal salt, a polymer suppressor having a cloud point, an accelerator and an electrolyt... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7097755 | Electrochemical mechanical processing with advancible sweeper The present invention provides an apparatus for electrochemical mechanical processing of a surface of a workpiece by utilizing a process solution. The apparatus of the present invention includes an electrode touching the process solution, a belt workpiece surface in... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7094131 | Microelectronic substrate having conductive material with blunt cornered apertures, and associated methods for removing conductive material A microelectronic substrate and method for removing conductive material from a microelectronic substrate. In one embodiment, the microelectronic substrate includes a conductive or semiconductive material with a recess having an initially sharp corner at the surface ... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7077721 | Pad assembly for electrochemical mechanical processing Embodiments of a processing pad assembly for processing a substrate are provided. The processing pad assembly includes an upper layer having a processing surface and an electrode having a top side coupled to the upper layer and a bottom side opposite the top side. A... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7066800 | Conductive polishing article for electrochemical mechanical polishing An article of manufacture and apparatus are provided for planarizing a substrate surface. In one aspect, an article of manufacture is provided for polishing a substrate including polishing article comprising a body having at least a partially conductive surface adap... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7059948 | Articles for polishing semiconductor substrates Methods, articles of manufacture, and apparatus are provided for depositing a layer, planarizing a layer, or combinations thereof, a material layer on a substrate. In one embodiment, an article of manufacture is provided for polishing a substrate, comprising a polis... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7045043 | Method of reducing a band mark of an electroplating steel sheet The present invention relates to a method of reducing a band mark on an electroplating steel sheet, which can also reduce plating defects and damages to the materials caused by the differences in the physical characteristics of composition materials of a conductor r... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7033465 | Clamshell apparatus with crystal shielding and in-situ rinse-dry Certain mechanisms of a plating apparatus address problems associated with interaction between plating solutions or other processing solutions and the components of the plating apparatus (such as the electrical contacts). For example, a circumferential spray skirt a... | 04/25/2006 |
| 7029365 | Pad assembly for electrochemical mechanical processing Embodiments of a pad assembly for processing a substrate are provided. The pad assembly includes a processing layer having a working surface adapted to process a substrate, a lower layer coupled to and disposed below the processing layer, and an electrode having an ... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7025861 | Contact plating apparatus Embodiments of the invention generally provide a substrate processing system and method. The substrate processing system generally includes a fluid basin configured to contain a plating solution therein, an anode assembly positioned in a lower portion of the fluid b... | 04/11/2006 |
| 6979248 | Conductive polishing article for electrochemical mechanical polishing An article of manufacture, method, and apparatus are provided for planarizing a substrate surface. In one aspect, an article of manufacture is provided for polishing a substrate including a polishing article having a body comprising at least a portion of fibers coat... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6969308 | Method and apparatus for chemical and mechanical polishing A polishing device is hermetically accommodated in a chamber containing an atmosphere having a composition different from the ambient air, so that the atmosphere around the polishing device is altered into the composition different from the ambient air, and voltage ... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6962524 | Conductive polishing article for electrochemical mechanical polishing Embodiments of a ball assembly are provided. In one embodiment, a ball assembly includes a housing, a ball, a conductive adapter and a contact element. The housing has an annular seat extending into a first end of an interior passage. The conductive adapter is coupl... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6951456 | Microcombustor and combustion-based thermoelectric microgenerator A generally toroidal counterflow heat exchanger is the main element of a combustor that operates at a micro scale. The combustor includes a central combustion region with openings to a reactant gas channel and an exhaust gas channel. The reactant channel and exhaust... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6935243 | Bullet A plated hollow-point bullet has a metallic plating which completely encapsulates a metallic core. A core precursor is formed having a nose compartment with an inwardly extending cavity. A metallic coating is applied to the precursor to completely encapsulate the pr... | 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 |
| 6921551 | Plating method and apparatus for controlling deposition on predetermined portions of a workpiece The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for plating a conductive material on a workpiece surface in a highly desirable manner. Using a workpiece-surface-influencing device, such as a mask or sweeper, that preferentially contacts the top surface of the... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6913681 | Plating method and plating apparatus A cathode potential is applied to a conductive layer formed on a substrate having a depression pattern. A plating solution in electrical contact with an anode is supplied to the conductive layer to form a plating film on the conductive layer. At this time, the plati... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6893549 | Cleaning apparatus for ECMD anode pad A cleaning apparatus for an ECMD anode pad including a vacuum head which applies vacuum pressure to the surface of the anode pad between ECMD operations in order to remove particles precipitated onto the surface of the anode pad and prevent or minimize inadvertent s... | 05/17/2005 |
| 6800186 | Method and apparatus for electrochemical processing A continuous strip is electrochemically processed in an electrolytic processing bath using either a thin flexible or resilient dielectric wiping blade or an open web, plastic mesh to wipe bubbles of gas from the surface, sever dendritic material, if such is present,... | 10/05/2004 |
| 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 |
