Abstract:
An integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes a parent terrain; and a hierarchical order of nested voltage islands within the parent terrain, each higher-order voltage island nested within a lower-order voltage island, each nested voltage island having the same hierarchical structure.
Abstract:
There are many inventions described and illustrated herein. In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a MEMS device, and technique of fabricating or manufacturing a MEMS device, having mechanical structures encapsulated in a chamber prior to final packaging. The material that encapsulates the mechanical structures, when deposited, includes one or more of the following attributes: low tensile stress, good step coverage, maintains its integrity when subjected to subsequent processing, does not significantly and/or adversely impact the performance characteristics of the mechanical structures in the chamber (if coated with the material during deposition), and/or facilitates integration with high-performance integrated circuits. In one embodiment, the material that encapsulates the mechanical structures is, for example, silicon (polycrystalline, amorphous or porous, whether doped or undoped), silicon carbide, silicon-germanium, germanium, or gallium-arsenide.
Abstract:
In one aspect, the invention provides photovoltaic cells that utilize a mesh electrode on at least one exposure side of the photovoltaic cell. Preferably, the mesh electrode is a metallic mesh. In one embodiment, the invention provides dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) having a wire mesh exposure side electrode and a photovoltaic material comprising a photosensitized interconnected nanoparticle layer. In one embodiment, the wire mesh electrode functions as the cathode of the DSSC. In another embodiment, the wire mesh electrode functions as the anode of the DSSC. In addition, embodiments are provided where wire mesh electrodes are used for the anode and the cathode of a DSSC.
Abstract:
Method for manufacturing an electronic module, which electronic module includes a component (6), which has contact areas (17), which are connected electrically to a conductor-pattern layer (14). The manufacture according to the method starts from a layered membrane, which comprises at least a conductor layer (4) and an insulator layer (10) on the first surface of the conductor layer (4). Contact openings (17), the mutual positions of which correspond to the mutual positions of the contact areas (7) of the component (6), and which penetrate both the conductor layer (4) and the insulator layer (10), are made in the membrane. After the manufacture of the contact openings (17), the component (6) is attached to the surface of the insulator layer (10), in such a way that the contact areas (7) of the component (6) line up next to the contact openings (17). After this, at least in the contact openings (17) and the contact areas (7) of the component (6) a conductor material is made, which connects the component (6) to the conductor layer (4) and the conductor layer (4) is patterned to form a conductor-pattern layer (14).
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide methods for producing SiGe-on-insulator structures and for forming strain-relaxed SiGe layers on silicon while minimizing defects.SOLUTION: Amorphous SiGe layers 600 are deposited on at least one monolayer of a dopant by CVD from trisilane and GeH. The amorphous SiGe layers 600 are recrystallized over silicon by melt or solid phase epitaxy (SPE) processes. The melt processes preferably also cause diffusion of germanium to dilute the overall germanium content and essentially consume silicon 500 overlying an insulator. The SPE process can be conducted with or without diffusion of germanium into the underlying silicon 500, and so is applicable to SOI as well as conventional semiconductor substrates.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an MPEG decoder capable of effectively handling video processing.SOLUTION: According to one aspect of an MPEG processor, multiple MPEG data streams for corresponding channels are individually stored in an off-chip memory. Corresponding data for a channel is then read from the off-chip memory for processing. The read data is then decoded, and decoded results and associated information are stored in the off-chip memory. Some or all of the associated information that can be used for decoding subsequent data is stored in an on-chip memory. When video images need to be displayed, the corresponding data that is needed for that purpose is read from the off-chip memory, provided to an analog encoder, and encoded in a format that is compatible with an analog display device.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a silicon carbide part of a plasma processing apparatus which allows the reduction of particle contamination on a semiconductor substrate.SOLUTION: The method comprises: the step of heating a silicon carbide part at a temperature of about 750 or 1200°C or processing the part by oxygen plasma to remove a free carbon making a cause of particle contamination from at least the surface of the part produced by reaction between silicon vapor and carbon, provided that the silicon carbide part is used for a lower-side baffle plate 22a of a showerhead electrode 10 of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus.