8775 results about "Chemical physics" patented technology

A system to form a dielectric layer on a substrate from a plasma of dielectric precursors is described. The system may include a deposition chamber, a substrate stage in the deposition chamber to hold the substrate, and a remote plasma generating system coupled to the deposition chamber, where the plasma generating system is used to generate a dielectric precursor having one or more reactive radicals. The system may also include a precursor distribution system that includes at least one top inlet and a plurality of side inlets. The top inlet may be positioned above the substrate stage and the side inlets may be radially distributed around the substrate stage. The reactive radical precursor may be supplied to the deposition chamber through the top inlet. An in-situ plasma generating system may also be included to generate the plasma in the deposition chamber from the dielectric precursors supplied to the deposition chamber.

The present invention provides a method of measuring an analyte, such as glucose in a fluid sample, such as whole blood, by a reflectance reading device. The method includes making periodic intermediate calculations of analyte level and dynamically ascertaining when an analytical reaction has reached an end point. Once stable, the process stops making periodic calculations and reports the final, actual glucose concentration. According to an exemplary embodiment, the method is performed by a reflectance photometer using an analytical test strip containing reagents that react with an analyte of interest in the test fluid. The end point is determined by calculating an intermediate analyte level of the testing element at predetermined intervals and calculating a ratio value corresponding to the (n)th measurement to an (n-5)th measurement. When two consecutive ratio values are less than or equal to a predetermined value, the end point is deemed reached and the final analyte level ascertained.

A method of forming an insulation film on a semiconductor substrate by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD), includes: (i) adsorbing a non-excited non-halide precursor having four or more silicon atoms in its molecule onto a substrate placed in a reaction space; (ii) supplying an oxygen-free reactant to the reaction space without applying RF power so as to expose the precursor-adsorbed substrate to the reactant; and (iii) after step (ii), applying RF power to the reaction space while the oxygen-free reactant is supplied in the reaction space; and (iv) repeating steps (i) to (iii) as a cycle, thereby depositing an insulation film on the substrate.

A metal film composed of multiple atomic layers continuously formed by atomic layer deposition of Ru and Ta or Ti includes at least a top section and a bottom section, wherein an atomic composition of Ru, Ta or Ti, and N varies in a thickness direction of the metal film. The atomic composition of Ru, Ta or Ti, and N in the top section is represented as Ru(x1)Ta / Ti(y1)N(z1) wherein an atomic ratio of Ru(x1) / (Ta / Ti(y1)) is no less than 15, and z1 is 0.05 or less. The atomic composition of Ru, Ta or Ti, and N in the bottom section is represented as Ru(x2)Ta / Ti(y2)N(z2) wherein an atomic ratio of Ru(x2) / (Ta / Ti(y2)) is more than zero but less than 15, and z2 is 0.10 or greater.

A method for forming a metal oxide or nitride film on a substrate by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD), includes: introducing an amino-based metal precursor in a pulse to a reaction space where a substrate is placed, using a carrier gas; and continuously introducing a reactant gas to the reaction space; applying RF power in a pulse to the reaction space wherein the pulse of the precursor and the pulse of RF power do not overlap, wherein conducted is at least either step (a) comprising passing the carrier gas through a purifier for reducing impurities before mixing the carrier gas with the precursor, or step (b) introducing the reactant gas at a flow rate such that a partial pressure of the reactant gas relative to the total gas flow provided in the reaction space is 15% or less.

A method for depositing a germanium tin (Ge1-xSnx) semiconductor is disclosed. The method may include; providing a substrate within a reaction chamber, heating the substrate to a deposition temperature and exposing the substrate to a germanium precursor and a tin precursor. The method may further include; depositing a germanium tin (Ge1-xSnx) semiconductor on the surface of the substrate, and exposing the germanium tin (Ge1-xSnx) semiconductor to a boron dopant precursor. Semiconductor device structures including a germanium tin (Ge1-xSnx) semiconductor formed by the methods of the disclosure are also provided.

A method of forming a metal nitride film using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and a method of forming a metal contact and a semiconductor capacitor of a semiconductor device using the same, are provided. The method of forming a metal nitride film using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in which a metal source and a nitrogen source are used as a precursor, includes the steps of inserting a semiconductor substrate into a deposition chamber, flowing the metal source into the deposition chamber, removing the metal source remaining in the deposition chamber by cutting off the inflow of the metal source and flowing a purge gas into the deposition chamber, cutting off the purge gas and flowing the nitrogen source into the deposition chamber to react with the metal source adsorbed on the semiconductor substrate, and removing the nitrogen source remaining in the deposition chamber by cutting off the inflow of the nitrogen source and flowing the purge gas into the deposition chamber. Accordingly, the metal nitride film having low resistivity and a low content of Cl even with excellent step coverage can be formed at a temperature of 500° C. or lower, and a semiconductor capacitor having excellent leakage current characteristics can be manufactured. Also, a deposition speed, approximately 20 A / cycle, is suitable for mass production.

A system, including method and apparatus, for generating droplets suitable for droplet-based assays. The disclosed systems may include either one-piece or multi-piece droplet generation components configured to form sample-containing droplets by merging aqueous, sample-containing fluid with a background emulsion fluid such as oil, to form an emulsion of sample-containing droplets suspended in the background fluid. In some cases, the disclosed systems may include channels or other suitable mechanisms configured to transport the sample-containing droplets to an outlet region, so that subsequent assay steps may be performed.

A method of forming a metal nitride film using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and a method of forming a metal contact and a semiconductor capacitor of a semiconductor device using the same, are provided. The method of forming a metal nitride film using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in which a metal source and a nitrogen source are used as a precursor, includes the steps of inserting a semiconductor substrate into a deposition chamber, flowing the metal source into the deposition chamber, removing the metal source remaining in the deposition chamber by cutting off the inflow of the metal source and flowing a purge gas into the deposition chamber, cutting off the purge gas and flowing the nitrogen source into the deposition chamber to react with the metal source adsorbed on the semiconductor substrate, and removing the nitrogen source remaining in the deposition chamber by cutting off the inflow of the nitrogen source and flowing the purge gas into the deposition chamber. Accordingly, the metal nitride film having low resistivity and a low content of Cl even with excellent step coverage can be formed at a temperature of 500° C. or lower, and a semiconductor capacitor having excellent leakage current characteristics can be manufactured. Also, a deposition speed, approximately 20 A / cycle, is suitable for mass production.

Disclosed are electrochemical device separator structures which include a substantially impervious active metal ion conducting barrier layer material, such as an ion conducting glass, is formed on an active metal ion conducting membrane in which elongation due to swelling on contact with liquid electrolyte is constrained in at least two of three orthogonal dimensions of the membrane. The non-swelling character of the membrane prevents elongation in the x-y (or lateral, relative to the layers of the composite) orthogonal dimensions of the membrane when it is contacted with liquid electrolyte that would otherwise cause the barrier layer to rupture. Substantial swelling of the membrane, if any, is limited to the z (or vertical, relative to the layers of the composite) dimension.

The amount of atoms diffused into a substrate may be made uniform or the thickness of a thin film may be made uniform in a low species utilization process by stopping the flow of gas into a reaction chamber during the low species utilization process. Stopping the flow of gas into a reaction chamber may entail closing the gate valve (the valve to the vacuum pump), stabilizing the pressure within the reaction chamber, and maintaining the stabilized pressure while stopping the gas flowing into the chamber. Low species utilization processes include the diffusion of nitrogen into silicon dioxide gate dielectric layers by decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN), the deposition of a silicon dioxide film by rapid thermal processing (RTP) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and the deposition of silicon epitaxial layers by CVD.

The present invention relates to droplet-based particle sorting. According to one embodiment, a droplet microactuator is provided and includes: (a) a suspension of particles; and (b) electrodes arranged for conducting droplet operations using droplets comprising particles. A method of transporting a particle is also provided, wherein the method includes providing a droplet comprising the particle and transporting the droplet on a droplet microactuator.