International Business Machines Corporation

Richard Steven Kontra

Timothy Dooling Sullivan

Tom C Lee

Fen Chen

William R Tonti

John Atkinson Fifield

Christopher David Muzzy

Peter John Geiss

Joseph R Greco

Wayne S Berry

Theodore M Levin

William H Guthrie

Emily Lanning

Arne Watson Ballantine

Alain F Loiseau

James Albert Slinkman

Edward D Adams

James Gardner Ryan

Alvin Wayne Strong

Cathryn Jeanne Christiansen

Thomas John Licata

Joseph E Therrien

A method for changing reflectance or resistance of a region in an optoelectronic memory device. Changing the reflectance of the region includes sending an electric current through the region to cause a reflectance change in the region. Changing the resistance of the region includes: projecting a laser beam at a first beam intensity on the region, resulting in the region changing from a first to a second different resistance value; electrically reading the second resistance value during which an optical signal carried by the laser beam has a first digital value; after electrically reading the second resistance value, the laser beam is projected at a second beam intensity on the region resulting in the region changing from the second to the first resistance value; and electrically reading the first resistance value of the region while the laser beam is being projected on the region at the second beam intensity.

Method of changing reflectance or resistance of a region in an optoelectronic memory device

A programmable device includes a substrate (); an insulator () on the substrate; an elongated semiconductor material () on the insulator, the elongated semiconductor material having first and second ends, and an upper surface S; the first end () is substantially wider than the second end (), and a metallic material is disposed on the upper surface; the metallic material being physically migratable along the upper surface responsive to an electrical current I flowable through the semiconductor material and the metallic material.

Programmable semiconductor device

A structure. The structure includes a substrate, a resistive/reflective region on the substrate, and a light source/light detecting and/or a sens-amp circuit configured to ascertain a reflectance and/or resistance change in the resistive/reflective region. The resistive/reflective region includes a material having a characteristic of the material's reflectance and/or resistance being changed due to a phase change in the material. The resistive/reflective region is configured to respond, to an electric current through the resistive/reflective region and/or a laser beam projected on the resistive/reflective region, by the phase change in the material which causes a reflectance and/resistance change in the resistive/reflective region from a first reflectance and/or resistance value to a second reflectance and/or resistance value different from the first reflectance and/or resistance value.

Optoelectronic memory devices

A thermo-mechanical cleavable structure is provided and may be used as a programmable fuse for integrated circuits. As applied to a programmable fuse, the thermo-mechanical cleavable structure includes an electrically conductive cleavable layer adjacent to a thermo-mechanical stressor. As electricity is passed through the cleavable layer, the cleavable layer and the thermo-mechanical stressor are heated and gas evolves from the thermo-mechanical stressor. The gas locally insulates the thermo-mechanical stressor, causing local melting adjacent to the bubbles in the thermo-mechanical stressor and the cleavable structure forming cleaving sites. The melting also interrupts the current flow through the cleavable structure so the cleavable structure cools and contracts. The thermo-mechanical stressor also contracts due to a phase change caused by the evolution of gas therefrom. As the thermo-mechanical cleavable structure cools, the cleaving sites expand causing gaps to be permanently formed therein.

Thermo-mechanical cleavable structure

A method of modulating grain size in a polysilicon layer and devices fabricated with the method. The method includes forming the layer of polysilicon on a substrate; and performing an ion implantation of a polysilicon grain size modulating species into the polysilicon layer such that an average resultant grain size of the implanted polysilicon layer after performing a pre-determined anneal is higher or lower than an average resultant grain size than would be obtained after performing the same pre-determined anneal on the polysilicon layer without a polysilicon grain size modulating species ion implant.

Method of controlling grain size in a polysilicon layer and in semiconductor devices having polysilicon structure

A structure and a method for operating the same. The method comprises providing a resistive/reflective region on a substrate, wherein the resistive/reflective region comprises a material having a characteristic of changing the material's reflectance due to the material absorbing heat; sending an electric current through the resistive/reflective region so as to cause a reflectance change in the resistive/reflective region from a first reflectance value to a second reflectance value different from the first reflectance value; and optically reading the reflectance change in the resistive/reflective region.

A method of modulating grain size in a polysilicon layer and devices fabricated with the method. The method comprises forming the layer of polysilicon on a substrate; and performing an ion implantation of a polysilicon grain size modulating species into the polysilicon layer such that an average resultant grain size of the implanted polysilicon layer after performing a pre-determined anneal is higher or lower than an average resultant grain size than would be obtained after performing the same pre-determined anneal on the polysilicon layer without a polysilicon grain size modulating species ion implant.

Method of controlling grain size in a polysilicon layer and in semiconductor devices having polysilicon structures

A method is presented for measuring and monitoring the mechanical stress at the device level which occurs intrinsically during the fabrication process or which is induced via extrinsic means. The method applies the fact that the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of a diode change as the diode is subjected to mechanical stress. The method is applicable to monitoring stress at the microscopic and device levels at various stages in the semiconductor wafer fabrication process. Apparatus for implementing the method is also presented.

In-line electrical monitor for measuring mechanical stress at the device level on a semiconductor wafer

An improved process for depositing a conductive thin film upon an integrated circuit substrate by collimated sputtering is disclosed. The sputtered films are alloys of aluminum; a preferred alloying metal is magnesium. The sputtered films of the invention have a more uniform orientation of grains than sputtered aluminum copper silicon alloy films. Such processes are especially useful in the fabrication of integrated circuit devices having aluminum alloy wiring elements.

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Williston, VT, United States of America

Richard Steven Kontra