The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 15, 1989
Filed:
Dec. 13, 1988
Albert W Overhauser, West Lafayette, IN (US);
Joseph Maserjian, LaCrescenta, CA (US);
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (US);
Abstract
Semiconductor devices, such as silicon-base MOS devices (10) and solar cells (50), degrade as a result of a variety of reasons, such as hot carriers, photons, and ionizing radiations. Degradation in such devices is cured by the presence of atomic hydrogen. Presently, such devices are exposed to atomic hydrogen during processing. However, a source of atomic hydrogen is not available to heal damage over the lifetime of the device. In accordance with the invention, a source (34, 60) of atomic hydrogen is provided in cooperative relationship with the devices. In a preferred embodiment, the source comprises a layer of palladium, disposed at an appropriate location. The palladium is charged with atomic hydrogen during packaging or encapsulating by exposure to a hydrogen-containing species. The palladium cracks the species to generate atomic hydrogen, which it stores and provides to the device on a real-time basis.