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:
Mar. 29, 2011
Filed:
Jul. 08, 2008
Daniel Charles Kerr, Oak Ridge, NC (US);
Thomas Gregory Mckay, Boulder Creek, CA (US);
Michael Carroll, Jamestown, NC (US);
Joseph M. Gering, Stokesdale, NC (US);
Daniel Charles Kerr, Oak Ridge, NC (US);
Thomas Gregory McKay, Boulder Creek, CA (US);
Michael Carroll, Jamestown, NC (US);
Joseph M. Gering, Stokesdale, NC (US);
RF Micro Devices, Inc., Greensboro, NC (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to using a potentially trap-rich layer, such as a polycrystalline Silicon layer, over a passivation region of a semiconductor substrate or a Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) device layer to substantially immobilize a surface conduction layer at the surface of the semiconductor substrate or SOI device layer at radio frequency (RF) frequencies. The potentially trap-rich layer may have a high density of traps that trap carriers from the surface conduction layer. The average release time from the traps may be longer than the period of any present RF signals, thereby effectively immobilizing the surface conduction layer, which may substantially prevent capacitance and inductance changes due to the RF signals. Therefore, harmonic distortion of the RF signals may be significantly reduced or eliminated. The semiconductor substrate may be a Silicon substrate, a Gallium Arsenide substrate, or another substrate.