Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7786467 - 3D nanowire crossbar

Posted on September 06, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7786467As transistor scaling becomes more difficult and expensive the semiconductor industry is look for 3D topologies for the design of future memories and processors. This patent from HPLabs teaches one candidate based on nanowire crossbar layers...

US Patent 7786464 - Nanocrystal enhanced phase change RAM

Posted on September 06, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7786464This patent from Infineon is based on the finding that nanocrystals can be used to increase the current density and thus reduce power requirements for phase change memory. Claim 1 reads:1. An integrated circuit comprising: a first electrode; resistivity changing material coupled to the first electrode; a second electrode; and a dielectric material layer between the resistivity changing material and the second electrode, the dielectric material layer comprising nanocrystals.

US Patent 7786440 - Nanowire multispectral imaging array

Posted on September 05, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7786440Infrared imaging devices are used in applications such as fire detection, machine overheating, and weapon detection. This patent from Honeywell teaches a way to implement these imaging devices with thermoelectric nanowires allowing higher spatial resolution and higher reading speed...

US Patent 7786402 - Nanospot welding

Posted on September 05, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7786402This patent from Applied Nanotech teaches a way to construct perhaps the world's smallest welding tool by using a carbon coated AFM tip as an electron emission device. Claim 1 reads:1. A method for creating a nanospot weld on a work piece comprising: positioning a tip of a modified atomic force microscope (AFM) at a controlled distance from the work piece, wherein a cantilever beam of the AFM has the tip configured as an electron beam source; activating the electron beam source to provide electrons directed towards the work piece by applying a controlled voltage potential to the electron beam source; and modulating the voltage potential of the electron beam source or the controlled distance of the tip from the work piece to cause controlled local heating of the work piece thereby creating the nanospot weld on the work piece...

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US Patent 7785733 - Reserve cell-array nanostructured battery

Posted on September 05, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7785733In electrolytic batteries reactions occur between the electrolytic fluid and the electrode material that can limit battery lifetime. This patent from Alcatel-Lucent teaches forming nanostructured surface barriers between the electrode and the electrolyte to avoid this problem...

US Patent 7785717 - Q-dot encoded media

Posted on September 05, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7785717This patent from Life Technologies has relatively early priority (1998) and teaches forming coded patterns on media such as ID cards and currency using multi-spectral (plural color) nanocrystals. Claim 1 reads:1. An article comprising: a substrate having an identifiable code pattern of fluorescent water soluble quantum dots operably bound to the substrate, said identifiable code pattern including more than one color of quantum dot; the identifiable code pattern including encoded data; and wherein the identifiable code pattern is in a machine readable format,wherein the quantum dot is operably bound to a molecule that provides a reactive functionality that enables the quantum dot to be soluble in water...

US Patent 7785669 - Method for making high density CNT array

Posted on September 02, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7785669In order to optimize the use of carbon nanotube arrays for thermal and electrical conduction it is important to have a high density of the nanotubes. However, typical CVD methods used to grow the nanotube produce insufficient density...

US Patent 7785557 - Transparent and electrically conductive graphene film

Posted on September 02, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7785557Unidym is at the forefront of research and commercial development of carbon nanomaterials building upon the basic research conducted by Richard Smalley of Rice University. This latest patent encompasses transparent and electrically conductive graphene thin film material useful to constructing display and printable electronic technology...

US Patent 7785496 - Electrochromatic nanoparticle ink

Posted on September 02, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7785496A variety of nanoparticle-based inks have been developed over the past years to be used as low-cost patterning of metal layers in semiconductor devices. This patent from Clemson University also teaches a nanoparticle-based ink but instead of metal patterns the ink is used to fabricate electrochromatic displays...

US Patent 7785472 - Structure-selective separation of CNTs

Posted on September 02, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7785472This patent from Japan Science and Technology Agency teaches a way to take advantage of the correlation between the structure-sensitive electronic energy level of a carbon nanotube and the redox potential of a metal to sort nanotubes based on diameter and chirality...

US Patent 7785415 - Nanostructure growth via localized heating

Posted on September 01, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7785415The manufacture of nanostructures such as silicon nanowires or carbon nanotubes often require a high temperature furnace which makes it difficult to integrate nanostructures with microelectronics. This patent from the Regents of the University of California teaches a clever alternative of using localized heating provided by resistive microstructures so that the fabrication chamber may be maintained in room temperature during nanostructure growth...

US Patent 7785391 - Dendritic metal nanoparticles

Posted on September 01, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7785391This patent from Sandia Corp. teaches a manufacture of dendritic metal nanostructures having a high surface to volume to increase the efficiency of catalysts and sensing devices. Claim 1 reads:1. A dendritic metal nanostructure comprising a metal dendrite and a surface-associated surfactant, wherein the metal dendrite comprises a two-dimensional sheet of metal branches.

US Patent 7784542 - Cement including nanoparticles

Posted on September 01, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7784542This patent from Halliburton Energy teaches forming a cement using nanoparticles which optimizes elasticity, ductility, and strength. Claim 1 reads: 1. A method of cementing in a subterranean formation: introducing a cement composition into the subterranean formation, wherein the cement composition comprises cement, a nano-particle essentially free of silica fume, latex, and water; and allowing the cement composition to set in the subterranean formation...

US Patent 7784178 - CNT-LCP material for semiconductor fab container

Posted on September 01, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7784178Semiconductor fabrication wafer containers are purged with inert gases such as nitrogen to reduce moisture, oxygen, or other contaminants. However, the barrier materials typically used in such containers make repeated purging necessary...

US Patent 7783145 - Electrode having nanofilaments

Posted on August 30, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7783145Optoelectronic devices such as lasers, LEDs, modulators, and photosensors usually require electrodes to connect the optical medium to control electronics. However, these electrodes can represent a significant source of energy loss...

US Patent 7781977 - High temperature photonic structure for tungsten filament

Posted on August 30, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7781977Infrared emission can reduce the energy efficiency of incandescent lamps up to 70%. This patent from GE teaches forming a thin film of metal nanoparticles on a light source in order to suppress the emission of infrared wavelengths...

US Patent 7781862 - Nanotube RRAM

Posted on August 30, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7781862Nantero's original concept of non-volatile memory involved electromechanical switches formed from nanotube ribbons. This patent teaches an alternative variation of non-volatile memory formed from immobile nanotube fabrics sandwiched between electrodes which act as programmable fuses or anti-fuses...

US Patent 7781778 - LED employing nanowires and phosphor film

Posted on August 26, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7781778This patent from Samsung teaches forming transparent conductive oxide nanowires in a light path of a semiconductor LED to improve light extraction efficiency. Claim 1 reads:1. A semiconductor light emitting device comprising: a substrate; a light emitting structure comprising a first conductivity type semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity type semiconductor layer sequentially formed on the substrate; a plurality of nanowire structures formed on the light emitting structure and formed of a transparent material; and a phosphor film formed on at least an upper surface and a side surface of each of the plurality of nanowire structures, wherein the phosphor film is additionally formed on the entire area of upper surfaces of the light emitting structure exposed between the plurality of nanowire structures.

US Patent 7781260 - Nanocoatings for improved adhesion in microelectronics packaging

Posted on August 26, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7781260This patent from Intel teaches using nanoparticle films to improve adhesion between interconnects and epoxy in electronics packaging. Claim 1 reads:1. A method comprising: coating an interconnect structure disposed on a die with at least one of a layer of functionalized nanoparticles and nanowires, wherein the functionalized nanoparticles are dispersed in a solvent; heating the layer comprising at least one of a layer of functionalized nanoparticles and nanowires, to drive off a portion of the solvent; and applying an underfill on the coated interconnect structure.

US Patent 7781061 - Graphene transistor on BN substrate

Posted on August 26, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7781061This latest patent from Alcatel-Lucent teaches a method of epitaxial growth of graphene layers on a boron nitride substrate to form high speed graphene transistors. Claim 1 reads:1. An apparatus, comprising: a crystalline substrate with a diamond-type lattice and a substantially (111)-surface, the crystalline substrate being a cubic boron nitride substrate; a graphene-like layer on the substantially (111)-surface; and a region comprising boron nitride on a portion of the graphene-like layer, the portion of the graphene-like layer being located between the region comprising boron nitride and the substrate...

US Patent 7781042 - Optical storage using nanoparticles

Posted on August 25, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7781042Optical disk memory conventionally involves etching pits into a media surface which are read by a laser. The deposition of metal nanoparticles has been proposed as a higher resolution alternative to etching pits and this patent from Thomson Licensing teaches a multilayer nanoparticle optical disk memory which may provide still higher density storage...

US Patent 7780918 - Chemical sensor formed from nanotube fabric

Posted on August 25, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7780918Nantero has focused much early effort in a new form of non-volatile memory based on carbon nanotube fabrics. This patent teaches using similar structures in forming a chemical sensor. Claim 1 reads:1. A sensor platform, comprising a sensor element comprising a patterned nonwoven nanotube fabric and having an electrical characterization; a support structure for supporting the sensor element so that it may be exposed to a fluid; and control circuitry to electrically sense the electrical characterization of the sensor element so that the presence of a corresponding analyte may be detected, wherein the patterned nonwoven nanotube fabric has at least two sides that are substantially parallel to each other and the patterned nonwoven nanotube fabric comprises a plurality of unaligned nanotubes.

US Patent 7780270 - CNT passivation layer for inkjet printhead

Posted on August 25, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7780270Inkjet printheads use minute resistive heaters which generate bubbles via a vaporization process to eject ink drops. Usually a protective coating is provided on the heaters to increase life expectancy. This patent from Samsung teaches using carbon nanotubes in this protective layer to improve the thermal efficiency of the printheads...

US Patent 7778301 - Quantum dot lasing in room temperature liquid solution

Posted on August 23, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7778301CdS nanocrystals have been observed to have excellent lasing characteristics in the blue spectral range. However, this lasing has required low temperature operation (below 170 Kelvin). This patent from Georgia Tech. Research teaches a system implementing CdS quanum dot lasers at room temperature...

US Patent 7778061 - Read/write system for nanoscale memristor memory

Posted on August 23, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7778061Crossbar nanoelectronics was originally proposed by Hewlett-Packard for molecular electronics. In recent years HP has moved away from using molecules toward using metal oxide thin film materials referred to as "memristors...

US Patent 7777478 - Touch and auditory nanotube sensors

Posted on August 23, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7777478Touch sensors are critical to a variety of portable electronic devices such as the iPhone and iPad. This patent from the University of Dayton teaches a way to implement such sensors using carbon nanotubes. Claim 1 reads:1...

US Patent 7776383 - Combinatorial discovery of nanomaterials

Posted on August 19, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7776383This patent from PPG Industries Ohio includes remarkably broad claims (with priority as early as 1996) for a testing method of ceramic nanomaterial composites based on the suitability of the materials properties in electronics or sensing applications...

US Patent 7777233 - Non-blinking quantum dots

Posted on August 19, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7777233Quantum dots are usually fabricated either by self-assembly methods on a substrate by epitaxial growth or in solution by colloidal synthesis. The colloidal quantum dots have the advantage of low cost deposition processes but have demonstrated a "blinking" problem related to intermittent emission which is not found in epitaxially grown quantum dot films...

US Patent 7776682 - Copper nanotube memory cell

Posted on August 19, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7776682This patent from Spansion teaches a fabrication method for a new type of memory cell which uses porous templates to form copper nanotubes to facilitate ionic memory storage. Claim 1 reads:1. A method of forming a memory cell, comprising: forming a first electrode over a semiconductor substrate; forming a passive layer over the first electrode, the passive layer comprising copper sulfide; forming an electrically non-conducting material layer with ordered porosity over the passive layer; forming an active material inside the ordered porosity of the electrically non-conducting material layer; forming copper nanotubes in the ordered porosity of the electrically non-conducting material layer; and forming a second electrode over to the active material.

US Patent 7776445 - Graphene-diamond hybrid material

Posted on August 19, 2010
http://ip.com/patent/US7776445This patent is from Korea Institute of Science and Technology and teaches a way to synthesize single layer graphene on a nanocrystalline diamond layer deposited by CVD. Claim 1 reads:1. An AA graphene-diamond hybrid material, comprising: a diamond matrix having edges of disconnected {111} lattice planes on the surface thereof; and AA graphene layers epitaxially grown on the edges of the {111} lattice planes...

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