Howald
Arthur M. Howald, Pleasanton, CA US
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20080280456 | Thermal methods for cleaning post-CMP wafers - Methods for cleaning semiconductor wafers following chemical mechanical polishing are provided. An exemplary method exposes a wafer to a thermal treatment in an oxidizing environment followed by a thermal treatment in a reducing environment. The thermal treatment in the oxidizing environment both removes residues and oxidizes exposed copper surfaces to form a cupric oxide layer. The thermal treatment in the reducing environment then reduces the cupric oxide to elemental copper. This leaves the exposed copper clean and in condition for further processing, such as electroless plating. | 11-13-2008 |
20090087980 | METHODS OF LOW-K DIELECTRIC AND METAL PROCESS INTEGRATION - An integrated process for forming metallization layers for electronic devices that use damascene structures that include low-k dielectric and metal. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the integrated process includes planarizing a gapfill metal in low-k dielectric structures, generating a protective layer on the low-k dielectric followed by cleaning the surface of the gapfill metal. Another embodiment of the present invention includes a method of protecting low-k dielectrics such as carbon doped silicon oxide. | 04-02-2009 |
20100136788 | THERMAL METHODS FOR CLEANING POST-CMP WAFERS - Methods for cleaning semiconductor wafers following chemical mechanical polishing are provided. An exemplary method exposes a wafer to a thermal treatment in an oxidizing environment followed by a thermal treatment in a reducing environment. The thermal treatment in the oxidizing environment both removes residues and oxidizes exposed copper surfaces to form a cupric oxide layer. The thermal treatment in the reducing environment then reduces the cupric oxide to elemental copper. This leaves the exposed copper clean and in condition for further processing, such as electroless plating. | 06-03-2010 |
20110120653 | ANTENNA FOR PLASMA PROCESSOR AND APPARATUS - An antenna includes excitation terminals responsive to an RF source to supply an RF electromagnetic field to a plasma that processes a workpiece in a vacuum chamber. The coil includes a transformer having a primary winding coupled to the excitation terminals and a multi-turn plasma excitation secondary winding connected in series with a capacitor. | 05-26-2011 |
20120248978 | ANTENNA FOR PLASMA PROCESSOR AND APPARATUS - An antenna includes excitation terminals responsive to an RF source to supply an RF electromagnetic field to a plasma that processes a workpiece in a vacuum chamber. The coil includes a transformer having a primary winding coupled to the excitation terminals and a multi-turn plasma excitation secondary winding connected in series with a capacitor. | 10-04-2012 |
20120269987 | Processes and Systems for Engineering a Barrier Surface for Copper Deposition - An integrated system for processing a substrate in controlled environment to enable deposition of a thin copper seed layer on a surface of a metallic barrier layer of a copper interconnect is provided. The system includes a lab-ambient transfer chamber, a vacuum transfer chamber, a vacuum process module for cleaning an exposed surface of a metal oxide of a underlying metal, a vacuum process module for depositing the metallic barrier layer, and a controlled-ambient transfer chamber filled with an inert gas, wherein at least one controlled-ambient process module is coupled to the controlled-ambient transfer chamber. In addition, the system includes an electroless copper deposition process module used to deposit the thin layer of copper seed layer on the surface of the metallic barrier layer. | 10-25-2012 |
20140214395 | Segmenting A Model Within A Plasma System - Systems and methods for segmenting an impedance matching model are described. One of the methods includes receiving the impedance matching model. The impedance matching model represents an impedance matching circuit, which is coupled to an RF generator via an RF cable and to a plasma chamber via an RF transmission line. The method further includes segmenting the impedance matching model into two or more modules of a first set. Each module includes a series circuit and a shunt circuit. The shunt circuit is coupled to the series circuit. The series circuit of the first module is coupled to a cable model and the series circuit of the second module is coupled to an RF transmission model. The series circuit and the shunt circuit of the first module are coupled to the series circuit of the second module. The shunt circuit of the second module is coupled to the RF transmission model. | 07-31-2014 |
20140322446 | PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS FOR ENGINEERING A COPPER SURFACE FOR SELECTIVE METAL DEPOSITION - An integrated system for transferring and processing a substrate in a controlled environment to enable selective deposition of a thin layer of a cobalt-alloy material on a copper surface of a copper interconnect to improve electromigration performance of the copper interconnect, comprising: a lab-ambient transfer chamber; a substrate cleaning reactor coupled to the lab-ambient transfer chamber, wherein the substrate cleaning reactor cleans the substrate surface to remove metal-organic complex contaminants on the substrate surface; a vacuum transfer chamber; a vacuum process module for removing organic contaminants from the substrate surface; a controlled-ambient transfer chamber filled with an inert gas; and an electroless cobalt-alloy material deposition process module used to deposit the thin layer of cobalt-alloy material on the copper surface of the copper interconnect after the substrate surface has been removed of metallic contaminants and organic contaminants, and the copper surface has been removed of copper oxide. | 10-30-2014 |
20150198639 | Cable Power Loss Determination For Virtual Metrology - A method for modeling cable loss is described. The method includes receiving a measurement of reverse power and forward power at a radio frequency (RF) generator. The method further includes computing theoretical power delivered to a matching network as a difference between the forward power and the reverse power and calculating a ratio of the reverse power to the forward power to generate an RF power reflection ratio. The method further includes identifying a cable power attenuation fraction based on a frequency of the RF generator and calculating a cable power loss as a function of the RF power reflection ratio, the cable power attenuation fraction, and the theoretical power. The method includes calculating actual power to be delivered to the impedance matching network based on the theoretical power and the cable power loss and sending the calculated actual power to the RF generator to generate an RF signal. | 07-16-2015 |
20150214093 | PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS FOR ENGINEERING A BARRIER SURFACE FOR COPPER DEPOSITION - A method for processing an interconnect structure on a substrate is provided, including: depositing a metallic barrier layer to line the interconnect structure, the metallic barrier layer configured to prevent diffusion of copper into the dielectric layer; depositing a thin copper seed layer over the metallic barrier layer in the interconnect structure; depositing a gap-fill copper layer over the thin copper seed layer; removing copper overburden and metallic barrier overburden, wherein removing copper overburden and metallic barrier overburden creates a planarized copper surface on the gap-fill copper layer; selectively depositing a thin layer of a cobalt-containing material on the reduced planarized copper surface; wherein the substrate is processed and transferred in controlled environments to minimize exposure to oxygen, the controlled environments defined by one or more controlled ambient environments and/or one or more vacuum environments. | 07-30-2015 |
Bernd Howald, Bonn DE
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20100163381 | ROTARY DRIVE FOR AN ELECTRICAL SWITCH WITH TOGGLE-LEVER ACTUATION - The present invention provides a rotary drive for a switch actuated by a toggle lever. The rotary drive includes an operative connection which swivels, a first catch element on the operative connection, coupled to the toggle lever, and a second catch element on the operative connection. A mounting plate parallel to the switch base and a rotatable shaft are provided, the rotatable shaft disposed through the mounting plate. The rotary drive further includes a swivel arm on the shaft, a rotary knob coupled to the shaft configured to rotate the shaft. A mechanical connection couples the swivel arm to the second catch element, converting movement of the shaft into a movement of the operative connection. A swivel movement of the toggle lever is transferred to the second catch element, and the swivel arm enables the operative connection to swivel through a rotation of the shaft to move the toggle lever. | 07-01-2010 |
Blake Howald, Northfield, MN US
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20150039294 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SIMPLIFYING IMPLICIT RHETORICAL RELATION PREDICTION IN LARGE SCALE ANNOTATED CORPUS - The present invention provides a method and system directed to predicting implicit rhetorical relations between two spans of text, e.g., in a large annotated corpus, such as the Penn Discourse Treebank (“PDTB”), Rhetorical Structure Theory corpus, and the Discourse Graph Bank, and particularly directed to determining a rhetorical relation in the absence of an explicit discourse marker. Surface level features may be used to capture pragmatic information encoded in the absent marker. In one manner a simplified feature set based only on raw text and semantic dependencies is used to improve performance for all relations. By using surface level features to predict implicit rhetorical relations for the large annotated corpus the invention approaches a theoretical maximum performance, suggesting that more data will not necessarily improve performance based on these and similarly situated features. | 02-05-2015 |
20150227508 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE GENERATION - A method includes receiving a corpus comprising a set of pre-segmented texts. The method further includes creating a plurality of modified pre-segmented texts for the set of pre-segmented texts by extracting a set of semantic terms for each pre-segmented text within the set of pre-segmented texts and applying at least one domain tag for each pre-segmented text within the set of pre-segmented texts. The method further includes clustering the plurality of modified pre-segmented texts into one or more conceptual units, wherein each of the one or more conceptual units is associated with one or more templates, wherein each of the one or more templates corresponds to one of the plurality of modified pre-segmented texts. | 08-13-2015 |
John Alan Howald, North Canton, OH US
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20090194211 | TIRE TREAD GROOVES WITH TEXTURED BASES - A pneumatic tire includes an axis of rotation and a tread. The tread has a plurality of traction elements, a circumferential groove, and a lateral groove. The circumferential groove has a base interposed between radially extending sides formed by side walls of the traction elements. The lateral groove has a base interposed between radially extending sides formed by side walls of the traction elements. The tire is further characterized by the bases of the circumferential groove and the lateral groove each defining a matrix of circumferentially extending rectangular ramp structures, one ramp structure of the plurality extending circumferentially, from a radially inner first end portion, in a direction of rotation of the tire and radially outward to a radially outer second end portion, the radially outer second end portion defining an edge portion extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the tire, the edge portion improving traction of the tire and evacuation of the circumferential and lateral grooves. | 08-06-2009 |
Lukas E. Howald, Dornach CH
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20090184242 | OPTICAL DETECTION SYSTEM FOR MICROMECHANICAL CANTILEVERS, ESPECIALLY IN SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPES - The optical detection system typically used in micromechanical cantilever-based instruments, e.g. scanning probe microscopes, chemical or biological sensing probes like “artificial noses”, or molecular force probe instruments, can hardly cope when measuring samples immersed in a fluid, i.e. a gas, gel, or liquid having another refractive index than the environment. Optical readout or detection becomes problematic as soon as the refractive index of the fluid changes, because signals can shift significantly. The invention provides an improved optical means at the interface between the fluid and the environment, avoiding signal shifts, and thus avoiding time-consuming and difficult re-calibration or re-adjustment of the microscope or other cantilever-based instrument. | 07-23-2009 |
Lukas Emanuel Howald, Dornach CH
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20150241468 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATED SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY - This invention concerns scanning probe microscopes and related instruments (“SPMs”) when used to investigate or measure large samples whose size is a multiple of the typical operational scanning area of an SPM, say 150 μm×150 μm at most. To avoid frequent readjustments or other time-consuming human interaction and errors when focusing the SPM, a multi-step, automated method for the SPM-scanning of large samples is disclosed, comprising a “coarse”, i.e. low resolution, non-SPM scanning or mapping step adapted to scan a large sample and providing an integral map of the sample, followed by a preferably mathematical evaluation step identifying areas of interest of the sample, which areas are then subjected to a focused “fine” raster scanning step by the SPM with high resolution. The associated apparatus provides the means to execute this novel three-step process. | 08-27-2015 |
Martin Howald, Farnern CH
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20100218450 | PANEL, METHOD OF JOINING PANELS AND METHOD MANUFACTURING PANELS - A panel has a core of wood material or a wood material/plastic mixture, a top and an underside, and two opposite side edges, which have profiles that correspond to each other such that two identically configured panels can be connected and locked to one another in the horizontal (H) and vertical (V) directions by an essentially vertical joining movement. The locking in the horizontal direction (H) can be brought about by a hook connection with an upper locking section having a hook element and a lower locking section having a hook element. The locking in the vertical direction (V) can be brought about by at least one tongue element that is formed from the core in one piece and can be moved in the horizontal direction (H). The at least one tongue element provided on the lower locking section is free with respect to the core in the direction of the opposite side edge by means of an essentially vertical slot and during the joining movement snaps in behind a locking edge extending essentially in the horizontal direction (H), which locking edge is embodied on a locking projection. The tongue element is connected to the core on at least one of its two ends in the direction of its side edge (II), and the width (B | 09-02-2010 |
Nicole Howald, Jona CH
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20150184005 | RADIATION-CURABLE ACRYLATE-BASED INK-JET PRINTING INK - The disclosed radiation-curable acrylate-based ink-jet ink comprises a pigment, a bifunctional acrylate and, optionally, a trifunctional or multifunctional acrylate, a compound that has an ethylenic double bond and a molecular weight of 90 to 205, and a photoinitiator in the form of an acyl phosphine oxide, and furthermore contains 0.05 to 3.0 wt. % of stabilizer and 0.05 to 1.5 wt. % of surfactant. | 07-02-2015 |
Ralph Howald, Gossau CH
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20080221700 | Implant - The invention relates to a cap-shaped implant for implanting on a prepared stump of a femoral head. The implant is in the form of a ball section ( | 09-11-2008 |
20090048679 | IMPLANT - The invention relates to an implant for the relief of damaged regions of the joint surfaces of hip or shoulder joints which may be introduced into the gap between the joint surfaces of the joint head and the joint socket in the natural joint, the implant being embodied as a shell or cap which is laid in the implanted state with a convex outer surface in the joint socket and a convex inner surface sitting on the joint head. The implant has a body section forming the shell or cap with an opening and a boundary section defining the opening and the implant is made from a flexible material which may be deformed for introduction of the implant into the gap between the joint surfaces. | 02-19-2009 |
20090187252 | IMPLANT - The invention relates to an implant for relieving damaged areas of the surfaces of hip or shoulder joints from stress. Said implant can be introduced into the space between the joint surfaces of the condyle ( | 07-23-2009 |
20100191246 | TOOL AND METHOD FOR IMPLANTING ACETABULAR CUP WITH EXTERNAL SCREW RETENTION FEATURES - A tool and method for implanting an acetabular cup having screw retention features. | 07-29-2010 |
Robert L. Howald, Orlando, FL US
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20100158049 | SYSTEM FOR STACKING SIGNALS IN AN EXPANDED FREQUENCY RANGE - A device for stacking signals in an expanded frequency range includes an upconverter and a multiplexer. The upconverter is configured to receive upstream signals that are in a first frequency range, upconvert some of the upstream signals that are in a first frequency sub-range of the first frequency range and pass some of the upstream signals that are in a second frequency sub-range of the first frequency range. The multiplexer is configured to stack the upconverted upstream signals and the upstream signals in the second frequency sub-range and output the stacked upstream signals. | 06-24-2010 |
20110138436 | RETURN FEED FORWARD - Provided is a device for use with a headend, a household and an amplifier. The headend is able to provide signals within a high-frequency band f | 06-09-2011 |
20140269314 | ADAPTIVE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR MULTI-SCREEN VIDEO APPLICATIONS OVER CABLE WI-FI NETWORKS - Combining network and client based adaptive streaming approaches enable a distributed and adaptive resource management system for carrier quality video transmission over cable Wi-Fi systems. The adaptive resource management over cable Wi-Fi heterogeneous networks includes a network based approach using client based feedback. The resource management of a video stream is performed on a service provider's network, for example in a cable modem termination system, by evaluating a margin and a fairness index. In embodiments, the rate of a video stream to a requesting client is adjusted and, in embodiments, the rate of a video stream for non-requesting clients is adjusted. Embodiments include mechanisms for call admission control and adaptive streaming based on adjustable resource margins and fairness indices for DOCSIS and Wi-Fi hetnet systems. | 09-18-2014 |
Trevor V. Howald, Houston, TX US
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20150233846 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL IN A ROCK FORMATION USING X-RAY FLUORESCENCE - A system and a method for identifying a hydrocarbon sweet spot in a rock formation are disclosed. The method includes collecting a dataset comprising an elemental composition of one or more rock samples at various depths or locations, using an x-ray fluorescence device; analyzing the collected dataset of the one or more rock samples including analyzing the elemental composition of the one or more rock samples; establishing a time-correlative sample framework based on the collected dataset regarding the elemental composition of the one or more rock samples; performing a map-based spatial analysis comprising creating a distribution of concentration of one or more elements in the one or more rock samples in a geographical map generated within the framework; and identifying one or more locations of accumulation of hydrocarbons using the map-based spatial analysis. | 08-20-2015 |