MICHAEL JEFFREY STEWART
Pilots at Easy St, Mountain View, CA

8158203, Apr 17, 2012

May 6, 2005

11/579614

James M. Tour - Bellaire TX, US
Bo Chen - Sugar Land TX, US
Austen K. Flatt - Sugar Land TX, US
Michael P. Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Christopher A. Dyke - Houston TX, US
Francisco Maya - Beaverton OR, US

William Marsh Rice University - Houston TX

B05D 3/10

427301, 427299, 427258, 977892, 977847

The present invention is directed toward methods of attaching or grafting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to silicon surfaces. In some embodiments, such attaching or grafting occurs via functional groups on either or both of the CNTs and silicon surface. In some embodiments, the methods of the present invention include: (1) reacting a silicon surface with a functionalizing agent (such as oligo(phenylene ethynylene)) to form a functionalized silicon surface; (2) dispersing a quantity of CNTs in a solvent to form dispersed CNTs; and (3) reacting the functionalized silicon surface with the dispersed CNTs. The present invention is also directed to the novel compositions produced by such methods.

8362559, Jan 29, 2013

Apr 5, 2010

12/754268

James M. Tour - Bellaire TX, US
Michael P. Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Jianli He - Houston TX, US
Harry F. Pang - Houston TX, US

William Marsh Rice University - Houston TX

H01L 27/01, H01L 27/12, H01L 35/24, H01L 51/00, H01L 23/58

257347, 257 40, 257642, 257 57

This invention is generally related to a method of making a molecule-surface interface comprising at least one surface comprising at least one material and at least one organic group wherein the organic group is adjoined to the surface and the method comprises contacting at least one organic group precursor with at least one surface wherein the organic group precursor is capable of reacting with the surface in a manner sufficient to adjoin the organic group and the surface. The present invention is directed to hybrid molecular electronic devices having a molecule-surface interface. Such hybrid molecular electronic devices may advantageously have either a top or bottom gate electrode for modifying a conductivity of the devices.

7659203, Feb 9, 2010

Mar 20, 2006

11/385043

Michael P. Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Timothy W. Weidman - Sunnyvale CA, US
Arulkumar Shanmugasundram - Sunnyvale CA, US
David J. Eaglesham - Livermore CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/44

438678, 257E21006

Embodiments as described herein provide methods for depositing a material on a substrate during electroless deposition processes, as well as compositions of the electroless deposition solutions. In one embodiment, the substrate contains a contact aperture having an exposed silicon contact surface. In another embodiment, the substrate contains a contact aperture having an exposed silicide contact surface. The apertures are filled with a metal contact material by exposing the substrate to an electroless deposition process. The metal contact material may contain a cobalt material, a nickel material, or alloys thereof. Prior to filling the apertures, the substrate may be exposed to a variety of pretreatment processes, such as preclean processes and activations processes. A preclean process may remove organic residues, native oxides, and other contaminants during a wet clean process or a plasma etch process. Embodiments of the process also provide the deposition of additional layers, such as a capping layer.

2007009, May 3, 2007

Mar 20, 2006

11/385041

Michael Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Timothy Weidman - Sunnyvale CA, US

C11D 7/32

510175000

Embodiments of the invention are provided which include compositions of buffered oxide etch (BOE) solutions and methods that use the BOE solutions during a process to selectively remove a native oxide layer from a substrate surface containing thermal oxide layers. The BOE solutions generally contain HF and alkanolamine compounds. The viscosity of the BOE solution may be adjusted by varying a concentration ratio of at least two alkanolamine compounds. In one example, a BOE solution is provided which includes, by weight, a first alkanolamine concentration within a range from about 0.5% to about 10%, a second alkanolamine concentration within a range from about 0.5% to about 10%, a HF concentration within a range from about 0.5% to about 10%, a water concentration within a range from about 80% to about 98%, a pH value within a range from about 3.5 to about 5, and a viscosity within a range from about 10 cP to about 30 cP.

2007010, May 17, 2007

Oct 27, 2006

11/553878

Michael Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Timothy Weidman - Sunnyvale CA, US

C09K 13/00

252079100

Embodiments of the invention provide processes to form a high quality contact level connection to devices formed on a substrate. In one embodiment, a method for depositing a material on a substrate is provided which includes exposing the substrate to a buffered oxide etch solution to form a silicon hydride layer during a pretreatment process, depositing a metal silicide layer on the substrate, and depositing a first metal layer (e.g., tungsten) on the metal silicide layer. The buffered oxide etch solution may contain hydrogen fluoride and an alkanolamine compound, such as ethanolamine diethanolamine, or triethanolamine. The metal silicide layer may contain cobalt, nickel, or tungsten and may be deposited by an electroless deposition process. In one example, the substrate is exposed to an electroless deposition solution containing a solvent and a complexed metal compound.

2006024, Nov 2, 2006

Mar 20, 2006

11/385047

Timothy Weidman - Sunnyvale CA, US
Michael Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Zhize Zhu - Cupertino CA, US
Arulkumar Shanmugasundram - Sunnyvale CA, US
Srinivas Gandikota - Santa Clara CA, US
Avgerinos Gelatos - Redwood City CA, US

B28B 19/00, C23C 18/34

427099500, 427443100, 106001220, 106001270

Embodiments as described herein provide methods for depositing a material on a substrate during electroless deposition processes, as well as compositions of the electroless deposition solutions. In one embodiment, the substrate contains a contact aperture having an exposed silicon contact surface. In another embodiment, the substrate contains a contact aperture having an exposed silicide contact surface. The apertures are filled with a metal contact material by exposing the substrate to an electroless deposition process. The metal contact material may contain a cobalt material, a nickel material, or alloys thereof. Prior to filling the apertures, the substrate may be exposed to a variety of pretreatment processes, such as preclean processes and activations processes. A preclean process may remove organic residues, native oxides, and other contaminants during a wet clean process or a plasma etch process. Embodiments of the process also provide the deposition of additional layers, such as a capping layer.

8168462, May 1, 2012

Jun 5, 2009

12/479139

Peter Borden - San Mateo CA, US
Michael P. Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Li Xu - Santa Clara CA, US
Hemant P. Mungekar - Campbell CA, US
Christopher S. Olsen - Fremont CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/00, H01L 31/0216

438 57, 257E31119

Embodiments of the invention contemplate the formation of a high efficiency solar cell using a novel plasma oxidation process to form a passivation film stack on a surface of a solar cell substrate. In one embodiment, the methods include providing a substrate having a first type of doping atom on a back surface of the substrate and a second type of doping atom on a front surface of the substrate, plasma oxidizing the back surface of the substrate to form an oxidation layer thereon, and forming a silicon nitride layer on the oxidation layer.

8372753, Feb 12, 2013

Jun 28, 2010

12/825103

Virendra V S Rana - Los Gatos CA, US
Michael P. Stewart - Mountain View CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/31

438706, 438765, 257E21214

A method and apparatus for cleaning layers of solar cell substrates is disclosed. The substrate is exposed to a reactive gas that may comprise neutral radicals comprising nitrogen and fluorine, or that may comprise anhydrous HF and water, alcohol, or a mixture of water and alcohol. The reactive gas may further comprise a carrier gas. The reactive gas etches the solar cell substrate surface, removing oxygen and other impurities. When exposed to the neutral radicals, the substrate grows a thin film containing ammonium hexafluorosilicate, which is subsequently removed by heat treatment.

2009013, Jun 4, 2009

Nov 19, 2008

12/273975

Timothy W. Weidman - Sunnyvale CA, US
Michael P. Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Kapila P. Wijekoon - Palo Alto CA, US
Rohit Mishra - Santa Clara CA, US

H01L 31/00, H01L 21/02, H01L 31/18

136256, 438 98, 257E21002

Embodiments of the invention contemplate formation of a low cost solar cell using novel methods and apparatus to form a metal contact structure. The method generally uses a conductive contact layer that enables formation of a good electrical contact to the solar cell device. In one case, the contact layer is a nickel containing layer. Various deposition techniques may be used to form the metal contact structure.

2007011, May 17, 2007

Jun 30, 2006

11/428230

Dmitry Lubomirsky - Cupertino CA, US
Arulkumar Shanmugasundram - Sunnyvale CA, US
Allen D'Ambra - Burlingame CA, US
Timothy Weidman - Sunnyvale CA, US
Michael Stewart - Mountain View CA, US
Eugene Rabinovich - Fremont CA, US
Svetlana Sherman - San Jose CA, US
Manoocher Birang - Los Gatos CA, US
Yaxin Wang - Fremont CA, US
Michael Yang - Palo Alto CA, US
Bradley Hansen - San Carlos CA, US

H01L 21/44

438678000

Embodiments of the invention provide methods for depositing a material onto a surface of a substrate by using one or more electroless, electrochemical plating, CVD and/or ALD processes. Embodiments of the invention provide a method for depositing a seed layer on a substrate with an electroless process and to subsequently fill interconnect features on the substrate with an ECP process on a single substrate processing platform. Other aspects provide a method for depositing a seed layer on a substrate, fill interconnect features on a substrate, or sequentially deposit both a seed layer and fill interconnect features on the substrate. One embodiment provides a method for forming a capping layer over substrate interconnects. Methods include the use of a vapor dryer for pre- and post-deposition cleaning of substrates as well as a brush box chamber for post-deposition cleaning.