US Patent 7858990 - Trench graphene FET

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7858990.html

Graphene has attracted attention due to its high electron mobility (about 100x silicon) and since its band gap can be tuned based on the control of fabricated dimensions. This patent from AMD proposes a fabrication method to simplify manufacture of graphene based electronics. Claim 1 reads:

1. A process comprising:

forming a trench defined by one or more layers of material;

forming a graphene layer within the trench; and

forming a device structure on the graphene layer and within the trench.

Free Mem-resistor Patent Database

Memory resistors represent a new type of nanoscale circuit element proposed to replace flash memory in the next decade and provide a platform to new types of neuromorphic computer architectures. I put together a database of patents related to the materials having memristive characteristics including the patents of Hewlett Packard, Micron Technology, Samsung, Axon Technology, Energy Conversion Devices, Advanced Micro Devices, and Unity Semiconductor which each have patents covering different variations or aspects of memristors.

The database is available by sending an E-mail to TinyTechIP@gmail.com with “mem-resistor patent database” in the title.

For more information on the business landscape of memory resistor electronics see this link.

US Patent 7402505 - Single electron device formed by thermal annealing

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7402505.html

Single electron transistors and similar devices have been in the experimental stage for several decades now however, due to low temperature operation and difficulty in fabrication they have not seem much commercialization outside of research labs. This patent from Advanced Micro Devices teaches stacking dielectric and amorphous silicon layers with a laser annealed nanocrystal layer to improve controllability in fabrication. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of:

forming a gate dielectric over a channel region in a substrate;

forming a layer of amorphous silicon over the gate dielectric;

forming a layer of nanocrystals by laser thermal annealing the layer of amorphous silicon;

forming a dielectric layer on the layer of amorphous silicon; and

repeating the steps of forming the layer of amorphous silicon and forming the dielectric layer.

US Patent 7309650 - Nanocrystal charge storage layer

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7309650.html

This patent teaches a method of preventing oxidation of nanocrystals in a nanocrystal memory device by using a porous dielectric layer in which the material forming the nanoparticles is diffused. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for manufacturing a memory device, comprising: providing a substrate; forming a first layer of dielectric material on the substrate; forming a porous dielectric layer on the first layer of dielectric material; diffusing an electrically conductive material into the porous dielectric layer to form a nanocrystal charge storage region; and forming a second layer of dielectric material on the porous dielectric layer.

US Patent 7272010 - Heat dissipation using carbon nanotube circuit board

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7272010.html

This patent from Advanced Micro Devices presents some basic claims to carbon nanotubes used for thermal dissipation. Apparently the point of novelty is that the nanotubes are dispersed in a binding matrix rather than bundled together. Claim 1 reads:

1. A circuit board, comprising: a substrate including a source material interspersed and in physical contact with a first plurality of unbundled carbon nanotubes; and at least one conductor coupled to the substrate.