US Patent 8129768 - Nanowire integrated circuit for display device

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8129768.html

This patent is based on a collaboration between Sharp and Nanosys and teaches a way to construct integrated circuitry for display devices by combining different types of nanowires (i.e. p-type, n-type) to construct different electronic devices (transistors, LEDs, etc.) on the same substrate. Claim 1 reads:

1. An integrated circuit device, comprising

a substrate on which a plurality of nano wire elements are provided,

said plurality of nano wire elements including at least two types of nano wire element having different functions,

each of said at least two types of nano wire element being constituted by 10 to 200 nano wires,

each of said at least two types of nano wire element is constituted by nano wires, and the nano wires have lengths differing depending on the types of nano wire element, and

placement regions having different longitudinal lengths corresponding to different lengths of different types of nano wire are provided on the substrate, and

each of the placement regions includes nano wires having a corresponding length therein in rows.

US Patent 7968474 - Nanowire alignment and deposition

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7968474.html

This patent is co-owned by Sharp and Nanosys and includes some basic claim to the alignment of nanowires during deposition. Claim 1 reads:


1. A method for positioning one or more nanowires, comprising

(a) providing one or more nanowires proximate to an electrode pair;

(b) energizing the electrode pair by generating an AC electric field between the electrode pair, whereby the nanowires become associated with the electrode pair; and

(c) modulating the energizing of the electrode pair by adjusting the frequency of the AC electric field, adjusting the amplitude of the AC electric field, or both, whereby the nanowires become coupled onto the electrode pair.

US Patent 7927567 - Filter with nanofiber filled pores

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7927567.html

The life expectancy of air filters is often limited dependent on the specific surface area of material used as an absorbent. This patent from Sharp teaches using carbon nanofibers to enhance the surface area and improve the life expectancy and increase the effectiveness of air filters. Claim 1 reads:

1. A porous filter, comprising:

a porous member having a plurality of holes; and

a nanostructure formed on an interior hole surface of said porous member.

US Patent 7905013 - IrOx nanowire neural sensor

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7905013.html

Visual prosthesis are experimental devices designed to help restore functional vision to the blind. The electrode material for such a device has to possess biocompatibility and provide high current density in a small area. This patent from Sharp teaches using iridium oxide nanowires as the electrode material. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for forming an iridium oxide (IrOx) nanowire neural sensor array, the method comprising:

providing a substrate;

forming a conductive layer overlying the substrate;

forming a dielectric layer overlying the conductive layer;

selectively wet etching the dielectric layer;

forming contact holes in the dielectric layer and exposing regions of the conductive layer; and,

growing iridium oxide IrOx nanowire neural interfaces from the exposed regions of the conductive layer.

Memristor Patent ReExams and Prior Art

In the past few years there has been increasing interest in the resistance switching properties of nanoscale thin films to develop a new form of non-volatile memory called ReRAM. This interest was peaked in 2008 based upon a paper published in Nature by researchers from HPLabs which connected experimentally observed resistance switching of TiO2 thin films to a memristor model postulated in the 1970's by Leon Chua and Steve Kang. Companies including HP, Sharp, Unity Semiconductor, and Adestos Technology are projecting product release of different variations of ReRAM/memristor in the 2-3 year timeframe.

There are actually several material examples of memristive materials dating back to the the 1960's such as discussed by the article "Switching Phenomena in Titanium Oxide Thin Films," by Argall. However, some of the companies which have been patenting around the concept of ReRAM and memristors have not adequately considered the prior art. Over the past year I have taken a look at several of the companies and patents related to memristors and ReRAM and have begun to compile information on patents which appear to have issued without considering prior art relevant to 35 USC 102 (novelty) or 35 USC 103 (obviousness). In some extreme cases I have filed Ex Parte ReExams for patents which clearly fail to meet patentability standards.

A copy of the Ex Parte ReExam filings as well as copies of filings of prior art under 37 CFR 1.501 is available at this link. A discussion of the business landscape of memristive electronics is available here.   

US Patent 7759150 - TiO2 nanorod sensor

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7759150.html

This patent from Sharp teaches a gas sensor fabrication method using titanium dioxide nanowires to achieve high sensitivity at low production cost. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for fabricating a nanorod sensor with a single plane of horizontally-aligned electrodes, the method comprising:

providing a substrate;

forming an intermediate electrode from a patterned bottom noble metal/Pt/Ti multilayered stack overlying a center region of the substrate;

forming TiO2 nanorods;

forming a single plane of top electrodes overlying the TiO2 nanorods; and,

forming a TiO2 film interposed between the TiO2 nanorods and electrodes selected from a group consisting of the intermediate electrode, the top electrodes, and both the intermediate and top electrodes.

US Patent 7723729 - Silicon nanowire buffer layer

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7723729.html

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a semiconductor material having applicability in fabrication of blue LEDs and lasers. However, a problem with forming GaN on silicon is thermal and lattice mismatch which usually requires complicated buffering materials or extra fabrication process steps. This patent from Sharp teaches a way to use silicon nanowires as a buffer layer to simplify the process. Claim 1 reads:

1. A compound semiconductor-on-silicon (Si) wafer with a Si nanowire buffer layer, the wafer comprising:

a Si substrate;

an insulator layer overlying the Si substrate, with Si nanowires having compound semiconductor-coated tips; and,

a compound semiconductor layer overlying the insulator.

US Patent 7709103 - Axial heterostructure nanophosphor

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7709103.html

This patent from Sharp teaches nitride-based semiconductor nanophosphors which are noted to be easier to disperse and provide higher luminous efficiency than other nanophosphors. Claim 1 reads:

1. A phosphor formed of a columnar crystal having a diameter of at most 3 nm, wherein a light emitting region and a light absorbing region are defined in the columnar crystal, and said light emitting region and the light absorbing region are adjacent to each other along a longitudinal direction of said columnar crystal.

US Patent 7662288 - Nanobubble water pretreatment

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7662288.html

This patent from Sharp teaches a way to induce nanoscale bubbles in water in order to activate aerobic or anaerobic microorganisms and help recycle waste water. Claim 1 reads:

1. A water treatment method, comprising:

a first step of introducing micro-nano bubbles of air or nitrogen into at least one of a plurality of upstream water treatment devices to produce treatment water; and

a second step of pretreating said treatment water to produce pretreatment water and treating said pretreatment water in a downstream waste water treatment device.

US Patent 7635600 - Photovoltaics with nanowire array electrode

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7635600.html

One of the well-recognized advantages of nanostructures is the high surface area to volume ratio which can increase efficiencies by providing larger contact areas. This invention from Sharp applies this advantage toward the construction of pn junction thin film solar cells. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for forming a photovoltaic (PV) structure with a conductive nanowire array electrode, the method comprising:

forming a bottom electrode with conductive nanowires;

forming a first semiconductor layer of a first dopant type overlying the nanowires;

forming a second semiconductor layer of a second dopant type, opposite of the first dopant type, overlying the first semiconductor layer; and,

forming a top electrode overlying the second semiconductor layer.

US Patent 7569410 - Integrated MEMS packaging

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7569410.html

As microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) move into the mainstream one issue important to cost-savings is effective packaging and integration of MEMS devices with CMOS electronics. This patent from Sharp teaches a way to fabricate MEMS on glass substrates making it easier to integrate MEMS devices in cell phones to achieve image and motion capture functions.
Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for packaging a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device, the method comprising:

providing a first substrate having a first region with boundaries;

forming an electrical circuit on a second region of the first substrate, electrically connected to the first substrate;

integrating a MEMS device on the first region, electrically connected to the first substrate;

providing a second substrate overlying the first substrate; and,

forming a wall along the first region boundaries, between the first and second substrates, hermetically enclosing the MEMS device.

US Patent 7462499 - ZnO coated CNTs for field emission

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7462499.html

Due to the high aspect ratio and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes they have exceptional electron emission behavior useful to flat panel displays and electron beam lithography. This patent from Sharp teaches further improvement in the emission by forming ZnO material regions extending from the carbon nanotube tips. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for fabricating a nanotube with ZnO asperities, the method comprising:

forming a substrate;

growing carbon nanotubes (CNTs), with a surface, from the substrate;

conformally coating the CNTs with ZnO;

annealing the ZnO-coated CNTs; and,

forming ZnO asperities on the surface of the CNTs in response to the annealing.

US patent 7446014 - Nanoelectrochemical cell

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7446014.html

This patent from Sharp teaches a way to form perhaps the smallest electrochemical cell ever made by using nanowire shells and sleeves filled with electrolyte. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for forming a NanoElectroChemical (NEC) cell, the method comprising:

providing a bottom electrode with a top surface;

forming nanowire shells, each nanowire shell having a nanowire connected to the bottom electrode top surface;

forming a top electrode overlying the nanowire shells; and,

forming nanowire sleeves filled with electrolyte.

US Patent 7423285 - 3D matrix reconfigurable logic

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7423285.html

A variety of companies including Hewlett-Packard and Nantero have been working on crossbar circuit architectures to achieve more efficient nanoelectronics in coming decades. This patent from Sharp teaches providing wires to interconnect planes of such crossbar switching architectures and extend their integration into three dimensions to form more compact reconfigurable logic architectures. Claim 1 reads:

1. A semiconductor integrated circuit comprising:

a plurality of semiconductor devices each comprising a matrix comprising a first wire which extends in a first direction and a second wire which extends in a second direction that is different from said first direction;

a wire that three-dimensionally connects the plurality of the semiconductor devices, and

wherein the first and second wires are each supported in a spaced apart manner so that in at least one of the semiconductor devices the first and second wires cross each other in mid-air in a gas-filled and/or vacuum area.

US Patent 7303631 - ZnO nanowire array formed from patterned seed layer

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7303631.html

One method of forming nanostructures is vapor-liquid-solid (VLS)growth which involve the use of catalytic particles such as gold. However, these particles are not easy to pattern and difficult to work with in ultraclean environment. This patent from Sharp offers an alternative for selectively patterned growth of zinc oxide nanostructures using atomic layer deposition of polycrystalline zinc oxide. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of forming a zinc-oxide nanostructure, comprising: providing a substrate; forming a seed layer of polycrystalline zinc oxide on a surface of the substrate; patterning the seed layer; inducing growth of at least one zinc-oxide nanostructure substantially over the patterned seed layer.