An object is to provide a semiconductor device of which a manufacturing process is not complicated and by which cost can be suppressed, by forming a thin film transistor using an oxide semiconductor film typified by zinc oxide, and a manufacturing method thereof. For the semiconductor device, a gate electrode is formed over a substrate; a gate insulating film is formed covering the gate electrode; an oxide semiconductor film is formed over the gate insulating film; and a first conductive film and a second conductive film are formed over the oxide semiconductor film. The oxide semiconductor film has at least a crystallized region in a channel region.

Semiconductor device, and manufacturing method thereof

Process gas discharged from a bypass pipe to a gas exhaust system can be prevented from diffusing back to the inside of a process chamber without having to install a dedicated vacuum pump at the downstream side of the bypass pipe. The substrate processing apparatus includes a process chamber accommodating a substrate, a gas supply system supplying process gas from a process gas source to the process chamber for processing the substrate, a gas exhaust system configured to exhaust the process chamber, two or more vacuum pumps installed in series at the gas exhaust system, and a bypass pipe connected between the gas supply system and the gas exhaust system. The most upstream one of the vacuum pumps is a mechanical booster pump, and the bypass pipe is connected between the mechanical booster pump and the rest vacuum pumps located at a downstream side of the mechanical booster pump.

Substrate Processing Apparatus

A ballast circuit is disclosed for inductively providing power to a load. The ballast circuit includes an oscillator, a driver, a switching circuit, a resonant tank circuit and a current sensing circuit. The current sensing circuit provides a current feedback signal to the oscillator that is representative of the current in the resonant tank circuit. The current feedback signal drives the frequency of the ballast circuit causing the ballast circuit to seek resonance. The ballast circuit preferably includes a current limit circuit that is inductively coupled to the resonant tank circuit. The current limit circuit disables the ballast circuit when the current in the ballast circuit exceeds a predetermined threshold or falls outside a predetermined range.

Inductively coupled ballast circuit

Embodiments related to managing the process feed conditions for a semiconductor process module are provided. In one example, a gas channel plate for a semiconductor process module is provided. The example gas channel plate includes a heat exchange surface including a plurality of heat exchange structures separated from one another by intervening gaps. The example gas channel plate also includes a heat exchange fluid director plate support surface for supporting a heat exchange fluid director plate above the plurality of heat exchange structures so that at least a portion of the plurality of heat exchange structures are spaced from the heat exchange fluid director plate.

Process feed management for semiconductor substrate processing

A fluid treatment system is disclosed that includes a control unit that controls the overall operation of the fluid treatment system. A ballast circuit is coupled with an electromagnetic radiation emitting assembly. In the preferred fluid treatment system, the ballast circuit is inductively coupled with the electromagnetic radiation assembly. The inductively coupled ballast circuit inductively energizes an electromagnetic radiation emitting device that is located in the electromagnetic radiation emitting assembly in response to a predetermined electric signal from the control unit. In addition, the fluid treatment system includes a radio frequency identification system that is used to monitor various functional and operational aspects of the electromagnetic radiation emitting assembly and a filter assembly used in the fluid treatment system.

Water treatment system with an inductively coupled ballast

An electronic high frequency supply, such as a lamp ballast, having a full-wave rectifier, a storage capacitor charged to a voltage greater than the peak of the rectifier output, and an isolating diode between the rectifier and the storage capacitor. An inverter is connected to the storage capacitor, and has a high frequency inductive load circuit connected between the inverter output and a junction between the isolating diode and the bridge rectifier. A capacitor, connected to the junction in parallel with a series circuit formed by the isolating diode and storage capacitor, forms a high frequency resonance circuit with the inductive load circuit. Current is drawn from the rectifier only as a series of pulses at the inverter frequency. To minimize variation in the high frequency load current, the inverter frequency is varied linearly with but oppositely to the instantaneous value of the rectifier output voltage.

High frequency inverter with power-line-controlled frequency modulation

A general analytical procedure is presented for the equivalent circuit modeling of resonant converters, using the series and parallel resonant converters as examples The switched tank elements of a resonant converter are modeled by a lumped parameter equivalent circuit The tank element circuit model consists, in general, of discrete energy states, but may be approximated by a low-frequency continuous time model These equivalent circuit models completely characterize the terminal behavior of the converters and are solvable for any transfer function or impedance of interest With the approximate model it is possible to predict the lumped parameter poles and zeros, and to quickly determine the relevant DC gains of the output impedance and the control to output transfer function Closed-form solutions are given for the equivalent circuit models of both converter examples Experimental verification is presented for the control-to-output transfer functions of both series and parallel resonant converters, and good agreement between theoretical prediction and experimental measurement is obtained >

Small signal equivalent circuit modeling of resonant converters

A high power electronic ballast for operating one or more discharge lamps includes a power factor correction high frequency SEPIC converter input stage in cascade with an output stage made up of a half-bridge resonant converter. In place of the conventional isolation transformer in the output stage, the input stage utilizes a single integrated transformer inductor magnetic component, thereby eliminating the usual output stage isolation transformer. The input stage is operated in a critical conduction mode which further improves the electronic ballast.

High power electronic ballast with an integrated magnetic component

A resonant switch is introduced that uses linear tank elements. Zero-current switching is obtained even through the peak transistor voltage and current stresses can approach those of an equivalent ideal pulsewidth-modulated converter. Reduced switching loss without a substantial increase in conduction loss is therefore possible. An approximate analysis is outlined, and transistor peak-voltage and current stresses are shown to be much lower than those of linear resonant switch technologies. Single-transistor implementations of the buck, boost, and buck-boost nonlinear resonant switch converters are given. Results are presented which experimentally prove the validity of the nonlinear resonant switch concept, as well as that of the approximate analysis. >

A nonlinear resonant switch

An electronic circuit arrangement for operating a discharge lamp, having a full-wave rectifier, a storage capacitor charged to a voltage greater than the peak of the rectifier output, and an isolating diode between the rectifier and the diode. An inverter is connected to the energy storage capacitor, and has a high frequency inductive load circuit connected between the inverter output and a junction between the isolating diode and the storage capacitor. A capacitor, connected to the junction in parallel with a series circuit formed by the isolating diode and storage capacitor, forms a high frequency resonance circuit with the inductive load circuit. Current is drawn from the rectifier only as a series of pulses at the inverter frequency.

Adan F. Hernandez

Papers

High frequency inverter with power-line-controlled frequency modulation

Small signal equivalent circuit modeling of resonant converters

High power electronic ballast with an integrated magnetic component

A nonlinear resonant switch

Power factor correcting circuit