Texas Instruments Assigned Patent

Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX, has been assigned a patent (9,466,572) developed by Mitchell, Allan T., Heath, TX, and Jarreau, Keith, Plano, TX, for a “ultraviolet energy shield for non-volatile charge storage memory.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “An integrated circuit with non-volatile memory cells shielded from ultraviolet light by a shielding structure compatible with chemical-mechanical processing. The disclosed shielding structure includes a roof structure with sides, along each side are spaced-apart contact posts, each with a width on the order of the wavelength of ultraviolet light to be shielded, and spaced apart by a distance that is also on the order of the wavelength of ultraviolet light to be shielded. The contact posts may be provided in multiple rows, and extending to a diffused region or to a polysilicon ring or both. The multiple rows may be aligned with one another or staggered relative to one another.“

The patent application was filed on October 16, 2012 (13/652,558).