OUR BUSINESS MODEL IS TO LICENSE TECHNOLOGY TO DISPLAY AND SEMICONDUCTOR COMPANIES. SOME OF OUR KEY PATENTS ARE LISTED BELOW
AMNR
Status: Granted in Japan (JP6692439B2), US (10438841B2), ROC (TWI669782B); Published in PRC (CN 108352358), ROK (KR 20180054924)
Assignee: Amorphyx Inc.
Overview: This patent was one of the first developed independently by Amorphyx. It builds upon the original amorphous metal non-linear resistor patent developed by Oregon State. This patent describes other possible amorphous metal non-linear resistor structures that have more than two tunneling junctions. The key advantage of these structures being that the resistor threshold voltage can be varied substantially (from 5V to >80V), without altering the tunneling insulator material or thickness, and therefore the fundamental quantum tunneling conduction mechanism that gives AMNR their speed.
Many display applications (e.g. LCD and OLED) require a threshold voltage greater than 5V, which gives this type of >2 tunneling junction AMNR (often referred to as AMNR-X) utility to the display industry. Amorphyx used AMNR-X devices to fabricate the world’s first AMNR-LCD in collaboration with BOE.
Abstract: Amorphous multi-component metallic films can be used to improve the performance of electronic components such as resistors, diodes, and thin film transistors. Interfacial properties of AMMFs are superior to those of crystalline metal films, and therefore electric fields at the interface of an AMMF and an oxide film are more uniform. An AMMF resistor (AMNR) can be constructed as a three-layer structure including an amorphous metal, a tunneling insulator, and a crystalline metal layer. By modifying the order of the materials, the patterns of the electrodes, and the size and number of overlap areas, the I-V performance characteristics of the AMNR are adjusted. A non-coplanar AMNR has a five-layer structure that includes three metal layers separated by metal oxide tunnelling insulator layers, wherein an amorphous metal thin film material is used to fabricate the middle electrodes.
AMETFT.
Status: Published in PRC (CN 111919302), ROC (TW 201942979), US (US 2019/0326422), PCT (WO 2019/191674); Pending in ROK (2020/7031182), Japan (JP 2020/552207)
Assignee: Amorphyx Inc.
Overview: This patent describes a thin film transistor that is built using an amorphous metal thin film as the gate electrode. The use of an amorphous metals as the gate material aids in device performance because amorphous metal thin films are extremely smooth, allowing for very thin and uniform dielectrics. Additionally amorphous metals are very strong and flexible.
Abstract: Described herein are various amorphous metal thin film transistors. Embodiments of such transistors include an amorphous metal gate electrode and a channel conductor formed on a non-conducting substrate. Further embodiments of such transistors include an amorphous metal source electrode, an amorphous metal drain electrode, and a channel conductor formed on a non-conducting substrate. Methods of forming such transistors are also described.
AMHET
Status: Granted in US (10672898), Republic of China (TWI678738); Published in ROK (KR 20190018008), PRC (CN 109564892); Pending in Japan
Assignee: Amorphyx Inc.
Overview: This patent describes a hot-electron transistor that is built using an amorphous metal thin-film and co-planar emitter and base electrodes. Similar to how the AMNR improved upon existing MIM structures, the AMHET improves upon existing vertical hot electron transistors by allowing for easier processing and a symmetric current-voltage response of the emitter-base structure.
Abstract: Amorphous multi-component metallic films can be used to improve the performance of electronic devices such as resistors, diodes, and thin film transistors. An amorphous hot electron transistor (HET) having co-planar emitter and base electrodes provides electrical properties and performance advantages over existing vertical HET structures. Emitter and the base terminals of the transistor are both formed in an upper crystalline metal layer of an amorphous nonlinear resistor. The emitter and the base are adjacent to one another and spaced apart by a gap. The presence of the gap results in two-way Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling between the crystalline metal layer and the amorphous metal layer, and symmetric I-V performance. Meanwhile, forming the emitter and base terminals in the same layer simplifies the HET fabrication process by reducing the number of patterning steps.
211.
Status: Pending in PRC, ROK, US, JP, ROC
Assignee: Amorphyx Inc.
The combination of the ultra-fast-switching AMNR with the enhanced mobility IGZO AMeTFT replaces LTPO solutions with a smaller pixel circuit area and dramatically simplified manufacturing for OLED and microLED backplanes.
This disclosure generally describes electronic circuits comprised of devices incorporating amorphous metals in semiconductor-based and quantum tunneling-based implementations.
A-MIM
Status: Granted
Coverage: US
Assignee: Oregon State University
Overview: This was the patent that begin it all. “Amorphous multi-component metallic thin films for electronic devices” was filed by Bill Cowell (E. William Cowell III) as part of his Ph.D. thesis work at Oregon State University with Prof. John Wager. The key importance of this patent is that it covers the basic concept of using an amorphous metal thin film (or amorphous multi-component metallic film as referred to in the patent) to improve the performance of a quantum tunneling diode.
Amorphyx has negotiated exclusive licensing rights to this patent through Oregon State University.
Abstract: An electronic structure comprising: (a) a first metal layer; (b) a second metal layer; (c) and at least one insulator layer located between the first metal layer and the second metal layer, wherein at least one of the metal layers comprises an amorphous multi-component metallic film. In certain embodiments, the construct is a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diode.
IPS AMNR
In-plane switching liquid crystal display backplane using amorphous metal nonlinear resistors as active subpixel devices (IPS AMNR-LCD)
Status: Granted in US (10234734B2), ROC (TWI639875B); Pending in ROK, PRC, Japan
Assignee(s): Amorphyx and Oregon State University
Overview: This patent describes possible circuits for controlling in-plane switching liquid crystal displays using amorphous metal nonlinear resistors (IPS AMNR-LCD). This patent describes the “dual-select” circuit used by AMNR-LCD and a particular embodiment that enables full dot (pixel-by-pixel) inversion of the display with each frame, as opposed to row by row inversion only, which was typical for previous dual-select display.
Amorphyx has negotiated exclusive licensing rights with Oregon State University.
Abstract: A physical layout for a circuit using amorphous metal nonlinear resistors as active devices for an in-plane switching liquid crystal display subpixel is provided. The lower interconnect of the two amorphous metal non-linear resistors and the lower electrode of the storage capacitor may be concurrently deposited and patterned. The area of the storage capacitor is defined by the overlap of the data signal interconnect and the storage capacitor lower electrode, which is easily modified through the size of the lower electrode and/or the size of the data signal interconnect where it overlaps the lower electrode and does not degrade the aperture ratio of the pixel. Two embodiments of subpixel circuits are described. One, which employs a select line bridge, enables the use of full dot inversion of the image data. The second only allows row inversion of the image data.