1. A method of forming a trench gate field effect transistor, comprising:
forming a trench in a semiconductor region that comprises a substrate of a first conductivity type and a silicon region of the first conductivity type over the substrate, the silicon region having a lower doping concentration than the substrate;
forming a dielectric layer lining sidewalls and bottom of the trench and extending over mesa regions adjacent the trench;
forming a conductive seed layer in a bottom portion of the trench over the dielectric layer;
growing a low resistance material over the conductive seed layer, wherein the low resistance material is selective to the conductive seed layer; and
forming a well region of a second conductivity type in the silicon region, wherein the conductive seed layer has an upper surface below a bottom surface of the well region.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the conductive seed layer and low resistance material form at least part of a gate electrode.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
forming an epitaxial layer of the first conductivity type over the substrate, the epitaxial layer corresponding to the silicon region,
wherein the well region of a second conductivity type is formed in the epitaxial layer; and
forming source regions of the first conductivity type in the well region adjacent the trench.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming a conductive seed layer comprises:
depositing a polysilicon layer, filling the trench; and
recessing the polysilicon layer in the trench.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the polysilicon layer is in-situ doped to be made more conductive.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the conductive seed layer comprises one of metal and metal compound.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
prior to forming the conductive seed layer, forming a thick bottom dielectric along the bottom of the trench.
8. A method of forming a shielded gate field effect transistor, comprising:
forming a trench in a semiconductor region that comprises a substrate of a first conductivity type and a silicon region of the first conductivity type over the substrate, the silicon region having a lower doping concentration than the substrate;
lining lower sidewalls and bottom of the trench with shield dielectric;
filling a lower portion of the trench with a shield electrode;
forming an inter-electrode dielectric over the shield electrode;
forming a dielectric layer lining upper trench sidewalls and extending over mesa regions adjacent the trench;
forming a conductive seed layer over the inter-electrode dielectric layer;
growing a low resistance material over the conductive seed layer, wherein the low resistance material is selective to the conductive seed layer; and
forming a well region of a second conductivity type in the silicon region, wherein the conductive seed layer has an upper surface below a bottom surface of the well region.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the conductive seed layer and low resistance material form at least part of a gate electrode.
10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
forming an epitaxial layer of the first conductivity type over the substrate, the epitaxial layer corresponding to the silicon region,
wherein the well region of a second conductivity type is formed in the epitaxial layer; and
forming source regions of the first conductivity type in the well region adjacent the trench.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of forming a conductive seed layer comprises:
depositing a polysilicon layer, filling the trench; and
recessing the polysilicon layer in the trench.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the polysilicon layer is in-situ doped to be made more conductive.
13. The method of claim 8 wherein the conductive seed layer comprises one of metal and metal compound.
14. The method of claim 8 wherein the dielectric layer is a gate dielectric layer, and the shield dielectric has a greater thickness than the gate dielectric layer.
15. A method of forming a trench gate field effect transistor, comprising:
forming trenches in a semiconductor region;
forming a dielectric layer lining sidewalls and bottom of each trench and extending over mesa regions adjacent the trenches;
forming a conductive seed layer in a bottom portion of each trench over the dielectric layer; and
growing a low resistance material over the conductive seed layer in each trench, wherein the low resistance material is selective to the conductive seed layer and is grown to a height below a top surface of the mesa regions adjacent the trenches.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the conductive seed layer and low resistance material form at least part of a gate electrode in each trench.
17. The method of claim 15 wherein the semiconductor region comprises a substrate of a first conductivity type, the method further comprising:
forming an epitaxial layer of the first conductivity type over the substrate, the epitaxial layer having a lower doping concentration than the substrate, the epitaxial layer forming an upper part of the semiconductor region;
forming a well region of a second conductivity type in the epitaxial layer; and
forming source regions of the first conductivity type in the well region adjacent the trenches.
18. The method of claim 15 wherein the step of forming a conductive seed layer comprises:
depositing a polysilicon layer, filling each trench; and
recessing the polysilicon layer in each trench.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein the polysilicon layer is in-situ doped to be made more conductive.
20. The method of claim 15 wherein the conductive seed layer comprises one of metal and metal compound.
21. The method of claim 15 further comprising:
prior to forming the conductive seed layer, forming a thick bottom dielectric along the bottom of each trench.
22. A method of forming a shielded gate field effect transistor, comprising:
forming trenches in a semiconductor region;
lining lower sidewalls and bottom of each trench with a shield dielectric;
filling a lower portion of each trench with a shield electrode;
forming a dielectric layer over the shield electrode in each trench;
forming a conductive seed layer in each trench over the dielectric layer; and
growing a low resistance material over the conductive seed layer in each trench, wherein the low resistance material is selective to the conductive seed layer and is grown to a height below a top surface of the mesa regions adjacent the trenches.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein the conductive seed layer and the low resistance material form at least part of a gate electrode in each trench.
24. The method of claim 22 wherein the semiconductor region comprises a substrate of a first conductivity type, the method further comprising:
forming an epitaxial layer of the first conductivity type over the substrate, the epitaxial layer having a lower doping concentration than the substrate, the epitaxial layer forming an upper part of the semiconductor region;
forming a well region of a second conductivity type in the epitaxial layer; and
forming source regions of the first conductivity type in the well region adjacent the trenches.
25. The method of claim 22 wherein the step of forming a conductive seed layer comprises:
depositing a polysilicon layer, filling each trench; and
recessing the polysilicon layer in each trench.
26. The method of claim 25 wherein the polysilicon layer is in-situ doped to be made more conductive.
27. The method of claim 22 wherein the conductive seed layer comprises one of metal and metal compound.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for calibrating a vending apparatus for vending a media product, comprising the steps of:
setting an optical sensitivity setting of a optical sensor to zero;
incrementing the optical sensitivity setting until the optical sensor optically senses an object, representing a first optical sensitivity setting;
storing the first optical sensitivity setting;
decrementing the optical sensitivity setting until the optical sensor no longer optically senses the object, representing a second optical sensitivity setting;
storing the second optical sensitivity setting; and, selecting a third optical sensitivity setting between the first and second optical sensitivity settings.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the third optical sensitivity setting is the average of the first and second optical sensitivity settings.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the object is the media product.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is at least one of a laser, an infrared sensor, an ultraviolet sensor, a barcode reader andor a magnetic scanner.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is mounted on a selector arm.
6. A method for calibrating a vending apparatus for vending a media product, comprising the steps of:
optically sensing a first position on a compartmentalized storage device;
recording the first position as a horizontal base reference position;
optically sensing a second position on the compartmentalized storage device;
recording the second position as a vertical base reference position; and, tracking the location of a selector arm, wherein the location is measured with reference to the horizontal base reference position and the vertical base reference position.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the horizontal base reference position corresponds to one of a plurality of compartments.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the vertical base reference position corresponds to one of a plurality of compartmentalized rows.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein a combination of at least the horizontal base reference position and the vertical base reference position determine a location of a compartment in the compartmentalized storage facility.
10. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:
initiating a substantially vertical movement of the selector arm, wherein the substantially vertical movement aligns the selector arm with one of a plurality of compartmentalized rows.
11. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:
initiating a stepper motor, wherein the stepper motor rotates the compartmentalized storage device to place the selector arm in substantial alignment with one of a plurality of compartments.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the location of the selector arm is adjusted to correspond with the rotation of the compartmentalized storage device.
13. A system for calibrating a vending apparatus for vending a media product, comprising:
a storage device having a plurality of compartments, wherein each of the plurality of compartments has a location designated by a horizontal location and a vertical location;
a stepper motor for rotating the storage device;
a selector arm for manipulating the vending of the media product;
a vertical motor for moving the selector arm along a vertical axis; and, a controller having an associated memory for storing a location of the selector arm, wherein the location comprises a horizontal position and a vertical position, wherein the horizontal position is determined with reference to a horizontal base position and wherein the vertical position is determined with reference to a vertical base position.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the location of the selector arm corresponds to one of the plurality of compartments.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein the vertical base reference position corresponds to one of a plurality of compartmentalized rows.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein at least a combination of the horizontal base reference position and the vertical base reference position determines a location of one of the plurality of compartments.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein a movement of the selector arm along the vertical axis results in one of an increment andor a decrement of the vertical position of the selector arm.
18. The system of claim 13, wherein a movement of the storage device results in one of an increment andor decrement to the horizontal position of the selector arm.
19. The system of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of compartments is for storing the media product.
20. A method for calibrating a vending apparatus for vending a media product, comprising:
storing a vertical base reference position of a selector arm, wherein the vertical base reference position corresponds to one of a plurality of rows in a cylindrical storage device;
storing a horizontal base reference position of a selector arm, wherein the horizontal base reference position corresponds to a compartment identifier identifying a compartment within each of the plurality of rows;
storing a position of the selector arm corresponding to a media product storage compartment in the cylindrical storage facility, wherein the position comprises a vertical position and a horizontal position;
initiating a motor to move the selector arm along a vertical axis, wherein a movement of the selector arm results in one of an increment andor a decrement of the vertical position of the selector arm; and, initiating a stepper motor to rotate the cylindrical storage device, wherein a rotation of the cylindrical storage device results in one of an increment andor a decrement of the horizontal position of the selector arm.