1. Method for manufacturing a semiconductor array, wherein a conductive substrate an element regions, and an insulation layer, isolating the element region from the conductive substrate, are formed, a trench is etched in the element region as far as the insulation layer, the trench is etched further in the insulation layer as far as the conductive substrate, and the conductive substrate is partially etched to form conductive substrate regions, isolated from one another.
2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the conductive substrate is etched at least partially within the trench in order to form conductive substrate regions, isolated from one another.
3. Method according to claim 2, wherein a conductive layer of the substrate is patterned by etching to form the isolation of the substrate regions and an exposed region of the conductive layer is thermally oxidized to form an insulating dielectric.
4. Method according to claim 3, wherein for patterning a mask is formed which protects a first region of the conductive layer within the trench from the etching attack, and wherein a second region, not protected by the mask, of the conductive layer is removed by the etching.
5. Method according to claim 1, wherein to form the insulation of the substrate regions, a conductive layer of the substrate is removed at least partially within the trench by the etching, and wherein within the trench a dielectric is deposited between the formed substrate regions.
6. Method according to any claim 1, wherein an electrical conductor is introduced into the trench or into another trench and conductively connected to a substrate region of the substrate regions isolated from one another.
7. Method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is formed with a dielectric layer and with a conductive layer.
8. Method according to claim 1, wherein a shallow recess is etched in a surface of the element region, wherein the trench is etched within the shallow recess in the element region, and wherein the walls of the trench are formed with an insulation material.
9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the shallow recess is filled with dielectric, and wherein a dopant (B) is introduced for a semiconductor region of the at least one element, whereby the dielectric in the shallow recess serves as masking to make the semiconductor region of the at least one element self-aligned to the recess in the element region.
10. Method according to either claim 8, wherein to form the insulation material a silicon region, adjacent to the trench, of the element region is oxidized.
11. Method according to claim 1, wherein the conductive substrate to form conductive substrate regions, isolated from one another, is etched from the substrate side facing away from the trench, wherein the walls of the trench are formed with an insulation material, and wherein an electrical conductor is introduced into the trench and connected conductively to at least one substrate region of the conductive substrate regions.
12. Semiconductor array, with an element region, with a conductive substrate, with a buried insulation layer, which isolates the element region from the conductive substrate, with at least one trench, which is filled with an insulation material and which isolates at least one element in the element region from other elements in the element region, with an electrical conductor, which is connected conductively to the conductive substrate, wherein the electrical conductor is disposed within the trench isolated by the insulation material, and wherein the conductive substrate has substrate regions, which are divided by a number of etched trenches,
whereby the trenches are filled with a dielectric for isolation.
13. Semiconductor element according to claim 12, wherein several substrate regions, isolated from one another, are each connected conductively to at least one conductor disposed in one trench each.
14. Semiconductor array according to claim 12, wherein at least one of the substrate regions is formed below the element and wherein the element is a lateral DMOS field-effect transistor.
15. Semiconductor array according to claim 12, wherein a conductor and one substrate region of the substrate regions surround the at least one element at least partially and are together formed as a screen.
16. Semiconductor array according to claim 12, wherein within the trench a dielectric is disposed for isolating the substrate regions from one another.
17. Semiconductor array according to claim 12, wherein the trench is formed within a recess in a surface.
18. Semiconductor array according to claim 12, wherein a semiconductor region of the at least one element is formed self-aligned to the recess in the element region.
19. Circuit with a semiconductor array according to claim 12, which has means for applying a constant or controllable potential to the electrical conductor, whereby at least one electrical property of the at least one element depends on the constant or controllable potential.
20. Use of a conductive substrate region and a conductor, connected conductively to the substrate region, for multisided screening of an element, which is disposed on top of the conductive substrate region and is isolated dielectrically from the substrate region.
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 breather for a reservoir, said breather comprising:
a housing;
a first opening in the housing configured to be in fluid communication with air outside of the reservoir;
a second opening in the housing configured to be in fluid communication with air inside of the reservoir;
desiccant positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the outside to the inside of the reservoir must pass through the desiccant; and
a humidity sensor positioned within the housing, wherein the humidity sensor is operable to provide a humidity signal indicative of a humidity level adjacent the humidity sensor.
2. The breather of claim 1, said breather further comprising:
a controller electrically connected to the humidity sensor, wherein the controller is operable to determine an end of life condition of the breather as a function of the humidity signal from the humidity sensor.
3. The breather of claim 2, wherein the housing comprises a breather cap headspace and the humidity sensor is positioned in the breather cap headspace.
4. The breather of claim 2, wherein the humidity sensor is substantially surrounded by the desiccant.
5. The breather of claim 2, wherein the humidity level decreases after initial installation of the breather on the reservoir, and the controller is configured to at least one of:
ignore the humidity signal until the humidity signal indicates that the humidity level adjacent the humidity sensor has decreased below a predetermined maximum humidity level; or
ignore the humidity signal for a predetermined period of time after initial installation of the breather on the reservoir, wherein initial installation of the breather on the reservoir comprises providing power to the controller.
6. The breather of claim 2, further comprising a display electrically connected to the controller, wherein the display is operable to receive an end of life signal from the controller and display to an observer an indication of an end of life status of the breather as a function of the received end of life signal.
7. The breather of claim 2, further comprising a display electrically connected to the controller, wherein the display is operable to receive an end of life signal from the controller and display to an observer an indication of an end of life status of the breather as a function of the received end of life signal, wherein the end of life signal is indicative of one of a relative humidity value, a percentage of life remaining, and an estimated remaining time of life, and the displayed end of life status comprises the indicated one of the relative humidity value, the percentage of life remaining, or the estimated remaining time of life.
8. The breather of claim 2, further comprising a pressure sensor positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the inside of the reservoir to the desiccant must pass by the pressure sensor, wherein:
the pressure sensor is operable to provide a pressure signal indicative of an air pressure adjacent the pressure sensor; and
the controller is further configured to determine a fault condition when the pressure signal indicates that the air pressure adjacent the pressure sensor is above a predetermined pressure limit.
9. The breather of claim 2, further comprising a temperature sensor electrically connected to the controller, wherein:
the temperature sensor is operable to provide a temperature signal indicative of a temperature adjacent the temperature sensor; and
the controller is further operable to determine the end of life condition of the breather as a function of the humidity signal from the humidity sensor and the temperature signal from the temperature sensor by calculating a relative humidity associated with the desiccant as a function of the humidity signal and the temperature signal.
10. A method of determining an end of life condition of a breather, said method comprising:
providing a breather operable to attach to a reservoir, wherein the breather comprises:
a housing;
a first opening in the housing configured to be in fluid communication with air outside of the reservoir;
a second opening in the housing configured to be in fluid communication with air inside of the reservoir;
desiccant positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the outside to the inside of the reservoir must pass through the desiccant; and
a humidity sensor positioned within the housing;
providing, via the humidity sensor, a humidity signal indicative of a humidity level adjacent the humidity sensor; and
receiving the humidity signal at a controller associated with the breather and electrically connected to the humidity sensor;
determining, via the controller, the end of life condition as a function of the humidity signal received at the controller.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the housing of the breather comprises a breather cap headspace and the humidity sensor is positioned in the breather cap headspace.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the humidity sensor is substantially surrounded by the desiccant.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the humidity level decreases after initial installation of the breather on the reservoir, and the method further comprises at least one of:
ignoring, via the controller, the humidity signal received at the controller until the humidity signal indicates that the humidity level adjacent the humidity sensor has decreased below a predetermined maximum humidity level; or
ignoring, via the controller, the humidity signal received at the controller for a predetermined period of time after initial installation of the breather on the reservoir, wherein initial installation of the breather on the reservoir comprises providing power to the controller.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving an end of life signal from the controller at a display electrically connected to the controller, and
displaying, via the display, to an observer an indication of an end of life status of the breather as a function of the received end of life signal.
15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving an end of life signal from the controller at a display electrically connected to the controller, and
displaying, via the display, to an observer an indication of an end of life status of the breather as a function of the received end of life signal, wherein the end of life signal is indicative of one of a relative humidity value, a percentage of life remaining, and an estimated remaining time of life, and the displayed end of life status comprises the indicated one of the relative humidity value, the percentage of life remaining, or the estimated remaining time of life.
16. The method of claim 10, wherein the breather further comprises a pressure sensor positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the inside of the reservoir to the desiccant must pass by the pressure sensor, and wherein the method further comprises:
providing, via the pressure sensor, a pressure signal indicative of an air pressure adjacent the pressure sensor; and
receiving the provided pressure signal at the controller; and
determining, via the controller, a fault condition when the pressure signal indicates that the air pressure adjacent the pressure sensor is above a predetermined pressure limit.
17. The method of claim 10, wherein the breather further comprises a temperature sensor electrically connected to the controller, and the method further comprises:
providing, via the temperature sensor, a temperature signal indicative of a temperature adjacent the temperature sensor;
receiving the provided temperature signal at the controller; and
determining, via the controller, the end of life condition of the breather as a function of the humidity signal from the humidity sensor and the temperature signal from the temperature sensor by calculating a relative humidity associated with the desiccant as a function of the humidity signal and the temperature signal.
18. A breather for a reservoir, said breather comprising:
a housing;
a first opening in the housing configured to be in fluid communication with air outside of the reservoir;
a second opening in the housing configured to be in fluid communication with air inside of the reservoir;
desiccant positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the outside to the inside of the reservoir must pass through the desiccant;
a first humidity sensor positioned within the housing, wherein the first humidity sensor is operable to provide a first humidity signal indicative of a first humidity level adjacent the first humidity sensor and the first humidity sensor is substantially surrounded by the desiccant;
a second humidity sensor positioned within the housing, wherein the second humidity sensor is operable to provide a second humidity signal indicative of a second humidity level adjacent the second humidity sensor and the second humidity sensor is positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the inside of the reservoir to the desiccant must pass by the second humidity sensor; and
a controller electrically connected to the first humidity sensor and the second humidity sensor, wherein the controller is operable to determine an end of life condition of the breather as a function of the first humidity signal received from the first humidity sensor and the second humidity signal received from the second humidity sensor.
19. The breather of claim 18, wherein the controller is further operable to determine a fault condition when the first humidity signal indicates that the first humidity level adjacent the first humidity sensor is less than the second humidity level adjacent the second humidity sensor as indicated by the second humidity sensor.
20. The breather of claim 18, further comprising:
a pressure sensor positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the inside of the reservoir to the desiccant must pass by the pressure sensor, wherein the pressure sensor is operable to provide a pressure signal indicative of an air pressure adjacent the pressure sensor; and
a temperature sensor electrically connected to the controller, wherein:
the temperature sensor is operable to provide a temperature signal indicative of a temperature adjacent the temperature sensor; and
the controller is further operable to determine a dew point as a function of the pressure signal, the temperature signal, and determine the fault condition when the second humidity signal indicates that the humidity in the reservoir is greater than the determined dew point.