Texas Instruments Corporation

National Semiconductor Corporation

Manzur Gill

Sung-Wei Lin

David J McElroy

Sebastiano D'Arrigo

Howard L Tigelaar

Theodore D Lindgren

Pradeep L Shah

Dave J McElroy

Inn K Lee

C Rinn Cleavelin

Iano D'Arrigo

John Frederic Schreck

Phat C Truong

Benjamin H Ashmore, Jr

David D Wilmoth

Giuliano Imondi

Vincent L Fong

Harvey J Stiegler

Etan Shacham

Danny Shum

An EPROM or flash EEPROM, which has an array of single-transistor, stacked-gate, memory cells. Active areas for transistor elements are in columns up and down the array, with columns being isolated by thick field oxide strips (220). Word lines (236) and source lines (212) run across the array. Bit lines (216) run along the active area columns to connect transistor drains (218). Bit lines are perpendicular to word lines. Each stacked gate includes a control gate (232) and a floating gate (230), with the latter having a top portion (230b) and a bottom portion (230a) that are separately deposited and etched. The bottom portion (230a) is etched in strips along the active area columns, and define the gate width of each cell. The top portion (230b) overlaps the bottom portion (230a) to improve capacitance between control gate (232) and floating gate (230).

Memory cell array with LOCOS free isolation

A Flash EEPROM memory array and method for making the same is provided. The memory array has rectangularly shaped field oxide regions. A field oxide layer is grown on a substrate having p-wells. The field oxide layer is selectively etched to provide the resulting field oxide regions. Subsequent method steps provide tunnel oxide regions, floating gates oxide-nitride-oxide layers, bit lines, oxide spacers and word lines, word line to metal dielectric, contacts, metal and passivation.

Method for forming field oxide regions

An EEPROM and method for making the same, having precisely shaped field oxide regions and memory cells, to provide improved electrical operating characteristics and increased memory density. A layer of field oxide is grown over an n-type substrate having a p-well and the layer of field oxide is selectively etched to form rows of field oxide. Rows of tunnel oxide are formed between the rows of field oxide. A first layer of polysilicon, or poly-1, is formed over the wafer and a layer of ONO is formed over the poly-1. Using the same mask, the ONO, poly-1, field oxide, and tunnel oxide are stack etched. Bit lines are formed, followed by oxide spacers. A second layer of polysilicon, or poly-2 is formed and selectively etched to form word lines. The exposed ONO and poly-1 are etched using the same mask to form floating gate regions. Subsequent process steps provide word lines to metal dielectric, contacts, metal and passivation.

EEPROM devices with smaller cell size

An electrically-erasable, electrically-programmable, read-only-memory cell array is formed in pairs at a face of a semiconductor substrate (21). Each memory cell includes a source region (11) and a drain region (12) formed in a shared drain-column line (19), with a corresponding channel region in between. A Fowler-Nordheim tunnel-window (13a) is located opposite the channel over the source-column line (17) connected to source (11). A floating-gate conductor (13) includes a channel section (29) and a tunnel-window section (28). The floating-gate conductor is formed in two stages, the first stage forming the channel section (29) and the tunnel-window section (28) from a first-level polysilicon. This floating-gate channel section (29) is used as a self-alignment implant mask for the source (11) and drain (12) regions, such that the channel-junction edges are aligned with the corresponding edges of the channel section (29). A control-gate cenductor 14 is disposed over the floating-gate conductor (13), insulated by an intervening inter-level dielectric (26). The memory cell is programmed by hot-carrier injection from the channel to the floating-gate channel section (29), and erased by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling from the floating-gate tunnel-window section (28) through the tunnel window (13a). The program, erase and read regions of the cells are physically separate from each other, and the characteristics of each of those regions may be made optimum independently from each other.

Method of making EPROM with separate erasing and programming regions

A non-volatile memory system is disclosed which includes an array of multi-state N channel floating gate memory cells along with associated control circuitry for programming, reading and erasing the cells of the array. Small geometry single transistor memory cells are used which are capable of operating both in the enhancement and the depletion modes of operation. The associated control circuitry includes circuitry for programming selected cells of the array to one of a multiplicity of programmed states, typically four states. At least one of the programmed states results in the cell having a negative threshold voltage, relative to the source region of the cell, thereby indicating depletion mode operation, with the remaining states resulting in the cell having positive threshold voltage. The use of both polarity threshold voltages increases the voltage margin between states thereby enhancing the reliability of read/write operations. The memory read circuitry applies a positive voltage, relative to the source region of the target cell, to the word line associated with the selected cell for carrying out read operations. In addition, the read circuitry applies a negative voltage to the remaining word lines so that deselected cells which are in the same column as the selected cell do not conduct current which would interfere with the reading of the selected cell. This latter feature avoids the necessity of using large geometry split channel memory cells in order to eliminate current flow in deselected cells.

Memory array utilizing multi-state memory cells

A Low-voltage Electrically Erasable, Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) and a method for reading memory cells in the EEPROM. During a read operation address input is provided to an address latch and edge detector, which supplies a changed address signal to a charge-sharing word line voltage generator, supplies word line address signals to a word line address decoder, and supplies bit line address signals to a bit line address decoder and sense amplifier circuit. The word line address decoder provides a positive voltage from a positive voltage source to a selected word line in the memory array and provides a voltage that is negative with respect to ground to deselected word lines. The bit line address decoder and sense amplifier circuit grounds selected source bit lines and senses drain to source current to read the memory cells. The charge-sharing word line voltage generator and charge-sharing bit line voltage generator use a plurality of charge pump circuits and capacitors to store and share charge with the word lines. The EEPROM has a reduced erased voltage threshold range by extending the erase time during erase operations.

Low-voltage EEPROM using charge-pumped word lines

An electrically-erasable, electrically-programmable, read-only-memory cell array is formed in pairs at a face of a semiconductor substrate (22). Each memory cell includes a source region (11) and a drain region (12), with a corresponding channel region between. A Fowler-Nordheim tunnel-window (13a) is located over the source line (17) connected to source (11). A floating gate (13) includes a tunnel-window section. A control gate (14) is disposed over the floating gate (13), insulated by an intervening inter-level dielectric (27). The floating gate (13) and the control gate (14) include a channel section (Ch). The channel section (Ch) is used as a self-alignment implant mask for the source (11) and drain (12) regions, such that the channel-junction edges are aligned with the corresponding edges of the channel section (Ch). The memory cell is programmed by hot-carrier injection from the channel to the floating gate (13), and erased by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling from the floating gate (13) through the tunnel window (13a) to the source-line (17 ). The program and erase regions of the cells are physically separate from each other, and the characteristics, including the oxides, of each of those regions may be made optimum independently from each other.

Method of making an EEPROM cell with separate erasing and programming

An EEPROM and method for making the same, having precisely shaped field oxide regions and memory cells, to provide improved electrical operating characteristics and increased memory density. A layer of field oxide is grown over an n-type substrate having a p-well and the layer of field oxide is selectively etched to form rows of field oxide. Rows of tunnel oxide are formed between the rows of field oxide. A first layer of polysilicon, or poly-1, is formed over the wafer and a layer of ONO is formed over the poly-1. Using the same mask, the ONO, poly-1, field oxide, and tunnel oxide are stack etched. Bit lines are formed, followed by oxide spacers. A second layer of polysilicon,or poly-2 is formed and selectively etched to form word lines. The exposed ONO and poly-1 are etched using the same mask to form floating gate regions. Subsequent process steps provide word lines to metal dielectric, contacts, metal and passivation.

Method of making EEPROM devices with smaller cell size

A CMOS memory cell array and a method of forming it, which avoids problems caused by field oxide corner-rounding. A moat pattern defines alternating columns of active areas and field oxide regions. A source line pattern defines rows of source lines. Silicon dopant is implanted in areas not covered by the source line pattern to form buried n+ source lines. The field oxide regions are formed in areas not covered by the moat pattern. Subsequent fabrication steps may be in accordance with conventional CMOS fabrication techniques.

Memory cell array having continuous-strip field-oxide regions

A contact-free floating-gate non-volatile memory cell array and process with silicided NSAG bitlines and with source/drain regions buried beneath relatively thick silicon oxide. The bitlines have a relatively small resistance, eliminating the need for parallel metallic conductors with numerous bitline contacts. The array has relatively small bitline capacitance and may be constructed having relatively small dimensions. Isolation between bitlines is by thick field oxide. Wordlines may be formed from silicided polycrystalline or other material with low resistivity. Coupling of programming and erasing voltages to the floating gate is improved by extending the gates over the thick field oxide and perhaps by using an insulator with relatively high dielectric constant between the control gate and the floating gate. The sides of the floating gates are defined with a single patterning step. The resulting structure is a dense cross-point array of programmable memory cells.

Method of making contract-free floating-gate memory array with silicided

A memory cell array for a nonvolatile memory device having single-transistor cells (10). Row lines (15) connect the control gates of each row of cells. Column lines (17) connect the drain regions (11) and source regions (12) of columns of cells, such that pairs of row-adjacent cells share a column line (17). Each shared column line (17) has two junctions for each pair of cells that share the column line. One junction is graded for source regions (12) and the other is abrupt for drain regions (11).

Virtual ground memory cell array

An electrically-erasable, electrically-programmable, read-only-memory cell array is formed in pairs at a face of a semiconductor substrate (22). Each memory cell includes a source region (11) and a drain region (12), with a corresponding channel region between. A Fowler-Nordheim tunnel-window (13a) is located over the source line (17) connected to source (11). The source line (17) consists of alternating buried N+ windows (17a) and source regions (11). A floating gate (13) includes a tunnel-window section. A control gate (14) is disposed over the floating gate (13), insulated by an intervening inter-level dielectric (27). The floating gate (13) and the control gate (14) include a channel section (Ch). The channel section (Ch) is used as a self-alignment implant mask for the source (11) and drain (12) regions, such that the channel-junction edges are aligned with the corresponding edges of the channel section (Ch). The memory cell is programmed by hot-carrier injection from the channel to the floating gate (13), and erased by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling from the floating gate (13) through the tunnel window (13a) to the source-line (17). The program and erase regions of the cells are physically separate from each other, and the characteristics, including the oxides, of each of those regions may be made optimum independently from each other.

Method of making EEPROM array with buried N+ windows and with separate

A CMOS memory cell array, and a process for making it, that avoids problems caused by LOCOS isolation of cells. Moats are formed by etching away columns of a thick field oxide layer. The moats have two-tiered sidewalls, such that an upper tier is sloped, and a lower tier is more vertical. This approach provides the advantages of sloped sidewalls, but avoids filament problems. After the moats are formed, subsequent fabrication steps may be in accordance with conventional fabrication techniques for CMOS arrays.

MOSFET cell array

An electrically-erasable, electrically-programmable, read-only-memory cell array is formed in pairs at a face of a semiconductor substrate (22). Each memory cell includes a source (11) and a drain (12), with a corresponding channel (Ch) between. A control gate (14) is disposed over the floating gate (13), insulated by an intervening inter-level dielectric (27). The floating gate (13) and the control gate (14) include a channel section (Ch). The channel section (Ch) is used as a self-alignment implant mask for the sources (11) and drains (12), such that the channel-junction edges are aligned with the corresponding edges of the channel section (Ch). Each memory cell is programmed by hot-carrier injection from the channel to the floating gate (13), and erased by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling from the floating gate (13) to the source (11). The program and erase regions of each cell are physically separate from each other, and the characteristics of each of those regions may be made optimum independently from each other. Field oxide insulators (25) defining the channels (Ch) and the source line (17) have straight-line edges adjacent the source line (17) and adjacent the channel (Ch).

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Rosharon, TX, United States of America

Manzur Gill