The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 16, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 18, 1997
Nguyen Duc Bui, San Jose, CA (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods are provided to increase the process control during the fabrication of the control gate configuration in a non-volatile memory semiconductor device. The methods effectively smooth out the top surface of the control gate layer, which allows for a subsequently formed silicide layer to be formed on the control gate layer without significant surface depressions. Significant surface depressions in either the control gate layer or the silicide layer can lead to cracking of the silicide layer during subsequent thermal processing of the semiconductor device. Thus the disclosed methods prevent cracking of the silicide layer on the control gate, which can affect the performance of the semiconductor device by increasing the resistance of the control gate arrangement.