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:
Aug. 29, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 22, 1998
Min-hwa Chi, Hsinchu, TW;
Chih Ming Chen, Hsinchu, TW;
Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, Hsinchu, TW;
Abstract
A flash memory cell formed on a semiconductor substrate is disclosed. The cell comprises: a p-well formed in the substrate; a gate structure formed atop the p-well, the gate structure including a control gate and a floating gate, the floating gate electrically isolated from the control gate and the semiconductor substrate by a thin dielectric layer; an n- base formed adjacent to a first edge of the gate structure and extending underneath the gate structure; a p+ structure formed within the n- base and adjacent to the first edge of the gate structure; and a n+ structure adjacent a second edge of the gate structure. With such a structure, it is possible to program the cell by band-to-band tunneling enhanced hot electrons generated at the p+ surface. The erase is performed by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling through the n- base region.