Method for forming a contoured floating gate cell

Abstract

A floating gate having a first and second end region, each of which are positioned adjacent to a corresponding lateral end of the floating gate. A middle region is positioned laterally towards a middle of the floating gate relative to the first and second end regions. The first end region, the middle region and the second end region are formed of a same material during a single fabrication step, and the middle region formed has a thickness which is less than a thickness of the first or second end regions. This invention further includes a method for forming a contoured floating gate for use in a floating gate memory cell. The method includes forming a polysilicon layer over first and second spaced apart oxide structures and a floating gate region between the first and second oxide structures such that the polysilicon layer formed in the floating gate region has a first end region adjacent the first oxide structure, a second end region adjacent the second oxide structure, and a middle region positioned laterally between the first and second end regions. The method further includes removing a portion of the polysilicon layer in the floating gate region such that the vertical thickness of the first and second end regions remain greater than the vertical thickness of the middle region.