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:
Jun. 22, 2004
Filed:
Dec. 31, 2001
Yai-Fen Lin, Non-Tour, TW;
Chang Song Lin, Hsin-Chu, TW;
Chia-Ta Hsieh, Tainan, TW;
Hung-Cheng Sung, Hsin-chu, TW;
Juang-Ke Yeh, Hsin-Chu, TW;
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Hsin-Chu, TW;
Abstract
A method is provided for forming a split-gate flash memory cell having a shallow trench isolation without the intrusion of a “smiling” gap near the edge of the trench encompassing the first polysilicon layer. This is accomplished by forming two conformal layers lining the interior walls of the trench. An exceptionally thin nitride layer overlying the first conformal oxide layer provides the necessary protection during the oxidation of the first polysilicon layer so as to prevent the “smiling” effect normally encountered in fabricating ultra large scale integrated circuits.