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:
Oct. 08, 2013
Filed:
Feb. 03, 2010
Shenqing Fang, Fremont, CA (US);
Angela Hui, Fremont, CA (US);
Shao-yu Ting, Kaohsiung, TW;
Inkuk Kang, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Gang Xue, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Shenqing Fang, Fremont, CA (US);
Angela Hui, Fremont, CA (US);
Shao-Yu Ting, Kaohsiung, TW;
Inkuk Kang, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Gang Xue, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Spansion LLC, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for fabricating a memory device with U-shaped trap layers over rounded active region corners is disclosed. In the present invention, an STI process is performed before the charge-trapping layer is formed. Immediately after the STI process, the sharp corners of the active regions are exposed, making them available for rounding. Rounding the corners improves the performance characteristics of the memory device. Subsequent to the rounding process, a bottom oxide layer, nitride layer, and sacrificial top oxide layer are formed. An organic bottom antireflective coating applied to the charge trapping layer is planarized. Now the organic bottom antireflective coating, sacrificial top oxide layer, and nitride layer are etched, without etching the sacrificial top oxide layer and nitride layer over the active regions. After the etching the charge trapping layer has a cross-sectional U-shape appearance. U-shaped trap layer edges allow for increased packing density and integration while maintaining isolation between trap layers.