Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080217683 | SELF-ALIGNED DOUBLE LAYERED SILICON-METAL NANOCRYSTAL MEMORY ELEMENT, METHOD FOR FABRICATING THE SAME, AND MEMORY HAVING THE MEMORY ELEMENT - A nanocrystal memory element and a method for fabricating the same are proposed. The fabricating method involves selectively oxidizing polysilicon not disposed beneath and not covered with a plurality of metal nanocrystals, and leaving intact the polysilicon disposed beneath and thereby covered with the plurality of metal nanocrystals, with a view to forming double layered silicon-metal nanocrystals by self-alignment. | 09-11-2008 |
20080230831 | Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof - A charge retention characteristic of a nonvolatile memory transistor is improved. A first insulating film that functions as a tunnel insulating film, a charge storage layer, and a second insulating film are sandwiched between a semiconductor substrate and a conductive film. The charge storage layer is formed of two silicon nitride films. A silicon nitride film which is a lower layer is formed using NH | 09-25-2008 |
20080237697 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - A metal oxide having a sufficiently higher dielectric constant than silicon nitride, such as Ti oxide, Zr oxide, or Hf oxide is used as base material, and in order to generate a trap level capable of moving in and out electrons therein, a high-valence substance of valence of 2 or more (that is, valence VI or higher) is added by a proper amount, and to control the trap level, a proper amount of nitrogen (carbon, boron, or low-valence substance) is added, and thus a nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a charge accumulating layer is obtained. | 10-02-2008 |
20080265310 | NANO REGION EMBEDDED DIELECTRIC LAYERS, MEMORY DEVICES INCLUDING THE LAYERS, AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME - In one aspect, a memory cell includes a plurality of dielectric layers located within a charge storage gate structure. At least one of the dielectric layers includes an dielectric material including oxygen, and nano regions including oxygen embedded in the dielectric material, where an oxygen concentration of the dielectric material is the greater than an oxygen concentration of the nano regions. In another aspect, at least one of the dielectric layers includes a dielectric material and nano regions embedded in the dielectric material, where an atomic composition of the dielectric material is the same as the atomic composition of the nano regions, and a density of the dielectric material is the greater than a density of the nano regions. | 10-30-2008 |
20080283903 | Transistor With Quantum Dots in Its Tunnelling Layer - According to an example embodiment there is a semiconductor component, which is arranged in a semiconductor body, with at least one source zone and with at least one drain zone which in each case is a first conductivity type, with at least one body zone of a second conductivity type arranged in each case between source zone and drain zone, and with at least one gate electrode insulated with an insulating layer relative to the semiconductor body. The insulating layer is a consolidated, preferably sintered, layer containing quantum dots. | 11-20-2008 |
20080296662 | Discrete Trap Memory (DTM) Mediated by Fullerenes - A discrete trap memory, comprising a silicon substrate layer, a bottom oxide layer on the silicon substrate layer, a Fullerene layer on the bottom oxide layer, a top oxide layer on the Fullerene layer, and a gate layer on the top oxide layer; wherein the Fullerene layer comprises spherical, elliptical or endohedral Fullerenes that act as charge traps. | 12-04-2008 |
20080315295 | Atomic Layer Deposition Method and Semiconductor Device Formed by the Same - Disclosed are atomic layer deposition method and a semiconductor device including the atomic layer, including the steps: placing a semiconductor substrate in an atomic layer deposition chamber; feeding a first precursor gas to the semiconductor substrate within the chamber to form a first discrete monolayer on the semiconductor substrate; feeding an inert purge gas to the semiconductor substrate within the chamber to remove the first precursor gas which has not formed the first discrete monolayer on the semiconductor substrate; feeding a second precursor gas to the chamber to react with the first precursor gas which has formed the first discrete monolayer, forming a discrete atomic size islands; and feeding an inert purge gas to the semiconductor substrate within the chamber to remove the second precursor gas which has not reacted with the first precursor gas and byproducts produced by the reaction between the first and the second precursor gases. | 12-25-2008 |
20090020805 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVICES AND METHODS OF FORMING THE SAME - A non-volatile memory device includes a dielectric layer between a charge storage layer and a substrate. Free bonds of the dielectric layer can be reduced to reduce/prevent charges from leaking through the free bonds and/or from being trapped by the free bonds. As a result, data retention properties and/or durability of a non-volatile memory device may be enhanced. | 01-22-2009 |
20090039416 | BLOCKING DIELECTRIC ENGINEERED CHARGE TRAPPING MEMORY CELL WITH HIGH SPEED ERASE - A band gap engineered, charge trapping memory cell includes a charge trapping element that is separated from a gate by a blocking layer of metal doped silicon oxide material having a medium dielectric constant, such as aluminum doped silicon oxide, and separated from the semiconductor body including the channel by an engineered tunneling dielectric. | 02-12-2009 |
20090127614 | SCALABLE MULTI-FUNCTIONAL AND MULTI-LEVEL NANO-CRYSTAL NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE - A multi-functional and multi-level memory cell is comprised of a tunnel layer formed over a substrate. In one embodiment, the tunnel layer is comprised of two layers such as HfO | 05-21-2009 |
20090134450 | Tunneling insulating layer, flash memory device including the same, memory card and system including the flash memory device, and methods of manufacturing the same - Provided is a tunneling insulating layer, a flash memory device including the same that increases a program/erase operation speed of the flash memory device and has improved data retention in order to increase reliability of the flash memory device, a memory card and system including the flash memory device, and methods of manufacturing the same. A tunneling insulating layer may include a first region and a second region on the first region, wherein the first region has a first nitrogen atomic percent, the second region has a second nitrogen atomic percent, and the second nitrogen atomic percent is less than the first nitrogen atomic percent. The flash memory device according to example embodiments may include a substrate including source and drain regions and a channel region between the source and drain regions, the tunneling insulating layer on the channel region, a charge storage layer on the tunneling insulating layer, a blocking insulation layer on the charge storage layer, and a gate electrode on the blocking insulation layer. | 05-28-2009 |
20090134451 | Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same - An example embodiment of a non-volatile memory device and an example embodiment of a method of fabricating the same are provided. The non-volatile memory devices includes a tunnel insulation layer on a semiconductor substrate, a charge storage layer on the tunnel insulation layer, a blocking insulation layer including at least one nano dot on the charge storage layer, and a control gate electrode on the blocking insulation layer. | 05-28-2009 |
20090134452 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY - A non-volatile memory includes a substrate, a memory unit array, (N+1) bit lines, M word lines, M first control gate lines, and M second control gate lines. The memory unit array includes N memory unit columns, and each memory unit column includes M memory units. The (N+1) bit lines are disposed on the substrate and arranged in parallel in the column direction, and the (N+1) bit lines are corresponding to the N memory unit columns. The M word lines are disposed on the substrate and arranged in parallel in the row direction. The M first control gate lines are arranged on the substrate in parallel in the row direction and respectively connected to the first memory cell in the same row. The M second control gate lines are arranged on the substrate in parallel in the row direction and respectively connected to the second memory cell in the same row. | 05-28-2009 |
20090152621 | NONVOLATILE CHARGE TRAP MEMORY DEVICE HAVING A HIGH DIELECTRIC CONSTANT BLOCKING REGION - A nonvolatile charge trap memory device is described. The device includes a substrate having a channel region and a pair of source and drain regions. A gate stack is above the substrate over the channel region and between the pair of source and drain regions. The gate stack includes a high dielectric constant blocking region. | 06-18-2009 |
20090189215 | NONVOLATILE FLASH MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME - A method of producing metallic nanocrystals ( | 07-30-2009 |
20090200601 | EMBEDDED TRAP DIRECT TUNNEL NON-VOLATILE MEMORY - The cell comprises a substrate having a drain region and a source region. An oxynitride layer is formed over the substrate. An embedded trap layer is formed over the oxynitride layer. An injector layer is formed over the embedded trap layer. A high dielectric constant layer is formed over the injector layer. A polysilicon control gate formed over the high dielectric constant layer. The cell can be formed in a planar architecture or a two element, split channel, three-dimensional device. The planar cell is formed with the high dielectric constant layer and the control gate being formed over and substantially around three sides of the embedded trap layer. The split channel device has a source line in the substrate under each trench and a bit line on either side of the trench. | 08-13-2009 |
20090200602 | COMBINED VOLATILE AND NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE WITH GRADED COMPOSITION INSULATOR STACK - A memory device is fabricated with a graded composition tunnel insulator layer. This layer is formed over a substrate with a drain and a source region. The tunnel insulator is comprised of a graded SiC—GeC—SiC composition. A charge blocking layer is formed over the tunnel insulator. A trapping layer of nano-crystals is formed in the charge blocking layer. In one embodiment, the charge blocking layer is comprised of germanium carbide and the nano-crystals are germanium. The thickness and/or composition of the tunnel insulator determines the functionality of the memory cell such as the volatility level and speed. A gate is formed over the charge blocking layer. | 08-13-2009 |
20090230461 | Cell device and cell string for high density NAND flash memory - The invention relates a cell device and a cell string for high density flash memory. The cell string includes a plurality of cell devices and switching devices connected to ends of the plurality of cell devices. The cell device includes a semiconductor substrate, an insulating film, a charge storage node composed of nano-sized dots, a control insulating film and a control electrode which are sequentially formed on the semiconductor substrate, without source/drain regions. In the cell string, the silicon substrate enables easy formation of an inversion layer acting as the source/drain regions. The switching device does not include a source or drain region at a side connected to an adjacent cell device but includes a source or drain region at the side opposite to the side connected to the adjacent cell device. The invention improves miniaturizability and performance of cell devices for NAND flash memory, and induces an inversion layer by using a fringing electric field generated from the control electrode and the charge storage node, thus allowing for electrical connection between cells or between cell strings. | 09-17-2009 |
20090236655 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DEVICE GATE STRUCTURES - Methods of forming a gate structure for an integrated circuit memory device include forming a first dielectric layer having a dielectric constant of under 7 on an integrated circuit substrate. Ions of a selected element from group 4 of the periodic table and having a thermal diffusivity of less than about 0.5 centimeters per second (cm | 09-24-2009 |
20090261406 | USE OF SILICON-RICH NITRIDE IN A FLASH MEMORY DEVICE - A flash memory cell includes a charge storage element that includes at least a first layer and a second layer. One of the layers includes silicon-rich silicon nitride and the other layer includes silicon nitride. More specifically, the ratio of silicon-to-nitrogen in the first layer is greater than the ratio of silicon-to-nitrogen in the second layer. | 10-22-2009 |
20090283822 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR PREPARING THE SAME - A non-volatile memory structure includes a substrate having two doped regions, a charge-trapping structure positioned substantially between the two doped regions, and a conductive structure positioned on the charge-trapping structure, wherein the charge-trapping structure includes a silicon-oxy-nitride layer and metallic nano-dots embedded in the silicon-oxy-nitride layer. The non-volatile memory structure formed by performing a first thermal oxidation process to form a high-k dielectric layer on a substrate, forming a metal-containing semiconductor layer including silicon or germanium on the high-k dielectric layer, forming a silicon layer on the metal-containing semiconductor layer, and performing a second thermal oxidation process to convert the metal-containing semiconductor layer to a silicon-oxy-nitride layer with embedded metallic nano-dots, wherein at least one of the first thermal oxidation process and the second thermal oxidation process is performed in a nitrogen-containing atmosphere. | 11-19-2009 |
20090302371 | CONDUCTIVE NANOPARTICLES - Isolated conductive nanoparticles on a dielectric layer and methods of fabricating such isolated conductive nanoparticles provide charge storage units in electronic structures for use in a wide range of electronic devices and systems. The isolated conductive nanoparticles may be used as a floating gate in a flash memory. In an embodiment, conductive nanoparticles are deposited on a dielectric layer by a plasma-assisted deposition process such that each conductive nanoparticle is isolated from the other conductive nanoparticles to configure the conductive nanoparticles as charge storage elements. | 12-10-2009 |
20100013001 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING NON-VOLATILE MEMORY AND STRUCTURE THEREOF - A method for manufacturing a non-volatile memory and a structure thereof are provided. The manufacturing method comprises the following steps. Firstly, a substrate is provided. Next, a semiconductor layer is formed on the substrate. Then, a Si-rich dielectric layer is formed on the semiconductor layer. After that, a plurality of silicon nanocrystals is formed in the Si-rich dielectric layer by a laser annealing process to form a charge-storing dielectric layer. Last, a gate electrode is formed on the charge-storing dielectric layer. | 01-21-2010 |
20100052043 | HIGH DENSITY FLASH MEMORY DEVICE AND FABRICATING METHOD THEREOF - The present invention provides a flash memory device having a high degree of integration and high performance. The flash memory device has a double/triple gate structure where a channel is formed in a wall-shaped body. The flash memory device has no source/drain regions. In addition, although the flash memory device has the source/drain regions, the source/drain region are formed not to be overlapped with a control electrode. Accordingly, an inversion layer is induced by a fringing field generated from the control electrode, so that cell devices can be electrically connected to each other. The flash memory device includes a charge storage node for storing charges formed under the control electrode, so that miniaturization characteristics of cell device can be improved. According to the present invention, there is proposed a new device capable of improving the miniaturization characteristics of a MOS-based flash memory device and increasing memory capacity. | 03-04-2010 |
20100072537 | BAND ENGINEERED NANO-CRYSTAL NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE UTILIZING ENHANCED GATE INJECTION - Non-volatile memory devices and arrays are described that utilize reverse mode non-volatile memory cells that have band engineered gate-stacks and nano-crystal charge trapping in EEPROM and block erasable memory devices, such as Flash memory devices. Embodiments of the present invention allow a reverse mode gate-insulator stack memory cell that utilizes the control gate for programming and erasure through a band engineered crested tunnel barrier. Charge retention is enhanced by utilization of high work function nano-crystals in a non-conductive trapping layer and a high K dielectric charge blocking layer. The band-gap engineered gate-stack with symmetric or asymmetric crested barrier tunnel layers of the non-volatile memory cells of embodiments of the present invention allow for low voltage tunneling programming and erase with electrons and holes, while maintaining high charge blocking barriers and deep carrier trapping sites for good charge retention. | 03-25-2010 |
20100109074 | Gate structure, semiconductor memory device having the gate structure and methods of fabricating the same - A gate structure using nanodots as a trap site, a semiconductor device having the gate structure and methods of fabricating the same are provided. The gate structure may include a tunneling layer, a plurality of nanodots on the tunneling layer, and a control insulating layer including a high-k dielectric layer on the tunneling layer and the nanodots. A semiconductor memory device may further include a semiconductor substrate, the gate structure according to example embodiments on the semiconductor substrate and a first impurity region and a second impurity region in the semiconductor substrate, wherein the gate structure is in contact with the first and second impurity regions. | 05-06-2010 |
20100155824 | NANOCRYSTAL MEMORY WITH DIFFERENTIAL ENERGY BANDS AND METHOD OF FORMATION - A method of making a semiconductor device using a semiconductor substrate includes forming a first insulating layer having a first band energy over the semiconductor substrate. A first semiconductor layer having a second band energy is formed on the first insulating layer. The first semiconductor layer is annealed to form a plurality of first charge retainer globules from the first semiconductor layer. A first protective film is formed over each charge retainer globule of the plurality of first charge retainer globules. A second semiconductor layer is formed having a third band energy over the plurality of first charge retainer globules. The second semiconductor layer is annealed to form a plurality of storage globules from the second semiconductor layer over the plurality of first charge retainer globules. A magnitude of the second band energy is between a magnitude of the first band energy and a magnitude of the third band energy. | 06-24-2010 |
20100155825 | TRANSISTOR DEVICES WITH NANO-CRYSTAL GATE STRUCTURES - Embodiments of non-volatile semiconductor devices include a substrate having therein a source region and a drain region separated by a channel region extending to a first surface of the substrate, and a multilayered gate structure containing nano-crystals located above the channel region. The gate structure comprises a gate dielectric substantially in contact with the channel region, spaced-apart nano-crystals disposed in the gate dielectric, one or more impurity blocking layers overlying the gate dielectric, and a gate conductor layer overlying the one more impurity blocking layers. The blocking layer nearest the gate conductor can be used to adjust the threshold voltage of the device and/or retard dopant out-diffusion from the gate conductor layer. | 06-24-2010 |
20100193859 | BLOCKING DIELECTRIC ENGINEERED CHARGE TRAPPING MEMORY CELL WITH HIGH SPEED ERASE - A band gap engineered, charge trapping memory cell includes a charge trapping element that is separated from a gate by a blocking layer of metal doped silicon oxide material having a medium dielectric constant, such as aluminum doped silicon oxide, and separated from the semiconductor body including the channel by an engineered tunneling dielectric. | 08-05-2010 |
20100224930 | Memory Cells - Some embodiments include methods of forming memory cells. Dopant is implanted into a semiconductor substrate to form a pair of source/drain regions that are spaced from one another by a channel region. The dopant is annealed within the source/drain regions, and then a plurality of charge trapping units are formed over the channel region. Dielectric material is then formed over the charge trapping units, and control gate material is formed over the dielectric material. Some embodiments include memory cells that contain a plurality of nanosized islands of charge trapping material over a channel region, with adjacent islands being spaced from one another by gaps. The memory cells can further include dielectric material over and between the nanosized islands, with the dielectric material forming a container shape having an upwardly opening trough therein. The memory cells can further include control gate material within the trough. | 09-09-2010 |
20100230744 | RELIABLE MEMORY CELL - A method of forming a semiconductor device is presented. A substrate prepared with a second gate is provided. The second gate is processed to form a second gate with a rounded corner and a first gate is formed on the substrate. The first gate is adjacent to and overlaps a portion of the second gate and the rounded corner. | 09-16-2010 |
20100244120 | NONVOLATILE SPLIT GATE MEMORY CELL HAVING OXIDE GROWTH - A split gate nonvolatile memory cell on a semiconductor layer is made by forming a gate dielectric over the semiconductor layer. A first layer of gate material is deposited over the gate dielectric. The first layer of gate material is etched to remove a portion of the first layer of gate material over a first portion of the semiconductor layer and to leave a select gate portion having a sidewall adjacent to the first portion. A treatment is applied over the semiconductor layer to reduce a relative oxide growth rate of the sidewall to the first portion. Oxide is grown on the sidewall to form a first oxide on the sidewall and on the first portion to form a second oxide on the first portion after the applying the treatment. A charge storage layer is formed over the first oxide and along the second oxide. A control gate is formed over the second oxide and adjacent to the sidewall. | 09-30-2010 |
20100244121 | STRESSED SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MAKING - A method of making a semiconductor device on a semiconductor layer includes forming a gate dielectric and a first layer of gate material over the gate dielectric. The first layer is etched to remove a portion of the first layer of gate material over a first portion of the semiconductor layer and to leave a select gate portion. A storage layer is formed over the select gate portion and over the first portion of the semiconductor layer. A second layer of gate material is formed over the storage layer. The second layer of gate material is etched to remove a first portion of the second layer of gate material over a first portion of the select gate portion. A portion of the first portion of the select gate is etched out to leave an L-shaped select structure. The result is a memory cell with an L-shaped select gate. | 09-30-2010 |
20100276747 | Charge trapping layer, method of forming the charge trapping layer, non-volatile memory device using the same and method of fabricating the non-volatile memory device - Provided is a charge trapping layer which has excellent memory characteristics, a method of forming the charge trapping layer, a nonvolatile memory device using the charge trapping layer, and a method of fabricating the nonvolatile memory device, in which a hybrid nanoparticle which is obtained by mixing a nanoparticle having an excellent programming characteristic with a nanoparticle having an excellent erasing characteristic is used as the charge trapping layer. The charge trapping layer for use in the nanoparticle is discontinuously formed between a tunneling oxide film and a control oxide film, and includes at least two different kinds of numerous nanoparticles. | 11-04-2010 |
20100276748 | METHOD OF FORMING LUTETIUM AND LANTHANUM DIELECTRIC STRUCTURES - Methods of forming dielectric structures are shown. Methods of forming dielectric structures are shown that include lutetium oxide and lanthanum aluminum oxide crystals embedded within the lutetium oxide. Specific methods shown include monolayer deposition which yields process improvements such as chemistry control, step coverage, crystallinity/microstructure control. | 11-04-2010 |
20100283101 | PATTERNING NANOCRYSTAL LAYERS - A method for forming a semiconductor device is presented. The method includes providing a substrate prepared with first and second regions with a first device layer. A second device layer including nanocrystals is also formed. A cover layer is provided over the second device layer. The cover layer is patterned to expose portions of the second device layer in the first and second regions. The exposed portions of the second device layer in the first and second regions are processed to form modified portions. The processing of the exposed portions at least reduces the nanocrystals to a diameter below a threshold diameter in the modified portions. The modified portions are removed. | 11-11-2010 |
20100295117 | JUNCTION-FREE NAND FLASH MEMORY AND FABRICATING METHOD THEREOF - A junction-free NAND flash memory is described, including a substrate, memory cells, source/drain inducing (SDI) gates electrically connected with each other, and a dielectric material layer. The memory cells are disposed on the substrate, wherein each memory cell includes a charge storage layer. Each SDI gate is disposed between two neighboring memory cells. The dielectric material layer is disposed between the memory cells and the SDI gates and between the SDI gates and the substrate. | 11-25-2010 |
20100295118 | Nanocrystal Based Universal Memory Cells, and Memory Cells - Some embodiments include memory cells that contain a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) element and a nonvolatile memory (NVM) element. The DRAM element contains two types of DRAM nanoparticles that differ in work function. The NVM contains two types of NVM nanoparticles that differ in trapping depth. The NVM nanoparticles may be in vertically displaced charge-trapping planes. The memory cell contains a tunnel dielectric, and one of the charge-trapping planes of the NVM may be further from the tunnel dielectric than the other. The NVM charge-trapping plane that is further from the tunnel dielectric may contain larger NVM nanoparticles than the other NVM charge-trapping plane. The DRAM element may contain a single charge-trapping plane that has both types of DRAM nanoparticles therein. The memory cells may be incorporated into electronic systems. | 11-25-2010 |
20110006358 | Al-doped charge trap layer, non-volatile memory device and methods of fabricating the same - Provided is an aluminum (Al) doped charge trap layer, a non-volatile memory device and methods of fabricating the same. The charge trap layer may include a plurality of silicon nano dots that trap charges and a silicon oxide layer that covers the silicon nano dots, wherein the charge trap layer is doped with aluminum (Al). The non-volatile memory device may include a substrate including a source and a drain on separate regions of the substrate, a tunneling film on the substrate contacting the source and the drain, the charge trap layer according to example embodiments, a blocking film on the charge trap layer, and a gate electrode on the blocking film. | 01-13-2011 |
20110018053 | MEMORY CELL AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING THEREOF - A memory cell is provided. The memory cell comprises a first wire shaped channel structure; and a charge trapping structure surrounding the perimeter surface of the first wire shaped channel structure, the charge trapping structure comprising two charge trapping partial to structures, wherein each charge trapping partial structure is formed of a different material capable of storing electrical charges. Methods of manufacturing the memory cell are also provided. | 01-27-2011 |
20110062511 | DEVICE HAVING COMPLEX OXIDE NANODOTS - Devices are disclosed, such as those having a memory cell. The memory cell includes an active area formed of a semiconductor material; a first dielectric over the semiconductor material; a second dielectric comprising a material having a perovskite structure over the first dielectric; a third dielectric over the second dielectric; and a gate electrode over the third dielectric. | 03-17-2011 |
20110073935 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE - In one embodiment, a non-volatile semiconductor memory device has a semiconductor layer having a pair of source/drain regions formed at a predetermined distance and a channel region between the pair of source/drain regions; a first insulating film formed above the semiconductor layer; a charge accumulating film formed above the first insulating film; a second insulating film formed above the charge accumulating film; and a control gate electrode film formed above the second insulating film. The first insulating film includes a first oxide film, a first silicon nitride film formed above the first oxide film and including Boron, and a second oxide film formed above the first silicon nitride film. | 03-31-2011 |
20110073936 | NANOCRYSTAL MEMORY WITH DIFFERENTIAL ENERGY BANDS AND METHOD OF FORMATION - A method of making a semiconductor device using a semiconductor substrate includes forming a first insulating layer having a first band energy over the semiconductor substrate. A first semiconductor layer having a second band energy is formed on the first insulating layer. The first semiconductor layer is annealed to form a plurality of first charge retainer globules from the first semiconductor layer. A first protective film is formed over each charge retainer globule of the plurality of first charge retainer globules. A second semiconductor layer is formed having a third band energy over the plurality of first charge retainer globules. The second semiconductor layer is annealed to form a plurality of storage globules from the second semiconductor layer over the plurality of first charge retainer globules. A magnitude of the second band energy is between a magnitude of the first band energy and a magnitude of the third band energy. | 03-31-2011 |
20110079840 | MEMORY CELL AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF AND MEMORY STRUCTURE - A memory cell is provided. The memory cell includes a substrate, an isolation layer, a gate, a charge storage structure, a first source/drain region, a second source/drain region and a channel layer. The isolation layer is disposed over the substrate. The gate is disposed over the isolation layer. The charge storage structure is disposed over the isolation layer and the gate. The first source/drain region is disposed over the charge storage structure at two sides of the gate. The second source/drain region is disposed over the charge storage structure at top of the gate. The channel layer is disposed over the charge storage structure at sidewall of the gate and is electrically connected with the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region. | 04-07-2011 |
20110204432 | Methods and Devices for Forming Nanostructure Monolayers and Devices Including Such Monolayers - Methods for forming or patterning nanostructure arrays are provided. The methods involve formation of arrays on coatings comprising nanostructure association groups, formation of arrays in spin-on-dielectrics, solvent annealing after nanostructure deposition, patterning using resist, and/or use of devices that facilitate array formation. Related devices for forming nanostructure arrays are also provided, as are devices including nanostructure arrays (e.g., memory devices). Methods for protecting nanostructures from fusion during high temperature processing are also provided. | 08-25-2011 |
20110210386 | DEVICES WITH NANOCRYSTALS AND METHODS OF FORMATION - Devices can be fabricated using a method of growing nanoscale structures on a semiconductor substrate. According to various embodiments, nucleation sites are created on a surface of the substrate. The creation of the nucleation sites includes implanting ions with an energy and a dose selected to provide a controllable distribution of the nucleation sites across the surface of the substrate. Nanoscale structures can be grown using the controllable distribution of nucleation sites to seed the growth of the nanoscale structures. According to various embodiments, the nanoscale structures include at least one of nanocrystals, nanowires, and nanotubes. According to various nanocrystal embodiments, the nanocrystals are positioned within a gate stack and function as a floating gate for a nonvolatile device. Other embodiments are provided herein. | 09-01-2011 |
20110227142 | FORTIFICATION OF CHARGE-STORING MATERIAL IN HIGH-K DIELECTRIC ENVIRONMENTS AND RESULTING APPRATUSES - Memories, systems, and methods for forming memory cells are disclosed. One such memory cell includes a charge storage node that includes nanodots over a tunnel dielectric and a protective film over the nanodots. In another memory cell, the charge storage node includes nanodots that include a ruthenium alloy. Memory cells can include an inter-gate dielectric over the protective film or ruthenium alloy nanodots and a control gate over the inter-gate dielectric. The protective film and ruthenium alloy can be configured to protect at least some of the nanodots from vaporizing during formation of the inter-gate dielectric. | 09-22-2011 |
20110227143 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DEVICES INCLUDING COMPLEX DIELECTRIC LAYERS AND RELATED FABRICATION METHODS - An electronic device includes a lower layer, a complex dielectric layer on the lower layer, and an upper layer on the complex dielectric layer. The complex dielectric layer includes an amorphous metal silicate layer and a crystalline metal-based insulating layer thereon. Related fabrication methods are also discussed. | 09-22-2011 |
20110233654 | NANO-CRYSTAL GATE STRUCTURE FOR NON-VOLATILE MEMORY - A non-volatile memory device is disclosed having a charge storage layer that incorporates a plurality of nano-crystals. A substrate having a source region and a drain region is provided. Select and control gates are formed on the substrate. The charge storage layer is provided between the control gate and the substrate. The nano-crystals in the charge storage layer have a size of about 1 nm to about 10 nm, and may be formed of Silicon or Germanium. Writing operations are accomplished via hot electron injection, FN tunneling, or source-side injection. Erase operations are accomplished using FN tunneling. The control gate is formed of a single layer of polysilicon, which reduces the total number of processing steps required to form the device, thus reducing cost. | 09-29-2011 |
20110233655 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE - According to one embodiment, in a semiconductor memory device, a source region and a drain region are disposed away from each other in the semiconductor layer. A tunnel insulating film is formed between the source region and the drain region on the semiconductor layer. A charge accumulating film includes an oxide cluster and is formed on the tunnel insulating film. A block insulating film is formed on the charge accumulating film. A gate electrode is formed on the block insulating film. The oxide cluster includes either Zr or Hf, and further contains at least one element selected from Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au and Hg. | 09-29-2011 |
20110241101 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY ELEMENT AND SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE - According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory element includes a semiconductor layer, a tunnel insulator provided on the semiconductor layer, a charge accumulation film provided on the tunnel insulator having a film thickness of 0.9 nm or more and 2.8 nm or less and the charge accumulation film containing cubic HfO | 10-06-2011 |
20110260237 | VERTICAL MEMORY DEVICES WITH QUANTUM-DOT CHARGE STORAGE CELLS - A memory device includes a substrate, a semiconductor column extending perpendicularly from the substrate and a plurality of spaced-apart charge storage cells disposed along a sidewall of the semiconductor column. Each of the storage cells includes a tunneling insulating layer disposed on the sidewall of the semiconductor column, a polymer layer disposed on the tunneling insulating layer, a plurality of quantum dots disposed on or in the polymer layer and a blocking insulating layer disposed on the polymer layer. | 10-27-2011 |
20110278661 | APPARATUS INCLUDING RHODIUM-BASED CHARGE TRAPS - Isolated conductive nanoparticles on a dielectric layer and methods of fabricating such isolated conductive nanoparticles provide charge traps in electronic structures for use in a wide range of electronic devices and systems. In an embodiment, conductive nanoparticles are deposited on a dielectric layer by a plasma-assisted deposition process such that each conductive nanoparticle is isolated from the other conductive nanoparticles to configure the conductive nanoparticles as charge traps. | 11-17-2011 |
20120001253 | FLATBAND VOLTAGE ADJUSTMENT IN A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - Memory devices, methods for fabricating, and methods for adjusting flatband voltages are disclosed. In one such memory device, a pair of source/drain regions are formed in a semiconductor. A dielectric material is formed on the semiconductor between the pair of source/drain regions. A control gate is formed on the dielectric material. A charged species is introduced into the dielectric material. The charged species, e.g., mobile ions, has an energy barrier in a range of greater than about 0.5 eV to about 3.0 eV. A flatband voltage of the memory device can be adjusted by moving the charged species to different levels within the dielectric material, thus programming different states into the device. | 01-05-2012 |
20120061746 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY - According to one embodiment, in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory in which a charge store layer is formed on a tunnel insulating film formed on a channel region of a semiconductor substrate, a first nanoparticle layer containing first conductive nanoparticles is formed on the channel side, and a second nanoparticle layer containing a plurality of second conductive nanoparticles having an average particle size larger than the first conductive nanoparticles is formed on the charge store layer side. An average energy value ΔE | 03-15-2012 |
20120175697 | MULTI-STATE NON-VOLATILE MEMORY CELL INTEGRATION AND METHOD OF OPERATION - A semiconductor device includes a region in a semiconductor substrate having a top surface with a first charge storage layer on the top surface. A first conductive line is on the first charge storage layer. A second charge storage layer is on the top surface. A second conductive line is on the second charge storage layer. A third charge storage layer is on the top surface. A third conductive line is on the third charge storage layer. A fourth charge storage layer has a first side adjoining a first sidewall of the first conductive line and a second side adjoining a first sidewall of the second conductive line. A fifth charge storage layer has a first side adjoining a second sidewall of the second conductive line and a second side adjoining a first sidewall of the third conductive line. Source and drain regions are formed in the substrate on either side of the semiconductor device. | 07-12-2012 |
20120235225 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - A semiconductor device having a non-volatile memory and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The semiconductor device includes a base material and a stack structure. The stack structure disposed on the base material at least includes a tunneling layer, a trapping layer and a dielectric layer. The trapping layer is disposed on the tunneling layer. The dielectric layer has a dielectric constant and is disposed on the trapping layer. The dielectric layer is transformed from a first solid state to a second solid state when the dielectric layer undergoes a process. | 09-20-2012 |
20130001673 | FORTIFICATION OF CHARGE STORING MATERIAL IN HIGH K DIELECTRIC ENVIRONMENTS AND RESULTING APPARATUSES - Memories, systems, and methods for forming memory cells are disclosed. One such memory cell includes a charge storage node that includes nanodots over a tunnel dielectric and a protective film over the nanodots. In another memory cell, the charge storage node includes nanodots that include a ruthenium alloy. Memory cells can include an inter-gate dielectric over the protective film or ruthenium alloy nanodots and a control gate over the inter-gate dielectric. The protective film and ruthenium alloy can be configured to protect at least some of the nanodots from vaporizing during formation of the inter-gate dielectric. | 01-03-2013 |
20130062685 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE DEVICE - According to one embodiment, a control gate is formed on the semiconductor substrate and includes a cylindrical through hole. A block insulating film, a charge storage film, a tunnel insulating film, and a semiconductor layer are formed on a side surface of the control gate inside the through hole. The tunnel insulating film comprises a first insulating film having SiO | 03-14-2013 |
20130105884 | NON-VOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE WITH INTRINSIC CHARGE TRAPPING LAYER | 05-02-2013 |
20130113035 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME - To provide a technique capable of improving reliability of a semiconductor device having a nonvolatile memory cell by suppressing the reduction of the drive force. | 05-09-2013 |
20130153986 | HIGH-K DIELECTRICS WITH GOLD NANO-PARTICLES - A metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) structure having a high dielectric constant gate insulator layer containing gold (Au) nano-particles is presented with methods for forming the layer with high step coverage of underlying topography, high surface smoothness, and uniform thickness. The transistor may form part of a logic device, a memory device, a persistent memory device, a capacitor, as well as other devices and systems. The insulator layer may be formed using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to reduce the overall device thermal exposure. The insulator layer may be formed of a metal oxide, a metal oxycarbide, a semiconductor oxide, or semiconductor oxide oxycarbide, and the gold nano-particles in insulator layer increase the work function of the insulator layer and affect the tunneling current and the threshold voltage of the transistor. | 06-20-2013 |
20130175604 | NONVOLATILE CHARGE TRAP MEMORY DEVICE HAVING A HIGH DIELECTRIC CONSTANT BLOCKING REGION - An embodiment of a nonvolatile charge trap memory device is described. In one embodiment, the device comprises a channel comprising silicon overlying a surface on a substrate electrically connecting a first diffusion region and a second diffusion region of the memory device, and a gate stack intersecting and overlying at least a portion of the channel, the gate stack comprising a tunnel oxide abutting the channel, a split charge-trapping region abutting the tunnel oxide, and a multi-layer blocking dielectric abutting the split charge-trapping region. The split charge-trapping region includes a first charge-trapping layer comprising a nitride closer to the tunnel oxide, and a second charge-trapping layer comprising a nitride overlying the first charge-trapping layer. The multi-layer blocking dielectric comprises at least a high-K dielectric layer. | 07-11-2013 |
20130214346 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY CELL AND LOGIC TRANSISTOR INTEGRATION - A first conductive layer and an underlying charge storage layer are patterned to form a control gate in an NVM region. A first dielectric layer is formed over the control gate. A sacrificial layer is formed over the first dielectric layer and planarized. A patterned masking layer is formed over the sacrificial layer which includes a first portion which defines a select gate location laterally adjacent the control gate in the NVM region and a second portion which defines a logic gate in a logic region. Exposed portions of the sacrificial layer are removed such that a first portion remains at the select gate location. A second dielectric layer is formed over the first portion and planarized to expose the first portion. The first portion is removed to result in an opening at the select gate location. A gate dielectric layer and a select gate are formed in the opening. | 08-22-2013 |
20130240977 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - A semiconductor device with a nonvolatile memory is provided which has improved electric performance. A memory gate electrode is formed over a semiconductor substrate via an insulating film. The insulating film is an insulating film having a charge storage portion therein, and includes a first silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film over the first silicon oxide film, and a second silicon oxide film over the silicon nitride film. Metal elements exist between the silicon nitride film and the second silicon oxide film, or in the silicon nitride film at a surface density of 1×10 | 09-19-2013 |
20130264632 | THIN FILM TRANSISTOR MEMORY AND ITS FABRICATING METHOD - The invention relates to a thin film transistor memory and its fabricating method, This memory using the substrate as the gate electrode from bottom to up includes a charge blocking layer, a charge storage layer, a charge tunneling layer, an active region of the device and source/drain electrodes. The charge blocking layer is the ALD grown Al | 10-10-2013 |
20130307052 | SONOS ONO STACK SCALING - A method of scaling a nonvolatile trapped-charge memory device and the device made thereby is provided. In an embodiment, the method includes forming a channel region including polysilicon electrically connecting a source region and a drain region in a substrate. A tunneling layer is formed on the substrate over the channel region by oxidizing the substrate to form an oxide film and nitridizing the oxide film. A multi-layer charge trapping layer including an oxygen-rich first layer and an oxygen-lean second layer is formed on the tunneling layer, and a blocking layer deposited on the multi-layer charge trapping layer. In one embodiment, the method further includes a dilute wet oxidation to densify a deposited blocking oxide and to oxidize a portion of the oxygen-lean second layer. | 11-21-2013 |
20130307053 | MEMORY TRANSISTOR WITH MULTIPLE CHARGE STORING LAYERS AND A HIGH WORK FUNCTION GATE ELECTRODE - A semiconductor devices including non-volatile memories and methods of fabricating the same to improve performance thereof are provided. Generally, the device includes a memory transistor comprising a polysilicon channel region electrically connecting a source region and a drain region formed in a substrate, an oxide-nitride-nitride-oxide (ONNO) stack disposed above the channel region, and a high work function gate electrode formed over a surface of the ONNO stack. In one embodiment the ONNO stack includes a multi-layer charge-trapping region including an oxygen-rich first nitride layer and an oxygen-lean second nitride layer disposed above the first nitride layer. Other embodiments are also disclosed. | 11-21-2013 |
20140097485 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME - According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a first stacked structure body, a first semiconductor layer, a first organic film, a first semiconductor-side insulating film, and a first electrode-side insulating film. The first stacked structure body includes a plurality of first electrode films stacked along a first direction and a first inter-electrode insulating film provided between the first electrode films. The first semiconductor layer is opposed to side faces of the first electrode films. The first organic film is provided between the side faces of the first electrode films and the first semiconductor layer and containing an organic compound. The first semiconductor-side insulating film is provided between the first organic film and the first semiconductor layer. The first electrode-side insulating film provided between the first organic film and the side faces of the first electrode films. | 04-10-2014 |
20140103419 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMING THE SAME - A method for forming a non-volatile memory device includes: (a) forming an isolation structure on a circuit-forming surface of a semiconductor substrate to define an array of cell forming regions; (b) forming a gate structure array including a plurality of gate structures disposed above the cell forming regions and each having a first side and a second side; (c) performing ion implantation to form drain regions and a common source region; and (d) forming drain contacts to the drain regions, and a common source contact to the common source region. | 04-17-2014 |
20140110775 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL FLASH MEMORY USING FRINGING EFFECT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING - Provided are a three-dimensional flash memory using a fringing effect and a method of manufacturing the same. A through hole is formed through a plurality of gate electrodes vertically stacked on a substrate, and the interior of the through hole is filled with a tunneling insulating layer or an active region. Therefore, a charge storage layer is not formed in the through hole, but is formed outside of the through hole. The charge storage layer is formed in an intercell insulating layer filling a gap between the gate electrodes. When a fringing electric field is applied, the electric charges of the active region are trapped in the charge storage layer through the intercell insulating layer. | 04-24-2014 |
20140131789 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE DEVICE - According to one embodiment, a control gate is formed on the semiconductor substrate and includes a cylindrical through hole. A block insulating film, a charge storage film, a tunnel insulating film, and a semiconductor layer are formed on a side surface of the control gate inside the through hole. The tunnel insulating film comprises a first insulating film having SiO | 05-15-2014 |
20140167139 | Integrated Circuits With Non-Volatile Memory and Methods for Manufacture - Semiconductor devices and the manufacture of such semiconductor devices are described. According to various aspects of the disclosure, a semiconductor device can include a memory region, a first logic region, and a second logic region. A select gate can be formed in the memory region of the device and a first logic gate formed in the logic region. A charge trapping dielectric can then be disposed and removed from a second logic region. A gate conductor layer can then be disposed on the device and etched to define a memory gate on the sidewall of the select gate and a second logic gate in the second logic region. | 06-19-2014 |
20140183619 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE USING THIN HARD MASK AND STRUCTURE MANUFACTURED BY THE SAME - A method for manufacturing semiconductor device is disclosed. A substrate with a plurality of protruding strips formed vertically thereon is provided. A charging trapping layer is formed conformally on the protruding strips. A conductive layer is formed conformally on the charging trapping layer. A thin hard mask is conformally deposited on the conductive layer, wherein a plurality of trenches are formed between the thin hard mask on the protruding strips. A patterned photo resist is formed on the thin hard mask, wherein the patterned photo resist fills into the trenches. The thin hard mask is patterned according to the patterned photo resist to form a patterned hard mask layer and expose a portion of the conductive layer. The conductive layer is patterned for removing the exposed portion of the conductive layer to form a patterned conductive layer and expose a portion of the charging trapping layer. | 07-03-2014 |
20140203347 | METHOD OF MAKING A NON-VOLATILE MEMORY (NVM) CELL STRUCTURE - A non-volatile memory device includes a substrate and a charge storage layer. The charge storage layer comprises a bottom layer of oxide, a layer of discrete charge storage elements on the bottom layer of oxide, and a top layer of oxide on the charge storage elements. A control gate is on the top layer of oxide. A surface of the top layer of oxide facing a surface of the control gate is substantially planar. | 07-24-2014 |
20140209995 | Non-Volatile Memory Cells Having Carbon Impurities and Related Manufacturing Methods - Non-volatile memory (NVM) cells having carbon impurities are disclosed along with related manufacturing methods. The carbon impurities can be introduced using a variety of techniques, including through epitaxial growth of silicon-carbon (SiC) layers and/or carbon implants. Further, the carbon impurities can be introduced into one or more structures within NVM cells, including source regions, drain regions, gate regions, and/or charge storage layers. For discrete charge storage layers that utilize nanocrystal structures, carbon impurities can be introduced into the nanocrystal charge storage layers. The disclosed embodiments are useful for a variety of NVM cell types including split-gate NVM cells, floating gate NVM cells, discrete charge storage NVM cells, and/or other desired NVM cells. Advantageously, the carbon impurities introduce tensile stress into the cell structures, and this tensile stress helps maintain NVM system performance and data retention even as device geometries are reduced. | 07-31-2014 |
20140264551 | MEMORY TRANSISTOR WITH MULTIPLE CHARGE STORING LAYERS AND A HIGH WORK FUNCTION GATE ELECTRODE - A memory device is described. Generally, the device includes a memory transistor and a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) logic transistor. The memory transistor includes: a channel region electrically connecting a source region and a drain region, the channel region comprising polysilicon; an oxide-nitride-nitride-oxide (ONNO) stack disposed above the channel region, the ONNO stack comprising a multi-layer charge-trapping region including an oxygen-rich first nitride layer and an oxygen-lean second nitride layer disposed above the first nitride layer; and a gate electrode comprising doped polysilicon formed over a surface of the ONNO stack. The MOS logic transistor includes a gate oxide and a gate electrode comprising doped polysilicon. Other embodiments are also described. | 09-18-2014 |
20140312410 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FABRICATING THE SAME - A nonvolatile memory device having a plurality of unit cells, each of the plurality of unit cells includes a first transistor suitable for having a fixed threshold voltage, and a second transistor suitable for coupling to the first transistor in parallel and having a variable threshold voltage. | 10-23-2014 |
20140319596 | SELECTIVE GATE OXIDE PROPERTIES ADJUSTMENT USING FLUORINE - Fluorine is located in selective portions of a gate oxide to adjust characteristics of the gate oxide. In some embodiments, the fluorine promotes oxidation which increases the thickness of the selective portion of the gate oxide. In some embodiments, the fluorine lowers the dielectric constant of the oxide at the selective portion. In some examples, having fluorine at selective portions of a select gate oxide of a non volatile memory may reduce program disturb of the memory. | 10-30-2014 |
20140367766 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF - A nonvolatile semiconductor storage device including a number of memory cells formed on a semiconductor substrate, each of the memory cells has a tunnel insulating film, a charge storage layer, a block insulating film, and a gate electrode which are formed in sequence on the substrate. The gate electrode is structured such that at least first and second gate electrode layers are stacked. The dimension in the direction of gate length of the second gate electrode layer, which is formed on the first gate electrode layer, is smaller than the dimension in the direction of gate length of the first gate electrode layer. | 12-18-2014 |
20150008508 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - A semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The device includes insulating patterns and conductive patterns stacked alternately, a channel layer formed through the insulating patterns and the conductive patterns, a tunnel insulating layer formed to surround sidewalls of the channel layer, and a charge storage layer formed to surround the tunnel insulating layer. An interfacial surface of the tunnel insulating layer in contact with the charge storage layer includes a thermal oxide layer. | 01-08-2015 |
20150035044 | Method to Improve Charge Trap Flash Memory Core Cell Performance and Reliability - A semiconductor processing method to provide a high quality bottom oxide layer and top oxide layer in a charged-trapping NAND and NOR flash memory. Both the bottom oxide layer and the top oxide layer of NAND and NOR flash memory determines array device performance and reliability. The method describes overcomes the corner thinning issue and the poor top oxide quality that results from the traditional oxidation approach of using pre-deposited silicon-rich nitride. | 02-05-2015 |
20150035045 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device of an embodiment includes: a semiconductor layer; a tunnel insulating film that is formed on the semiconductor layer and includes a first organic molecular film including first organic molecules each having an alkyl molecular chain as the main chain; a charge storage layer formed on the tunnel insulating film, the charge storage layer being made of an inorganic material; a block insulating film formed on the charge storage layer; and a control gate electrode formed on the block insulating film. | 02-05-2015 |
20150054059 | Silicon Dot Formation by Direct Self-Assembly Method for Flash Memory - Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method that achieves a substantially uniform pattern of discrete storage elements comprising a substantially equal size within a memory cell. A copolymer solution comprising first and second polymer species is spin-coated onto a surface of a substrate and subjected to self-assembly into a phase-separated material comprising a regular pattern of micro-domains of the second polymer species within a polymer matrix comprising the first polymer species. The first or second polymer species is then removed resulting with a pattern of micro-domains or the polymer matrix with a pattern of holes, which may be utilized as a hard-mask to form a substantially identical pattern of discrete storage elements through an etch, ion implant technique, or a combination thereof. | 02-26-2015 |
20150102400 | ION IMPLANTATION-ASSISTED ETCH-BACK PROCESS FOR IMPROVING SPACER SHAPE AND SPACER WIDTH CONTROL - Disclosed herein is a semiconductor device including a first dielectric disposed over a channel region of a transistor formed in a substrate and a gate disposed over the first dielectric. The semiconductor device further includes a second dielectric disposed vertically, substantially perpendicular to the substrate, at an edge of the gate, and a spacer disposed proximate to the second dielectric. The spacer includes a cross-section with a perimeter that includes a top curved portion and a vertical portion that is substantially perpendicular to the substrate. Further, disclosed herein, are methods associated with the fabrication of the aforementioned semiconductor device. | 04-16-2015 |
20150115349 | METHODS OF FABRICATING MEMORY DEVICES HAVING CHARGED SPECIES AND METHODS OF ADJUSTING FLATBAND VOLTAGE IN SUCH MEMORY DEVICES - Methods for fabricating memory devices having charged species, and methods for adjusting flatband voltages in such memory devices. In one such method, a dielectric material is formed adjacent to a semiconductor. A charged species is introduced into the dielectric material, wherein the charged species has an energy barrier in a range of greater than about 0.5 eV to about 3.0 eV. A control gate is formed adjacent to the dielectric material. A flatband voltage of the memory device can be adjusted by moving the charged species to different levels within the dielectric material, thus programming different states into the device. | 04-30-2015 |
20150311301 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICES AND METHODS OF FABRICATING THE SAME - Three-dimensional semiconductor memory devices and methods of fabricating the same. The three-dimensional semiconductor devices include an electrode structure with sequentially-stacked electrodes disposed on a substrate, semiconductor patterns penetrating the electrode structure, and memory elements including a first pattern and a second pattern interposed between the semiconductor patterns and the electrode structure, the first pattern vertically extending to cross the electrodes and the second pattern horizontally extending to cross the semiconductor patterns. | 10-29-2015 |
20150318299 | SSL/GSL GATE OXIDE IN 3D VERTICAL CHANNEL NAND - A memory device includes an array of strings of memory cells. The device includes a plurality of stacks of conductive strips separated by insulating material, including at least a bottom plane of conductive strips, a plurality of intermediate planes of conductive strips, and a top plane of conductive strips. A plurality of vertical active strips is formed between the plurality of stacks. Charge storage structures are formed in interface regions at cross-points between side surfaces of the conductive strips in the plurality of intermediate planes and the vertical active strips in the plurality of vertical active strips. Gate dielectric, having a different composition than the charge storage structures, is formed in interface regions at cross-points between the vertical active strips and side surfaces of the conductive strips in at least one of the top plane of conductive strips and the bottom plane of conductive strips. | 11-05-2015 |
20150348989 | MEMORY ARRAY WITH A PAIR OF MEMORY-CELL STRINGS TO A SINGLE CONDUCTIVE PILLAR - An array of memory cells has a conductive pillar and a plurality of first and second memory cells coupled in series by the conductive pillar. Each first memory cell has a respective portion of a first charge trap adjacent to the conductive pillar and a respective first control gate adjacent to the respective portion of the first charge trap. Each second memory cell has a respective portion of a second charge trap adjacent to the conductive pillar and a respective second control gate adjacent to the respective portion of the second charge trap. Each first control gate is electrically isolated from each second control gate. A single select transistor may selectively couple the plurality of first memory cells and the plurality of second memory cells to one of a source line and a data line. | 12-03-2015 |
20150371994 | WELL CONTROLLED CONDUCTIVE DOT SIZE IN FLASH MEMORY - Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method for forming flash memory. In this method, a first tunnel oxide is formed over a semiconductor substrate. A self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is then formed on the first tunnel oxide. The SAM includes spherical or spherical-like crystalline silicon dots having respective diameters which are less than approximately 30 nm. A second tunnel oxide is then formed over the SAM. | 12-24-2015 |
20160049420 | COMPOSITE SPACER FOR SILICON NANOCRYSTAL MEMORY STORAGE - Some embodiments relate to a memory device comprising a charge-trapping layer disposed between a control gate and a select gate. A capping structure is disposed over an upper surface of the control gate, and a composite spacer is disposed on a source-facing sidewall surface of the control gate. The capping structure and the composite spacer prevent damage to the control gate during one more etch processes used for contact formation to the memory device. To further limit or prevent the select gate sidewall etching, some embodiments provide for an additional liner oxide layer disposed along the drain-facing sidewall surface of the select gate. The liner oxide layer is configured as an etch stop layer to prevent etching of the select gate during the one or more etch processes. As a result, the one or more etch processes leave the control gate and select gate substantially intact. | 02-18-2016 |
20160064409 | NON-VOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE DEVICE - A non-volatile semiconductor storage device includes a plurality of gate electrodes stacked in a first direction, a channel portion facing the gate electrodes and extending in the first direction, and first and second charge storage layers between the gate electrode and the channel portion in a second direction crossing the first direction, wherein the second charge storage layer has portions that are between the gate electrodes in the first direction. | 03-03-2016 |
20160071868 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME - According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a substrate; an insulating layer provided on the substrate; a conductive layer provided on the insulating layer; a stacked body provided on the conductive layer and including a plurality of electrode layers and a plurality of insulating layers respectively provided among the plurality of electrode layers; a columnar section piercing through the stacked body to reach the conductive layer and extending in a first direction in which the stacked body is stacked; and a source layer. The columnar section includes a channel body and a charge storage film provided between the channel body and the respective electrode layers. The conductive layer includes a first film having electric conductivity and in contact with the lower end portion of the channel body; and an air gap provided to be covered by the first film. | 03-10-2016 |
20160071943 | METHOD TO FORM SELF-ALIGNED HIGH DENSITY NANOCRYSTALS - Methods for fabricating dense arrays of electrically conductive nanocrystals that are self-aligned in depressions at target locations on a substrate, and semiconductor devices configured with nanocrystals situated within a gate stack as a charge storage area for a nonvolatile memory (NVM) device, are provided. | 03-10-2016 |
20160079271 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE DEVICE - According to one embodiment, a control gate is formed on the semiconductor substrate and includes a cylindrical through hole. A block insulating film, a charge storage film, a tunnel insulating film, and a semiconductor layer are formed on a side surface of the control gate inside the through hole. The tunnel insulating film comprises a first insulating film having SiO | 03-17-2016 |
20160086806 | Method for Disconnecting Polysilicon Stringers During Plasma Etching - A method of fabricating wordlines in semiconductor memory structures is disclosed that eliminates stringers between wordlines while maintaining a stable distribution of threshold voltage. A liner is deposited before performing a wordline etch, and a partial wordline etch is then performed. Remaining portions of the liner are removed, and the wordline etch is completed to form gates having vertical or tapered profiles. | 03-24-2016 |
20160087057 | Low Resistance Polysilicon Strap - A low resistance polysilicon (poly) structure includes a first poly coupled to a substrate and having a sidewall. A second poly is separated from the sidewall of the first poly and the substrate by a programming oxide. The first poly and the second poly have substantially a same planarized height above the substrate. The first poly extends from a device region to a strap region, and extends substantially parallel to a first length of the second poly. A second length of the second poly extends away from the first poly in the strap region and includes a salicide. A first diffusion region crosses the first poly and the second poly in the device region. A masked width of the first length of the second poly is defined by an etched spacer. A low resistance contact is coupled to the second length of the second poly in the strap region. | 03-24-2016 |
20160087109 | NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE - A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a charge storage layer on a first insulating film, a second insulating film which is provided on the charge storage layer, formed of layers, and a control gate electrode on the second insulating film. The second insulating film includes a bottom layer (A) provided just above the charge storage layer, a top layer (C) provided just below the control gate electrode, and a middle layer (B) provided between the bottom layer (A) and the top layer (C). The middle layer (B) has higher barrier height and lower dielectric constant than both the bottom layer (A) and the top layer (C). The average coordination number of the middle layer (B) is smaller than both the average coordination number of the top layer (C) and the average coordination number of the bottom layer (A). | 03-24-2016 |
20160118397 | NAND MEMORY STRINGS AND METHODS OF FABRICATION THEREOF - Methods of making monolithic three-dimensional memory devices include performing a first etch to form a memory opening and a second etch using a different etching process to remove a damaged portion of the semiconductor substrate from the bottom of the memory opening. A single crystal semiconductor material is formed over the substrate in the memory opening using an epitaxial growth process. Additional embodiments include improving the quality of the interface between the semiconductor channel material and the underlying semiconductor layers in the memory opening which may be damaged by the bottom opening etch, including forming single crystal semiconductor channel material by epitaxial growth from the bottom surface of the memory opening and/or oxidizing surfaces exposed to the bottom opening etch and removing the oxidized surfaces prior to forming the channel material. Monolithic three-dimensional memory devices formed by the embodiment methods are also disclosed. | 04-28-2016 |
20160126329 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR DATA STORAGE AND A METHOD OF PRODUCING AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR DATA STORAGE - An electronic device for data storage and a method of producing an electronic device for data storage includes a memory storage element arranged to represent two or more memory states of the electronic device; wherein the memory storage element includes a plurality of metal nanoparticles. | 05-05-2016 |
20160133642 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME - A semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same are disclosed. The semiconductor device includes: a memory cell structure formed over a semiconductor substrate; a channel portion formed in the semiconductor substrate; a through-hole formed to pass through the memory cell structure; a first channel region formed over sidewalls of the through-hole; and a second channel region formed at a center part of the through-hole, and spaced apart from the first channel region, wherein each of the first channel region and the second channel region is coupled to the channel portion. | 05-12-2016 |
20160163882 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME - To provide a semiconductor device with nonvolatile memory, having improved performance. | 06-09-2016 |
20160190349 | e-Flash Si Dot Nitrogen Passivation for Trap Reduction - The present disclosure relates to a structure and method for reducing dangling bonds around quantum dots in a memory cell. In some embodiments, the structure has a semiconductor substrate having a tunnel dielectric layer disposed over it and a plurality of quantum dots disposed over the tunnel dielectric layer. A passivation layer is formed conformally over outer surfaces of the quantum dots and a top dielectric layer is disposed conformally around the passivation layer. The passivation layer can be formed prior to forming the top dielectric layer over the quantum dots or after forming the top dielectric layer. The passivation layer reduces the dangling bonds at an interface between the quantum dots and the top dielectric layer, thereby preventing trap sites that may hinder operations of the memory cell. | 06-30-2016 |
20160204212 | SILICON NANO-TIP THIN FILM FOR FLASH MEMORY CELLS | 07-14-2016 |