| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20080217675 | Novel profile of flash memory cells - A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate; a tunneling layer on the semiconductor substrate; a source region adjacent the tunneling layer; and a floating gate on the tunneling layer. The floating gate comprises a first edge having an upper portion and a lower portion, wherein the lower portion is recessed from the upper portion. The semiconductor structure further includes a blocking layer on the floating gate, wherein the blocking layer has a first edge facing a same direction as the first edge of the floating gate. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080248620 | Gated semiconductor device and method of fabricating same - A method for fabricating a gated semiconductor device, and the device resulting from performing the method. In a preferred embodiment, the method includes forming a hard mask for use in gate formation on one or more layers of alternately insulating and conducting material that have been formed on a substrate. The hard mask preferably includes three layers; a lower nitride layer, a middle oxide, and an upper nitride layer. In this embodiment, the middle oxide layer is formed with the rest of the hard mask, and then reduced in a lateral dimension, preferably using a DHF dip. A dielectric layer formed over the gate structure, including the hard mask, then etched back, self-aligns to be reduced-dimension oxide layer. In addition, where two conducting, that is gate layers are present, the lower layer is laterally reduced in dimension on at least one side to create an undercut. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20090130814 | SEMICONDUCTOR METHODS - A method includes forming an amorphous carbon layer over a first dielectric layer formed over a substrate, forming a second dielectric layer over the amorphous carbon layer; and forming an opening within the amorphous carbon layer and second dielectric layer by a first etch process to partially expose a top surface of the first dielectric layer. A substantially conformal metal-containing layer is formed over the second dielectric layer and within the opening. The second dielectric layer and a portion of the metal-containing layer are removed. The amorphous carbon layer is removed by an oxygen-containing plasma process to expose a top surface of the first dielectric layer. An insulating layer is formed over the metal-containing layer, and a second metal-containing layer is formed over the insulating layer to form a capacitor. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090189233 | CMOS IMAGE SENSOR AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME - An optical image sensor is fabricated by forming a pixel array and a peripheral region surrounding the pixel array on a semiconductor substrate, the peripheral region containing peripheral circuitry. An inter-level-dielectric layer is formed over the substrate and a plurality of interconnect wiring layers are formed over the inter-level-dielectric layer. Each interconnect wiring layer includes interconnecting metal features and a layer of inter-level-dielectric material covering the interconnecting metal features. The plurality of interconnect wiring layers are provided in a manner that there are N levels of wiring layers in the peripheral region and 1 to (N−1) levels of wiring layers over the pixel array. An etch-stop layer is formed over the top-most level interconnecting metal features in the peripheral region. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20100301303 | Forming Phase-Change Memory Using Self-Aligned Contact/Via Scheme - An integrated circuit structure includes a dielectric layer having an upper portion and a lower portion. The dielectric layer is either an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) or an inter-metal dielectric (IMD). A phase change random access memory (PCRAM) cell includes a phase change strip, wherein the phase change strip is on the lower portion and has a top surface lower than a top surface of the dielectric layer, and a bottom surface higher than a bottom surface of the dielectric layer. A first conductive column is electrically connected to the phase change strip. The first conductive column extends from the top surface of the dielectric layer down into the dielectric layer. A second conductive column is in a peripheral region. The second conductive column extends from the top surface of the dielectric layer down into the dielectric layer. The first conductive column and the second conductive column have different heights. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20110165746 | Novel Profile of Flash Memory Cells - A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate; a tunneling layer on the semiconductor substrate; a source region adjacent the tunneling layer; and a floating gate on the tunneling layer. The floating gate comprises a first edge having an upper portion and a lower portion, wherein the lower portion is recessed from the upper portion. The semiconductor structure further includes a blocking layer on the floating gate, wherein the blocking layer has a first edge facing a same direction as the first edge of the floating gate. | 07-07-2011 |