Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090146201 | WORK FUNCTION ENGINEERING FOR FN ERAS OF A MEMORY DEVICE WITH MULTIPLE CHARGE STORAGE ELEMENTS IN AN UNDERCUT REGION - A memory device comprised of a plurality of memory cells that can each include multiple charge storage elements in undercut regions that are formed under a tunneling barrier and adjacent to a gate oxide layer of each memory cell. The tunneling barrier can be formed from a high work function material, such as P+ polycrystalline silicon or a P-type metal, and/or a high-K material. The memory cell can reduce the likelihood of gate electron injection through the gate electrode and into the charge storage elements during a Fowler-Nordheim erase by employing such tunneling barrier. Systems and methods of fabricating memory devices having at least one such memory cell are provided. | 06-11-2009 |
20090147589 | Selective Application Of Word Line Bias To Minimize Fringe Effects In Electromagnetic Fields During Erase Of Nonvolatile Memory - A memory device comprising an optimization component that facilitates erasing memory cells in a substantially homogeneous electromagnetic field and methods that facilitate erasing memory cells in a substantially homogeneous electromagnetic field are presented. The optimization component facilitates selecting a subset of memory cells to be erased at the same time, such that a memory cell in the subset of memory cells has two neighbor memory cells adjacent thereto that are in the subset of memory, or one neighbor memory cell adjacent thereto when the memory cell is an end-row memory cell. The optimization component facilitates performing a Fowler-Nordheim channel erase to erase the subset of memory cells, and a predetermined voltage potential associated with an erase command is applied to each cell of the subset of memory cells to facilitate reducing fringing effect associated with the electromagnetic fields applied to the cells during the erase. | 06-11-2009 |
20090154246 | PROGRAMMING IN MEMORY DEVICES USING SOURCE BITLINE VOLTAGE BIAS - Systems and methods that facilitate improved programming memory cells in a nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory) are presented. An optimized voltage component can facilitate supplying respective voltages to a source, drain, and gate associated with a memory cell during operations, such as programming operations. The optimized voltage component can facilitate supplying a predetermined source bitline voltage to a memory cell during programming of the cell to facilitate reducing leakage currents associated with the bitlines, which can improve programming of the memory cell, and to facilitate reducing the programming current, which can result in power efficient programming and improved programming speed. | 06-18-2009 |
20090155992 | HIGH K STACK FOR NON-VOLATILE MEMORY - A memory device may include a source region and a drain region formed in a substrate and a channel region formed in the substrate between the source and drain regions. The memory device may further include a first oxide layer formed over the channel region, the first oxide layer having a first dielectric constant, and a charge storage layer formed upon the first oxide layer. The memory device may further include a second oxide layer formed upon the charge storage layer, a layer of dielectric material formed upon the second oxide layer, the dielectric material having a second dielectric constant that is greater than the first dielectric constant, and a gate electrode formed upon the layer of dielectric material. | 06-18-2009 |
20100203694 | METHODS FOR FABRICATING DUAL BIT FLASH MEMORY DEVICES - Methods for fabricating dual bit memory devices are provided. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method for fabricating a dual bit memory device comprises forming a charge trapping layer overlying a substrate and etching an isolation opening through the charge trapping layer. An oxide layer is formed overlying the charge trapping layer and within the isolation opening. A control gate is fabricated overlying the isolation opening and portions of the charge trapping layer adjacent to the isolation opening. The oxide layer and the charge trapping layer are etched using the control gate as an etch mask and impurity dopants are implanted into the substrate using the control gate as an implantation mask. | 08-12-2010 |
20100208527 | SELECTIVE APPLICATION OF WORD LINE BIAS TO MINIMIZE FRINGE EFFECTS IN ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS DURING ERASE OF NONVOLATILE MEMORY - A memory device comprising an optimization component that facilitates erasing memory cells in a substantially homogeneous electromagnetic field and methods that facilitate erasing memory cells in a substantially homogeneous electromagnetic field are presented. The optimization component facilitates selecting a subset of memory cells to be erased at the same time, such that a memory cell in the subset of memory cells has two neighbor memory cells adjacent thereto that are in the subset of memory, or one neighbor memory cell adjacent thereto when the memory cell is an end-row memory cell. The optimization component facilitates performing a Fowler-Nordheim channel erase to erase the subset of memory cells, and a predetermined voltage potential associated with an erase command is applied to each cell of the subset of memory cells to facilitate reducing fringing effect associated with the electromagnetic fields applied to the cells during the erase. | 08-19-2010 |
20100240210 | STRAPPING CONTACT FOR CHARGE PROTECTION - A semiconductor device includes a substrate and a memory cell formed on the substrate. The memory cell includes a word line. The semiconductor device also includes a protection area formed in the substrate, a conductive structure configured to extend the word line to the protection area, and a contact configured to short the word line and the protection area. | 09-23-2010 |
20100265775 | ERASING FLASH MEMORY USING ADAPTIVE DRAIN AND/OR GATE BIAS - A hot hole erase operation as described herein can be utilized for a flash memory device having an array of memory cells. The erase operation employs an adaptive erase bias voltage scheme where the drain bias voltage (and/or the gate bias voltage) is dynamically adjusted in response to an erase pulse count corresponding to a preliminary erase operation during which a relatively small portion of a sector is erased. The adjustment of the erase bias voltage in this manner enables the rest of the sector to be erased using erase bias voltages that are better suited to the current erase characteristics of the sector. | 10-21-2010 |
20100283100 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY COMPRISING DUAL CHARGE STORAGE NODES AND METHODS FOR ITS FABRICATION - A dual charge storage node memory device and methods for its fabrication are provided. In one embodiment a dielectric plug is formed comprising a first portion recessed into a semiconductor substrate and a second portion extending above the substrate. A layer of semiconductor material is formed overlying the second portion. A first layered structure is formed overlying a first side of the second portion of the dielectric plug, and a second layered structure is formed overlying a second side, each of the layered structures overlying the layer of semiconductor material and comprising a charge storage layer between first and second dielectric layers. Ions are implanted into the substrate to form a first bit line and second bit line, and a layer of conductive material is deposited and patterned to form a control gate overlying the dielectric plug and the first and second layered structures. | 11-11-2010 |
20130237022 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST PROCESS-INDUCED CHARGING - A semiconductor device ( | 09-12-2013 |