High density flash memory
US5936274A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 8, 1997 |
| Grant date | Aug 10, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 8, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10D30/687
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A high density flash EEPROM provides increased nonvolatile storage capacity. A memory cell array includes densely packed memory cells, each cell having a semiconductor pillar providing shared source/drain regions for two vertical floating gate transistors that have individual floating and control gates distributed on opposing sides of the pillar. The control gates are formed together with interconnecting gate lines. First source/drain terminals are row addressable by interconnection lines disposed substantially orthogonal to the gate lines. Second source/drain terminals are column addressable by data lines disposed substantially parallel to the gate lines. Both bulk semiconductor and silicon-on-insulator embodiments are provided. If a floating gate transistor is used to store a single bit of data, an area of only 2F.sup.2 is needed per bit of data, where F is the minimum lithographic feature size. If multiple charge states (more than two) are used, an area of less than 2F.sup.2 is needed per bit of data.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.