Nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices with charge injection corner
US7915666B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 20, 2008 |
| Grant date | Mar 29, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 2, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10D30/696
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An erase method where a corner portion on which an electric field concentrates locally is provided on the memory gate electrode, and charges in the memory gate electrode are injected into a charge trap film in a gate dielectric with Fowler-Nordheim tunneling operation is used. Since current consumption at the time of erase can be reduced by the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, a power supply circuit area of a memory module can be reduced. Since write disturb resistance can be improved, a memory array area can be reduced by adopting a simpler memory array configuration. Owing to both the effects, an area of the memory module can be largely reduced, so that manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, since charge injection centers of write and erase coincide with each other, so that (program and erase) endurance is improved.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.