DRAM cells and arrays of cells on a semiconductor substrate, together with methods of fabrication, are disclosed wherein the cells are formed in pairs or quartets by excavating a trench or two trenches through the cell elements to split an original cell into two or four cells during the fabrication. The cells include vertical field effect transistors and capacitors along the trench sidewalls with word lines and bit lines crossing over the cells.

Vertical DRAM cell and method

A dynamic random access memory in which individual cells, including an access transistor and a storage capacitor, are formed in mesas formed on a silicon chip. The access transistor of the cell is formed on the top surface of the mesa and one plate of the storage capacitor of the cell is formed by the sidewall of the mesa and the other plate by doped polycrystalline silicon which fills the grooves surrounding the mesas isolated therefrom by a silicon dioxide layer. By this geometry, large storage surfaces, and so large capacitances, can be obtained for the capacitor without using surface area of the chip. In other embodiments, the mesas may include other forms of circuit elements.

Silicon integrated circuits

A non-volatile semiconductor memory device comprises a semiconductor substrate of a first conduction type, an impurity buried layer of a second conduction type formed at the surface of the semiconductor substrate for constituting either one of a drain region or a source region, an epitaxial layer of a second conduction type formed at the surface of said impurity buried layer, an insulatiang partition wall extended vertically from the surface of the epitaxial layer surrounding operation regions in the impurity buried layer for defining the operation regions therein, at least one electron holding portion extended vertically with a predetermined distance from the operation regions and disposed within the insulating partition wall apart from the operation region, the impurity buried layer or the drain region by an insulation film of such a thickness as causing a tunnel effect, control gates disposed within the insulation partition wall disposed on every electron holding portions on the side opposite to the operation regions and extended vertically with a certain gap from the electron maintaining portions, and a control gate disposed within the insulating partition wall on every electron holding portions on the opposite side to the operation region extended vertically and with a certain gap to the electron holding portions, and an impurity region of a second conduction type formed at the surface of the operation region for constituting the other of the drain region or the source region

Non-volatile semiconductor memory device

An N-channel, double level poly, MOS read only memory or ROM array is electrically programmable by floating gates positioned beneath control gates formed by row address lines. The cells may be electrically programmed by applying selected voltages to the source, drain, control gate and substrate; the floating gate is charged through an insulator between the floating gate and the channel. A simplified process for fabrication of the devices eliminates photoresist and implant steps yet produces improved characteristics in the form of higher gain and lower body effect.

Electrically programmable floating gate semiconductor memory device

One embodiment of the invention provides an EPROM and a method of fabricating an EPROM with enhanced capacitive coupling. Trenched memory cells each comprise a pleat-shaped floating gate with the control gate nested in a fold of the floating gate to increase the coupling ratio with the control gate. As a result higher programming speed and improved cell density may be obtained for a given programming voltage. Formation of bit lines along trench walls results in lower bit line resistivity for a given cell density.

Floating gate memory cell and device

A semiconductor electrically programmable read only memory device (EPROM) utilizes an array of memory cells each in the form of a single V-type MOSFET which achieves the normal AND function (Data-Word Address) using a capacitance coupled version of threshold logic. Each MOSFET is formed by a V-shaped recess at the intersection of each bit line and word line that extends across the diffused bit line, (which serves as the transistor drain) and into the substrate (which serves as the source and ground plane of the device). A similarly V-shaped floating gate is isolated below and above the crossing bit and word lines by thin oxide layers. A ring of P-type conductive material around the upper end of each V-shaped recess and adjacent its surrounding N-type drain region serves to lower the required programming voltage without increasing the device threshold voltage.

Thurman J. Rodgers

Papers

VMOS Floating gate memory with breakdown voltage lowering region