High density non-volatile flash memory without adverse effects of electric field coupling between adjacent floating gates
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A flash EEPROM, comprising:
- an array of memory cells that individually include a source and drain bounding a semi-conductive channel in a substrate, a floating gate positioned adjacent the substrate surface channel with a first dielectric layer therebetween, and one or more operating gates adjacent the floating gate with a corresponding one or more dielectric layers therebetween,a source of controllable voltages connected to the one or more operating gates, the source and the drain,sensing circuits connectable to the array to determine a quantity related to one of two or more adjacent programmable floating gate charge level ranges defining respective two or more states into which addressed ones of the individual cells are programmed,adjacent floating gates being positioned close enough together such that a change of charge level between one of the two or more charge level ranges on one of two adjacent cells would cause an erroneous reading of at least one of the states of the other of the two adjacent cells if an insulating material having a dielectric constant in excess of 3.8 extended entirely between the adjacent floating gates, andelements positioned between said adjacent floating gates to reduce cross-talk therebetween in order to reduce the erroneous readings.
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Abstract
Electric field coupling between floating gates of a high density flash EEPROM cell array has been found to produce errors in reading the states of the cells, particularly when being operated with more than two storage states per cell. The effect of this coupling is overcome by placing a conductive shield or insulating material with a low dielectric constant between adjacent floating gates, and/or by compensating for the coupling when reading the states of the cells.
1065 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A flash EEPROM, comprising:
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an array of memory cells that individually include a source and drain bounding a semi-conductive channel in a substrate, a floating gate positioned adjacent the substrate surface channel with a first dielectric layer therebetween, and one or more operating gates adjacent the floating gate with a corresponding one or more dielectric layers therebetween, a source of controllable voltages connected to the one or more operating gates, the source and the drain, sensing circuits connectable to the array to determine a quantity related to one of two or more adjacent programmable floating gate charge level ranges defining respective two or more states into which addressed ones of the individual cells are programmed, adjacent floating gates being positioned close enough together such that a change of charge level between one of the two or more charge level ranges on one of two adjacent cells would cause an erroneous reading of at least one of the states of the other of the two adjacent cells if an insulating material having a dielectric constant in excess of 3.8 extended entirely between the adjacent floating gates, and elements positioned between said adjacent floating gates to reduce cross-talk therebetween in order to reduce the erroneous readings. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A flash EEPROM, comprising:
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an array of rows and columns of memory cells that individually include a source and drain bounding a semi-conductive channel in a surface of a substrate, a floating gate positioned adjacent the substrate surface channel with a first dielectric layer therebetween, and one or more operating gates adjacent the floating gate with a corresponding one or more dielectric layers therebetween, a source of controllable voltages connected to the one or more operating gates, the source, the drain, and the substrate, the one or more operating gates providing a shield between adjacent floating gates in a direction of one of the rows or columns, sensing circuits connectable to the array to determine a quantity related to one of three or more adjacent programmable floating gate charge level ranges defining respective three or more states into which addressed ones of the individual cells are programmed, adjacent floating gates being positioned close enough together in a direction of the other of the rows or columns such that a change in charge level within one of the three or more charge level ranges on one of two adjacent cells would cause an erroneous reading of at least one of the states of the other of the two adjacent cells if no shield is provided therebetween, and conductive elements other than the one or more operating gates positioned in between the floating gates in a direction of the other of the rows or columns, thereby to provide a shield that substantially eliminates an erroneous reading of the states of adjacent cells. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A flash EEPROM, comprising:
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an array of rows and columns of memory cells that individually include a source and drain bounding a semi-conductive channel in a surface of a substrate, a floating gate positioned adjacent the substrate surface channel with a first dielectric layer therebetween, and one or more operating gates adjacent the floating gate with a corresponding one or more dielectric layers therebetween, a source of controllable voltages connected to the one or more operating gates, the source, the drain and the substrate, the one or more operating gates providing a shield between adjacent floating gates in a direction of one of the rows or columns, sensing circuits connectable to the array to determine a quantity related to one of three or more adjacent programmable floating gate charge level ranges defining respective three or more states into which addressed ones of the individual cells are programmed, adjacent floating gates being positioned close enough together in a direction of the other of the rows or columns such that a change in charge level within one of the three or more charge level ranges on one of two adjacent cells would cause an erroneous reading of at least one of the states of the other of the two adjacent cells if an insulating material having a dielectric constant in excess of 3.8 extended entirely between the adjacent floating gates, and at least a portion of a distance between the adjacent floating gates in a direction of the other of the rows or columns including a dielectric material having a dielectric constant of less than 3.5, thereby to reduce an electric field coupling between the adjacent floating gates that substantially eliminates an erroneous reading of the states of adjacent cells. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In a flash EEPROM system that includes an array of rows and columns of memory cells that individually have a floating gate and one or more operating gates adjacent the floating gate, and a circuit that reads the states of an addressed plurality of the array of cells with respect to two or more breakpoint levels defining three or more memory states of the individual cells, a method of reading the states of an addressed set of the cells, comprising:
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reading the states of a plurality of cells adjacent to and in electric field communication with the addressed set of cells, determining an effect of charge levels on the floating gates of said adjacent cells upon the states read from the addressed set of cells, and adjusting the read states of the addressed set of cells to take into account the effect of charge levels on the floating gates of the adjacent cells. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification