High temperature oxide deposition process for fabricating an ONO floating-gate electrode in a two bit EEPROM device
First Claim
1. A process for fabricating an ONO floating-gate electrode in a two-bit EEPROM device comprising the steps of:
- providing a semiconductor substrate;
thermally growing a first silicon oxide layer overlying the semiconductor substrate;
forming a silicon nitride layer overlying the first silicon oxide layer; and
maintaining at least two charge isolation regions in the silicon nitride layer by depositing a second layer of silicon oxide overlying the silicon nitride layer using a high temperature oxide deposition process, wherein the high temperature oxide deposition process is carried out at a temperature of about 700 to about 800°
C.
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Abstract
A process for fabricating an ONO floating-gate electrode in a two-bit EEPROM device includes the formation of a top oxide layer using a high-temperature-oxide (HTO) deposition process in which the HTO process is carried out at a temperature of about 700 to about 800° C. by either an LPCVD or RTCVD deposition processor. The process further includes the sequential formation of a silicon nitride layer and a top oxide layer using an in-situ LPCVD or RTCVD deposition process in which the silicon nitride layer is not exposed to ambient atmosphere prior to the formation of the top oxide layer. The formation of the top oxide layer using an HTO deposition process provides an improved two-bit EEPROM memory device by reducing charge leakage in the ONO floating-gate electrode.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A process for fabricating an ONO floating-gate electrode in a two-bit EEPROM device comprising the steps of:
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providing a semiconductor substrate;
thermally growing a first silicon oxide layer overlying the semiconductor substrate;
forming a silicon nitride layer overlying the first silicon oxide layer; and
maintaining at least two charge isolation regions in the silicon nitride layer by depositing a second layer of silicon oxide overlying the silicon nitride layer using a high temperature oxide deposition process, wherein the high temperature oxide deposition process is carried out at a temperature of about 700 to about 800°
C.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A process for fabricating a stacked-gate structure including an ONO floating-gate electrode in a two-bit EEPROM device comprising the steps of:
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providing a semiconductor substrate having a first bit-line oxide layer and a second bit-line oxide layer therein separated by a substrate surface region;
forming an ONO layer on the substrate surface region by first, thermally growing a first silicon oxide layer on the substrate surface region, second, forming a silicon nitride layer overlying the first silicon oxide layer; and
third, maintaining at least two charge isolation regions in the silicon nitride layer by depositing a second layer of silicon oxide overlying the silicon nitride layer using a high temperature oxide deposition process,wherein the high temperature oxide deposition process is carried out at a temperature of about 700 to about 800°
C.;
depositing a gate electrode layer overlying the ONO layer; and
forming a stacked-gate structure on the substrate surface region, wherein the stacked-gate structure includes a control-gate electrode overlying an ONO floating-gate electrode. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A process for fabricating an ONO floating-gate electrode in a two-bit EEPROM device comprising the steps of:
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providing a semiconductor substrate having a silicon surface region;
thermally growing a silicon oxide layer overlying the surface region; and
depositing a silicon nitride layer overlying the silicon oxide layer and a top silicon oxide layer using a deposition process selected from the group consisting of RTCVD and LPCVD;
wherein at least two charge isolation regions are maintained in the silicon nitride layer by carrying out the silicon nitride layer and the top silicon oxide layer are sequentially deposited in the absence of exposure to ambient atmosphere; and
wherein the deposition process is carried out at a temperature of about 700 to about 800°
C.- View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification