Semiconductor devices

US9698231B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-9698231-B2
Application numberUS-201615015116-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateFeb 3, 2016
Priority dateMar 31, 2015
Publication dateJul 4, 2017
Grant dateJul 4, 2017

How to read this patent

A practical reading order for non-experts. Skip the full description unless you need deep technical detail.

  1. Title

    What the patent document calls the invention.

  2. Abstract

    A short plain-language summary of the technical disclosure.

  3. Assignees and inventors

    Who owns or filed the patent and who is credited as inventor.

  4. Key dates

    Filing, priority, publication, and grant dates set the timeline.

  5. First independent claim

    The legal scope of protection — read this for what is actually claimed.

  6. CPC / IPC classifications

    Technology tags used to group this patent with similar filings.

  7. Citations and related patents

    Prior art links and similar publications in this corpus.

Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a tunnel insulation pattern on the substrate, a charge storage pattern on the tunnel insulation pattern, a dielectric pattern having a width smaller than a width of the charge storage pattern on the charge storage pattern, a control gate having a width greater than the width of the dielectric pattern on the dielectric pattern, and a metal-containing gate on the control gate.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1. A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; a tunnel insulation pattern on the substrate; a charge storage pattern on the tunnel insulation pattern, the charge storage pattern comprising a width in a direction that is substantially perpendicular from a direction of the charge storage pattern to the substrate; a dielectric pattern on the charge storage pattern, the dielectric pattern comprising a width in the direction that is substantially perpendicular from the direction of the charge storage pattern to the substrate, the width of the dielectric pattern being less than a width of the charge storage pattern; a control gate on the dielectric pattern, the control gate comprising a width in the direction that is substantially perpendicular from the direction of the charge storage pattern to the substrate, the width of the control gate being greater than the width of the dielectric pattern; a metal-containing gate on the control gate; and a capping layer being on a sidewall of the metal-containing gate and extending from a sidewall of the control gate, the capping layer comprising a conductive material. 2. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the capping layer comprises a width in the direction that is substantially perpendicular from the direction of the charge storage pattern to the substrate, and the metal-containing gate comprises a width in the direction that is substantially perpendicular from the direction of the charge storage pattern to the substrate, and wherein a sum of the width of the capping layer and the width of the metal-containing gate is greater than the width of the control gate. 3. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the capping layer comprises a width in the direction that is substantially perpendicular from the direction of the charge storage pattern to the substrate, and the metal-containing gate comprises a width in the direction that is substantially perpendicular from the direction of the charge storage pattern to the substrate, and wherein a sum of the width of the capping layer and the width of the metal-containing gate is substantially the same as the width of the control gate. 4. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the capping layer is on substantially only the side wall of the metal-containing gate. 5. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising a buffer pattern between the metal-containing gate and the control gate, wherein the capping layer covers substantially only sidewalls of the metal-containing gate and the buffer pattern. 6. The semiconductor device of claim 5 , wherein the buffer pattern comprises a metal nitride. 7. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the capping layer comprises polysilicon doped with impurities or amorphous silicon doped with impurities. 8. The semiconductor device of claim 7 , wherein the charge storage pattern and the control gate comprise polysilicon. 9. The semiconductor device of claim 8 , further comprising a gate mask on the metal-containing gate, wherein the capping layer extends from substantially only the sidewall of the control gate to substantially only the sidewall of the metal-containing gate. 10. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of gate structures are arranged on the substrate, each of the gate structures comprising the tunnel insulation pattern, the charge storage pattern, the dielectric pattern, the control gate and the metal-containing gate. 11. The semiconductor device of claim 10 , wherein the tunnel insulation pattern comprises a protrusion on which the charge storage pattern is disposed, and wherein the tunnel insulation pattern is commonly provided for the plurality of the gate structures. 12. The semiconductor device of claim 11 , wherein each protrusion comprises a width in the direction that is substantially perpendicular from the direction of the charge storage pattern from the substrate, and wherein the width of each protrusion is less than the width of the charge storage pattern.

Assignees

Inventors

Classifications

Patent family

Related publications grouped by family.

External sources

Frequently asked questions

Answers are generated from the same data shown on this page.

What does patent US9698231B2 cover?
A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a tunnel insulation pattern on the substrate, a charge storage pattern on the tunnel insulation pattern, a dielectric pattern having a width smaller than a width of the charge storage pattern on the charge storage pattern, a control gate having a width greater than the width of the dielectric pattern on the dielectric pattern, and a metal-containing …
Who is the assignee on this patent?
Namkoong Hyun, Kim Dong-Kyum, Kim Jung-Hwan, and 4 more
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification H01L29/42328. Mapped technology areas include Electricity.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue Jul 04 2017 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).