Method of manufacture of a split gate flash EEPROM memory cell

Claim 1

A method of fabricating an EEPROM device on a lightly doped semiconductor substrate comprising, forming a first dielectric layer on said substrate, forming a floating gate layer over said first dielectric layer, forming a sacrificial layer on said floating gate layer, forming a split-gate channel mask with a pattern of openings over said sacrificial layer, etching said sacrificial layer and etching said floating gate layer using said split-gate channel mask to form a self-aligned channel mask for source/drain regions of said device, isotropically overetching said floating gate layer to form a floating gate therefrom, ion implanting to form a doped source region and a doped drain region in said substrate defining the channel of said device, removing said channel mask, removing the remainder of said sacrificial layer, forming a drain side mask over said floating gate and said source region, ion implanting to form a drain side N- region in said substrate, removing said drain side mask, forming a blanket interpolysilicon dielectric layer over said said floating gate and said first dielectric layer, forming a blanket deposit of a control gate layer over said interpolysilicon layer, forming a control gate mask with a pattern of openings on said device, patterning said control gate layer by etching away material from said control gate layer through said openings in said control gate mask, and removing said control gate mask,

Claim 2

A method of fabricating an EEPROM device on a lightly doped semiconductor substrate comprising, forming a first dielectric layer on said substrate, forming a floating gate layer over said first dielectric layer, forming a sacrificial layer on said floating gate layer, forming a split-gate channel mask with a pattern of openings over said sacrificial layer, etching said sacrificial layer and etching said floating gate layer using said split-gate channel mask to form a self-aligned channel mask for source/drain regions of said device, isotropically overetching said floating gate layer to form a floating gate therefrom, ion implanting to form a doped source region and a doped drain region in said substrate defining the channel of said device, removing said channel mask, removing the remainder of said sacrificial layer, forming a drain side mask over said floating gate and said source region, ion implanting to form a drain side N- region in said substrate, removing said drain side mask, forming a blanket interpolysilicon dielectric layer over said said floating gate and said first dielectric layer, forming a blanket deposit of a control gate layer over said interpolysilicon layer, forming a control gate mask with a pattern of openings on said device, patterning said control gate layer by etching away material from said control gate layer through said openings in said control gate mask, and removing said control gate mask,

Claim 12

A method of fabricating an EEPROM device on a lightly doped semiconductor substrate comprising, forming a tunnel oxide dielectric layer on said substrate, forming a polysilicon I floating gate layer over said tunnel oxide dielectric layer, forming a PSG sacrificial layer on said floating gate layer, forming a split-gate channel mask over said sacrificial layer, etching said sacrificial layer and etching said floating gate layer using said split-gate channel mask to form a self-aligned channel mask for source/drain regions of said device, isotropically overetching said floating gate layer to form a floating gate therefrom, ion implanting to form a doped source region and a doped drain region in said substrate in a self-aligned process to define the channel of said device, removing said split-gate channel mask, removing the remainder of said sacrificial layer, forming a drain side mask over said floating gate and said source region, ion implanting to form a drain side N- region in said substrate, forming a blanket ONO interpolysilicon dielectric layer over said floating gate and said first dielectric layer, forming a blanket deposit of a polysilicon 2 control gate layer over said interpolysilicon layer, forming a control gate mask on said device, patterning said control gate layer by etching away material from said control gate layer through said openings in said control gate mask, and removing said control gate mask.

Claim 13

A method of fabricating an EEPROM device on a lightly doped semiconductor substrate comprising, forming a tunnel oxide dielectric layer on said substrate, forming a polysilicon I floating gate layer over said tunnel oxide dielectric layer, forming a PSG sacrificial layer on said floating gate layer, forming a split-gate channel mask over said sacrificial layer, etching said sacrificial layer and etching said floating gate layer using said split-gate channel mask to form a self-aligned channel mask for source/drain regions of said device, isotropically overetching said floating gate layer to form a floating gate therefrom, ion implanting to form a doped source region and a doped drain region in said substrate in a self-aligned process to define the channel of said device, removing said split-gate channel mask, removing the remainder of said sacrificial layer, forming a drain side mask over said floating gate and said source region, ion implanting to form a drain side N- region in said substrate, forming a blanket ONO interpolysilicon dielectric layer over said floating gate and said first dielectric layer, forming a blanket deposit of a polysilicon 2 control gate layer over said interpolysilicon layer, forming a control gate mask on said device, patterning said control gate layer by etching away material from said control gate layer through said openings in said control gate mask, and removing said control gate mask.

Claim 23

A method of fabricating an EEPROM device on a lightly doped semiconductor substrate comprising the steps in the sequence as follows: forming a tunnel oxide dielectric layer on said substrate, forming a polysilicon 1 floating gate layer over said tunnel oxide dielectric layer, said floating gate layer comprising a polysilicon layer having a thickness within a range between about 500Å and about 2,000Å, forming a PSG sacrificial layer on said floating gate layer, said PSG sacrificial layer having a thickness within a range between about 200Å and about 1000Å, forming a split-gate channel mask over said sacrificial layer, etching said sacrificial layer and said floating gate layer using said split gate channel mask to form a self-aligned channel mask for the source/drain regions of said device, isotropically overetching said floating gate layer to form a floating gate therefrom, ion implanting to forms doped source region and a doped drain region in said substrate in a self-aligned process to define the channel of said device, said source/drain implant formed by implantation of arsenic ions with a dose of about 5E15/cm 2 at an energy of about 50 keV, removing said split-gate channel mask, removing the remainder of said sacrificial layer, forming a drain side mask over said floating gate and said source region, ion implanting to form a drain side N- region in said substrate, said drain side implant comprising implantation of phosphorus ions with a dose of about 1E14/cm 2 at an energy of about 50 keV, forming a blanket ONO interpolysilicon dielectric layer over said floating gate and said first dielectric forming a blanket deposit of a polysilicon 2 control gate layer over said interpolysilicon layer, said control gate layer comprising a polysilicon layer having a thickness within a range between about 1,000Å and about 5,000Å, forming a control gate mask on said device, patterning said control gate layer by etching away material from said control gate layer through openings in said control gate mask, and removing said control gate mask.

Claim 24

A method of fabricating an EEPROM device on a lightly doped semiconductor substrate comprising the steps in the sequence as follows: forming a tunnel oxide dielectric layer on said substrate, forming a polysilicon 1 floating gate layer over said tunnel oxide dielectric layer, said floating gate layer comprising a polysilicon layer having a thickness within a range between about 500Å and about 2,000Å, forming a PSG sacrificial layer on said floating gate layer, said PSG sacrificial layer having a thickness within a range between about 200Å and about 1000Å, forming a split-gate channel mask over said sacrificial layer, etching said sacrificial layer and said floating gate layer using said split gate channel mask to form a self-aligned channel mask for the source/drain regions of said device, isotropically overetching said floating gate layer to form a floating gate therefrom, ion implanting to forms doped source region and a doped drain region in said substrate in a self-aligned process to define the channel of said device, said source/drain implant formed by implantation of arsenic ions with a dose of about 5E15/cm 2 at an energy of about 50 keV, removing said split-gate channel mask, removing the remainder of said sacrificial layer, forming a drain side mask over said floating gate and said source region, ion implanting to form a drain side N- region in said substrate, said drain side implant comprising implantation of phosphorus ions with a dose of about 1E14/cm 2 at an energy of about 50 keV, forming a blanket ONO interpolysilicon dielectric layer over said floating gate and said first dielectric forming a blanket deposit of a polysilicon 2 control gate layer over said interpolysilicon layer, said control gate layer comprising a polysilicon layer having a thickness within a range between about 1,000Å and about 5,000Å, forming a control gate mask on said device, patterning said control gate layer by etching away material from said control gate layer through openings in said control gate mask, and removing said control gate mask.