Charge-trapping memory device

1. A charge trapping field effect transistor (FET), comprising:

a semiconductor substrate;

a doped region in the semiconductor substrate, wherein the doped region comprises a first lateral dimension along a first direction between a first isolation region and a second isolation region; and

a gate structure over the semiconductor substrate adjacent to the first isolation region and the second isolation region, comprising:

a hybrid charge trapping conductive region comprising:

a charge trapping dielectric region comprising at least top and bottom silicon rich nitride (SiRN) layers separated by an intermediate SiRN layer, wherein the intermediate SiRN layer has a greater silicon content value than the top and bottom SiRN layers respectively; and

a charge trapping conductive region in contact with the charge trapping dielectric region;

wherein the charge trapping dielectric region comprises a second lateral dimension along the first direction, the second lateral dimension being equal to or smaller than the first lateral dimension, wherein the first isolation region has a first vertical dimension, wherein the hybrid charge trapping conductive region has a second vertical dimension, and wherein the first vertical dimension is larger than the second vertical dimension.

2. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the charge trapping conductive region comprises a third lateral dimension along the first direction, the third lateral dimension being equal or smaller than the first lateral dimension.

3. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the charge trapping dielectric region comprises silicon rich nitride (SiRN).

4. The charge trapping FET of claim 3 , wherein the silicon rich nitride (SiRN) has a coefficient of extinction (k) value greater than zero.

5. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the charge trapping dielectric region comprises a plurality of silicon rich nitride (SiRN) layers, each SiRN layer of the plurality of SiRN layers comprising a silicon content value different from each other SiRN layer in the plurality of SiRN layers.

6. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the charge trapping dielectric region comprises a plurality of silicon rich nitride (SiRN) layers, each SiRN layer of the plurality of SiRN layers comprising a coefficient of extinction (k) value different from each other SiRN layer in the plurality of SiRN layers.

7. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the charge trapping dielectric region comprises a silicon nitride (SiN) layer and a plurality of silicon rich nitride (SiRN) layers, wherein:

the SiN layer is disposed over the plurality of SiRN layers;

the SiN comprises a coefficient of extinction (k) value equal to zero; and

each SiRN layer of the plurality of SiRN layers comprising a coefficient of extinction (k) value different from each other SiRN layer in the plurality of SiRN layers.

8. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the charge trapping dielectric region comprises a vertical dimension ranging from about 10 nm to about 15 nm.

9. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the charge trapping conductive region comprises a vertical dimension ranging from about 10 nm to about 20 nm.

10. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the charge trapping conductive region comprises polysilicon or metal.

11. The charge trapping FET of claim 1 , wherein the gate structure further comprises:

first and second dielectric regions, the first dielectric region being in contact with the charge trapping dielectric region and the second dielectric region being in contact with the charge conductive region.

12. The charge trapping FET of claim 11 , wherein the first and second dielectric regions comprise an oxide material.

13. The charge trapping FET of claim 11 , wherein the gate structure further comprises a gate region in contact with the first dielectric region.

14. A method of fabricating a charge trapping memory device, comprising:

forming isolation regions in a substrate;

forming a hybrid charge trapping conductive region, wherein forming the hybrid charge trapping conductive region comprises:

forming a charge trapping conductive region adjacent to a first isolation region and a second isolation region;

forming a charge trapping dielectric region comprising at least top and bottom silicon rich nitride (SiRN) layer separated by an intermediate SiRN layer over the charge trapping conductive region, wherein the intermediate SiRN layer has a silicon content value that is greater than the top and bottom SiRN layers respectively; and

forming a doped region in the substrate, wherein the doped region is formed with a first lateral dimension along a first direction between the first isolation region and the second isolation region; and

wherein the charge trapping dielectric region is formed with a second lateral dimension along the first direction, the second lateral dimension being equal to or smaller than the first lateral dimension, wherein the first isolation region has a first vertical dimension, wherein the hybrid charge trapping conductive region has a second vertical dimension, and wherein the first vertical dimension is larger than the second vertical dimension, and wherein the charge trapping dielectric region is lower than a top of the first isolation region.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

forming a first dielectric region over the substrate;

forming a second dielectric region over the charge trapping dielectric region; and

forming a gate region over the second dielectric region.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein forming the second dielectric region comprises oxidation of a top surface of the charge trapping dielectric region.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein forming the isolation region comprises:

forming a trench in the substrate; and

filling the trench with a dielectric material.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

the charge trapping conductive region is formed with a third lateral dimension along the first direction, the third lateral dimension being equal or smaller than the first lateral dimension.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the top, intermediate, and bottom SiRN layers each includes a coefficient of extinction (K) value greater than zero.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the charge trapping dielectric region comprises a plurality of silicon rich nitride (SiRN) layers including the top, intermediate, and bottom SiRN layers, each SiRN layer of the plurality of SiRN layers comprising a silicon content value different from each other SiRN layer in the plurality of SiRN layers.

21. The method of claim 14 , wherein the charge trapping conductive region comprises polysilicon.

22. A method to fabricate a semiconductor device, comprising:

forming sequentially a first dielectric layer, a charge trapping (CT) conductive layer, and a CT dielectric structure including at least one silicon rich nitride (SiRN) layer over a substrate, wherein the CT dielectric structure includes a bottom SiRN layer over the CT conductive layer, an intermediate SiRN layer over the bottom SiRN layer, and a top SiRN layer over the intermediate SiRN layer, and wherein the top, intermediate, and bottom SiRN layers each has a different silicon content value from one another;

forming a hard mask layer over the CT dielectric structure;

forming a trench by removing a portion of the substrate, the first dielectric layer, the CT conductive layer, the CT dielectric structure, and the hard mask layer, wherein the trench separating gate structures of two transistors, each on one side of the trench;

filling the trench with a dielectric material to form an isolation structure;

performing a planarization process on the dielectric material outside of the trench, the planarization process stopped at the hard mask layer;

removing the hard mask layer entirely and form a second dielectric layer over the CT dielectric structure; and

forming a gate line layer over and in direct contact with both the isolation structure and the second dielectric layer.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the intermediate SiRN layer has a silicon content value that is between the top and bottom SiRN layers.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the intermediate SiRN layer has a silicon content value that is greater than the top and bottom SiRN layers, respectively.