Patent ID: 11917828
Assignee: MACRONIX INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD.
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 10:
11. A method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
forming a plurality of vertical channels through a plurality of alternating pairs of first and second layers on a substrate, the first layers being electrically insulating;
forming a plurality of source line trenches (SLTs) to separate the plurality of vertical channels into a plurality of portions, each portion of the plurality of portions being between two adjacent SLTs;
forming conductive layers between adjacent first layers in each portion of the plurality of portions by replacing the second layers with a conductive material between the adjacent first layers; then
forming one or more string select line (SSL) cuts in a top part of each portion of one or more portions of the plurality of portions, the one or more SSL cuts being configurable to separate the portion into multiple independent units,
wherein each SSL cut of the one or more SSL cuts comprises an insulating material and configured to separate two adjacent units of the portion, and wherein a top part of at least one vertical channel of the plurality of vertical channels is covered by a corresponding SSL cut of the one or more SSL cuts and filled with the insulating material of the corresponding SSL cut.