Patent ID: 11968834
Assignee: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 18:
19. The three-dimensional memory device of claim 4, wherein:
each of the memory opening fill structures further comprises a blocking dielectric layer in contact with an entirety of the convex outer sidewalls of the vertical stack of discrete memory elements;
the blocking dielectric layer comprises an inner sidewall that comprises vertically-extending surface segments that contact surface segments of the dielectric material liner and concave surface segments that contact the convex outer sidewalls of the vertical stack of discrete memory elements;
a first subset of the electrically conductive layers comprises a respective concave surface that faces a respective discrete memory element within the vertical stack of memory elements; and
a second subset of the electrically conductive layers comprises a vertical sidewall that faces a respective one of the memory opening fill structures and is located at a level at which no discrete memory element is present.