Patent ID: 7094645

Claim:
A method for forming a floating gate device, the method comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate; forming a gate dielectric layer over the semiconductor substrate; forming a first floating gate layer over the gate dielectric layer; forming an etch stop layer over the first floating gate layer; forming a sacrificial layer over the first floating gate layer and the etch stop layer; removing a portion of the sacrificial layer wherein the removing the portion of the sacrificial layer leaves a remaining portion of the sacrificial layer over the first floating gate layer; forming a second floating gate layer over the first floating gate layer and the remaining portion of the sacrificial layer; removing a portion of the second floating gate layer to expose a top surface of the remaining portion of the sacrificial layer; removing the remaining portion of the sacrificial layer; forming an interlevel dielectric layer over the second floating gate layer and the first floating gate layer; and forming a control gate layer over the interlevel dielectric layer.