Patent ID: 7304340

Claim:
A semiconductor storage element comprising: a gate electrode formed on a semiconductor substrate via a gate insulator; a channel forming region located below the gate electrode; a pair of source/drain diffusion regions formed on opposite sides of the channel forming region and having a conductive type opposite to a conductive type of the channel forming region; and a first memory function body arranged on a first side of the gate electrode and a second memory function body arranged on a second side of the gate electrode opposite said first side and spaced from said first side, wherein the memory function bodies are each formed of: a plurality of charge retention portions constructed of particles having a function to accumulate electric charge and dielectric films formed on surfaces of the particles, having a function to prevent the electric charge from dispersing and having a roughly uniform film thickness and an insulator that covers the plurality of charge retention portions, and wherein an amount of electric charge retained in the memory function bodies varies an amount of a current which flows from one source/drain diffusion region to the other source/drain diffusion region when a voltage is applied to the gate electrode.