Patent ID: 8735963

Claim:
A semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a tunneling layer over the semiconductor substrate, wherein the tunneling layer has a first conduction band; a first leakage-inhibition layer over the tunneling layer, wherein the first leakage-inhibition layer has a second conduction band; a storage layer over the first leakage-inhibition layer, wherein the storage layer has a third conduction band, wherein the second conduction band is lower than the first conduction band, and higher than the third conduction band, and wherein the first leakage-inhibition layer is in contact with the tunneling layer and the storage layer; a blocking layer over the storage layer, wherein the blocking layer has a fourth conduction band; a second leakage-inhibition layer over the blocking layer, wherein the second leakage-inhibition layer has a fifth conduction band, and wherein one of the first and the second leakage-inhibition layer comprises a metal nitride or a metal oxynitride; and a gate electrode over the second leakage-inhibition layer, wherein the gate electrode has a sixth conduction band, and wherein the fifth conduction band is lower than the fourth conduction band, and higher than the sixth conduction band, and wherein the second leakage-inhibition layer is in contact with the gate electrode and the blocking layer.