Patent ID: 8269266

Claim:
A semiconductor device comprising: a first gate electrode formed of a first conductor film and a second gate electrode formed of a second conductor film, said first and second gate electrodes being formed over a semiconductor substrate and adjacent to each other; a first insulating film formed between the first gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate; a second insulating film formed between the second gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate and between the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode and having a charge accumulator portion inside of the second insulating film; and sidewall insulating films formed over side walls of the first and second gate electrodes, wherein a height of the second gate electrode is lower than a height of the first gate electrode, wherein a silicon oxide film is formed over an upper portion of the second gate electrode, wherein the sidewall insulating films have the same material as that of the silicon oxide film, and wherein a metal silicide film is formed over an upper surface of the first gate electrode but is not formed over the upper surface of the second gate electrode.