Patent ID: 6844588

Claim:
A semiconductor device having an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (BEPROM) array including rows and columns of memory cells comprising: a first well region and a second well region within a semiconductor substrate, wherein the first well region and the second well region are spaced apart and electrically isolated; a first column of memory cells positioned within the first well region; a second column of memory cells positioned within the second well region; a first tunnel dielectric of a first memory cell in the first column of memory cells and a second tunnel dielectric of a second memory cell in the second column of memory cells, wherein the first and second memory cells are devoid of floating gates; a first charge storage layer of the first memory cell formed over the first tunnel dielectric and a second charge storage layer of the second memory cell formed over the second tunnel dielectric; a first control gate of the first memory cell formed over the first charge storage layer and a second control gate of the second memory cell formed over the second charge storage layer, wherein the first control gate and the second control gate are in a same row and electrically coupled via a common wordline; a first bitline electrically coupled to drain regions of each memory cell in the first column of memory cells; a second bitline electrically coupled to drain regions of each memory cell in the second column of memory cells; a first source line electrically coupled to source regions of each memory cell in the first column of memory cells, wherein the first source line and a source region of at least one memory cell in the first column of memory cells are electrically coupled to the first well region; and a second source line electrically coupled to source regions of each memory cell in the second column of memory cells, wherein the second source line, and a source region of at least one memory cell in the second column of memory cells is electrically coupled to the second well region.