Patent ID: 7821055

Claim:
A method of making a semiconductor device on a semiconductor layer, comprising: forming a gate dielectric over the semiconductor layer; forming a first layer of gate material over the gate dielectric; etching the first layer of gate material to remove a portion of the first layer of gate material over a first portion of the semiconductor layer and to leave a select gate portion; forming a storage layer over the select gate portion and over the first portion of the semiconductor layer; forming a second layer of gate material over the storage layer; etching the second layer of gate material to remove a first portion of the second layer of gate material over a first portion of the select gate portion; and etching out a portion of the first portion of the select gate portion to leave an L-shaped select gate structure, wherein: the L-shaped select gate structure has a vertical portion and a horizontal portion; the vertical portion has a height and a width; and the horizontal portion has a thickness that is less than the height of the vertical portion.