Patent ID: 7002849

Claim:
A method of programming a non-volatile memory cell with a nitride tunneling layer, comprising: providing a non-volatile memory cell comprising: a substrate a nitride tunneling layer disposed on the substrate; a charge-trapping layer disposed on the nitride tunneling layer; a dielectric layer disposed on the charge trapping layer; a gate conductive layer disposed on the dielectric layer; and a source region and a drain region disposed in the substrate adjacent to the nitride tunneling layer; applying a first voltage to the gate conductive layer and grounding the substrate to turn on a channel between the source region and the drain region; and applying a second voltage to the drain region and ground the source region to induce a current in the channel and thereby to generate hot electrons in the channel, wherein the hot electrons are injected into the charge-trapping layer through the nitride tunneling layer to program the nonvolatile memory cell.