Patent ID: 7314798

Claim:
A method of fabricating a storage device in an array of storage devices, comprising: forming first and second trenches in a semiconductor substrate, wherein: the first trench and the second trench spaced-apart from one another: each of the first trench and the second trench extends from a surface of the semiconductor substrate: and a portion of the semiconductor substrate lies between and immediately adjacent to a first wall of the first trench and a second wall of the second trench; forming first and second source/drain regions underlying the first and second trenches respectively; forming a charge storage stack, wherein the charge storage stack lines the first and second trenches and overlies a portion of the semiconductor substrate between the first and second trenches, and wherein the charge storage stack includes a layer of discontinuous storage elements (DSEs); and forming a first control gate overlying the first source/drain regions and the charge storage stack, wherein a set of the DSEs overlie the portion of the semiconductor substrate between the first and second trenches, and the set of DSEs lies between the first control gate and the portion of the semiconductor substrate: and forming a first diffusion region between the first and second trenches, wherein: the first diffusion region lies within the portion of the semiconductor substrate and at the surface of the semiconductor substrate; and the first diffusion region is spaced apart from the first wall, the second wall, or both the first and second walls.