Patent ID: 7001855

Claim:
A method of fabricating a flash memory device, wherein the flash memory device comprising a silicon substrate, a first electrode formed on said silicon substrate with an insulation film interposed therebetween, and a second electrode formed on the first electrode with an inter-electrode insulation film interposed therebetween, the inter-electrode insulation film comprising at least one silicon oxide film and at least one silicon nitride film, the method comprising: forming the least one silicon nitride film of the inter-electrode insulation film, wherein forming the at least one silicon nitride film comprises: maintaining the temperature of the silicon substrate at a temperature exceeding 400° C; introducing a mixture of a gas into a processing chamber, wherein the mixture of gas containing one of NH 3 or nitrogen and hydrogen, the mixture of gas also contains Ar gas or Kr gas; making hydrogen nitride radicals NH * by exciting plasma in the mixture of gas; and forming the at least one silicon nitride film using the hydrogen nitride radicals NH * .