Patent ID: 7411836

Claim:
A method of operating a non-volatile memory comprising a gate on a substrate, a charge-trapping layer disposed between the gate and the substrate, a source region disposed in the substrate on one side of the gate, a drain region disposed in the substrate on the other side of gate, wherein the charge-trapping layer has an auxiliary charge region close to the source region and the charge-trapping layer has a data storage region close to the drain region, and electrons are injected into to the auxiliary charge region prior to performing the operation, the operating method includes: performing a programming operation by applying a first voltage to the gate, applying a second voltage to the source region, applying a third voltage to the drain region and applying a fourth voltage to the substrate, wherein the first voltage is bigger than the fourth voltage, the third voltage is bigger than the second voltage, the second voltage is bigger than the fourth voltage to produce a channel initiated secondary hot electron injection (CHISEL) effect so that electrons are injected into the data storage region, and the first voltage applied to the gate is subjected to an shielding effect by the electrons within the auxiliary charge region to cause an abrupt electrical field in the substrate under the gate between auxiliary charge region and the data storage region.