Patent ID: 7755132

Claim:
A NAND flash memory array, comprising: a plurality of NAND strings of memory cells, an individual NAND string of memory cells comprising a plurality of memory cells connected in series along a first direction, an individual cell of the plurality of memory cells having a floating gate that is L-shaped in cross section along a plane perpendicular to the first direction; and a plurality of word lines extending in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction, each of the word lines connects a row of memory cells of the plurality of NAND strings of memory cells, wherein floating gates along a given one of the rows have the same orientation along the second direction, wherein first alternate ones of the plurality of memory cells on a given NAND string have a first orientation in cross section perpendicular to the first direction and second alternate ones of the plurality of memory cells on the given NAND string have a second orientation in cross section perpendicular to the first direction, the second orientation is opposite the first orientation.