| abstract |
Suspended charge storage regions are utilized for non-volatile storage to decrease parasitic interferences and increase charge retention in memory devices. Charge storage regions are suspended from an overlying intermediate dielectric material. The charge storage regions include an upper surface and a lower surface that extend in the row and column directions. The upper surface of the charge storage region is coupled to the overlying intermediate dielectric material. The lower surface faces the substrate surface and is separated from the substrate surface by a void. The charge storage region includes a first vertical sidewall and a second vertical sidewall that extend in the column direction and a third vertical sidewall and fourth vertical sidewall that extend in the row direction. The first, second, third, and fourth vertical sidewall are separated from neighboring features of the non-volatile memory by the void. The void may include a vacuum, air, gas, or a liquid. |