Dual-Bit Gate-Sidewall Storage FinFET NVM and New Method of Charge Detection

A FinFET-based nonvolatile memory (NVM) cell design with two separate gate-sidewall charge-storage sites is presented for the first time. The conventional read method and/or a newly proposed read method can be used to identify the charge- storage state of each bit in the cell. The new read method allows the state of each bit to be determined by a forward read operation, and it is compatible with a gate-overlapped source/drain structure that offers improved ON-state conductance in contrast to the conventional read method. The dual-bit FinFET cell design can be used to achieve very high NVM storage density because of its high scalability and compatibility with standard CMOS process technology.