Samsung patents memory chips with tiny air gaps in gate electrodes
Samsung describes a method for making semiconductor memory by filling gate electrodes with molybdenum and leaving specific empty spaces between the vertical channels. These voids are created during the manufacturing process to structure the internal components of the memory cell.
In the filing’s own words
A semiconductor memory device includes a cell substrate including a cell array region and an extended region, gate electrodes stacked on the cell substrate, the gate electrodes including molybdenum, and channel structures in the cell array region, the channel structures penetrating the gate electrodes, wherein at least one of the gate electrodes includes at least one void in a region between the channel structures.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor memory device comprising: forming a preliminary mold on a cell substrate including a cell array region and an extended region, the preliminary mold including a plurality of mold sacrificial layers and a plurality of mold insulating layers alternately stacked; forming channel structures penetrating the preliminary mold in the cell array region; forming a block separation hole penetrating the preliminary mold and extending in a first direction; removing the plurality of mold sacrificial layers using the block separation hole; forming gate electrodes including molybdenum in regions where the plurality of mold sacrificial layers are removed; and forming a plurality of voids, arranged laterally, in a region of at least one of the gate electrodes that is located between a pair of laterally adjacent channel structures of the channel structures, wherein each of the plurality of voids is an empty space.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
- Official title
- SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE INCLUDING GATE ELECTRODES WITH INTERNAL VOIDS AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAME
- Publication number
- US20260323944A1
- Application number
- 19719271
- Filed
- Jun 25, 2026
- Published
- Oct 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H10B 43/27 Electricity & electronicsG11C 5/06 Physics & computingG11C 16/0483 Physics & computingH10B 41/10 Electricity & electronicsH10B 41/27 Electricity & electronicsH10B 41/35 Electricity & electronicsMore from Samsung in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.