Abstract
A non-volatile memory device is disclosed having a charge storage layer that incorporates a plurality of nano-crystals. A substrate having a source region and a drain region is provided. Select and control gates are formed on the substrate. The charge storage layer is provided between the control gate and the substrate. The nano-crystals in the charge storage layer have a size of about 1 nm to about 10 nm, and may be formed of Silicon or Germanium. Writing operations are accomplished via hot electron injection, FN tunneling, or source-side injection. Erase operations are accomplished using FN tunneling. The control gate is formed of a single layer of polysilicon, which reduces the total number of processing steps required to form the device, thus reducing cost.