MNOS memory cell without sidewalk

Claim 1

A semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor body having at least a storage site with an insulated gate electrode, the semiconductor body having a surface contiguous to at least an electrode region which serves as an electrode and forms a rectifying junction with a semiconductor region of a first conductivity type common to the electrode region and the storage site, the electrode region, viewed on the surface, being contiguous to an active semiconductor region which has a boundary which is defined for a first part by the adjoining electrode region and for at least a further part by a thick insulating layer serving as field insulation, a thin insulating layer being present on the active region, said thin insulating layer comprising at least a first and a second sublayer, the second sublayer being separated by the first sublayer from the active region, and a boundary layer being present adjacent the interface between the first and the second sublayer, in which boundary layer charge can be stored which determines the information content of the storage site, a gate electrode isolated from the active region extending over the sublayers, which gate electrode extends at the further part of the boundary of the active region defined by the field insulation to above the field insulation, characterized in that the boundary layer for charge storage has an extension beneath said gate electrode in a direction toward said further part of said boundary which is limited to a region which is smaller than the active region and is located at a distance from the further part of the boundary of the active region defined by the field insulation, the gate electrode extending between this further part of the boundary and the region occupied by the boundary layer over a part of the thin insulating layer in which no boundary layer for charge storage is present.