METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING MTJ MEMORY DEVICE
First Claim
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1. A method of manufacturing a magnetic tunnel junction (“
- MTJ”
) device, the method comprising;
depositing a plurality of MTJ layers on a substrate wafer, the plurality of MTJ layers including a reference layer, a barrier layer disposed on the reference layer and a free layer disposed on the barrier layer;
depositing a hard mask above the plurality of MTJ layers;
forming a first photoresist layer on a portion of the hard mask;
etching the hard mask and the plurality of MTJ layers to form an MTJ pillar under the first photoresist layer, wherein the free layer and barrier layer are etched to expose side surfaces of the free layer and the barrier layer of the MTJ structure;
depositing a first insulating layer on the MTJ pillar, on the exposed side surfaces of the free layer and the barrier layer, and on an exposed surface of the reference layer;
etching the MTJ pillar to remove portions of the first insulating layer disposed on horizontal surfaces of the MTJ pillar but leaves portions of the first insulating layer on the exposed side surfaces of the free layer and barrier layer, and to electrically isolate the MTJ pillar from adjacent MTJ pillars; and
planarizing the substrate wafer,wherein the step of etching the hard mask and the plurality of MTJ layers includes at least one reactive ion etching and at least one ion beam etching, wherein the at least one ion beam etching ends with an ion beam etch at a high ion beam angle.
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Abstract
A method for manufacturing MTJ pillars for a MTJ memory device. The method includes depositing multiple MTJ layers on a substrate, depositing a hard mask on the substrate and coating a photoresist on the hard mask. Further, alternating steps of reactive ion etching and ion beam etching are performed to isolate MTJ pillars and expose side surfaces of the MTJ layers. An insulating layer is the applied to protect the side surfaces of the MTJ layers. A second insulating layer is deposited before the device is planarized using chemical mechanical polishing.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of manufacturing a magnetic tunnel junction (“
- MTJ”
) device, the method comprising;depositing a plurality of MTJ layers on a substrate wafer, the plurality of MTJ layers including a reference layer, a barrier layer disposed on the reference layer and a free layer disposed on the barrier layer; depositing a hard mask above the plurality of MTJ layers; forming a first photoresist layer on a portion of the hard mask; etching the hard mask and the plurality of MTJ layers to form an MTJ pillar under the first photoresist layer, wherein the free layer and barrier layer are etched to expose side surfaces of the free layer and the barrier layer of the MTJ structure; depositing a first insulating layer on the MTJ pillar, on the exposed side surfaces of the free layer and the barrier layer, and on an exposed surface of the reference layer; etching the MTJ pillar to remove portions of the first insulating layer disposed on horizontal surfaces of the MTJ pillar but leaves portions of the first insulating layer on the exposed side surfaces of the free layer and barrier layer, and to electrically isolate the MTJ pillar from adjacent MTJ pillars; and planarizing the substrate wafer, wherein the step of etching the hard mask and the plurality of MTJ layers includes at least one reactive ion etching and at least one ion beam etching, wherein the at least one ion beam etching ends with an ion beam etch at a high ion beam angle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- MTJ”
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15. A method of manufacturing a magnetic tunnel junction (“
- MTJ”
) device, the method comprising;depositing a plurality of MTJ layers on a substrate wafer, the plurality of MTJ layers including a reference layer, a barrier layer disposed on the reference layer and a free layer disposed on the barrier layer; depositing a hard mask above the plurality of MTJ layers; forming a first photoresist layer on a portion of the hard mask; reactive ion etching the hard mask; ion beam etching the free layer and the barrier layer to expose side surfaces of the free layer and barrier layer, thereby forming an MTJ pillar, wherein the ion beam etching the free layer and the barrier layer step ends with an ion beam etch at a high ion beam angle; depositing a first insulating layer on the MTJ pillar, on the exposed side surfaces of the free layer and the barrier layer, and on an exposed surface of the reference layer; etching to electrically isolate at least one MTJ pillar to leave portions of the first insulating layer on the exposed side surfaces of the free layer and barrier layer; and planarizing the substrate wafer. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
- MTJ”
Specification