Patent ID: 9705071
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: H01L

Claim:
1. A method of making a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) device, the method comprising: forming a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) on an electrode, the MTJ comprising a reference layer disposed in contact with the electrode, a tunnel barrier layer disposed on the reference layer, and a free layer disposed on the tunnel barrier layer; disposing a hard mask on the MTJ; etching sidewalls of the hard mask and the MTJ to form a stack with a first width and redeposit a metal along a sidewall of the MTJ; depositing a sacrificial dielectric layer on a surface of the hard mask, a surface of the electrode, an exposed sidewall of the hard mask and the MTJ, and on redeposited metal positioned along the sidewall of the MTJ; and performing a directional etch to substantially remove the sacrificial dielectric layer from sidewalls of the hard mask and the MTJ, the redeposited metal from sidewalls of the MTJ, and portions of sidewalls of the MTJ and hard mask to provide a second width to the stack; wherein a top surface of the sacrificial dielectric layer remains substantially intact during the directional etch, and the second width of the stack is less than the first width.