Patent ID: 6785159
Filing Date: 2004-08-31
Classification: B82Y,G11C,H01F,H01L

Abstract:
A method of fabricating a portion of a magnetic memory device, the method comprising:providing a substrate assembly with an insulating material, where the substrate assembly includes an electrode in a trench, where an upper surface of the electrode is substantially flush with an upper surface of the insulating material; forming an etch stop layer on the upper surface of the substrate assembly, where a material for the etch stop layer is not ferromagnetic; forming a magnetoresistive stack of layers, where the magnetoresistive stack of layers includes at least a first ferromagnetic layer, a spacer layer, and a second ferromagnetic layer; forming a mask pattern on top of the magnetoresistive stack of layers; patterning the magnetoresistive stack of layers and at least a portion of the etch stop layer with a first etchant to define MRAM cells; and patterning with a second etchant after patterning with the first etchant, where patterning with the second etchant removes selected portions of the etch stop layer.