Patent ID: 8535952

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) cell comprising: a multi-stage manufacturing process including the steps of: performing a front end on-line (FEOL) stage, in a first facility, to make logic and non-magnetic portions of a memory cell being manufactured including the steps of, forming an intermediate interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer in the first facility; forming intermediate metal pillars embedded in the intermediate ILD layer layer in the first facility; and depositing a conductive metal cap on top of the intermediate ILD layer and the metal pillars to seal the intermediate ILD layer and the intermediate metal pillars and avoid oxidation of the intermediate metal pillars during transport, after the depositing step, a FEOL stage structure being formed; transporting the FEOL stage structure from the first facility to a second facility before forming additional layers on top thereof; performing magnetic fabrication stage, in a facility other than the first facility, to make a magnetic material portion of the memory cell being manufactured; and performing back end on-line (BEOL) stage, in a facility other than the first facility, to make metal and contacts of the memory cell being manufactured.