Patent ID: 6984530

Claim:
A method of fabricating a MRAM device, comprising: depositing a first conductive layer on a substrate; depositing a sense layer on the first conductive layer; depositing a stop layer on the sense layer; patterning the stop layer; etching the stop layer, the sense layer, and the first conductive layer to form a bottom electrode with the sense layer continuous with the bottom electrode in a first direction; depositing a dielectric layer; planarizing the dielectric layer; removing the stop layer to expose a surface of the sense layer; depositing a plurality of layers of material over the sense layer to form a magnetic tunnel junction stack; depositing a second conductive layer on a top layer of the plurality of layers of material; patterning the second conductive layer; and etching the second conductive layer, the plurality of layers of material, and the sense layer to form a top electrode and a plurality of discrete sense layers, the plurality of layers of material and the plurality of discrete sense layers define a plurality of discrete magnetic tunnel junction devices, and the top electrode and the plurality of layers of material are continuous with each other in a second direction.