Patent ID: 6933239

Claim:
A method of fabricating a magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM) device from a film stack comprising a top electrode layer, a free magnetic layer, a tunnel layer, a magnetic film stack, a bottom electrode layer, and a barrier layer that are formed on a semiconductor substrate, comprising: (a) forming a first patterned mask on the film stack to define the device; (b) etching the top electrode layer and the free magnetic layer wherein said etching produces a first residue; (c) stripping the first residue using a gas comprising a fluorine containing gas and a hydrogen containing gas; (d) forming a second patterned mask on the film stack to define the device; (e) etching the magnetic film stack and the bottom electrode wherein said etching produces a second residue; and (f) stripping the second residue using a gas comprising a fluorine containing gas and a hydrogen containing gas.