Physical cleaning with in-situ dielectric encapsulation layer for spintronic device application
US10516101B2 · kind B2 · utility
1Cited by
3References
16Claims
0Family size
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Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 30, 2015 |
| Grant date | Dec 24, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 30, 2035 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10N50/01
Abstract
A method for etching a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) structure is described. A stack of MTJ layers is provided on a bottom electrode in a substrate. The MTJ stack is etched to form a MTJ structure wherein portions of sidewalls of the MTJ structure are damaged by the etching. Thereafter, the substrate is removed from an etching chamber wherein sidewalls of the MTJ structure are oxidized. A physical cleaning of the MTJ structure removes damaged portions and oxidized portions of the MTJ sidewalls. Thereafter, without breaking vacuum, an encapsulation layer is deposited on the MTJ structure and bottom electrode.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.