Patent · US Active

Apparatus and process for manufacturing ST-MRAM having a metal oxide tunnel barrier

US9136464B1 · kind B1 · utility

40Cited by
8References
22Claims
0Family size

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Key dates

Filing dateSep 25, 2013
Grant dateSep 15, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 19, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S977/935
  • WIPO fieldMicro-structural and nano-technology
  • WIPO sectorChemistry

Abstract

An MRAM device, and a process for manufacturing the device, provides improved breakdown distributions, a reduced number of bits with a low breakdown voltage, and an increased MR, thereby improving reliability, manufacturability, and error-free operation. A tunnel barrier is formed between a free layer and a fixed layer in three repeating steps of forming a metal material, interceded by oxidizing each of the metal materials. The oxidization of the third metal material is greater than the dose of the first metal, but less than the dose of the second metal. The fixed layer may include a discontinuous layer of a metal, for example, Ta, in the fixed layer between two layers of a ferromagnetic material.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.