METHOD OF FABRICATING A MRAM DEVICE

摘要

A method (70) of fabricating a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) device (100) is disclosed. The method (70) reduces the number of mask steps and processing steps required to fabricate the MRAM device (100). A first conductive layer (19) and a sense layer (15) are patterned in a first mask step (77). A subsequent etching step (79) forms a bottom electrode (19) and a sense layer (15) that are continuous with each other in a first direction C. A second conductive layer (17) and a plurality of layers of material (30) required to form a magnetic tunnel junction stack are patterned in a second mask step (91). A subsequent etching step (93) forms a top electrode (17) and a plurality of layers of material (30) that are continuous with each other in a second direction R, and a plurality of discrete sense layers (15d). The discrete sense layers (15d) and the plurality of layers of material (30) define a plurality of magnetic tunnel junction devices (10).