Treatment of a tunnel barrier layer

摘要

A tunnel barrier layer (6) is treated by forming overlayer on tunnel barrier layer, and irradiating tunnel barrier layer though overlayer with ultraviolet light (30). The light penetrates a thickness of the overlayer and is incident on a reactant in the tunnel barrier layer. It is operative to activate the reactant so that the reactant reacts with a material of the barrier layer and transforms the material into non-conductive material.