Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Hye-Ji Yoon

Jong-Kyu Kim

Jong-Chul Park

Sang-Kuk Kim

Hyung-joon Kwon

Yil-hyung Lee

Yoo-Chul Kong

Shin Kwon

Han-Na Cho

O-Ik Kwon

Woo-Hyun Lee

Jong-Soon Park

Eun-Sun Noh

Chae-Lyoung Kim

A method of manufacturing an MRAM device including forming a first insulating interlayer and a lower electrode contact, the lower electrode contact extending through the first insulating interlayer; forming a lower electrode layer, a magnetic tunnel junction layer, an upper electrode layer, and a first hard mask layer on the first insulating interlayer and lower electrode contact; forming a second hard mask on the first hard mask layer; etching the first hard mask layer and upper electrode layer to form a first hard mask and upper electrode; forming a spacer on sidewalls of the upper electrode and hard masks; and etching the magnetic tunnel junction layer and the lower electrode layer to form a structure including a lower electrode and a magnetic tunnel junction pattern on the lower electrode contact, wherein a layer remains on the upper electrode after etching the magnetic tunnel junction layer and the lower electrode layer.

Method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive random access memory device using hard masks and spacers

Manufacturing an MRAM device may include forming an upper electrode on a magnetic tunnel junction stack, where the stack may include a lower electrode layer, a magnetic tunnel junction layer and a middle electrode layer that are sequentially formed on an insulating interlayer and a lower electrode contact on a substrate. The upper electrode may be formed on the middle electrode layer. An upper electrode protective structure may be formed to cover at least a sidewall and an upper surface of the upper electrode. The middle electrode layer, the magnetic tunnel junction layer and the lower electrode may be patterned by an etching process to form a middle electrode, a magnetic tunnel junction pattern and a lower electrode, respectively. The upper electrode protective structure may isolate the upper electrode from exposure during the patterning, and the upper electrode protective structure may remain on the upper electrode subsequently to the patterning.

Magnetoresistive random access memory devices and methods of manufacturing the same

In a method of forming a pattern of a semiconductor device, a first mask layer and an anti-reflective coating layer may be sequentially formed on a substrate. A photoresist layer may be formed on the anti-reflective coating layer. The photoresist layer may be exposed and developed to form a first preliminary photoresist pattern. A first ion beam etching process may be performed on the first preliminary photoresist pattern to form a second preliminary photoresist pattern. A second ion beam etching process may be performed on the second preliminary photoresist pattern to form a photoresist pattern. A second incident angle of an ion beam in the second ion beam etching process may be greater than a first incident angle of an ion beam in the first ion beam etching process. The anti-reflective coating layer and the first mask layer may be etched using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask to form a mask structure.

Method of forming patterns and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the same

In a method of manufacturing an MRAM device, a first sacrificial layer, an etch stop layer, and a second sacrificial layer are sequentially formed on a substrate and then partially etched to form openings therethrough. Lower electrodes are formed to fill the openings. The first and second sacrificial layers and portions of the etch stop layer are removed to form etch stop layer patterns surrounding upper portions of sidewalls of the lower electrodes, respectively. An upper insulating layer pattern is formed between the etch stop layer patterns to partially define an air pad between the lower electrodes. A first magnetic layer, a tunnel barrier layer, a second magnetic layer, and an upper electrode layer are formed, and are etched to form a plurality of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structures. Each MTJ structure includes a sequentially stacked first magnetic layer pattern, tunnel layer pattern, and second magnetic layer pattern, and each of the MTJ structures contacts a corresponding one of the lower electrodes.

Methods of manufacturing a magnetoresistive random access memory device

Growing community of inventors

Hwaseong-si, South Korea

Hye-Ji Yoon