The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 24, 2019
Filed:
Jul. 30, 2015
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD., Hsinchu, TW;
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.