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:
Nov. 27, 2012
Filed:
Aug. 31, 2010
Applicant:
Young-suk Choi, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Inventor:
Young-suk Choi, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Assignee:
Canon Anelva Corporation, Kawasaki-Shi, Kanagawa-Ken, JP;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 43/12 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
A method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive element includes a tunnel barrier forming step. The tunnel barrier forming step comprises a metal layer forming step of forming a metal layer to have a first thickness, a plasma processing step of performing a plasma treatment which exposes the metal layer to a plasma of an inert gas to etch the metal layer to have a second thickness smaller than the first thickness, and an oxidation step of oxidizing the metal layer having undergone the plasma treatment to form a metal oxide which forms a tunnel barrier.