Method of fabricating GMR devices

Claim 1

A method of fabricating magnetic memory devices comprising the steps of: providing a substrate structure with a semiconductor device formed therein, the substrate structure having a surface with metal interconnects connected to the semiconductor device; forming a dielectric system on the surface and on the metal interconnects, the dielectric system being formed with a planar surface having a roughness in a range of 1 Å to 20 Å RMS; disposing and patterning films of giant magneto-resistive material on the planar surface of the dielectric system so as to form at least one magnetic memory cell; disposing a dielectric cap on the magnetic memory cell so as to seal the cell and provide a barrier to subsequent operations; forming vias through the dielectric cap and the dielectric system to the metal interconnects; forming vias through the dielectric cap to the magnetic memory cell; and depositing a metal system through the vias to the metal interconnects and through the vias to the magnetic memory cell.

Claim 2

A method of fabricating magnetic memory devices comprising the steps of: providing a substrate structure with a semiconductor device formed therein, the substrate structure having a surface with metal interconnects connected to the semiconductor device; forming a dielectric system on the surface and on the metal interconnects, the dielectric system being formed with a planar surface having a roughness in a range of 1 Å to 20 Å RMS; disposing and patterning films of giant magneto-resistive material on the planar surface of the dielectric system so as to form at least one magnetic memory cell; disposing a dielectric cap on the magnetic memory cell so as to seal the cell and provide a barrier to subsequent operations; forming vias through the dielectric cap and the dielectric system to the metal interconnects; forming vias through the dielectric cap to the magnetic memory cell; and depositing a metal system through the vias to the metal interconnects and through the vias to the magnetic memory cell.

Claim 24

A method of fabricating magnetic memory devices comprising the steps of: providing a substrate structure with a semiconductor device formed therein, the substrate structure having a surface with metal interconnects connected to the semiconductor device and a bottom word line section; forming a dielectric system on the surface and on the metal interconnects, the dielectric system being formed with a planar surface having a roughness in a range of 1 Å to 20 Å RMS and a maximum roughness of 50 Å, the dielectric system including at least one layer of silicon nitride (SiN) formed by one of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD); performing a forming gas anneal on the substrate structure and the dielectric system including annealing the dielectric system in an inert gas atmosphere at a temperature in the range of 390° C. to 450° C. for a time in the range of 15 minutes to 30 minutes; subsequent to the step of performing the forming gas anneal, disposing and patterning films of giant magneto-resistive material on the planar surface of the dielectric system including depositing consecutive films of giant magneto-resistive material on the planar surface of the dielectric system, forming a layer of material which forms a barrier to moisture and oxidation, patterning the layer of material to form a hard etch mask, removing unmasked portions of the consecutive films of giant magneto-resistive material by one of ion milling or wet etching so as to form at least one magnetic memory cell; disposing a dielectric cap on the magnetic memory cell including forming a barrier layer of material which forms a barrier to moisture and oxidation so as to seal the cell and provide a barrier to subsequent operations, and forming a top dielectric layer overlying the barrier layer; forming vias through the dielectric cap and the dielectric system to the metal interconnects and to the bottom word line section; forming vias through the dielectric cap to the magnetic memory cell including the steps of masking and etching through the top dielectric layer, removing the masking, and etching through the barrier layer using the top dielectric layer as a mask and using fluorine based chemistries; and depositing a metal system through the vias to the metal interconnects and the bottom word line section and through the vias to the magnetic memory cell, and forming a top word line section adjacent the magnetic memory cell and in contact with the via to the bottom word line section; and depositing a passivation system over the metal system.

Claim 25

A method of fabricating magnetic memory devices comprising the steps of: providing a substrate structure with a semiconductor device formed therein, the substrate structure having a surface with metal interconnects connected to the semiconductor device and a bottom word line section; forming a dielectric system on the surface and on the metal interconnects, the dielectric system being formed with a planar surface having a roughness in a range of 1 Å to 20 Å RMS and a maximum roughness of 50 Å, the dielectric system including at least one layer of silicon nitride (SiN) formed by one of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD); performing a forming gas anneal on the substrate structure and the dielectric system including annealing the dielectric system in an inert gas atmosphere at a temperature in the range of 390° C. to 450° C. for a time in the range of 15 minutes to 30 minutes; subsequent to the step of performing the forming gas anneal, disposing and patterning films of giant magneto-resistive material on the planar surface of the dielectric system including depositing consecutive films of giant magneto-resistive material on the planar surface of the dielectric system, forming a layer of material which forms a barrier to moisture and oxidation, patterning the layer of material to form a hard etch mask, removing unmasked portions of the consecutive films of giant magneto-resistive material by one of ion milling or wet etching so as to form at least one magnetic memory cell; disposing a dielectric cap on the magnetic memory cell including forming a barrier layer of material which forms a barrier to moisture and oxidation so as to seal the cell and provide a barrier to subsequent operations, and forming a top dielectric layer overlying the barrier layer; forming vias through the dielectric cap and the dielectric system to the metal interconnects and to the bottom word line section; forming vias through the dielectric cap to the magnetic memory cell including the steps of masking and etching through the top dielectric layer, removing the masking, and etching through the barrier layer using the top dielectric layer as a mask and using fluorine based chemistries; and depositing a metal system through the vias to the metal interconnects and the bottom word line section and through the vias to the magnetic memory cell, and forming a top word line section adjacent the magnetic memory cell and in contact with the via to the bottom word line section; and depositing a passivation system over the metal system.

Claim 27

A method of fabricating magnetic memory devices comprising the steps of: providing a substrate structure with a semiconductor device formed therein, the substrate structure having a surface with metal interconnects connected to the semiconductor device; forming a dielectric on the surface of the substrate structure and on the metal interconnects, the dielectric defining a supporting surface; forming vias through the dielectric from the supporting surface to the metal interconnects; depositing a metal system through the vias to the metal interconnects to provide electrical contacts in the supporting surface; disposing and patterning films of giant magneto-resistive material on the supporting surface of the dielectric so as to form at least one magnetic memory cell in electrical communication with the electrical contacts in the supporting surface; and disposing a dielectric system on the magnetic memory cell so as to seal the cell and provide a barrier to ambient conditions.

Claim 28

A method of fabricating magnetic memory devices comprising the steps of: providing a substrate structure with a semiconductor device formed therein, the substrate structure having a surface with metal interconnects connected to the semiconductor device; forming a dielectric on the surface of the substrate structure and on the metal interconnects, the dielectric defining a supporting surface; forming vias through the dielectric from the supporting surface to the metal interconnects; depositing a metal system through the vias to the metal interconnects to provide electrical contacts in the supporting surface; disposing and patterning films of giant magneto-resistive material on the supporting surface of the dielectric so as to form at least one magnetic memory cell in electrical communication with the electrical contacts in the supporting surface; and disposing a dielectric system on the magnetic memory cell so as to seal the cell and provide a barrier to ambient conditions.