MRAM device with annular electrodes

Abstract

A semiconductor device including a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack vertically aligned between an annular shaped bottom electrode and an annular shaped top electrode. A semiconductor device including a MTJ stack, vertically aligned between an annular shaped bottom electrode and an annular shaped top electrode, and an encapsulation layer surrounding vertical side surfaces of the MTJ stack, wherein the encapsulation layer does not surround the top electrode nor the bottom electrode. Forming a bottom electrode in a first inter-layer dielectric, forming a reference layer on the first inter-layer dielectric and on the bottom electrode, forming a tunnel barrier layer on the reference layer, forming a free layer on the tunnel barrier layer and patterning the reference layer, the tunnel barrier layer and the free layer into a magnetic tunnel function (MTJ) stack vertically aligned over the bottom electrode, while not patterning the bottom electrode nor the first inter-layer dielectric.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.