Amorphous soft magnetic shielding and keeper for mram devices

Abstract

An amorphous soft magnetic thin film material for forming shielding and keeper applications in MRAM devices. The amorphous soft magnetic material may be deposited using Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) in the presence of a magnetic field, in order to form shielding layers and keepers in a multi-layer metallization process. The soft magnetic material may be an amorphous metallic alloy, such as CoZrX, where X may be Ta, Nb, Pd and/or Rh.

1 .- 37 . (canceled) 
   
   
       38 . The keeper of  claim 44  wherein the current carrying line includes a bottom and a pair of side surfaces, and wherein the material is adjacent to the bottom and pair of side surfaces. 
   
   
       39 . (canceled) 
   
   
       40 . The keeper of  claim 44  wherein the current carrying line includes a top surface and a pair of side surfaces, and wherein the material is adjacent to the top and pair of side surfaces. 
   
   
       41 . The keeper of  claim 44  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material is an amorphous metallic alloy of the form CoZrX, where X is selected from the group consisting of Ta, Nb, Pd and Rh. 
   
   
       42 . The keeper of  claim 41  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material has a thickness in the range of approximately 50 Å to 500 Å. 
   
   
       43 . A keeper for a magneto-resistance stack device including a bit region and a current carrying line which magnetically interacts with the bit region, the keeper comprising:
 an amorphous soft magnetic material which is disposed generally around the current carrying line.   
   
   
       44 . The keeper of  claim 43  wherein the current carrying line includes a bottom and a pair of side surfaces, and wherein the material is adjacent to the bottom and pair of side surfaces. 
   
   
       45 . The keeper of  claim 44  wherein the material on the bottom and pair of side surfaces has an aspect ratio in the range of approximately 1:0.5 to 1:2. 
   
   
       46 . The keeper of  claim 43  wherein the current carrying line includes a top surface and a pair of side surfaces, and wherein the material is adjacent to the top and pair of side surfaces. 
   
   
       47 . The keeper of  claim 43  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material is an amorphous metallic alloy of the form CoZrX, where X is selected from the group composed of Ta, Nb, Pd and Rh. 
   
   
       48 . The keeper of  claim 47  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material has a thickness in the range of approximately 50 Å to 500 Å. 
   
   
       49 . The keeper of  claim 43  further comprising a lining layer disposed between the amorphous soft magnetic material and the current carrying line. 
   
   
       50 . The keeper of  claim 44  further comprising a lining layer disposed between the amorphous soft magnetic material and the current carrying line. 
   
   
       51 . A shielding structure for an MRAM device having a bit region and a current carrying line which magnetically interacts with the bit region, the shielding structure comprising:
 an amorphous soft magnetic material which is disposed adjacent to the MRAM device and which is effective to block external magnetic fields from affecting the bit region of the MRAM device.   
   
   
       52 . The shielding structure of  claim 51  wherein said amorphous soft magnetic material comprises a first layer which is disposed below the bit region and current carrying line, and a second layer which is disposed above the bit region and current carrying line. 
   
   
       53 . The shielding structure of  claim 51  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material is an amorphous metallic alloy of the form CoZrX, where X may be selected from the group consisting of Ta, Nb, Pd and Rh. 
   
   
       54 . The shielding structure of  claim 53  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material has a thickness in the range of approximately 0.1 □m to 10 □m. 
   
   
       55 . A method of fabricating a shielding structure for an MRAM device, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing an amorphous soft magnetic material; and   forming the shielding structure from the amorphous soft magnetic material.   
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 55  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material is an amorphous metallic alloy of the form CoZrX, where X is selected from the group consisting of Ta, Nb, Pd and Rh. 
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 55  wherein the step of forming the shielding structure includes the following step:
 depositing a first layer of the amorphous soft magnetic material adjacent to the MRAM device.   
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 57  wherein the step of forming the shielding structure further includes the following step:
 depositing a second layer of the amorphous soft magnetic material adjacent to the MRAM device, wherein the first layer is disposed below the MRAM device and the second layer is disposed above the MRAM device.   
   
   
       59 . The method of  claim 58  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material is deposited in the presence of an external magnetic field. 
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 59  wherein the amorphous soft magnetic material is deposited by use of a PVD process. 
   
   
       61 . The method of  claim 55  wherein the MRAM device includes a first level of cells and a second level of cells, and wherein the step of forming the shielding structure includes:
 forming a layer of amorphous soft magnetic material between the first and second levels of cells.   
   
   
       62 . The method of  claim 61  wherein the step of forming the a layer of the amorphous soft magnetic material between the first and second levels of cells includes:
 forming the first level of cells;   depositing a layer of amorphous soft magnetic material on the first level of cells; and   forming the second level of cells above the layer of amorphous soft magnetic material.   
   
   
       63 . The method of  claim 62  wherein the layer of amorphous soft magnetic material is deposited in the presence of a magnetic field. 
   
   
       64 . The method of  claim 63  wherein the layer of amorphous soft magnetic material is deposited by use of a PVD process. 
   
   
       65 .- 71 . (canceled)