One illustrative method disclosed herein includes forming at least one first layer of insulating material above an upper surface of a top electrode of a memory cell, forming a patterned etch stop layer above the at least one first layer of insulating material, wherein the patterned etch stop layer has an opening that is positioned vertically above at least a portion of the upper surface of the top electrode and forming at least one second layer of insulating material above an upper surface of the etch stop layer. The method also includes forming a conductive contact opening that extends through the etch stop layer to expose at least a portion of the upper surface of the top electrode and forming a conductive contact structure in the conductive contact opening, wherein the conductive contact structure is conductively coupled to the upper surface of the top electrode.

A semiconductor device may be provided including a first series portion and a second series portion electrically connected in parallel with the first series portion. The first series portion may include a first MTJ stack and a first resistive element electrically connected in series. The second series portion may include a second MTJ stack and a second resistive element electrically connected in series. The first resistive element may include a third MTJ stack and the second resistive element may include a fourth MTJ stack. The first, second, third, and fourth MTJ stacks may include a same number of layers, which may include a fixed layer, a free layer, and a tunnelling barrier layer between the fixed layer and the free layer. Alternatively, the first resistive element may include a first transistor and the second resistive element may include a second transistor.

A memory device includes a bottom electrode, a tunneling junction disposed over the bottom electrode, and a top electrode disposed over the tunneling junction. The top electrode includes a first top electrode layer and a second top electrode layer above the first top electrode layer. The first and second top electrode layers include different material compositions. The first top electrode layer is thinner than the tunneling junction, and the second top electrode layer is thicker than the tunneling junction.

A method is provided. A substrate situated in a chamber is exposed to a halogen-containing gas comprising an element selected from the group consisting of silicon, germanium, carbon, titanium, and tin, and igniting a plasma to modify a surface of the substrate and form a modified surface. The substrate is exposed to an activated activation gas to etch at least part of the modified surface

A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a first magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structure, a second MTJ structure, and an interconnection structure. The first MTJ structure, the second MTJ structure, and the interconnection structure are disposed on the substrate. The interconnection structure is located between the first MTJ structure and the second MTJ structure in a first horizontal direction, and the interconnection structure includes a first metal interconnection and a second metal interconnection. The second metal interconnection is disposed on and contacts the first metal interconnection.

A method of forming a semiconductor memory device is disclosed. A top electrode layer is formed on the MTJ stack layer. A patterned buffer layer is formed to cover only the logic circuit region. A hard mask layer is formed on the top electrode layer and the patterned buffer layer. A patterned resist layer is formed on the hard mask layer. A first etching process is performed to etch the hard mask layer and the top electrode layer not covered by the patterned resist layer in the memory region and the hard mask layer, the patterned buffer layer and the top electrode layer in the logic circuit region, thereby forming a top electrode on the MTJ stack layer in the memory region and a remaining top electrode layer covering only the logic circuit region on the MTJ stack layer.

A topological material includes a lattice crystalline structure; and a material defect in the lattice crystalline structure that is treatable by hydrogen passivation that chemically mitigates an electronic charge associated with the material defect. The lattice crystalline structure includes dangling bonds in an atomic arrangement of the material defect of the lattice crystalline structure, and the hydrogen passivation may apply hydrogen to chemically passivate the dangling bonds of the material defect. The hydrogen passivation may be achieved by diffusing hydrogen into common materials of the lattice crystalline structure. The hydrogen passivation may chemically and/or electrostatically neutralize an electronic activity associated with the material defect.

A method for fabricating semiconductor device includes the steps of: forming a first magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) on a substrate; forming a first liner on the MTJ; forming a second liner on the first liner; forming an inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer on the MTJ, and forming a metal interconnection in the IMD layer, the second liner, and the first liner to electrically connect the MTJ. Preferably, the first liner and the second liner are made of different materials.

A semiconductor device including a semiconductor substrate and an interconnect structure is provided. The semiconductor substrate includes a transistor, wherein the transistor has a source region and a drain region. The interconnect structure is disposed over the semiconductor substrate, wherein the interconnect structure includes a plurality of interlayer dielectric layers, a first via and a memory cell. The plurality of interlayer dielectric layers are over the semiconductor substrate. The first via is embedded in at least two interlayer dielectric layers among the plurality of interlayer dielectric layers and electrically connected with the drain region of the transistor. The memory cell is disposed over the at least two interlayer dielectric layers among the plurality of interlayer dielectric layers and electrically connected with the first via.

Provided are a non-volatile memory device and a manufacturing method thereof. The non-volatile memory device includes a substrate having a memory region and a dummy region surrounding the memory region, an interconnect structure, memory cells, conductive vias and dummy vias. The interconnect structure is disposed on the substrate and in the memory region. The memory cells are disposed on the interconnect structure and arranged in an array when viewed from a top view. The memory cells include first memory cells in the memory region and second memory cells in the dummy region. The conductive vias are disposed in the memory region and between the first memory cells and the interconnection structure to electrically connect each of the first memory cells to the interconnect structure. The dummy vias are disposed in the dummy region and surround the memory region.