All-Metal Magnetic RAM

The factors that enter into the development of an all-metal, nonvolatile magnetic RAM, in which multilayer giant magnetoresistive films are used for all functions - storage, readout, and support electronics - are described. Four significant characteristics are expected to favor all-metal over hybrid magnetic RAM. First, silicon-technology fabrication requires a large number of masking steps, including complex ones such as ion implantation. Conversely, all-metal technology is inherently simple: fewer masking steps, no doping, scaling to lithographic limits, very little operating power. Second, the all-metal footprint is significantly smaller than the hybrid one. Third, an all-metal RAM is expected to be able to be miniaturized to lithographic limits; miniaturization of hybrid magnetic RAMs is likely to be limited by the semiconductor circuitry. Finally, semiconductor processing and magnetic processing in MRAM are done separately because the former requires high temperatures, whereas magnetic fabrication is a low-temperature process. By contrast, because both GMR electronics and the memory elements are made of the same materials, the two major components are deposited and patterned concurrently on the same substrate.