A method of manufacturing a magnetic memory element includes the steps of forming a permanent magnetic layer on top a bottom electrode, forming a pinning layer on top the permanent magnetic layer, forming a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) including a barrier layer on top of the pinning layer, forming a top electrode on top of the MTJ, forming a hard mask on top of the top electrode, and using the hard mask to perform a series of etching processes to reduce the width of the MTJ and the top electrode to substantially a desired width, where one of these etching processes is stopped when a predetermined material in the pinning layer is detected thereby avoiding deposition of metal onto the barrier layer of the etching process thereby preventing shorting.