US Patent 7846807 - Manufacture of mem-resistor material

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7846807.html

In 2008 researchers at HPLabs published a few papers linking resistance switching properties of nanometer thin film TiO2 to the concept of a mem-resistor (i.e. memory resistor). The mechanism of resistance switching was proposed to be based on oxygen vacancies but no new manufacturing methods specific to memory resistors were disclosed. This patent from Hermes-Epitek Corp of Taiwan teaches a way to form such vacancies to generate mem-resistor thin films. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for forming a memristor material by using ion implantation, comprising:

providing a substrate having a MA layer formed thereon, wherein A is an electron-rich element and M is an element selected from a group consisting of transition metal and non-metal;

implanting a plurality of B components into said MA layer; and

treating said MA layer, such that at least a portion of AB components formed by a chemical reaction between said A and said B are expelled away from said MA layer and then a plurality of A vacancies are distributed inside said MA layer.