US Patent 7859036 - Memristive memory with conical nanowire electrode

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7859036.html

This patent from Micron Technology teaches another variation of memristive memory using conically shaped nanowires to reduce the energy required to write and erase memory states. Claim 1 reads:

1. A memory device comprising at least one memory cell having

an anode,

a cathode, and

a volume of variable resistance material disposed between the anode and the cathode,

at least one of the anode and the cathode comprising a single nanowire having one end thereof in electrical contact with the variable resistance material,

wherein the at least one of the anode and the cathode comprising the single nanowire further comprises a generally conical-shaped conductive catalytic structure comprising a catalyst material with the single nanowire formed on a tip thereof.