MEMORY DEVICE DESIGN

1 . A method of making a memory element comprising:

forming a first electrode;

forming an electrically conductive current densifying element and a memory cell in electrical contact with the first electrode, the memory cell and the current densifying element adjacent to each other; and

patterning a second electrode over the current densifying element and the memory cell.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein forming the current densifying element is done before forming the memory cell.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein forming the current densifying element and forming the memory cell comprises forming the electrically conductive current densifying element and the memory cell in a hole in an electrically insulating layer over the first electrode.

4 . The method of claim 3 wherein forming the electrically conductive current densifying element and the memory cell in a hole in an electrically insulating layer comprises applying a barrier layer in the hole prior to forming the electrically conductive current densifying element and the memory cell.

5 . The method of claim 3 , after forming the current densifying element and forming the memory cell, polishing the memory cell.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein polishing the memory cell comprises chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) of the memory cell.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein forming the current densifying element is done after forming the memory cell.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein forming the current densifying element and forming the memory cell comprises forming the electrically conductive current densifying element and the memory cell in a hole in an electrically insulating layer over the first electrode.

9 . The method of claim 8 wherein forming the electrically conductive current densifying element and the memory cell in a hole in an electrically insulating layer comprises applying a barrier layer in the hole prior to forming the electrically conductive current densifying element and the memory cell.

10 . The method of claim 8 , after forming the current densifying element and forming the memory cell, polishing the current densifying element.

11 . The method of claim 10 wherein polishing the current densifying element comprises chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) of the current densifying element.

12 . The method of claim 1 wherein forming a memory cell comprises forming a resistance random access memory cell.

13 . A method of making a memory element comprising:

forming a first electrode;

providing a hole in an electrically insulating layer, the hole extending to the first electrode;

forming an electrically conductive current densifying element in the hole;

forming a memory cell in the hole, the memory cell and the current densifying element adjacent to each other and filling the hole; and

patterning a second electrode over the filled hole.

14 . The method of claim 13 wherein forming an electrically conductive current densifying element in the hole is done prior to forming a memory cell in the hole.

15 . The method of claim 13 wherein forming an electrically conductive current densifying element in the hole is done after forming a memory cell in the hole.

16 . A memory element comprising:

a first electrode having a first area;

a current densifying element having a second area less than the first area;

a memory cell; and

a second electrode having a third area greater than the second area,

with each of the first electrode, the current densifying element, the memory cell and the second electrode in electrical connection.

17 . The memory element of claim 16 wherein the memory cell is a resistance random access memory cell.

18 . The memory element of claim 16 wherein the current densifying element comprises Al or W.

19 . The memory element of claim 16 wherein the current densifying element has a diameter of 50 nm to 200 nm.

20 . The memory element of claim 19 wherein the current densifying element has a diameter of 100 nm to 150 nm.