Formation of structurally robust nanoscale Ag-based conductive structure

A method for fabricating a memory device, comprising:

• forming a first conductive material layer overlying a substrate of the memory device;
• forming an active metal containing layer comprising an alloy of a metal selected from a group consisting of:
• aluminum, copper, chromium, iron and silver and a second material, and comprises 0.1% to about 10% of the second material by atomic weight and comprises about 90% to 99.9% of the metal by atomic weight, and overlying the first conductive material layer;
• forming a resistive switching material layer disposed in contact with the active metal containing layer;
• and
• forming a second conductive material layer in contact with the resistive switching material layer, wherein:
• the active metal containing layer is selected to provide metal particles to the resistive switching material layer, the metal particles selected from the group consisting of:
• aluminum, copper, chromium, iron and silver,
• the resistive switching material layer comprises a plurality of defect regions configured to receive the metal particles provided by the active metal containing layer,
• the active metal containing layer is disposed in contact to the first conductive material layer,
• the resistive switching material layer is disposed in contact to the active metal containing layer and comprises a switching material selected from a third group consisting essentially of:
• an undoped amorphous Si, a silicon nitride, a silicon sub-oxide of the form SiOx where x has a value between 0.1 and 2, a silicon sub-nitride, a non-stoichiometric oxide, a non-stoichiometric nitride, a metal-nitride and an aluminum and nitrogen compound, and
• the second conductive material layer is disposed in contact to the resistive switching material layer and has an electrical resistance from a few hundred ohms to a few kiloohms.