Method of forming a non-volatile resistance variable device and method of forming a metal layer comprising silver and tungsten

A sputtering method of forming a metal layer comprising silver and tungsten, comprising:

• providing a semiconductor substrate within a sputter deposition chamber;
• providing one or more target(s) within the chamber which comprise(s) at least tungsten and silver;
• and
• sputtering the one or more target(s) using a sputtering gas comprising at least one of Xe, Kr and Rn under conditions effective to deposit a metal layer comprising silver and tungsten onto the semiconductor substrate.

A sputtering method of forming a metal layer comprising silver and tungsten, comprising:

• providing a semiconductor substrate within a sputter deposition chamber;
• providing at least two targets within the chamber, one of the targets consisting essentially of silver, another of the targets consisting essentially of tungsten;
• and
• sputtering the targets using a sputtering gas comprising Xe under conditions effective to deposit a metal layer comprising silver and tungsten onto the semiconductor substrate.

A sputtering method of forming a metal layer comprising silver and tungsten, comprising:

• providing a semiconductor substrate within a sputter deposition chamber;
• providing a target within the chamber comprising silver and tungsten;
• and
• sputtering the target using a sputtering gas comprising Xe under conditions effective to deposit a metal layer comprising silver and tungsten onto the semiconductor substrate.

A sputtering method of forming a metal layer consisting essentially of silver and tungsten, comprising:

• providing a semiconductor substrate within a sputter deposition chamber;
• providing one or more target(s) within the chamber which comprise(s) at least tungsten and silver;
• determining a sputtering gas mixture of Xe and Ar which under selected sputtering conditions will achieve a sputter deposition of a metal layer consisting essentially of selected amounts of silver and tungsten on the semiconductor substrate using the one or more target(s);
• and
• sputtering the one or more target(s) using the sputtering gas mixture and conditions effective to deposit the metal layer onto the semiconductor substrate.