US Patent 7420199 - Vertical nanowire mem-resistor memory cell

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7420199.html

Earlier this year HP researchers announced the memristor as a possible candidate for future non-volatile memory designs. Memristors possess a variable resistance switching property which offer potential to replace transistors as Moore's Law becomes more difficult to fulfill. This patent from Infineon Technologies discloses a variation of memristance-type memory using a vertically oriented nanowire as a control electrode for the memristance material. Claim 1 reads:

1. An integrated circuit having a memory cell comprising:

a first electrode comprising a nanowire;

a second electrode; and

resistivity changing material between the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein a portion of the nanowire is laterally surrounded by the resistivity changing material.