Patent ID: 7612400

Claim:
An MIM device, comprising: a lower electrode of a metal nitride film; a hysteresis film of an oxide film containing Nb formed on said lower electrode; and an upper electrode of a metal nitride film formed on said hysteresis film, wherein said MIM device has a hysteresis characteristic in which: a current flowing through said MIM device decreases a magnitude thereof along a first curve when a magnitude of a voltage applied between said upper and lower electrodes is decreased from a first forming voltage of a negative polarity; said magnitude of said current increases along a second curve when said magnitude of said voltage is increased subsequently to a second forming voltage of positive polarity in a positive polarity direction beyond 0V; said magnitude of said current decreases along a third curve when said magnitude of said voltage is decreased from said second forming voltage to 0V, said third curve providing a larger current magnitude than said second curve; and said magnitude of said current increases along a fourth curve when said magnitude of said voltage is increased subsequently to said first forming voltage beyond 0V, said fourth curve providing a smaller current magnitude than said first curve.