Patent ID: 8551855

Claim:
A method of forming a memory cell, the method comprising: forming a steering element having a first width; forming a silicide-forming metal adjacent the steering element; forming a reversible resistance switching element coupled to the steering element; forming a masking feature; shrinking the masking feature to a width less than the first width; reducing a width of the reversible resistance switching element to a second width substantially equal to the shrunken masking feature width by employing the shrunken mask feature; forming a hard mask above the reversible resistance switching element; using the shrunken masking feature to pattern and etch the hard mask to a width substantially equal to the shrunken masking feature width; and forming a liner on exterior surfaces of the hard mask and the reduced-width reversible resistance switching element, so that a width of the hard mask, reversible resistance switching element and liner substantially equals the first width, wherein reducing comprises using the etched hard mask to pattern and etch the reversible resistance switching element to the second width.