Patent ID: 8243509

Claim:
A method for programming a nonvolatile memory cell, the method comprising: providing the nonvolatile memory cell by applying the following steps: forming a first conductor; forming a second conductor; depositing and doping semiconductor material to form a semiconductor junction diode, the semiconductor junction diode disposed between the first and second conductors; crystallizing the semiconductor material such that the semiconductor junction diode is polycrystalline, wherein, during the crystallizing step, the semiconductor material is not in contact with a template material having a lattice mismatch of less than 12 percent with the semiconductor material; and programming the memory cell by applying a programming voltage between the first and second conductors, wherein no resistance-switching element having its resistance changed by application of the programming voltage by more than a factor of two is disposed between the semiconductor junction diode and the first conductor or between the semiconductor junction diode and the second conductor.