Patent ID: 8482958

Claim:
A current steering element that controls a current flowing when an electrical pulse with positive and negative polarities is applied, said current steering element comprising: a first electrode; a second electrode; and a current steering layer provided between said first electrode and said second electrode, wherein said current steering layer comprises: SiN x (where 0<x≦0.85); and hydrogen, and when D (D=D 0 ×10 22 atoms/cm 3 ) represents a density of the hydrogen, d (nm) represents a thickness of said current steering layer, V 0 (V) represents a maximum value applicable to both of said first electrode and said second electrode, and x, D, d, and V 0 satisfy Formulae (1) and (2): (ln(10000( C ·exp(α· d )exp(β· x )) −1 )γ) 2 ≦V 0 (1) (ln(1000( C ·exp(α· d )exp(β· x )) −1 )γ) 2 −(ln(10000( C ·exp(α· d )exp(β· x )) −1 )γ) 2 /2≧0 (2) wherein C=k1×D 0 k2 , α=−6.25×10 −1 , β=−11.7, γ=9.76, k1=5.23×10 −4 , and k2=−5.26.