Patent ID: 8288297

Claim:
A method for fabricating a resistive switching memory element, comprising: forming a metal oxide film stack over a lower electrode disposed on a substrate, wherein the metal oxide film stack comprises a metal oxide coupling layer disposed on a metal oxide host layer, and the metal oxide film stack is formed by: depositing the metal oxide host layer over the lower electrode during a first ALD process, wherein the metal oxide host layer substantially comprises a crystalline metal-rich oxide host material having the generic chemical formula of MO x , where M is a metal selected from a group consisting of hafnium, zirconium, and titanium and x is within a range from about 1.65 to about 1.95; and depositing the metal oxide coupling layer over the metal oxide host layer during a second ALD process, wherein the metal oxide coupling layer is a metal oxide laminate and substantially comprises an amorphous metal-rich oxide coupling material having the generic chemical formula of MMâ€² y O z , where M is the same type of metal selected for the crystalline metal-rich oxide host material, Mâ€² is a dopant metal selected from a group consisting of aluminum, yttrium, and lanthanum, y is within a range from about 0.05 to about 0.50, and z is within a range from about 1.50 to about 2.50.