Liquid phase deposition of contacts in programmable resistance and switching devices

A programmable resistance, chalcogenide, switching or phase-change material device includes a substrate with a plurality of stacked layers including a conducting bottom composite electrode layer, an insulative layer having an opening formed therein, an active material layer deposited over both the insulative layer and the bottom composite electrode, and a top electrode layer deposited over the active material layer. The device uses a chemical or electrochemical liquid phase deposition process to selectively and conformally fill the insulative layer opening with the conductive bottom composite electrode layer. Conformally filling the conductive material within the opening reduces structural irregularities within the opening thereby increasing material density and resistivity within the device and thereby improving device performance and reducing programming current.