the distance d 2 between the dielectric layer 306 and the bottom electrode 304 elsewhere the thinness of the dielectric layer 306 at the tip will ensure that programming of the rram cell 300 is more likely to occur i e to be localized at the tip via a single conducting path optionally after bottom electrode transition metal oxide reactive metal and top electrode deposition planarization may be utilized to create a smoother surface for later patterning steps the top electrode 310 of the resistive element 302 is connected to a contact 312 the contact 312 provides a connection to other circuitry e g a voltage generator used to program the rram cell 300 the source terminal of the access device 102 is connected to a source contact 314 the source contact 314 is connected to a bit line via a contact 316 fig7 shows another embodiment of a rram 350 according to the present disclosure when the sharp contact 202 is grown on the surface of the drain contact 204 a sharp contact 352 is also grown on the source contact 314 the sharp contact 352 may be of the same dimensions as the sharp contact 202 or may be smaller than the sharp contact 202 the sharp contact 352 may be etched away if the resistivity of the sharp contact 352 is high or can be left on top of the source contact 314 if the resistivity of the sharp contact 352 is low in general.