In situ transmission electron microscopy was used to study the role of oxygen vacancies in the resistance switching effect in cerium oxides. The structure change during oxygen vacancy migration in CeO2 induced by electric field was in situ imaged inside a high-resolution transmission electron microscope, which furnished direct evidence of an oxygen migration mechanism for the microscopic origin of resistance change effect in CeO2. The results had implications for the understanding of the nature of resistance change in metal oxides with mixed valence cations, such as fluorite, rutile and perovskite oxides.

In Situ TEM Studies of Oxygen Vacancy Migration for Electrically Induced Resistance Change Effect in Cerium Oxides. P.Gao, Z.Wang, W.Fu, Z.Liao, K.Liu, W.Wang, X.Bai, E.Wang: Micron, 2010, 41[4], 301-5