Metal-insulator transition and resistive switching in Y-doped CeO2 ceramics

Fawaz Almutairi; Meshari Alotaibi; Anthony R West

doi:10.1039/d3cp03562j

Metal-insulator transition and resistive switching in Y-doped CeO₂ ceramics

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2023 Dec 13;25(48):33056-33063. doi: 10.1039/d3cp03562j.

Authors

Fawaz Almutairi^{1

2}, Meshari Alotaibi³, Anthony R West²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, College of Science, Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² University of Sheffield, Dept of Materials Science & Engineering, Mappin St, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK.
³ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 38037669
DOI: 10.1039/d3cp03562j

Abstract

Y-doped ceria, Y_0.16Ce_0.84O_1.92, is an oxide ion conductor that shows n-type conductivity under a small applied voltage. With increasing voltage, resistive switching by 2-3 orders of magnitude occurs that is reversible with some hysteresis and is enhanced in atmospheres of reduced pO₂. The switching is a bulk effect, is not associated with Schottky barriers or with a crystallographic transition, occurs rapidly after a premonitory onset period depending on conditions and shows characteristics of a Mott transition. This is the third known example of low field-induced resistive switching in a bulk ceramic and represents an emergent phenomenon in materials that are taken outside their zone of thermodynamic stability.