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Resistive switching in metal oxides is related to the migration of donor defects. Here Baeumer et al. use in operandoX-ray spectromicroscopy to quantify the doping locally and show that small local variations in the donor concentration result in large variations in the device resistance.

Studying electrochemical equilibria at interfaces on the atomic scale is crucial for understanding physicochemical processes, but such investigations are currently limited by phase instabilities and instrumentation. A small amount of electron donors in a solid electrolyte is now shown to enable scanning tunnelling microscope measurements and atomically resolved imaging.

Resistive nanowire arrays are intensively pursued as easy-to-fabricate memory technology, where data can be written and read through simple voltage–current operations. However, problems encountered in achieving stable switching independent of external influences has hampered their progress. The complementary, antiserial arrangement of two memory elements is now shown to lead to the desired stability.

The self-assembly of metallic nanoparticles on oxide supports via metal exsolution relies on dopant transport, but strong electrostatic gradients and space charges typically control the properties of surfaces. The surface–dopant interaction is shown to be the main determining factor for the exsolution kinetics of nickel in a perovskite system.

Exsolved metal nanoparticles are widely believed to exhibit an exceptional robustness against coarsening. Here, the authors demonstrate that the coarsening behavior depends on the surface defect chemistry of the respective oxide support as well as the oxophilicity of the exsolved metal.

Nanoscale metal inclusions play an important role in solid-state dielectric devices. Here, the authors demonstrate that these inclusions can change their shape, size and position in response to an applied electric field, and that electrochemical processes can lead to metal cluster nucleation and growth.

Despite its importance for non-volatile memory, the origin of resistive switching in a metal insulator-metal structure is unclear. Park et al.fabricate such a structure inside a transmission electron microscope to show that switching occurs via oxygen-vacancy migration, which changes the conduction channels.

Memristors have become an emerging technology capable in emulating human brain information processing, but understanding and controlling the switching mechanism remains elusive. Here, Milano et al. combine memristive and neuromorphic functionalities in a single crystalline nanowire model system.

Structure–activity relationships built on descriptors of surfaces can help to design electrocatalysts, but their identification for electrochemically driven surface transformations is challenging. The composition of LaNiO₃ thin film surfaces can now dictate surface transformation and activity of the oxygen evolution reaction.

Scanning tunnelling microscopy measurements suggest that resistive switching in TaO_x, HfO_x and TiO_x can be caused by both the diffusion of oxygen vacancies and the migration of cations.

Ferroelectric materials promise computer memories with the speed of random access memories and the permanence of hard discs. But how will the microstructure of these materials influence the ultimate performance of ferroelectric memories?

Memristive devices offer a future low-power solution to data storage and logic operations, but there is still a lack of suitable material design rules. Here, the authors present a design rule for retention-failure-resistant devices based on spectromicroscopic studies of strontium titanate.