Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new atomically layered material which experiences a five order of magnitude resistivity reduction when oxidized, a change that exceeds a hundred times the reduction observed in comparable non-layered materials. Investigating the structure, the team identified how the synergy between oxidation and structural modifications leads to ma by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Nov 02, 2025
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new atomically layered material which experiences a five order of magnitude resistivity reduction when oxidized, a change that exceeds a hundred times the reduction observed in comparable non-layered materials. Investigating the structure, the team identified how the synergy between oxidation and structural modifications leads to marked changes in physical properties. This advancement could support a new generation of power-efficient devices, particularly memristors for AI computing.
As AI brings widespread changes across science, industry, and everyday life, a parallel effort is underway to deliver next-generation materials for advanced chips and devices. Much focus is on materials suitable for memristors, electronic components capable of "remembering" previous states and potentially mimicking synapses in the brain for new AI architectures.
A critical material requirement is resistivity that can be dramatically and reversibly modulated. Led by Associate Professor Daichi Oka, the Tokyo Metropolitan University team explored transition metal oxide compounds that exhibit resistivity changes with oxidation. Using pulsed laser deposition, the group created a high-quality, thin layered crystalline film of Sr3Cr2O7-d featuring a perovskite-type structure. Heating this film in ambient air reduced its resistivity by five orders of magnitude-substantially surpassing similar but three-dimensional materials like SrCrO3.
Further analysis revealed that the new film possessed numerous oxygen vacancies. Upon heating and annealing, oxygen entered the film, altering its structure. The oxidation state of chromium atoms also shifted in tandem. The structural transformation and changes in chromium's oxidation enabled much freer movement of conduction electrons compared to three-dimensional analogues.
The interplay between atomic layering and oxidation offers a powerful design strategy for developing new thin film materials with finely tunable properties. This approach could guide research into future memory devices and energy-efficient electronics vital for continued advances in AI chip technology.
Research Report:Oxidation-Induced Giant Resistivity Change Associated with Structural and Electronic Reconstruction in Layered Sr3Cr2O7-d Epitaxial Thin Films
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