Molybdenum oxide can be used to form switching elements in a resistive memory device. The atomic ratio of oxygen to molybdenum can be between 2 and 3. The molybdenum oxide exists in various Magneli phases, such as Mo13O33, Mo4O11, Mo17O47, Mo8O23, or Mo9O26. An electric field can be established across the switching layers, for example, by applying a set or reset voltage. The electric field can cause movement of the oxygen charges, e.g., O2− ions, changing the composition profile of the switching layers, forming bistable states, including a high resistance state with MoO3 and a low resistance state with MoOx (x