Oxygen atmosphere-independent resistive switching effect at the CoCr2O4 (001) surface

•The bipolar resistive switching was achieved on the epitaxial multiferroic CoCr2O4 film.•Stable resistive switching independent of the oxygen atmosphere was demonstrated.•An abnormal Fermi level response to the resistance switching was observed.•Charge trapping/detrapping modulated tunneling plays a key role in the switching process.