After an underlying layer, made of a single crystal metal material, has been formed on a semiconductor layer, part or all of the underlying layer is changed into a metal oxide layer by supplying oxygen thereto from above the underlying layer. The apparatus includes a base, a breather diffusion path formed in the base, a re-circulating filter channel adjacent the base, and an absorption filter chamber adjacent the re-circulating filter channel and communicating with the breather diffusion path. The data processing system approximates or determines the dimension of the geological feature based at least partially upon data provided by the sensing electrodes. A memory device formed in accordance with the disclosed methodology can include a top-electrode formed over the functional layer, which in turn over lays a lower conductive layer. This process is repeated a predetermined number of times.