Title :
Effects of ionizing radiation on TaOx-based memristive devices
Author :
McLain, Michael ; Hughart, David ; Hanson, D. ; Marinella, Matthew
Author_Institution :
Sandia Nat. Labs., Albuquerque, NM, USA
Abstract :
This paper evaluates the effects of ionizing radiation on tantalum oxide (TaOx) memristors. The data obtained from 60Co gamma ray and 10 keV X-ray ionizing radiation experiments indicate that it is possible for the devices to switch from a high resistance off-state to a low resistance on-state after a total ionizing dose (TID) step stress threshold has been surpassed. During irradiation, the devices were floating, grounded, or biased with a 1 Hz square wave with an amplitude of ±100 mV. While floating the terminals is not a typical bias condition within a circuit, it is speculated that this condition might be worst-case because of the lack of a discharge path. If a read measurement is performed prior to reaching the charge threshold, the devices `reset´ back to a pre-irradiation state. This suggests that the devices do not have a cumulative TID effect. However, it was observed that having a continuous bias on the device during the TID exposure did not always have the same effect. The TID threshold level at which the devices switch resistance states varies from device to device; the enhanced susceptibility observed in some devices is still under investigation. After a radiation-induced resistance change, all of the devices could be reset and still functioned properly. When the devices were set into a low resistance on-state prior to irradiation, there was not a significant variation in the resistance post-irradiation (i.e., the devices were still in the on-state). Overall, the memristor TID performance is promising and could potentially enable the discovery of a radiation-hardened nonvolatile memory technology to be used in space and aerospace applications.
Keywords :
X-ray effects; avionics; electric resistance; gamma-ray effects; memristors; tantalum compounds; TaOx; X-ray ionizing radiation experiments; aerospace applications; charge threshold; cumulative TID effect; gamma ray; high resistance off-state; ionizing radiation effects; low resistance on-state; memristive devices; preirradiation state; radiation-hardened nonvolatile memory technology; radiation-induced resistance; space applications; step stress threshold; tantalum oxide memristors; total ionizing dose; Hafnium compounds; Lead; Radiation effects;
Conference_Titel :
Aerospace Conference, 2014 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Big Sky, MT
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-5582-4
DOI :
10.1109/AERO.2014.6836501