Proton-Irradiation-Immune Electronics Implemented with Two-Dimensional Charge-Density-Wave Devices

• Main Authors: Geremew, A, Kargar, F, Zhang, E. X, Zhao, S. E, Aytan, E, Bloodgood, M. A, Salguero, T. T, Rumyantsev, S, Fedoseyev, A, Fleetwood, D. M, Balandin, A. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 02-01-2019
• Subjects: Physics - Applied Physics; Physics - Materials Science; Physics - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1901.00551

Nanoscale, 11, 8380 - 8386 (2019) Proton radiation damage is an important failure mechanism for electronic
devices in near-Earth orbits, deep space and high energy physics facilities.
Protons can cause ionizing damage and atomic displacements, resulting in device
degradation and malfunction. Shielding of electronics increases the weight and
cost of the systems but does not eliminate destructive single events produced
by energetic protons. Modern electronics based on semiconductors - even those
specially designed for radiation hardness - remain highly susceptible to proton
damage. Here we demonstrate that room temperature (RT) charge-density-wave
(CDW) devices with quasi-two-dimensional (2D) 1T-TaS2 channels show remarkable
immunity to bombardment with 1.8 MeV protons to a fluence of at least 10^14
H+cm^2. Current-voltage I-V characteristics of these 2D CDW devices do not
change as a result of proton irradiation, in striking contrast to most
conventional semiconductor devices or other 2D devices. Only negligible changes
are found in the low-frequency noise spectra. The radiation immunity of these
"all-metallic" CDW devices can be attributed to their two-terminal design,
quasi-2D nature of the active channel, and high concentration of charge
carriers in the utilized CDW phases. Such devices, capable of operating over a
wide temperature range, can constitute a crucial segment of future electronics
for space, particle accelerator and other radiation environments.