The susceptibility of TaOx-based memristors to high dose rate ionizing radiation and total ionizing dose

• Published in: IEEE transactions on nuclear science Vol. 61; no. 6
• Main Authors: McLain, Michael Lee, Sheridan, Timothy J., Hjalmarson, Harold Paul, Mickel, Patrick R., Hanson, Donald J., McDonald, Joseph K., Hughart, David Russell, Marinella, Matthew J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 01.12.2014
• Subjects: dose rate; memristors; NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; pulsed ionizing radiation; tantalum oxide (TaOx); total ionizing dose (TID); transient radiation effects
• ISSN: 0018-9499; 1558-1578
• DOI: 10.1109/TNS.2014.2364521

This paper investigates the effects of high dose rate ionizing radiation and total ionizing dose (TID) on tantalum oxide (TaOx) memristors. Transient data were obtained during the pulsed exposures for dose rates ranging from approximately 5.0 ×107 rad(Si)/s to 4.7 ×108 rad(Si)/s and for pulse widths ranging from 50 ns to 50 μs. The cumulative dose in these tests did not appear to impact the observed dose rate response. Static dose rate upset tests were also performed at a dose rate of ~3.0 ×108 rad(Si)/s. This is the first dose rate study on any type of memristive memory technology. In addition to assessing the tolerance of TaOx memristors to high dose rate ionizing radiation, we also evaluated their susceptibility to TID. The data indicate that it is possible for the devices to switch from a high resistance off-state to a low resistance on-state in both dose rate and TID environments. The observed radiation-induced switching is dependent on the irradiation conditions and bias configuration. Furthermore, the dose rate or ionizing dose level at which a device switches resistance states varies from device to device; the enhanced susceptibility observed in some devices is still under investigation. As a result, numerical simulations are used to qualitatively capture the observed transient radiation response and provide insight into the physics of the induced current/voltages.