Comparison of Radiation Effects in Custom and Commercially Fabricated Resistive Memory Devices

The radiation response of TaO_x-based resistive memory (RRAM) devices fabricated in academic (Set A) and industrial (Set B) settings was compared. Ionization damage from a ⁶⁰Co gamma source did not cause any changes in device resistance for either device type, up to 45 Mrad(Si). Displacement damage from a heavy ion beam caused a decrease in resistance at \times 10 ^{21}$ oxygen displacements per cm³ in Set B devices in the high-resistance state (HRS); meanwhile, Set A devices did not exhibit any decrease in resistance due to displacement damage. Both types of devices exhibited an increase in resistance around \times 10 ^{22}$ oxygen displacements per cm³, possibly due to the damage at the oxide/metal interfaces. These extremely high levels of damage represent near-total atomic disruption, and if this level of damage was ever reached, other circuit elements would likely fail before the RRAM devices in this article. Overall, both sets of devices were much more resistant to radiation effects than the similar devices reported in the literature. Displacement damage effects were only observed in the Set A devices once the displacement-induced oxygen vacancies surpassed the intrinsic vacancy concentration in the devices, suggesting that high oxygen vacancy concentration played a role in the devices' high tolerance to displacement damage.