Ionizing radiation effects on nonvolatile memory properties of programmable metallization cells

J. L. Taggart, Yago Gonzalez Velo, D. Mahalanabis, A. Mahmud, Hugh Barnaby, Michael Kozicki, Keith Holbert, M. Mitkova, K. Wolf, E. Deionno, A. L. White

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

The impact of ionizing radiation on the retention and endurance of programmable metallization cells (PMC) ReRAM cells is investigated and presented for the first time, with additional work on resistance switching. This study shows that {60}{\rm Co} gamma-ray exposure has a minimal effect on the retention of PMC devices, up to a total ionizing dose (TID) of 2.8 Mrad ({\rm Ge}-{30}{\rm Se}70 ), the maximum TID level tested. The retention of both high resistance states (HRS) and low resistance states (LRS) during exposure was tested. Endurance appears to be slightly reduced with gamma-ray exposure. The endurance was tested to maximum TID of 4.62 Mrad ({\rm Ge}-{30}{\rm Se}70). DC response characterizations were also performed on PMC devices after cumulative dose exposures with 50 MeV protons and 100 keV electrons. The data show that PMCs are most sensitive to proton irradiation incident from the backside of the device. For the electron exposures, it is shown that the LRS is mostly unaffected, but the HRS drifts to lower resistance values with an increase in radiation exposure.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number6939742
Pages (from-to)2985-2990
Number of pages6
JournalIEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science
Volume61
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2014

Keywords

  • CBRAM
  • PMC
  • ReRAM
  • chalcogenide
  • conductive bridging RAM
  • endurance
  • ionizing radiation
  • memory
  • nano-ionic memory
  • non-volatile
  • programmable metallization cell
  • retention
  • total ionizing dose

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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