Neutron irradiation effects on PZT thin films for nonvolatile-memory applications

The authors examine the effects of neutron irradiation on ferroelectric (FE) lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) thin films. The data show only a slight loss in the FE switched charge, as measured by the hysteresis loops, up to 1×10¹⁵ n/m². The retained polarization, as measured by a pulse technique, showed a larger loss of remanent polarization which saturated at the lowest fluence measured (1×10¹³ n/cm²). However, in neither case does it appear that the film was degraded sufficiently to cause devices made from sol-gel PZT to fail at fluences at or below 1×10 ¹⁵ n/cm². The endurance characteristics of the film were unchanged due to neutron irradiation