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

Author

Moore, R.A. ; Benedetto, J.M. ; McGarrity, J.M. ; McLean, F.B.

Author_Institution

Harry Diamond Lab., Adelphi, MD, USA

Volume

38

Issue

6

fYear

1991

fDate

12/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1078

Lastpage

1082

Abstract

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

Keywords

dielectric hysteresis; dielectric polarisation; ferroelectric storage; ferroelectric thin films; lead compounds; neutron effects; PZT thin films; PbZrO3TiO3; endurance characteristics; ferroelectric film; hysteresis loops; neutron irradiation; nonvolatile-memory; pulse technique; remanent polarization loss; retained polarization; sol-gel PZT; Charge measurement; Current measurement; Ferroelectric materials; Hysteresis; Iron; Loss measurement; Neutrons; Polarization; Pulse measurements; Transistors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.124077

Filename

124077