Proton-Irradiation-Immune Electronics Implemented with Two-Dimensional Charge-Density-Wave Devices

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that room temperature charge-density-wave (CDW) devices based on 2D 1T-TaS2 channels exhibit remarkable immunity to proton radiation damage, making them promising for space and high-energy physics applications.

Contribution

The study introduces 2D CDW devices with high radiation tolerance, showing immunity to proton irradiation unlike conventional semiconductor devices.

Findings

I-V characteristics remain unchanged after proton irradiation.

Negligible changes in low-frequency noise spectra.

Devices operate over a wide temperature range despite radiation exposure.

Abstract

Proton radiation damage is an important failure mechanism for electronic devices in near-Earth orbits, deep space and high energy physics facilities. Protons can cause ionizing damage and atomic displacements, resulting in device degradation and malfunction. Shielding of electronics increases the weight and cost of the systems but does not eliminate destructive single events produced by energetic protons. Modern electronics based on semiconductors - even those specially designed for radiation hardness - remain highly susceptible to proton damage. Here we demonstrate that room temperature (RT) charge-density-wave (CDW) devices with quasi-two-dimensional (2D) 1T-TaS2 channels show remarkable immunity to bombardment with 1.8 MeV protons to a fluence of at least 10^14 H+cm^2. Current-voltage I-V characteristics of these 2D CDW devices do not change as a result of proton irradiation, in striking contrast to most conventional semiconductor devices or other 2D devices. Only negligible changes are found in the low-frequency noise spectra. The radiation immunity of these "all-metallic" CDW devices can be attributed to their two-terminal design, quasi-2D nature of the active channel, and high concentration of charge carriers in the utilized CDW phases. Such devices, capable of operating over a wide temperature range, can constitute a crucial segment of future electronics for space, particle accelerator and other radiation environments.