Carbon Nanotubes for Radiation-Tolerant Electronics

Abstract

Electronics for space applications have stringent requirements on both performance and radiation tolerance. The constant exposure to cosmic radiation damages and eventually destroys electronics, limiting the lifespan of all space-bound missions. Thus, as space missions grow increasingly ambitious in distance away from Earth, and therefore time in space, the electronics driving them must likewise grow increasingly radiation-tolerant. In this work, we show how carbon nanotube (CNT) field-effect transistors (CNFETs), a leading candidate for energy-efficient electronics, can be strategically engineered to simultaneously realize a robust radiation-tolerant technology. We demonstrate radiation-tolerant CNFETs by leveraging both extrinsic CNFET benefits owing to CNFET device geometries enabled by their low-temperature fabrication, as well as intrinsic CNFET benefits owing to CNTs’ inherent material properties. By performing a comprehensive study and optimization of CNFET device geometries, we demonstrate record CNFET total ionizing dose (TID) tolerance (above 10 Mrad­(Si)) and show transient upset testing on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) CNFET-based 6T SRAM memories via X-ray prompt dose testing (threshold dose rate = 1.3 × 1010 rad­(Si)/s). Taken together, this work demonstrates CNFETs’ potential as a technology for next-generation space applications.

Effect of Electron and Proton Irradiation on Structural and Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanowalls

“…57 This is most likely due to the fact that after the irradiation process, carboxyl (O�C− OH) groups change into carboxylate O−C�O− groups. 58 This factor can also affect (induce) the increase in sp 3 hybridization.…”

“…A prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation damages and ultimately destroys functional semiconductor materials in electronic devices, limiting their lifetime. − Irradiation exposure can cause chemical bonds within a material to break, altering their morphological and structural characteristics, which in turn can cause it to swell, polymerize, cause corrosion, cause quality loss, contribute to cracking, or otherwise change its desired mechanical, optical, or electronic properties. − Achieving high stability under intense ionizing irradiation is of great importance for many applications, ranging from nuclear power reactors to electronics for the emerging space industry. Satellites orbiting the Earth experience both electron and proton bombardment. − As scientific and commercial space missions have rapidly become more and more ambitious, the employed functional electronic materials have to meet growing requirements for their radiation resistance as well.…”

Ultralow‐Power and Radiation‐Tolerant Complementary Metal‐Oxide‐Semiconductor Electronics Utilizing Enhancement‐Mode Carbon Nanotube Transistors on Paper Substrates

“…[31][32][33] As is well-known, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, which comprises both P-type and N-type TFTs working complementarily, is the most successful circuit style for modern ICs because of its low static power dissipation and high noise margin [34][35][36] and is thus preferred in low-power and robust paper-based electronics. Although many recent studies have shown that semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one of the ideal materials for achieving high-performance, flexible and radiation-tolerant CMOS ICs, [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] few works have fabricated CNT CMOS ICs on paper-based substrates, especially using E-mode CNT CMOS TFTs with low power consumption. Therefore, the fabrication of low-power-consumption CMOS ICs on paper substrates is famously challenging, which has hindered the development of paper-based electronics.…”

“…[ 24 ] Recently, the local bottom gate has been proven to be an ideal structure resistant to radiation. [ 38 ] For these reasons, our paper‐based E‐mode CNT TFTs and ICs with ultrathin AlO X (4.2 nm) dielectrics (high capacitance of 1.54 μF cm −2 ) and local Al gates are also expected to have excellent radiation‐hardened properties.…”

Ultra‐Strong Comprehensive Radiation Effect Tolerance in Carbon Nanotube Electronics

“…Furthermore, two additional advantages, i.e., energy efficiency and low-temperature stability, enable CNT transistors to further meet the strict and harsh requirements for ICs used in deep space exploration [10][11][12][13] . Recently, great advances in radiation-hardened CNT ICs have been achieved, but these works mainly focused on the total ionizing dose (TID) effect 8,9,14 , which is not sufficient to characterize the comprehensive radiation tolerance performance of an IC in the real space radiation environment. Compared to the TID effect, single event effects (SEEs) 15 and the displacement damage (DD) effect 16 are at least equally important in practical applications but are rarely studied in CNT-based transistors and ICs because they are more difficult to measure due to the challenges from the requirements on irradiation source as well as the complex circuits and electromagnetic environment.…”