Influence of Proton Radiation on the Nonlinear Current-Voltage Characteristics of Pulsed Laser Deposited Ilmenite-Hematite Thin Films

Journal of Electronic Materials, Aug 2005 by Padmini, P, Tompkins, F, Shojah-Ardalan, S, Kale, P, Et al

For a given voltage, the current handling capability of x = 0.45 is much larger than that of x = 0.1 as a result of its lower resistivity. We have observed that the resistivity decreases as we go from p to n type.7 The switching voltage of these devices is on the order of 1-2 V, which makes them ideal for low voltage varistor applications in semiconductor electronics.

In summary, we have studied the radiation tolerance of a IH-based low voltage varistor device to proton irradiation. We have found the device to be tolerant to 10 MeV and 40 MeV proton irradiations up to the fluence of 5 � 10^sup 10^ p/cm^sup 2^, making it a potentially viable material for application in the radiation-dominant environment. It should be noted that both p- and n-type materials exhibit good varistor behavior and that the devices show no significant radiation degradation in their I-V characteristics within measurement error. Further work needs to be carried out to study the influence of film thickness and other growth parameters on the device characteristics.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER46039; Office of Naval Research (ONR), U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), Grant No. N 00014-03-1-0358; and NSF MRSEC Grant No. DMR-0213985. The work at Prairie View was supported by NASA Grant No. NCC-9-114. The authors also thank the MINT Center and SOMED, University of Alabama, for allowing the use of their material characterization facilities.

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