Carbon nanotube transistors are extremely resistant to radiation

The United States Naval Research Laboratory, an electronic engineer, said on the 18th that they have discovered that SWCNTs made of single-walled carbon nanotubes have the ability to survive in harsh space environments. They are currently studying the effects of ionizing radiation on the crystal structure and supporting the development of SWCNT-based nanoelectronic devices for space radiation environments.

Kerrie Cress, a laboratory material research engineer, said that there is radiation in the electrical particle belt around the periphery of the Earth. One of the main challenges for space electronics is its prolonged exposure to the radiation environment and it is not easily affected. New research It is shown that transistors made of carbon nanotubes have extremely strong resistance to ionizing radiation, and their performance is almost constant in the presence of ionizing radiation.

In general, there are two forms of ionizing radiation effects on transistors, namely transient effects and accumulation effects. The transient effect refers to the direct impact of electronic ions in space on electronic devices, causing current pulses in electronic devices. If this current pulse is passed through the circuit, it can interrupt the data, which is extremely harmful to those who depend on the signal (such as using GPS navigation).

The cumulative effect of traditional electronic devices is the result of the trap charge generated in the device's oxide layer. The oxide layer includes a gate oxide layer and an isolation layer for isolating adjacent devices, which is a major cause of degradation in the performance of radiation-induced advanced complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. The cumulative effect can initially lead to leakage and eventually cause the entire circuit to fail.

Researchers expect that SWCNT-based nanoelectronic devices can virtually eliminate the transient effects of ionizing radiation. This is because nanoelectronic devices are small in size and low in density, and adjacent nanotransistors in the instrument are isolated from one another. In addition, by developing a SWCNT structure with a tiny gate oxide layer made of silicon oxynitride material, the researchers found that SWCNT transistors no longer exhibit performance changes due to radiation. The robust dielectric material and naturally isolated one-dimensional SWCNT structure result in a highly radiation resistant electronic device.

The anti-transient effects and cumulative effect capabilities of SWCNT-based transistors have the potential to help space electronics reduce redundancy and error correction circuitry in the future while maintaining the high-fidelity quality of electronic devices. The mere circuit reduction in the electronic device can greatly reduce the power consumption and improve the performance of the space electronic system. The researchers believe that in the near future, once SWCNT is successfully developed, its performance will exceed that of silicon-based transistors. (Reporter Mao Li)