Radiation-hardened property of single-walled carbon nanotube film-based field-effect transistors under low-energy proton irradiation

Strong C-C bonds,nanoscale cross-section and low atomic number make single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs)a potential candidate material for integrated circuits(ICs)applied in outer space.However,very little work combines the simulation calculations with the electrical measurements of SWCNT field-effect transistors(FETs),which limits further understanding on the mechanisms of radiation effects.Here,SWCNT film-based FETs were fabricated to explore the total ionizing dose(TID)and displacement damage effect on the electrical performance under low-energy proton irradiation with different fluences up to 1×1015 p/cm2.Large negative shift of the threshold voltage and obvious decrease of the on-state current verified the TID effect caused in the oxide layer.The stability of the subthreshold swing and the off-state current reveals that the displacement damage caused in the CNT layer is not serious,which proves that the CNT film is radiation-hardened.Specially,according to the simulation,we found the displacement damage caused by protons is different in the source/drain contact area and channel area,leading to varying degrees of change for the contact resistance and sheet resistance.Having analyzed the simulation results and electrical measurements,we explained the low-energy proton irradiation mechanism of the CNT FETs,which is essential for the construction of radiation-hardened CNT film-based ICs for aircrafts.