Proton irradiation-induced dynamic characteristics on high performance GaN/AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes

Dynamic characteristics of the single-crystal Ga N-passivated lateral AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes(SBDs)treated with proton irradiation are investigated.Radiation-induced changes including idealized Schottky interface and slightly degraded on-resistance(RON)are observed under 10-Me V proton irradiation at a fluence of 10^(14)cm^(-2).Because of the existing negative polarization charges induced at GaN/AlGaN interface,the dynamic ON-resistance(RON,dyn)shows negligible degradation after a 1000-s-long forward current stress of 50 mA to devices with and without being irradiated by protons.Furthermore,the normalized RON,dynincreases by only 14%that of the initial case after a 100-s-long bias of-600 V has been applied to the irradiated devices.The high-performance lateral AlGaN/GaN SBDs with tungsten as anode metal and in-situ single-crystal GaN as passivation layer show a great potential application in the harsh radiation environment of space.

DAMAGE OF SILICONE RUBBER INDUCED BY PROTON IRRADIATION

In this paper, the damage to methyl silicone rubber induced by irradiation with protons of 150 keV energy wasstudied. The surface morphology, tensile strength, Shore hardness, cross-linking density and glass transition temperaturewere examined. Positron annihilation lifetime spectrum analysis (PALS) was perfomed to reveal the damage mechanisms ofthe rubber. The results showed that tensile strength and Shore hardness of the rubber increased first and then decreased withincreasing irradiation fluence. The PALS characteristics τ_3 and I_3, as well as the free volume V_f, decreased with increasingirradiation fluence up to 10^(15) cm^(-2), and then increased slowly. It indicates that proton irradiation causes a decrease of freevolume in the methyl silicone rubber when the fluence is less than 10^(15)cm^(-2), while the free volume increases when thefluence is greater than 10^(15)cm^(-2). The results on cross-linking density indicate that the cross-linking induced by protonirradiation is dominant at smaller proton fluences, increasing the tensile strength and Shore hardness of the rubber, while thedegradation of rubber dominates at greater fluence, leading to a decrease of tensile strength and Shore hardness.

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.

Damage Effect of Space Proton Irradiation with the Low Energy of 50-200 keV on Methyl Silicone Rubber

The damage effects and mechanisms of proton irradiation with 50-200 keV energy to space-grade methyl silicone rubber was performed using a ground-based simulator for space irradiation environment. The changes in surface morphology, mechanicai properties, cross-linking density, glass temperature, infrared attenuated total reflection spectrum, mass spectrum and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrum indicated that, under lower energy, the proton irradiation would induce cross-linking effect, resulting in an increase in tensile strengths and hardness of the methyl silicon rubber. However, after the irradiation of protons for more than 150 keV, the irradiation induced degradation, which decreased the tensile strengths and hardness, became a dominant effect. A macromolecular network destruction modei for the silicone rubber radiated vvith the protons was proposed.

Analysis of the decrease of two-dimensional electron gas concentration in GaN-based HEMT caused by proton irradiation

Gallium nitride(Ga N)-based high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs)that work in aerospace are exposed to particles radiation,which can cause the degradation in electrical performance.We investigate the effect of proton irradiation on the concentration of two-dimensional electron gas(2 DEG)in Ga N-based HEMTs.Coupled Schr¨odinger’s and Poisson’s equations are solved to calculate the band structure and the concentration of 2 DEG by the self-consistency method,in which the vacancies caused by proton irradiation are taken into account.Proton irradiation simulation for Ga N-based HEMT is carried out using the stopping and range of ions in matter(SRIM)simulation software,after which a theoretical model is established to analyze how proton irradiation affects the concentration of 2 DEG.Irradiated by protons with high fluence and low energy,a large number of Ga vacancies appear inside the device.The results indicate that the ionized Ga vacancies in the Ga N cap layer and the Al Ga N layer will affect the Fermi level,while the Ga vacancies in the Ga N layer will trap the two-dimensional electrons in the potential well.Proton irradiation significantly reduced the concentration of 2 DEG by the combined effect of these two mechanisms.

Effects of 50keV and 100keV Proton Irradiation on GaInP/GaAs/Ge Triple-Junction Solar Cells

GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cells were irradiated with 50 keV and 100 keV protons at fluences of 5 × 10^10 cm^-2, 1 × 10^11 cm^-2,1 × 10^12 cm^-2, and 1 × 10^13 cm^-2. Their performance degradation is analyzed using current-voltage characteristics and spectral response measurements, and then the changes in Isc, Voc, Pmax and the spectral response of the cells are observed as functions of proton irradiation fluence and energy. The results show that the spectral response of the top cell degrades more significantly than that of the middle cell, and 100 keV proton-induced degradation rates of Isc, Voc and Pmax are larger compared with 50 keV proton irradiation.

Enhanced proton irradiation resistance in Cs-doped CH_(3)NH_(3)PbI_(3) films and solar cells

Mixed-cation perovskite solar cells have attracted tremendous attention in space applications due to their excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability to light and heat.Although the evolution of photovoltaic performance in different space environments has been investigated,the role of inorganic cesium ions (Cs^(+)) in the enhancement of irradiation resistance needs to be further clarified.Herein,the structure and performance evolution of Cs-doped CH_(3)NH_(3)PbI_(3)(MAPbI_(3)) films and planar heterojunction devices under proton irradiation up to 1×10^(16)p cm^(-2) were studied.5%of Cs^(+) doping can increase the cohesive energy of MAPbI_(3)and effectively alleviate the lattice strain induced by proton irradiation,thereby enhancing the crystallinity and stability of films.The bandgap changes of irradiated Cs_(0.05)MA_(0.95)PbI_(3) films under the identical fluence were only one third of that of MAPbI_(3) films.Upon irradiation under the fluence of 1×10^(14)p cm^(-2),the density of trap states in the undoped and 5%Cs-doped films increased by 71%and 9%,respectively,and the average PCE of 20 corresponding devices decreased only by 12%and 9%,respectively.This proves that the replacement of organic methylamine ion with inorganic cesium ion contributes to the improvement of MAPbI_(3) resistance to proton irradiation,thus confirming the application prospects of mixed-cation or all-inorganic perovskite solar cells in spacecraft.

Evolution of optical properties and molecular structure of PCBM films under proton irradiation

Low-energy proton irradiation effects on the optical properties and the molecular structure of phenyl-C_(61)-butyric acid methyl ester(PCBM)are studied in this work.The PCBM films are irradiated by 100-keV proton beams with fluences of 5×10^(12)p/cm^(2),5×10^(13)p/cm^(2),and 5×10^(14)p/cm^(2),respectively.The photoluminescence(PL)peaks of the post-irradiated PCBM films show a progressive decrease in the peak intensity as the proton fluences increase,which can be attributed to the deep defect levels induced by proton irradiation.Additionally,a slight blue-shift in the PL spectrum is also observed at a proton fluence of 5×10^(14)p/cm^(2).The underlying mechanism can be traced back to the lift of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)level,which is caused by the attachment of methoxy radicals on ortho position of the phenyl ring in the post-irradiated PCBM structure.This work is of significance in understanding the radiation hardness and the damage mechanism of the PCBM film in radiation environments,which is essential before it is put into practical application in space.

Microdosimetric Evaluation on the Metallic Nanoparticle-Mediated Dose Enhancement in Radiotherapeutic Proton Irradiation

Monte Carlo simulations are performed on the dosimetric effect of metallic nanoparticles in a clinical proton irradiation.With an in-water hitting model of a single nanoparticle,the secondar.y electrons dose,deposited around the particle surface,is calculated for the proton irradiations in a typical spread-out Bragg peak.The dose enhancement,as the ratio of electron doses from the target particle and background water,is evaluated for the dependence on the depth of hitting,particle size,elements,coating material and thickness.The results indicate a significant dose enhancement on the particle surface within-200 nm,but a fast decay in further distance.The dose enhancement presents a consistency along the spread-out Bragg peak,a positive dependence on both the particle size and electron density,but a strong attenuation by surface coating.Particle cluster may increase the incdividual dose enhajncement by electron crossfire,but is only noticeable in a compact case.The dose enhancement potentiates a radiosensitization use of metallic nanoparticles in clinical proton therapy,but challenqging meanwhile with the narrow ranqge of enhancement effect.

Effects of proton irradiation at different incident angles on InAlAs/InGaAs InP-based HEMTs

InP-based high electron mobility transistors（HEMTs） will be affected by protons from different directions in space radiation applications. The proton irradiation effects on InAlAs/InGaAs hetero-junction structures of InP-based HEMTs are studied at incident angles ranging from 0 to 89.9° by SRIM software. With the increase of proton incident angle, the change trend of induced vacancy defects in the InAlAs/InGaAs hetero-junction region is consistent with the vacancy energy loss trend of incident protons. Namely, they both have shown an initial increase, followed by a decrease after incident angle has reached 30°. Besides, the average range and ultimate stopping positions of incident protons shift gradually from buffer layer to hetero-junction region, and then go up to gate metal. Finally, the electrical characteristics of InP-based HEMTs are investigated after proton irradiation at different incident angles by Sentaurus-TCAD. The induced vacancy defects are considered self-consistently through solving Poisson＇s and current continuity equations. Consequently, the extrinsic transconductance, pinch-off voltage and channel current demonstrate the most serious degradation at the incident angle of 30？, which can be accounted for the most severe carrier sheet density reduction under this condition.

Robust n-type doping of WSe2 enabled by controllable proton irradiation

Two-dimensional(2D)transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs)are considered to be promising building blocks for the next generation electronic and optoelectronic devices.Various doping schemes and work function engineering techniques have been explored to overcome the intrinsic performance limits of 2D TMDs.However,a reliable and long-time air stable doping scheme is still lacking in this field.In this work,we utilize keV ion beams of H2+to irradiate layered WSe2 crystals and obtain efficient n-type doping effect for all irradiated crystals within a fluence of 1×1014 protons·cm−2(1e14).Moreover,the irradiated WSe2 remains an n-type semiconductor even after it is exposed to ambient conditions for a year.Localized ion irradiation with a focused beam can directly pattern on the sample to make high performance homogenous p-n junction diodes.Raman and photoluminescence(PL)spectra demonstrate that the WSe2 crystal lattice stays intact after irradiation within 1e14.We attribute the reliable electrondoping to the significant increase in Se vacancies after the proton irradiation,which is confirmed by our scanning transmission electron microscope(STEM)results.Our work demonstrates a reliable and long-term air stable n-type doping scheme to realize high-performance electronic TMD devices,which is also suitable for further integration with other 2D devices.

Effects of proton irradiation on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Amosic-3 silicon carbide minicomposites

One dimensional Amosic-3 silicon carbide fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix composites(SiCf/SiC minicomposites) prepared by chemical vapor infiltration were irradiated with 2.8 Me V proton ions. The ion fluences were 1.0 × 10^17 and 1.5 × 10^17cm^-2 at room temperature and 300℃, respectively. The microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated before and after proton irradiation. Raman spectra showed no evident change in Amosic-3 fibers regardless of irradiation temperature, which is confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy observation. Pyrolytic carbon interphase showed slightly expansion after 300℃ irradiation, however, no microstructure changes were observed in SiC matrix. Moreover, it can be deduced that no irradiation induced changes in mechanical properties were observed after present proton irradiation.

Proton irradiation effect on SCDs

The Low Energy X-ray Telescope is one of the main payloads on the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope satellite. Swept charge devices （SCDs） are selected as detectors for the Low Energy X-ray Telescope. As SCDs are sensitive to proton irradiation, irradiation tests were carried out on the HI-13 accelerator at the China Institute of Atomic Energy. The beam energy was measured to be 10 MeV at the SCD. The proton fluence delivered to the SCD was 3×10^8protons/cm2 over two hours. By comparing the performance before and after irradiation, it is concluded that proton irradiation affects both the dark current and the charge transfer inefficiency of the SCD. The energy resolution of the proton-irradiated SCD is 212 eV@5.9 keV at -60℃, while it before irradiated is 134 eV. Moreover, better performance can be reached by lowering the operating temperature of the SCD in orbit.

Proton Irradiation Effects on the Structural and Tribological Properties of Polytetrafluoroethylene

Polytetrafluoroethylene （PTFE） was irradiated with protons in a ground-based simulation facility to study the effects of proton irradiation on the structural and tribological properties of PTFE. The structural changes were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and attenuated total-reflection FTIR （ATR-FTIR）, while the tribological properties were evaluated by friction and wear tests. It was found that proton irradiation induced the degradation of PTFE molecular chains, resulting in the increase of C concentration and the decrease in F concentration on the sample surfaces, and the surface chemical structure and morphology of the samples changed, which affected the friction coefficient and decreased the wear rate of the specimens as the friction and wear tests revealed.

Simulated study on the InP/InGaAs DHBT under proton irradiation

A 3D model simulation of InP/InGaAs/InP DHBT is reported in this paper. A comprehensive set of built-in physical models are described, including Stratton＇s hydrodynamic model, high-fields mobility model and thermionic emission model. A mixed-mode environment is required for AC simulation instead of simulating an isolated HBT, in which the HBT is embedded in an external circuit, and the circuit voltage and current equations are solved along with the Poisson equation and transport equations. In AC simulation, simulator Sentaurus provides the computation of the small signal admittance Y matrix. From the results of Y matrix, the small signal equivalent circuit is constructed with the conductance and capacitance obtained from Y matrix, and the AC parameters, such as S- parameters, will be calculated. The small signal AC characteristics of InP/InGaAs DHBTs under proton irradiation are simulated with different fluences of proton irradiation. Simulation results show that the maximum oscillation frequency will be degraded when fluence of proton irradiation is increased.

Impact of energy straggle on proton-induced single event upset test in a 65-nm SRAM cell

This paper presents a simulation study of the impact of energy straggle on a proton-induced single event upset （SEU） test in a commercial 65-nm static random access memory cell. The simulation results indicate that the SEU cross sections for low energy protons are significantly underestimated due to the use of degraders in the SEU test. In contrast, using degraders in a high energy proton test may cause the overestimation of the SEU cross sections. The results are confirmed by the experimental data and the impact of energy straggle on the SEU cross section needs to be taken into account when conducting a proton-induced SEU test in a nanodevice using degraders.

Angular dependence of proton-induced single event transient in silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors

We investigate the angular dependence of proton-induced single event transient(SET) in silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors. Experimental results show that the overall SET cross section is almost independent of proton incident angle. However, the proportion of SET events with long duration and high integral charge collection grows significantly with the increasing angle. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the integral cross section of proton incident events with high ionizing energy deposition in the sensitive volume tends to be higher at larger incident angles, which is associated with the angular distribution of proton-induced secondary particles and the geometry of sensitive volume.

Interactive effect of thermal aging and proton irradiation on microstructural evolution and hardening ofδ-ferrite in 308L stainless steel weld metal

In the harsh service environment of high temperature and intense neutron irradiation in water-cooled nuclear reactors,the austenitic stainless steel weld overlay cladding on the inner surface of the reactor pressure vessel suffers from thermal aging and irradiation damage simultaneously,which can induce microstructural evolution and hardening of the material.Since it is quite difficult to achieve this simul-taneous process out of the pile,two kinds of combined experiments,i.e.,post-irradiation thermal aging and post-aging irradiation were performed on 308 L stainless steel weld metals in this work.The interactive effect of thermal aging and proton irradiation on microstructural evolution and hardening ofδ-ferrite in 308 L weld metal was investigated by combining atom probe tomography,transmission elec-tron microscopy and nanoindentation tests.The results revealed that thermal aging could eliminate the dislocation loops induced by irradiation and affect the phase transition process by accelerating spinodal decomposition and G-phase precipitation,thus enhancing hardening of irradiatedδ-ferrite.For the effect of irradiation on the microstructure and hardening of thermally agedδ-ferrite,however,intensive collision cascades can intensify G-phase precipitation and dislocation loop formation but decrease spinodal decomposition,leading to a limited effect on hardening of thermally agedδ-ferrite.Furthermore,the interaction of thermal aging and irradiation can promote G-phase precipitation.Meanwhile,the interaction can causeδ-ferrite hardening,which is mainly influenced by spinodal decomposition,followed by G-phase and dislocation loops,where spinodal decomposition and G-phase cause hardening by inducing strain fields.

Irradiation behavior and recovery effect of ferroelectric properties of PZT thin films

Lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramics have important applications in space and aerospace technology,but the effect and physical mechanism of charged particle radiation on their performance yet to be clarified.In this study,we characterized PbZr_(0.52)Ti_(0.48)O_(3)(PZT)thin films,and changes in the ferroelectric properties of the films before and after electron and proton irradiation were investigated.The natural and heat treatment recoverability of the ferroelectric properties were studied,and the damages and mechanisms of different types of radiation in PZT films were also investigated.The results show that,in addition to ionization damages,electron irradiation causes certain structural damage on the PZT film,and the large structural damage caused by proton irradiation reduces drastically the ferroelectricity of the PZT film.

Effect of vacancy defect clusters on the optical property of the aluminium filter used for the space solar telescope

We investigate the microstructures of the pure aluminium foil and filter used on the space solar telescope, irradiated by photons with different doses. The vacancy defect clusters induced by proton irradiation in both samples are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, and the density and the size distribution of vacancy defect clusters are determined. Their transmittances are measured before and after irradiating the samples by protons with energy E = 100 keV and dose φ = 6 × 10^11/mm^2. Our experimental results show that the density and the size of vacancy defect clusters increase with the increase of irradiation doses in the irradiated pure aluminium foils. As irradiation dose increases, vacancies incline to form larger defect clusters. In the irradiated filter, a large number of banded void defects are observed at the agglomerate boundary, which results in the degradation of the optical and mechanical performances of the filter after proton irradiation.