Neutron irradiation effects on PZT thin films for nonvolatile-memory applications

The authors examine the effects of neutron irradiation on ferroelectric (FE) lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) thin films. The data show only a slight loss in the FE switched charge, as measured by the hysteresis loops, up to 1*10/sup 15/ n/m/sup 2/. The retained polarization, as measured by a pulse technique, showed a larger loss of remanent polarization which saturated at the lowest fluence measured (1*10/sup 13/ n/cm/sup 2/). However, in neither case does it appear that the film was degraded sufficiently to cause devices made from sol-gel PZT to fail at fluences at or below 1*10/sup 15/ n/cm/sup 2/. The endurance characteristics of the film were unchanged due to neutron irradiation.<
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