Total Ionizing Dose Effects on Threshold Switching in 1T-Tantalum Disulfide Charge-Density-Wave Devices

Abstract: The 1T polytype of TaS2 exhibits voltage-triggered threshold switching as a result of a phase transition from nearly commensurate to incommensurate charge density wave states. Threshold switching, persistent above room temperature, can be utilized in a variety of electronic devices, e.g., voltage controlled oscillators. We evaluated the total-ionizing-dose response of thin film 1T-TaS2 at doses up to 1 Mrad(SiO2). The threshold voltage changed by less than 2% after irradiation, with persistent self-sustained oscillations observed through the full irradiation sequence. The radiation hardness is attributed to the high intrinsic carrier concentration of 1T-TaS2 in both of the phases that lead to threshold switching. These results suggest that charge density wave devices, implemented with thin films of 1T-TaS2, are promising for applications in high radiation environments.