Investigation on the Response of TaOₓ-based Resistive Random-Access Memories to Heavy-Ion Irradiation

Impact of heavy-ion irradiation on the TaOx-based resistive random-access memory (RRAM) is investigated in this work. After Br ion irradiation, the set voltage of TaOx-based RRAM shows slight change, and negative shift of the forming voltage is observed. For the resistance change of TaOx-based RRAM devices induced by irradiation, the resistance of the low resistance state (LRS) illustrates acceptable change, while the resistance of the high resistance state (HRS) is quite sensitive to heavy ion irradation. Some irradiated devices even change from the HRS into the LRS, which results in disappeared memory window and may be attributed to the displacement damage in the dielectric layer. These results indicate that TaOx-based RRAM devices need to be carefully designed for future space applications.