An Ionizing Radiation Sensor Using a Pre-Programmed MAHAOS Device

Metal-aluminum oxide–hafnium aluminum oxide–silicon oxide–silicon (hereafter MAHAOS) devices can be candidates for ionizing radiation sensor applications. In this work, MAHAOS devices (SONOS-like structures with high k stack gate dielectric) were studied regarding the first known characterization of the ionization radiation sensing response. The change of threshold voltage V(T) for a MAHAOS device after gamma ray exposure had a strong correlation to the total ionization dose (TID) of gamma radiation up to at least 5 Mrad TID. In this paper, the gamma radiation response performances of the pre-programmed and virgin (non-pre-programmed) MAHAOS devices are presented. The experimental data show that the change of V(T) for the pre-programmed MAHAOS device with gamma irradiation is very significant. The data of pre-programmed MAHAOS devices written by 5 Mrad TID of gamma radiation was also stable for a long time with data storage. The sensing of gamma radiation by pre-programmed MAHAOS devices with high k stack gate dielectric reported in this study has demonstrated their potential application for non-volatile ionizing radiation sensing technology in the future.