A comparison of ionizing radiation damage in CMOS devices from ⁶⁰Co gamma rays, electrons and protons

Abstract: Radiation hardened CC4007RH and non-radiation hardened CC4011 devices were irradiated using ⁶⁰Co gamma rays, 1 MeV electrons and 1—9 MeV protons to compare the ionizing radiation damage of the gamma rays with the charged particles. For all devices examined, with experimental uncertainty, the radiation induced threshold voltage shifts (ΔV_th) generated by ⁶⁰Co gamma rays are equal to that of 1 MeV electron and 1—7 MeV proton radiation under 0 gate bias condition. Under 5 V gate bias condition, the distinction of threshold voltage shifts (ΔV_th) generated by ⁶⁰Co gamma rays and 1 MeV electrons irradiation are not large, and the radiation damage for protons below 9 MeV is always less than that of ⁶⁰Co gamma rays. The lower energy the proton has, the less serious the radiation damage becomes.