(Invited) Radiation-Hard Semiconducting Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Complementary Circuits
Authors: Hersam Mark C. 
Published: February 2020

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have emerged as promising solution-processed semiconductors for a variety of thin-film electronic devices [1-5] and circuits [6-12]. In particular, the development of stable n-type enhancement-mode doping strategies [13] have enabled the fabrication of complementary integrated circuits [14] with sophisticated functionality such as static random access memory (SRAM) [15]. Since carbon nanomaterials are expected to have low interaction cross-sections with high-energy radiation, CNT thin-film circuits may be especially well-suited for satellite and space applications. To assess this potential, this talk will explore the radiation hardness of complementary circuits based on CNT thin-film transistors. Specifically, CNT-based inverter circuits are studied as a function of total ionizing dose (TID) by a Co-60 gamma ray source. In addition to the response of the individual p-type and n-type transistors, overall inverter circuit metrics (e.g., noise margins, gain, and static dissipated power) are monitored as a function of TID. Under realistic dynamic bias conditions, these CNT-based complementary circuits are found to be radiation-hard with deviations from pre-radiation operation by less than 2%. This work thus establishes CNT thin-film circuits as a promising candidate for next-generation satellite and space electronics.

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