Radiation Hard Non-Volatile Solid Electrolyte Memory

Of high importance for various computing applications for aerospace and military components are memory devices that retain their memory state when no power is applied, and retain their memory state in a radiation environment. Under these conditions, nonvolatile memory devices based on standard silicon technology are prone to Single Event Upsets (SEU) and “latch up” failures. Typically, these failures become more prominent with increasing memory density. This Phase I proposal utilizes the concept of developing plug-in replacement nonvolatile memory based on Solid Electrolyte films and will demonstrate basic cell functionality of Ag-Ge-S films produced by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) at Structured Materials Industries, Inc., a leader in MOCVD technology, in test structures designed by Arizona State University, the inventors of solid electrolyte memory technology. The Phase II program would advance the technology to a manufacturable state, and SMI can custom build radiation-hard military grade memories in Phase III. Our Phase III commercialization will see licensing of program produced technology for commercial sales and custom military memory products. This program will significantly advance radiation-hardened electronic technology since solid electrolytes are inherently radiation hard. The technology will be evaluated for radiation hardened nonvolatile memory for both military and aerospace markets as well as commercial products.