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This study characterizes the Heavy Ion Monitor on a Chip (HIMoC), a radiation detector built on non-volatile memory architecture, using 24.8 MeV/u beams of nitrogen, neon, and argon ions at the Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute. The researchers developed a simulation workflow coupling Geant4 particle-transport software with the open-source TCAD simulator DEVSIM to model how heavy ions induce measurable threshold-voltage shifts in the device, achieving good agreement between simulated and experimental results. Crucially, the device signal was found to scale approximately linearly with a dose-like quantity dependent on ion fluence, linear energy transfer (LET), and active detector area, supporting its use as a passive dosimeter.
Why it matters
A compact, chip-scale heavy-ion dosimeter could enable cost-effective radiation monitoring in space environments, particle accelerator facilities, and potentially medical radiation therapy settings where accurate heavy-ion dose measurement is critical.
arXiv:2605.16597v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Building on the demonstrated sensitivity of the Heavy Ion Monitor on a Chip (HIMoC) presented in Part I of this work, we performed additional irradiation exposures using 24.8 MeV/u beams of $^{14}$N, $^{22}$Ne, and $^{40}$Ar at the Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute. A novel simulation workflow was developed that couples the particle-transport toolkit Geant4 with the open-source TCAD simulator DEVSIM to model the heavy-ion-induced signal in HIMoC devices. The model represents energy deposition by primary heavy ions and secondary electrons as Gaussian charge-loss profiles that produce measurable threshold-voltage shifts in the device. Good agreement between simulated and experimental $Delta V_{mathrm{th}}$ distributions was obtained. HIMoC was also shown to generate a signal that scales approximately linearly with a dose-like quantity proportional to ion fluence, LET, and active detector area. These results support HIMoC as a passive heavy-ion dosimeter and provide a framework for modeling the effects of radiation-induced charge loss in charge-trapping non-volatile memory devices.