New ferroelectric NAND flash technology built for deep space missions

Georgia Tech researchers have created a ferroelectric NAND flash memory that is 30 times more radiation-resistant than standard storage

By storing data as material polarisation rather than trapped electrical charge, it can withstand the 1 million rads required for deep space AI applications.

The challenge of data storage in space

As spacecraft travel farther from Earth, communications are often delayed, forcing onboard systems to process and store their own information using AI. While standard NAND flash memory—the same technology used in smartphones and laptops—offers the high-density storage capacity required for these massive volumes of data, it degrades rapidly when exposed to space radiation.

Traditional flash memory stores data by trapping electrical charges inside its components. When cosmic radiation interacts with these trapped charges, it easily corrupts the stored data. To solve this issue, the Georgia Tech team looked to ferroelectricity, a property where certain materials hold a permanent, spontaneous electric charge known as polarisation.

Because ferroelectric NAND flash memory stores data as polarisation within the material rather than as a trapped electrical charge, it remains highly resilient against radiation effects.

Achieving deep space radiation tolerance

To verify the capabilities of the technology, researchers fabricated the ferroelectric NAND memory chips using a silicon-compatible material called hafnium oxide. The chips were then sent to collaborators at Pennsylvania State University for stress testing against extreme ionisation.

The radiation tests revealed that the ferroelectric flash technology can survive radiation exposures as high as 1 million rads (radiation absorbed doses), which is the structural equivalent of 100 million medical X-rays.

This level of durability significantly outperforms conventional memory and perfectly aligns with the most demanding aerospace requirements:

• Low-earth orbit satellites:

  • Require a tolerance of 5 to 30 kilorads.

• Geostationary orbits:

  • Require a tolerance of 100 to 300 kilorads.

• Deep space missions:

  • Require a tolerance up to 1 million rads.

Supporting autonomous space exploration

The discovery provides a reliable hardware path for advanced space exploration, ranging from small orbiting satellites to complex future missions surveying Jupiter’s moons. By keeping critical data intact under extreme cosmic bombardment, this storage ensures that autonomous onboard electronics can safely process data without risk of systemic memory failure.