Effect of Near-surface Thermal Spikes on Radiation Hardness of Gallium Oxide
Abstract
Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) stands out as an extraordinary high radiation-tolerant semiconductor, because its lattice displacements induce polymorph transitions, holding material crystalline instead of leading to amorphization. Meanwhile, under extremely severe irradiation conditions many crystals become amorphous, often starting from surfaces where the translation symmetry breaks. Here, we show that the surface amorphization may prevail over the crystallisation in Ga2O3, however only if the mass and energy of irradiated ions produce sufficiently dense heat spikes in the immediate vicinity of the free surface. Applying machine-learned molecular dynamics simulations together with experimental broad-beam and focused ion-beam irradiations, we conclude that the presence of the free surface enables asymmetric displacements of Ga and O atoms, leading to a local non-stoichiometry. Consequently, when the affected cascade volume is sufficiently large, this compositional imbalance suppresses recrystallization and promotes amorphization. As such, our results are ready to use for tailoring irradiation conditions to either prevent or induce surface amorphization, depending on the requirements of the intended applications in Ga2O3 or other compound semiconductors.
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BibTeX
@misc{bouvier2026effect,
title = {{Effect of Near-surface Thermal Spikes on Radiation Hardness of Gallium Oxide}},
author = {Tomás Fernández Bouvier and Umutcan Bektas and Alexander Azarov and Ru He and Nico Klingner and René Hübner and Paul Chekhonin and Aleksi Leino and Kai Nordlund and Javier García Fernández and Andrej Kuznetsov and Gregor Hlawacek and Flyura Djurabekova},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.15429},
eprint = {2609.15429},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15429},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Effect of Near-surface Thermal Spikes on Radiation Hardness of Gallium Oxide
AU - Tomás Fernández Bouvier
AU - Umutcan Bektas
AU - Alexander Azarov
AU - Ru He
AU - Nico Klingner
AU - René Hübner
AU - Paul Chekhonin
AU - Aleksi Leino
AU - Kai Nordlund
AU - Javier García Fernández
AU - Andrej Kuznetsov
AU - Gregor Hlawacek
AU - Flyura Djurabekova
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.15429
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15429
AB - Gallium oxide (Ga_2O_3) stands out as an extraordinary high radiation-tolerant semiconductor, because its lattice displacements induce polymorph transitions, holding material crystalline instead of leading to amorphization. Meanwhile, under extremely severe irradiation conditions many crystals become amorphous, often starting from surfaces where the translation symmetry breaks. Here, we show that the surface amorphization may prevail over the crystallisation in Ga_2O_3, however only if the mass and energy of irradiated ions produce sufficiently dense heat spikes in the immediate vicinity of the free surface. Applying machine-learned molecular dynamics simulations together with experimental broad-beam and focused ion-beam irradiations, we conclude that the presence of the free surface enables asymmetric displacements of Ga and O atoms, leading to a local non-stoichiometry. Consequently, when the affected cascade volume is sufficiently large, this compositional imbalance suppresses recrystallization and promotes amorphization. As such, our results are ready to use for tailoring irradiation conditions to either prevent or induce surface amorphization, depending on the requirements of the intended applications in Ga_2O_3 or other compound semiconductors.
ER -