Application of Proton Irradiation in the Study of Accelerated Radiation Ageing in a GaAs Semiconductor

Proton irradiation experiments have been used as a surrogate for studying radiation effects in numerous materials for decades. The abundance and accessibility of proton accelerators make this approach convenient for conducting accelerated radiation ageing studies. However, developing new materials w...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Igor Neuhold, Pavol Noga, Stanislav Sojak, Martin Petriska, Jarmila Degmova, Vladimir Slugen, Vladimir Krsjak
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/3/1089
Description
Summary:Proton irradiation experiments have been used as a surrogate for studying radiation effects in numerous materials for decades. The abundance and accessibility of proton accelerators make this approach convenient for conducting accelerated radiation ageing studies. However, developing new materials with improved radiation stability requires numerous model materials, test samples, and very effective utilization of the accelerator beam time. Therefore, the question of optimal beam current, or particle flux, is critical and needs to be adequately understood. In this work, we used 5 MeV protons to introduce displacement damage in gallium arsenide samples using a wide range of flux values. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was used to quantitatively assess the concentration of radiation-induced survived vacancies. The results show that proton fluxes in range between 10<sup>11</sup> and 10<sup>12</sup> cm<sup>−2</sup>.s<sup>−1</sup> lead to a similar concentration of monovacancies generated in the GaAs semiconductor material, while a further increase in the flux leads to a sharp drop in this concentration.
ISSN:1996-1944