SCALE B-Ga2O3: Game-Changing UWBG Material for High-Power and Radiation Hardened Technologies

Manikantha Babu Nethala, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Texas Tech University, presented at the Vanderbilt Seminar Series.

Ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors are emerging as transformative materials for next-generation power electronics, aerospace systems, renewable energy infrastructure, and radiation-hardened electronics. Among these materials, β-Ga2O3 has attracted significant attention due to its exceptionally large critical electric field (~8 MV/cm), availability of low-cost melt-grown substrates, and theoretical power figures-of-merit that surpass those of conventional SiC and GaN technologies.

This presentation highlights recent advances in β-Ga2O3 materials and devices, with particular emphasis on reliability, defect engineering, radiation effects, and high-temperature operation. The talk will showcase my contributions to understanding charge transport mechanisms, dielectric integration, defect dynamics, and radiation-induced degradation in β-Ga2O3-based electronic devices. Special focus will be placed on the first in-situ investigations of swift heavy ion irradiation effects in β-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes, revealing the evolution of defect states, carrier transport, and device degradation under extreme radiation environments.

The discussion will further explore advanced dielectric engineering using high-k oxides, temperature-dependent transport phenomena, deep-level defect characterization, and emerging approaches for overcoming thermal management challenges that currently limit high-power β-Ga2O3 technologies. Finally, future opportunities will be presented for integrating β-Ga2O3 and heterogeneous UWBG material systems to enable high-efficiency power devices and resilient electronics for space applications.

This work demonstrates how fundamental materials research can be translated into enabling technologies for the next generation of extreme-environment electronic systems.