Speaker
Description
The escalating radiation environment at next-generation colliders demands revolutionary advances in detector materials — and Ga₂O₃ emerges as a game-changing candidate poised to redefine innermost solid-state tracking through unparalleled radiation tolerance and thermal resilience. Future high-energy physics experiments will expose tracking layers to particle fluences exceeding 10¹⁵–10¹⁶ n_eq/cm², multi-Mrad total ionizing doses, and stringent material budget constraints. Even the most advanced silicon detectors are nearing their fundamental performance limits under these extreme conditions, driving urgent exploration of alternative ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductors.
Ga₂O₃ combines an exceptional ultra-wide bandgap (~4.9 eV), an extraordinarily high breakdown field (~8 MV/cm), and intrinsic radiation hardness — enabling ultra-low leakage currents at elevated temperatures and the fabrication of ultra-thin, low-mass detector layers. These characteristics position Ga₂O₃ as an ideal platform for radiation-hard, long-lifetime solid-state tracking sensors capable of reliable operation with significantly reduced cooling demands in the harshest collider environments.
We report new experimental results from multiple Ga₂O₃ detector prototypes, featuring detailed electrical characterization, microstructural analysis, and rigorous ion irradiation testing. Our preliminary data reveal stable high-bias performance and robust structural integrity even after substantial radiation exposure, underscoring Ga₂O₃’s potential as a radiation-immune detector material readily integrable with advanced low-noise readout electronics.
This work pioneers a new frontier for HEP tracking detectors, establishing Ga₂O₃ as a strong complement — and potential successor — to established wide-bandgap materials such as diamond and SiC. Our findings highlight the critical and timely need for coordinated R&D efforts to unlock Ga₂O₃’s full potential and accelerate its path toward deployment in future collider tracking systems and other extreme-environment instrumentation.
