Anisotropic Kinetics of Ion-Irradiation-Induced Phase Transition in Gallium Oxide

Radiation-tolerant semiconductors have traditionally been engineered by the principle of suppressing defect accumulation and amorphization, based on the assumption that radiation damage is inherently stochastic. Here we show that, in monoclinic $\beta$-\ce{Ga2O3}, a promising ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor, surface crystallographic orientation deterministically governs radiation tolerance through highly anisotropic kinetics of the $\beta$-to-$\gamma$ phase transition. Using machine-learning molecular dynamics coupled with a local configurational-entropy descriptor, we quantitatively map anisotropic $\beta$-to-$\gamma$ transition kinetics, showing that the critical dose, transition-layer depth, and kinetic stability of the $\gamma$-phase are fundamentally governed by surface orientation. Under ion irradiation, non-channeling surfaces such as (100), (001), and (-201) undergo severe surface amorphization, whereas the strongly channeling (010) surface resists damage accumulation and promotes subsurface $\gamma$-phase nucleation. During thermal annealing recovery process, these initial states follow two distinct recovery pathways: the channeling (010) surface reverts directly from $\gamma$-to-$\beta$, whereas non-channeling surfaces follow a sequential amorphous-to-$\gamma$-to-$\beta$ transition pathway. This work establishes surface orientation as a fundamental design principle for achieving radiation tolerance through controlled polymorphic transitions, providing a universal framework for engineering functional materials capable of withstanding extreme irradiation environments.

Taiqiao Liu, Tongtong Wang, Zeyuan Li, E Zhou, Junlei Zhao, Jiaren Feng, Xiaoyu Fei, Yuzheng Guo, Flyura Djurabekova, Sheng Liu, Zhaofu Zhang · 2026