arXiv subjects

Sérgio Magalhães

Publications and source records attributed to Sérgio Magalhães.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Anisotropic implantation damage build-up and crystal recovery in $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$

The present work aims at investigating the defect accumulation and recovery dynamics in the inherently anisotropic $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ lattice. A systematic Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry in Channelling mode (RBS/C) analysis of Cr-implanted samples was performed across multiple surface orientations and channelling directions. Distinct apparent defect accumulation and annealing rates were observed along different channelling axes, mainly attributed to the shadowing of certain types of defects along some directions. The efficient defect removal observed after annealing was correlated with the strain relaxation observed via High-Resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) at temperatures as low as 500 °C, which is attributed to the removal of point defects. Annealing at higher temperature further improves crystalline quality but at a slower rate. In short, this work enhances the understanding of the effect of structural anisotropic properties of $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ during ion implantation, as well as the crystal recovery during thermal annealing, highlighting the interplay between crystallography and defect dynamics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Understanding the anisotropic response of $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ to ion implantation

While $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ is considered a promising wide bandgap semiconductor, the impact of ion-induced defect formation and anisotropic elasticity remains poorly understood. Here, we combine a simulation and experiment X-ray diffraction (XRD) study of the strain-stress dynamics induced by ion implantation into $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ single-crystals with different surface orientations. The strain accumulation in the out-of-plane direction is observed by XRD to occur in an anisotropic manner, with compressive strain along the [010] direction and tensile strain along the directions perpendicular to (100) and (001). An anisotropic stress/strain accumulation model is proposed and probed via Molecular Dynamics (MD), showing an excellent agreement with the experiments. For higher damage levels, pole figures obtained both experimentally and by MD via a novel reciprocal-space projection method reveal an orientation-independent $β$-to-$γ$ phase transition, with a fixed crystallographic relationship between the polymorphs. By exploring the strain-stress dynamics in anisotropic systems, this work establishes a method to directly compare macroscale diffraction experiments and atomistic simulations and opens a new path to engineer the properties of such systems utilizing their anisotropic response to ion implantation/irradiation.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Microtubes and nanomembranes by ion-beam-induced exfoliation of $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$

This paper reports an innovative process to fabricate $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ microtubes and nanomembranes based on ion implantation in (100)-oriented single-crystals. We show that, under specific flux and fluence conditions, the irradiation-induced strain profile promotes the detachment and rolling-up of a thin surface layer, forming a microtube. The strain-disorder interplay was investigated in detail for Cr-implanted $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ with a range of complementary methods, showing an excellent agreement between experimental and simulation data, and suggesting an exfoliation mechanism that is correlated with the anisotropic nature of the $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ monoclinic system and its easy-cleavage planes. Moreover, these microtubes can be unrolled upon a subsequent annealing step, resulting in nanomembranes with bulk-like crystalline quality that can be transferred to other substrates. The recovery of the implantation-induced damage under thermal annealing has also been studied, showing a remarkable recovery at moderate temperatures (~500 °C). This observation underscores the potential of this method for the scalable production of nanomembranes with improved reproducibility compared to conventional mechanical exfoliation techniques. Importantly, such exfoliation can be done employing different ions, providing simultaneous $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ doping, chosen to control the structural, optical, magnetic and electrical properties of the nanomembranes, thus tailoring them to fit the desired applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗