Tsukuba, Japan—Silicon (Si)-based devices are widely used in electrical and electronic applications; however, prolonged exposure to high radiation doses leads to performance degradation, malfunction, and eventual failure. These limitations create a strong demand for alternative semiconductor materials capable of operating reliably in harsh environments, including high-energy accelerator experiments, nuclear-reactor containment systems, and long-duration lunar or deep-space missions.
Wide-bandgap semiconductors, characterized by strong atomic bonding, offer the radiation tolerance required under such conditions. Among these materials, gallium nitride (GaN)—commonly employed in blue light-emitting diodes and high-frequency, high-power electronic devices—has not previously been demonstrated in detectors capable of two-dimensional particle-position sensing for particle and nuclear physics applications.
In this study, a vertical GaN particle detector with a 100-µm pixel size was fabricated, enabling real-time two-dimensional position detection of individual alpha particles and xenon (Xe) heavy ions. The detector exhibited stable operation at radiation levels approximately an order of magnitude higher than those tolerated by conventional Si‑based detectors. In addition, the availability of large-area, high-quality GaN wafers provides a viable route toward scalable detector systems.
These results demonstrate that two-dimensional particle-beam position sensing remains feasible under extremely high radiation doses. This advance is expected to accelerate the development of high-energy accelerator facilities, space-exploration instrumentation, nuclear-power monitoring systems, and radiation-based medical diagnostics.
