Carbon nanotubes are promising electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials due to their excellent conduction loss and multiple polarization relaxations. However, their high electrical conductivity often causes severe impedance mismatch and small skin depth, leading to strong reflection rather than efficient absorption. Herein, a gradient carbon engineering strategy is proposed to enhance dielectric loss for broadband EMW absorption. Density functional theory calculations confirm that built-in electric fields (BIEFs) synergistically couple with the gradient carbon nanostructure to promote polarization relaxation. Notably, BIEFs facilitate electron transfer and modulate charge distribution, thereby substantially boosting interfacial polarization. With balanced dielectric loss and impedance matching, the resultant composite exhibits dual-band EMW absorption, achieving a minimum reflection loss of −42.3 dB at 5.3 GHz and an effective absorption bandwidth of 3.1 GHz across the C and Ku bands. In addition, the polydimethylsiloxane‑blended composite also shows good thermal conductivity. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of gradient carbon engineering in tailoring dielectric loss and provides a new strategy for designing high-performance EMW absorption materials via BIEFs.

Advanced nanoscale devices are core components in modern aerospace systems. The on-orbit reliability of the devices faces challenges from Single Event Effects (SEEs) induced by high-energy particles in space. The ground-based irradiation testing is a critical method for predicting on-orbit performance. However, the ground test is an accelerated testing method. The influence of ion strike time intervals (i.e. ion flux) on the SEE sensitivity of advanced nanoscale devices is not yet fully understood. This problem can lead to inaccurate reliability assessment. In this work, the impact of ion strike time intervals on the Single Event Upset (SEU) has been investigated systematically in a 28 nm Static Random Access Memory based (SRAM-based) Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The ground-based irradiation experiments were conducted using various heavy ions under well controlled ion flux levels. The experimental results definitively demonstrate that the device's SEU cross section increases significantly as the ion strike time interval decreases. It shows when the flux exceeds 1000 ions/(cm(2)& centerdot;s), the cross section exhibits changes, while it remains unchanged at the flux below 1000 ions/(cm(2)& centerdot;s). Moreover, the flux of 1000 ions/(cm(2)& centerdot;s) is significantly lower than the typical flux used in SEE testing. This phenomenon was more pronounced at lower core voltages and higher Linear Energy Transfer (LET) values. The analysis reveals that the voltage drop induced by transient pulses from heavy ions is the primary physical mechanism that is responsible for the flux dependence. Furthermore, the physical mechanism of the experimental phenomena has been elucidated through Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) and circuit-level simulations. Moreover, the mechanism is equally applicable to other advanced nanoscale devices. This finding provides an essential reference for accurate prediction of on-orbit failure rates of the advanced nanoscale devices.

The single-event burnout (SEB) is one of the great threats to gallium nitride (GaN) based device in aerospace applications. This study investigates the SEB mechanism in a millimeter-wave (mmW) power amplifier (PA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) with the linear energy transfer (LET) of 83.85 MeV & centerdot; cm(2)/mg. Experimental results show that catastrophic burnout occurs when the drain bias reaches 45 V. Focused ion beam and scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) revealed that both metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors and GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) experience catastrophic damage. The burnout of the MIM capacitor originates from persistent impact ionization within the dielectric layer. This process leads to the formation of a conductive path, triggering an abrupt jump in the leakage current, which causes dielectric rupture and damage to the metal electrodes. For the GaN HEMT, the heavy ions' strike generates a high density of electron-hole pairs along their trajectory. Driven by the lateral and vertical electric fields, holes migrate toward and primarily accumulate beneath the gate field plate, forming a localized positive charge region. This accumulation generates an extremely high local electric field, which exceeds the critical value that the AlGaN barrier layer can withstand. This study provides critical theoretical and experimental insights for assessing the reliability of mmW GaN MMIC against SEB in irradiation environments.

This study investigates the dependence of Single-Event Leakage Current (SELC) degradation on heavy-ion range in 1200 V SiC power MOSFETs. Through heavy-ion irradiation experiments using Argon and Tantalum ions, degradation behaviors are characterized under three distinct conditions relative to the depletion width (W): RangeW, and Range>>W. Notably, experimental results demonstrate that leakage degradation occurs even when RangeW and Range>>W, the degradation mode is dominated by a drain-source leakage path, leading to more severe damage. Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) is employed to quantify leakage current steps and cross-sections, statistically demonstrating a positive correlation between ion range and the degree of degradation. TCAD simulations reveal distinct physical mechanisms: when RangeW and Range>>W, a substrate response mechanism is identified. This substrate response enables carrier injection into the drift region and enhances the local electric field, resulting in significantly increased local power density and severe permanent damage.

Efficient extraction of lithium-ion from salt-lake brine remains a significant challenge, primarily due to the similar physicochemical properties of Li+ and Mg2+, and the inherent trade-off between permeability and selectivity in conventional membrane processes. Herein, we propose a synergistic membrane-solution strategy that integrates an enlarged sub-nanoporous polyimide membrane (ESN-PI) with ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA(4-)) complexation to enhance the Li+ flux and Li+/Mg2+ selectivity simultaneously. The ESN-PI membrane, fabricated via heavy-ion irradiation and controlled alkaline etching, provides enlarged transport channels that significantly improve Li+ permeation. Meanwhile, EDTA(4-) selectively chelates Mg2+ to form a bulky, negatively charged [EDTA-Mg](2-) complex, which is electrostatically repelled and sterically hindered by the negatively charged sub-nanopores, thereby greatly suppressing Mg2+ transmembrane transport. The coupled system delivers a high Li+ flux of up to 73 mmol h(-1) m(-2) and an exceptional Li+/Mg2+ selectivity of 351. Notably, the separation performance remains robust (selectivity > 300) even at a high feed Mg2+/Li+ ratio of 60, and EDTA(4-) can be efficiently regenerated and reused over multiple cycles. This research utilized heavy ion irradiation technology to prepare a more economical cation exchange membrane. By coupling the membrane with the EDTA complexation strategy, it was able to resolve the contradiction between permeability and selectivity in the ion separation process based on the membrane, providing a promising strategy for extracting lithium from brines with high magnesium ion content.

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor with promising applications in high-power and high-frequency electronics. However, its complex polymorphic nature poses substantial challenges for fundamental studies, particularly in understanding phase-transformation behaviors under nonequilibrium conditions. Here, we develop a robust, accurate, and computationally efficient machine-learning interatomic potential (MLIP) for Ga2O3 based on the neuroevolution potential (NEP) framework combined with an energy-dependent weighting strategy. The resulting NEP potential demonstrates clear advantages over the state-of-the-art tabGAP potential with respect to both accuracy and computational efficiency. Furthermore, we introduce a physically process-oriented sampling strategy to systematically augment the training dataset, thereby enhancing the MLIP performance for targeted physical phenomena. As a representative application, a dedicated NEP potential is constructed for swift heavy-ion (SHI) irradiation simulations of e̱ṯa̱-Ga2O3. The simulated results are in quantitative agreement with experimental observations and provide a consistent physical explanation for the reported experimental discrepancies regarding phase transformations in the ion track of e̱ṯa̱-Ga2O3.

With growing demand for field-deployable and reliable Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) applications, a critical yet often overlooked challenge is the stringent requirement for precise laser focusing, which severely limits operation outside controlled laboratory environments. To overcome this focal precision barrier, we present a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical Au nanowire-network (NWNW) engineered as a robust SERS substrate. Its architecture is constructed to provide exceptional deep focus tolerance, exhibiting pronounced 3D optical activity along the z-direction and angular anisotropy under polarized illumination. This enables the substrate to achieve an ultralow detection limit of 1x10(-12 )M for non-resonant 4-mercaptopyridine molecules, while maintaining outstanding signal uniformity and repeatability (relative standard deviation, RSD <10%). Moreover, an effective medium model reveals that the synergistic interplay between increased light scattering rates, elevated local density of optical states, and broadened eigenmodes jointly contributes to efficient light harvesting and near-field enhancement throughout the 3D architecture. Equally importantly, the NWNW's mechanical reinforcement ensures adhesion robustness and consistent SERS performance even when subjected to harsh environments. By solving the focal precision challenge while maintaining robustness, this work demonstrates that the 3D Au NWNW is not only a highly sensitive SERS substrate but also a viable platform for transitioning SERS from controlled laboratory environments toward demanding real-world applications.

Violent ice fracture events often trigger rapid climatic or geomorphic changes, including Antarctic ice shelf collapse, glacial outbursts, and frost quakes. Existing models of sequential crack propagation inadequately explain the sudden, explosive nature observed in natural events. Here, we uncover a previously unidentified eruptive fracture of ice adhered to solid surfaces upon quasistatic cooling, which can even cause the underlying substrate fragmentation. This explosive ice instability depends on the threshold internal grain size of the ice. Above this threshold, fracture proceeds in a progressive, energy-dominated mode, whereas below it the ice undergoes an abrupt, strain-dominated fracture. We found that the apparent tensile strength of adhered ice ranges from 39 to 58 megapascals, over an order of magnitude higher than the typical value of ice (0.7 to 3.1 megapascals). This work provides a mechanistic framework for understanding and predicting abrupt cryospheric fracture events and points toward rational strategies for designing self-actuating deicing systems that exploit thermomechanical instabilities.

Stacked graphene oxide membranes (GOMs) show exceptional capabilities for high-throughput sieving of water, ions and molecules, offering transformative potential in environmental and energy sectors1–5. However, achieving GOMs with subnanometre interlayer spacing and subangstrom tunability while maintaining their structural robustness for rapid and selective ion transport remains a big challenge6–8. Here we present polydopamine-pillared composite GOMs with tunable and stable interlayer spacing, featuring controllable interlayer spacing down to 5.9 Å in the dry state, and capable of sieving hydrated rubidium (Rb+) and potassium (K+) ions differing in size by less than 0.1 Å in aqueous environments, achieving an Rb+/K+ separation factor of 5,320. These composite GOMs were fabricated by using the dopamine assembly and reaction timescale separation method. Specifically, the GOM fabrication capitalizes on the fact that nanoconfined water has a lower freezing temperature than that of bulk water, such that the interlayer spacing is regulated by the rapid assembly of dopamines into nanopillars, driven by nanoconfined liquid water while the surrounding is in bulk ice. The assembly process can be halted anytime by further lowering the temperature to tune and fix the interlayer spacing. Thereafter, the GOM is rigidified through the slower chemical reactions, including polymerization of dopamine molecules and covalent bonding at specific oxygen-containing sites on the graphene oxide surface while retaining ample graphene subnanochannels for high-flux transportation. The GOMs deliver continuous freshwater production for 30 days at a water permeance of 67.9 l m−2 h−1 bar−1, 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than conventional membranes9. Polydopamine-pillared composite graphene oxide membranes with tunable and stable interlayer spacing, featuring controllable interlayer spacing, are capable of sieving hydrated rubidium and potassium ions and delivering continuous freshwater production at high levels.

High-energy ion irradiation offers a promising route to engineer columnar vortex pinning landscapes in REBCO coated conductors, yet the relationship among electronic energy loss (Se), defect geometric characteristics and pinning mechanism remains insufficiently resolved. Here, GdBCO coated conductors were irradiated with 50 MeV and 80 MeV Xe ions to establish a consecutive Se window of ∼21-10 keV/nm within the superconducting layer. By combining SRIM simulations, multiscale microstructural characterization, and magnetic measurements, we directly correlate Se attenuation along the ion trajectory with a morphological evolution from continuous columnar defects (CDs) to segmented CDs and finally to spherical defects. Continuous CDs generated at higher Se create strong c-axis correlated pinning and improve high-field critical current density (Jc) retention, but excessive fluence promotes track overlap and severe lattice disorder, leading to degradation of critical transition temperature (Tc) and low-field Jc. In contrast, segmented CDs formed at moderate Se preserve superconducting percolation pathways while retaining effective correlated pinning. Quantitative analysis of CD segment length and inter-segment gap size, combined with a half-loop depinning model, demonstrates that defect geometry directly governs vortex depinning. This geometry-controlled pinning mechanism explains the broader high-field and high-temperature optimization window enabled by segmented-CD landscapes. These results establish energy-loss-mediated defect engineering as an effective strategy to optimize commercial REBCO tapes for targeted application requirements.

Hf-based ferroelectric materials, valued for their scalability and inherent radiation tolerance, are promising candidates for next-generation electronics, with potential expansion into space memory applications. Nevertheless, the ferroelectric orthorhombic phase (o-phase) in hafnia-based thin films is metastable, which affects their uniformity and reliability. In this context, ion irradiation has emerged as a promising approach to improve the ferroelectricity of Hf-based devices. However, certain associated effects in reliability are unavoidable, which probably restrict the device lifetime. Herein, our work bridges the gap between ferroelectric and dielectric reliability performances of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) capacitors upon Xe ion irradiation. Our experimental results demonstrate an increase of remanent polarization and a decrease of the coercive field in HZO devices via Xe ion irradiation. Moreover, a faster switching speed and more homogeneous domain reversal are realized in the irradiated samples. However, irradiated samples exhibit degraded reliability, particularly under constant electric stress. Structural analyses indicate that irradiation may promote the formation of the t/o-phase, while it also impairs the overall crystallinity of TiN/HZO/TiN stacks. We suggest that these effects may contribute to the changes in device performance. In summary, our findings provide an important reference for designing radiation-resilient Hf-based ferroelectric devices in space memory applications.

The escalating demand for lithium-ion batteries necessitates efficient extraction technologies for lithium-rich brines, where the formidable challenge lies in selectively separating Li+ from ubiquitous Mg2+ ions due to their similar sizes. This work addresses this critical separation bottleneck by engineering a high-performance positively charged nanofiltration membrane. We leverage ion-track technology to fabricate a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate featuring vertically aligned, uniformly distributed nanochannels and a hydrophilic, carboxyl-functionalized surface. This optimized substrate facilitates the controlled interfacial polymerization of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl chloride (TMC), resulting in a defect-free, robust poly-amide selective layer with strong interfacial adhesion. The resultant PEI-TMC/PET-5 membrane exhibits exceptional separation performance, achieving a remarkably high water permeance of 7.6 L m-2 h-1bar-1 coupled with an outstanding Mg2+/Li+ separation factor of 29.6. Comprehensive analysis reveals that this superior selectivity stems from the synergistic interplay of the Donnan effect and dielectric exclusion: the membrane's strong positive surface charge electrostatically repels divalent Mg2+ more effectively than monovalent Li+, while the dielectric discontinuity at the membrane-solution interface imposes significantly higher Born solvation energy and image charge forces on Mg2+ due to its greater charge density. Critically, the membrane demonstrates notable long-term stability, maintaining 94.5 % Mg2+ rejection and a stable permeance of 5.1 L m-2 h-1bar-1 over 720 h of continuous filtration. Under simulated brine conditions (Mg2+/Li+ = 80:1, 2000 ppm), it further sustains stable performance over two weeks of operation, with a SLi/Mg of 28.8. This study presents a rational substrate-to-active-layer design strategy, underpinned by fundamental insights into ion transport mechanisms, paving the way for scalable and energy-efficient membrane technologies for sustainable lithium extraction from high-magnesium brines.

This study proposes a physics-informed Deep Fully-Connected Neural Network (Deep FC-NN) to rapidly predict radial electron-hole pair density distributions induced by heavy ions in silicon. The model, featuring an encoderdecoder architecture with six hidden layers, is trained on Geant4 simulations covering atomic numbers 3-70, energies 10-2000 MeV/n, and silicon thicknesses 2-30 mu m. Benchmarking against ResNet, SVR, and KNN demonstrates superior Deep FC-NN performance, achieving Coefficient of Determination (R2) of 0.9366 and Mean Squared Error (MSE) of 0.1014 in logarithmic space-significantly outperforming alternatives. The framework provides an efficient tool for ionization track structure analysis in radiation effects research.

Single event upsets (SEUs) in FinFET field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) exhibit significant anisotropy. Furthermore, complex charge transport mechanisms have a significant impact on SEUs. This study presents systematic irradiation experiments on a commercial 16 nm FinFET FPGA. The device was tested using ions with two different linear energy transfer (LET) values under a fixed 15 degrees tilt angle, with varying azimuth angles and core voltages. The study reveals the dynamic competition mechanism between the effective ion path and charge diffusion under different LET conditions. The results showed that for lower LET ions, a steep decrease in cross-section was observed at a 60 degrees azimuth angle. This phenomenon confirms the impact of the effective path reduction caused by the Fin's geometric structure on the cross-section. Additionally, at a 45 degrees angle, an anomalous voltage dependence was observed, induced by the enhancement of the parasitic bipolar effect (PBE). For higher LET ions, multiple cell upsets (MCUs) caused by charge diffusion masked the influence of the microscopic geometry. Notably, even with higher LET ions, the coupling between high voltages and extreme angles resulted in a significant reduction in the cross-section. This experimentally confirms the suppression effect of strong electric fields on the lateral diffusion of charges. This study analyzes the effects of geometric projection, charge transport, and layout coupling in FinFET devices, supported by technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations. These findings are important for radiation hardening of FinFET FPGAs against heavy ions incident at various azimuth angles.

A comprehensive investigation of the superconducting response to disruptions is essential for elucidating the mechanisms underlying performance enhancement. Here, we systematically study the effects of Xe-ion irradiation in BaHfO3-doped EuBa2Cu3O7−δ films. Our results show that irradiation significantly modifies intrinsic superconducting parameters. Analysis of critical current density Jc and pinning energy reveals that the degradation of intrinsic properties is a primary factor driving performance decline, and we highlight that enhancing depairing current density Jd is more effective than defect engineering alone, particularly within the quantum critical region. Raman spectroscopy indicates that the degradation arises from disorder at the chain oxygen sites. These findings emphasize that a thorough understanding of both intrinsic superconducting properties and extrinsic pinning structures is critical for optimizing high-temperature superconductor performance.

This work investigates the single-event effects (SEE) tolerance of lateral β-Ga2O3/NiO heterojunction diodes (HJDs). Under tantalum-ion irradiation with linear energy transfer (LET) of 82.1 MeV•cm2/mg, the lateral HJDs exhibit markedly superior SEE robustness than vertical devices. The ratio of single-event burnout voltage (VSEB) to static breakdown voltage reaches approximately 0.4, substantially surpassing our previously reported vertical HJDs. Meanwhile, the specific ON-resistance of lateral HJDs with an anode-to-cathode length (LAC) of 10 and 20 μm is calculated to be 13.0 and 36.8 mΩ•cm2 respectively, which is comparable to that of vertical diodes. Moreover, the lateral HJDs with LAC of 20 μm present excellent reliability exposed to heavy-ion irradiation under a reverse bias of 450 V attributed to elongated junction termination extension (JTE) mitigating the surface electric field. This work demonstrates the potential of β-Ga2O3 lateral diodes for future radiation-hardened applications.

In this work, the synergistic effects of electrical stress and heavy-ion irradiation on the cumulative degradation of p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are systematically investigated. The devices were irradiated with Ta ions (LET = 76.3MeV $\cdot $ cm2/mg) under the drain bias slightly lower than the single-event burnout (SEB) threshold voltage ( ${V}_{\text {SEB}}\text {)}$ . The saturated drain current ( ${I}_{\text {Dsat}}\text {)}$ exhibits a pronounced cumulative degradation with increasing heavy-ion fluence under off-state electrical stress. Electrical characterization results show that neither electrical stress nor irradiation alone induces significant degradation, whereas their synergistic effect leads to severe performance degradation. Furthermore, analyses based on low-frequency noise (LFN) and capacitance deep-level transient spectroscopy ( $C$ -DLTS) reveal a substantial increase in trap density in the p-GaN layer after irradiation. The increased traps within the p-GaN layer degrade carrier transport in the channel, mainly through enhanced Coulomb scattering and mobility reduction, accompanied by a partial reduction in the effective 2DEG density.