VINSE is excited to announce that Aditha Senarath is the recipient of the 2026 VINSE Best Collaborative Publication Award. Aditha’s paper, published in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, brings together researchers from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and several external institutions to investigate how radiation affects gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, an important step toward improving the reliability of electronics used in space and other radiation environments.
The study examines how ion linear energy transfer (LET) and device epitaxial layer thickness affect radiation-induced failure in vertical GaN power diodes. By testing devices with different layer thicknesses under heavy-ion irradiation, Aditha and colleagues found that thicker layers were more resistant to catastrophic failure. They also discovered that high-LET irradiation can cause electrical leakage and damage that continues to develop even after radiation exposure has ended. These findings help explain why GaN devices fail under radiation and provide valuable insight into designing more reliable power electronics.
The publication reflects a collaborative effort spanning materials growth, device fabrication, radiation testing, and nanoscale characterization. Aditha worked with researchers across 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, Sandia National Laboratories, the Naval Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University, and NASA to bring together the expertise and facilities needed for the study. His work included coordinating heavy-ion testing, analyzing electrical measurements, and using VINSE’s cleanroom and advanced microscopy facilities to examine radiation-induced damage. Together, these efforts provided a more complete picture of how radiation affects GaN devices and demonstrated the importance of collaboration across disciplines and institutions.
Aditha graduated from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø in 2025 with a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Materials Science and is currently a Principal Engineer at GlobalFoundries.
The VINSE Best Collaborative Publication Award includes a cash prize and a celebratory dinner for all contributing authors.
A. S. Senarath et al., “Influence of Ion LET and Epitaxial Thickness on Single-Event Effects in Homojunction GaN Vertical Diodes,” in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, vol. 73, no. 10, pp. 4023-4030, Oct. 2026, .