NIEL and damage correlations for high-energy protons in gallium arsenide devices

A longstanding discrepancy between proton nonionizing energy loss (NIEL) calculations and experimental measurements in GaAs devices for E>20 MeV is explored. The various calculations of proton NIEL in GaAs are consistent. The experimental results and calculations can be made to agree by various methods that restrict the effect of high-energy recoils, such as the neutron "damage efficiency function." However, it should be noted that some damage coefficients track the total NIEL and further work is clearly required.