It is well known that, in potentials that are quadratic near the minimum but shallower away—such as small-$\alpha$ ($\alpha \ll M_P^2$) attractors—the inflaton condensate fragments into localized compact objects known as oscillons during self-resonance preheating. In this work, we investigate the self-resonance in deformed $\alpha$-attractor T-models with a Gaussian feature near the minimum, distant from inflation’s end. Linear analysis reveals altered resonance bands and deformed Floquet charts dependent on feature parameters, primarily through the localized modification of $V^{\prime \prime }(\varphi )$. In fully nonlinear lattice simulations, we find that the potential feature has only a modest influence on gradient-energy transfer during resonance, whereas the subsequent evolution becomes strongly dependent on the Gaussian feature’s dimensionless amplitude $h$. Increasing $|h|$ suppresses the formation and persistence of compact oscillons, resulting in fewer objects and a smaller fraction of energy stored in them. The total-energy and internal-gradient-energy diagnostics give consistent lifetime trends. Within the directly resolved range, the oscillon lifetime decreases nonlinearly with increasing $|h|$, with negative $h$ generally producing shorter lifetimes than positive $h$ of the same magnitude. The gravitational-wave emission is dominated by the resonant stage and becomes strongly suppressed after oscillon formation. We further find an enhancement in the high-frequency tail of the spectrum, sourced by the potential feature. Although a complete reheating description requires external couplings and higher-resolution simulations, clear qualitative differences in the postinflationary expansion history already emerge within our simulated time window. These results highlight the important role of potential features in shaping reheating dynamics and their cosmological implications and provide a deeper understanding of preheating dynamics and the properties of oscillons.

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• General relativity
• Inflation