Materials modification by ion beams

Ion beams can be used to manipulate material properties. At the Tandem Laboratory we use ions in a wide range of energies, from low keV to several MeV, for many different applications.

keV ion implantations

Nanostructure engineering

Energetic ions can create nanostructures in materials such as pores, hillocks or tracks. At the Tandem Laboratory, we among others study how keV ions can produce pores in membranes for potential filter applications. By irradiating a material through a patterned mask, we can also selectively implant ions and create structures with different chemical composition creating for example magnetic nanoarrays.

Much research on nanostructure formation has been done in the GeV ion energy regime. We are now investigating to which extent MeV ions that require much smaller accelerators and other instrumentation can be used instead. As an example, we have used MeV ions to produce etchable tracks in polyimide membranes.

Ion irradiations

Besides precise tailoring of electronic and structural characteristics, ion irradiations can also be used to create damage. Irradiations can amorphize single-crystalline materials, which for example allows researchers to analyse their annealing behaviour. At the Tandem Laboratory, we also test radiation hardness of different materials and components as ion irradiations can effectively simulate high-radiation environments such as space or nuclear reactors.

Selected publications