Ion Beam Applications

Ion beam of various energies is a standard research tool in many areas of science, from basic physics to diverse areas in space science and technology, device fabrications, materials science, environment science, and medical sciences. It is an advance and versatile tool to frequently discover applications across a broad range of disciplines and fields. Moreover, scientists are continuously improving the ion beam sources and accelerators to explore ion beam at the forefront of scientific endeavours. This book provides a glance view on MeV ion beam applications, focused ion beam generation and its applications as well as practical applications of ion implantation.

Ion beam of various energies is a standard research tool in many areas of science, from basic physics to diverse areas in space science and technology, device fabrications, materials science, environment science, and medical sciences. It is an advance and versatile tool to frequently discover applications across a broad range of disciplines and fields. Moreover, scientists are continuously improving the ion beam sources and accelerators to explore ion beam at the forefront of scientific endeavours. This book provides a glance view on MeV ion beam applications, focused ion beam generation and its applications as well as practical applications of ion implantation.

A wide variety of ion beam techniques are being used in several versatile applications ranging from environmental science, nuclear physics, microdevice fabrication to materials science. In addition, new applications of ion beam techniques across a broad range of disciplines and fields are also being discovered frequently. In this book, the latest research and development on progress in ion beam techniques has been compiled and an overview of ion beam irradiation-induced applications in nanomaterial-focused ion beam applications, ion beam analysis techniques, as well as ion implantation application in cells is provided. Moreover, simulations of ion beam-induced damage to structural materials of nuclear fusion reactors are also presented in this book.

The scientific and commercial purposes of ion beams are remarkable in many fields because ion beam technology is a primary tool that provides a wide range of applications in science, medicine, space, and engineering. This book presents theoretical and experimental knowledge about ion beam applications and technology. It includes six chapters that address such topics as the interaction of ion beams with matter, the evaluation of nuclear material damage, surface microstructure changes, oblique Ar+ sputtered SiC thin films, electron beam processing, and ribbon ion beams.

The book provides a detailed, up-to-date account of the basics, the technology, and the clinical use of ion beams for radiation therapy. Theoretical background, technical components, and patient treatment schemes are delineated by the leading experts that helped to develop this field from a research niche to its current highly sophisticated and powerful clinical treatment level used to the benefit of cancer patients worldwide. Rather than being a side-by-side collection of articles, this book consists of related chapters. It is a common achievement by 76 experts from around the world. Their expertise reflects the diversity of the field with radiation therapy, medical and accelerator physics, radiobiology, computer science, engineering, and health economics. The book addresses a similarly broad audience ranging from professionals that need to know more about this novel treatment modality or consider to enter the field of ion beam therapy as a researcher. However, it is also written for the interested public and for patients who might want to learn about this treatment option.

In this book, we have attempted to produce a reference on high resolution focused ion beams (FIBs) that will be useful for both the user and the designer of FIB instrumentation. We have included a mix of theory and applications that seemed most useful to us. The field of FIBs has advanced rapidly since the application of the first field emission ion sources in the early 1970s. The development of the liquid metal ion source (LMIS) in the late 1960s and early 1970s and its application for FIBs in the late 1970s have resulted in a powerful tool for research and for industry. There have been hundreds of papers written on many aspects of LMIS and FIBs, and a useful and informative book on these subjects was published in 1991 by Phil Prewett and Grame Mair. Because there have been so many new applications and uses found for FIBs in the last ten years we felt that it was time for another book on the subject.