ABSTRACT
Ion beam analysis techniques were developed and have been improving since the 1960s, together with improvement in radiation detectors. Due to the long range of mega-electron-volt (MeV) ion beams, they induce intense energy transfer in a region with a high aspect ratio along the long ion trajectory. Low-energy ion beams of around 10 keV/nucleon interact with the surface atoms, leading to sputtering due to collision with the surface atoms followed by their being flicked out of the surface as secondary ions. The MeV-energy ion beam has a large cross section for exciting the inner shell electrons of a target atom in material. Inelastic particle interaction can take place in nuclear excitations and nuclear reactions. Many practical applications have been initiated due to their unique irradiation effects, especially on material surface modification by nuclear interaction with low-energy cluster ion beams. The chapter reviews the basics for ion beam interaction with material, accelerator technologies, and microbeam as a novel ion beam technology.
