Materials analysis fast ions

Materials analysis with ion beams exploits the interaction of ions with the electrons and nuclei in the sample. Among the vast variety of possible analytical techniques available with ion beams we will restrain to ion beam analysis with ion beams in the energy range from one to several MeV per mass unit. It is possible to use either the back-scattered projectiles (RBS – Rutherford Back Scattering) or the recoiled atoms itself (ERDA – Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis) from the elastic scattering processes. These techniques allow the simultaneous and absolute determination of stoichiometry and depth profiles of the detected elements. The interaction of the ions with the electrons in the sample produces holes in the inner electronic shells of the sample atoms, which recombine and emit X-rays characteristic for the element in question. Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) has shown to be a fast technique for the analysis of elements with an atomic number above 11.