Ion beam characterization and treatment

Abstract

Almost every process that occurs when an ion beam hits a solid has been pressed into service as a technique in materials science. Some ions bounce off: backscattering is a routine technique for near-surface analysis in many laboratories. Atoms of the sample are knocked out: sputter profiling is used as an adjunct to many surface science measurements, and analysis of the ejected atoms yields information about the composition of the sample. Ions slow down in a solid, depositing energy in the sample and causing radiation damage. This makes ion beams useful in the development of radiation-resistant materials and has to be understood in order to apply other ion beam techniques. Finally, the ion stops and becomes incorporated into the sample, which is known as "implantation." As well as being a vital industrial technique in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, implantation can be used in materials science wherever it is useful to change the composition of a near-surface layer. The implanted species doesn't have to be soluble in the sample. © 1989 The Metallurgical Society of AIME.