MEV ION PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR INDUSTRY

Ions beams with MeV energies produce a variety of interactions with matter, broadly classified as either electronic or nuclear. These interactions in turn lead to changes in the properties of the matter which may be beneficial or detrimental. In high technology industry, use is increasingly made of ion beam technologies to process novel materials. Typical applications include high energy implantation, in which the deposition of a specific element at depth within the structure of material is the required objective, and irradiation modification, in which the balance between the beneficial and the detrimental effects of the fast ion interactions is exploited. The basic principles behind MeV ion processing are described. Broad areas of application in industrial materials include effects in ion beam analysis, Thin Layer Activation for wear and corrosion measurement, carrier lifetime control in electronic devices, and the simulation of radiation damage effects in, for example, solar cells for spacecraft. New development areas are described in which subtle but potentially significant changes in the chemistry of surfaces and interfaces may be generated by exposure to MeV ion beams.