Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

On the grounds of largely mature methodologies of ion beam modification, ion irradiation and ion beam materials analysis, ion beams have established as a powerful and indispensable tool in front-line research and present-day industrial production, with special impact in fields of high socio-economic relevance such as new functional materials, information technology, health, environment and cultural heritage.
The present lecture will first give an overview of corresponding activities in Germany. The availability of ion facilities is concentrating at a few Universities and public research infrastructures such as the Helmholtz association. Prominent research includes the ion-beam assisted generation and modification of nanostructures at ion energies ranging from eV/amu to MeV/amu, damage of materials in the electronic stopping regime, low-fluence ion implantation for single photon emission, and radiation-biology studies with living cells. A significant amount of device capacity is also available for industrial services. For this purpose, associated transfer companies have been created in some cases.
The second part of the lecture will briefly report on the performance of the European Integrated Infrastructure Activity SPIRIT (www.spirit-ion.eu). 9 of the 11 beneficiaries of the project offer their ion beam facilities transnational European users, with about 8000 user hours having been delivered so far. The areas of user interest will be discussed at the hand of selected results. Finally, the lecture will address new instrumental and methodological developments within SPIRIT, such as the development and employment of new detectors and the use of ion beams for chemical analysis of solid surfaces.