Ionenstrahlworkshop 2025

Ion beam technologies are today routine methods in electronic device manufacturing, e.g. the production of a modern processor needs 20-30 ion implantation steps. On the other hand, the 21st century is considered by many to be the century of light following a century of developments in electronics. Therefore, I will present several experiments for the manipulation of the optical properties of...

Type Ib diamonds containing ~200 ppm substitutional nitrogen were irradiated with 4.8 MeV/n swift heavy ions ($^{48}$Ca, $^{197}$Au, $^{238}$U) to investigate radiation-induced defect formation and evolution. A comprehensive spectroscopic approach combining on-line ionoluminescence, spatially resolved photoluminescence/Raman spectroscopy, UV/vis absorption, and infrared spectroscopy was...

The energy deposition of ions in water generates pressure waves. These ionoacoustic signals are commonly described within the thermoacoustic approximation, where localised heating and subsequent volume expansion are considered the primary sources of wave generation. According to this model, no pressure wave should be observed at 4 °C, a prediction confirmed in laser absorption experiments....

Low to medium energy ions in the keV regime have become a standard tool to tailor material properties, enable nanostructuring and analysis at the nanoscale. Yet, accessing the intrinsic ultrafast response of solids to a single ion impact has long been hindered by the difficulty of generating and precisely timing short, monoenergetic ion pulses in this energy regime. We present a synchronized...

Germanium is a material widely used in various applications, especially in optoelectronic devices, due to its excellent optical and electrical properties. In these devices, germanium is typically deposited in the form of thin films. Because of the mismatch in thermal expansion coefficients between the Ge film and the substrate, the material can develop either compressive or tensile stress that...

We report on the evaluation of radiation-induced chemical damage around single ion impacts on thin and ultrathin polymer films using atomic force microscopy–infrared (AFM-IR) spectroscopy and imaging. Radiation effects in polymers are known to involve complex chemical modifications of macromolecular chains, which can be strongly influenced by confinement when the material dimensions are...

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) materials and the ion-induced, tailored modification of their structural, optical and electronic properties have attracted increasing attention, driven by the potential application of modified 2D materials in optics and microelectronics. Raman spectroscopy is an established tool to characterize such ion-induced modifications, especially changes in the...

The doping of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) by an approach compatible with circuit integration is crucial. However, ion implantation, the most commonly used method for doping semiconductors, poses significant challenges for 2D-TMDCs because of the requirement for ultra-low ion energy and the difficulty of restoring damaged 2D materials. Here, we achieve bipolar...

Ions penetrating matter cause a number of different electronic excitations in the material and in the projectile itself. The investigation of ion induced photon emission contributes to a better understanding of the exact processes taking place. We investigate the photons emitted upon transmission of keV He and Ne ions through thin single-crystalline Si membranes. The measurements were recorded...

Recent developments of keV and MeV ion beam analytical tools for in-situ and in-operando characterization of a number of material systems with high relevance for energy-related applications will be presented. The ion-beam based characterization was complemented by atom probe tomography, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.

We performed high-resolution depth profiling of...

The inelastic thermal spike model${}^1$ has been widely used to describe the effects of swift heavy ions, but its theoretical suitability remains under debate${}^2$. The parameters for the underlying mathematical equations, the so called two-temperature model (TTM) equations, are typically obtained from empirical fits to ion track radii. Recent computational advances now make it possible to...

Exploring the structural response and property transformations of materials under combined extreme conditions holds enormous importance across diverse, multidisciplinary, and fundamental research domains. The application of extreme pressures can induce novel phases and structures with distinctive properties. In this project, we explore the effects of exposing materials to high pressures...

The new dedicated AMS facility HAMSTER (Helmholtz Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Tracing Environmental Radionuclides) is being set up at HZDR as a universal and flexible AMS system that allows for routine measurements of nuclides across the whole chart of nuclides but has also a focus on implementing new technical developments.
HAMSTER is based on a 1-MV Pelletron accelerator (National...

ISOLDE-CERN is the worldwide reference facility for the production and delivery of radioactive ion beams of high purity. Since the late 70s the laboratory is pioneer in the use of nuclear techniques for studying local properties of materials using high-technology equipment [1]. For instance, the brand-new ultra-high-vacuum implantation chamber called ASPIC’s Ion Implantation chamber (ASCII)...

With its unique combination of an external magnetic field of up to 8.5 tesla and the ability to heat and cool samples during measurements, the MULTIPAC Time-Differential Perturbed Angular Correlation (TDPAC) setup creates new possibilities for studying materials and their phase transitions. Building on this advanced instrumentation, the dedicated control and analysis software PACBIT enables...

It is still an open question whether magnetoelectric coupling occurs at the atomic scale in multiferroic BiFeO3. Nuclear solid-state techniques monitor local fields at the atomic scale. Using such an approach, we show that, contrary to our own expectation, ferroelectric and magnetic ordering in bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3 or BFO) decouple at the unit-cell level. Time differential perturbed angular...

Biological ion beam research in Germany stands at a decisive moment, where advances in accelerator physics, molecular biology, and clinical practice converge to define the future of radiotherapy and radiation protection. Over the next decade, the central challenge will be to understand and predict how ionizing radiation induces biological effects across scales, from nanometer-scale DNA lesions...

Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide, and radiotherapy (RT) is one of the prominent modalities in the fight against it. From a biological perspective, the main target of RT is the DNA of cancer cells due to its radiosensitivity. To conduct fundamental research into radiation effects at sub-cellular scales, highly precise cell irradiation with micrometer- and nanometer-sized...

Proton minibeam radiotherapy (pMBT) is a novel radiotherapy method that deploys proton beams, combined with spatial fractionation, intending to broaden the therapeutic window while protecting healthy tissues. Preclinical studies have already highlighted the potential of pMBT in sparing healthy tissues and achieving better tumor control compared to conventional proton therapy. Constructing a...

High intensity particle accelerators suffer from outgassing of components stimulated by beam operation. This meanwhile well-understood phenomenon limits the beam intensity and / or lifetime. In recent years, a simple, yet effective method was developed for the conditioning of accelerator parts prior to their installation. In principle, the method is a specialised annealing in a UHV furnace...

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) has long been established as a prime technique to measure an array of long-lived radionuclides in the environment. Radiocarbon has been established first, and later the method has been expanded to include $^{10}$Be, $^{26}$Al, and $^{129}$I, to name but a few. The method originally developed on large nuclear physics tandem accelerators with terminal voltages...

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) is an ultrasensitive method for detection of naturally or anthropogenically produced long-lived radionuclides in our environment.
To combine this method with the capabilities of a secondary-ion mass spectrometer (SIMS: IMS 7f-Auto from Cameca) is challenging. The idea is to use the micron-scale spatial resolution of the SIMS and the high selectivity through...

The Apparatus for Surface Physics and Interfaces at CERN (ASPIC) has been installed in the solid state physics part of the ISOLDE experimental hall. Operating at ultra-high vacuum (UHV $\leq 10^{-8}$mbar) ASPIC's versatility was used to study metallic surfaces, the magnetic behavior of thin films and an interface evolution, as well as employing radioactive isotopes and a variety of surface...

Dust is one of the fundamental players in the physical and chemical processes taking place in
astrophysical and (exo)planetary environments. The composition, structure, morphology,
surface properties and optical properties of cosmic dust can dramatically change on its way
from nm-sized particles in the interstellar medium to mm-sized pebbles – building blocks of
planets in protoplanetary...

The interaction of swift heavy ions (SHI) with organic matter is highly relevant for applications such as cancer therapy and the development of biomaterials based on SHI irradiation. Furthermore, the interaction of SHI with complex molecular systems such as biomolecules is interesting from a fundamental point of view in terms of the excitation mechanisms involved and how the energy deposited...

Hafnium oxide- and GeSbTe-based functional layers represent promising material platforms for next-generation memory technologies. In addition to their potential for conventional computing applications, these materials are increasingly being investigated for use in radiation-harsh environments. Evaluating their resilience against ion irradiation is therefore essential to assess their...