Material analysis with ion beams

Abstract

All methods of material analysis by target stimulation, whether by photons, electrons or ions, yield a mixture of quantitative and qualitative information. Those techniques that give quantitative information are usually weak on qualitative chemical‐binding information, because they are insensitive to the complex perturbations of the outer‐shell binding electrons. Energetic ion beams, which interact only with target nuclei, are usually very quantitative and provide no binding information at all. This aspect of ion‐beam analysis is its prime asset.