Swift Heavy Ions for Materials Engineering and Nanostructuring

Book excerpt: Ion beams have been used for decades for characterizing and analyzing materials. Now energetic ion beams are providing ways to modify the materials in unprecedented ways. This book highlights the emergence of high-energy swift heavy ions as a tool for tailoring the properties of materials with nanoscale structures. Swift heavy ions interact with materials by exciting/ionizing electrons without directly moving the atoms. This opens a new horizon towards the 'so-called' soft engineering. The book discusses the ion beam technology emerging from the non-equilibrium conditions and emphasizes the power of controlled irradiation to tailor the properties of various types of materials for specific needs.