IBA Techniques
The IBA techniques are analytical techniques which use as a probe an ion to analyze the composition (at different levels: elemental, molecular, spatial, depth…) of a sample through atomic or nuclear reactions.
The particles come from electrostatic accelerators specifically designed for analytical purposes such as the CMAM Cockcroft Walton, Tandem accelerator with a terminal voltage between 0.5 and 5 MV. The possibility offered by the accelerators of defining with high precision and varying with continuity some essential beam parameters, like the energy (at the per thousand), the current (at the percent) and the size (from the mm to hundred nanometres) has made these techniques the preferred ones in many application fields. They deserve mention: Photonics, Biomedicine, Energy, Safety, Archaeometry, Environment, and Electronics. This is a short summary of IBA techniques (click on everyone to see a short description):
The analitical information that these techniques can provide (cumulatively) are many, for example:
The elemental composition of a sample through the analysis of emitted X-ray, or gamma-ray, or backscattered particles energy spectra.
The depth profile of elements through the change of beam energy (and its penetration depth) or the variation of beam-sample geometry.
The structural composition of a crystal sample through channeling.
Each of the above techniques gives its specific contribution to the knowledge of the sample and many of them can be performed simultaneously during the same sample irradiation.
** We strongly recommend the consultation of reference textbooks for a complete description of the physics principle and all the technical details.