Applications of radioactive ion beams to solid-state physics

Materials science and biophysics applications at the ISOLDE radioactive ion beam facility

“…PAC allows measuring the electric field gradient (EFG) and the magnetic field that a suited probe nucleus experiences on its lattice site in a solid. Initially the bulk of the experiments at ISOLDE concentrated on semiconductors and on metal surfaces, and has been well reviewed in the past [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. During the last couple of years, the PAC work at ISOLDE in the field of semiconductors has concentrated on experiments using the probes 111 In, 111m Cd, 115 Cd, 117 Cd, and 111 Ag in the nitride semiconductors GaN and AlN.…”

“…Over the years, the ISOLDE materials science program or parts thereof have been reviewed at various times in the literature [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. This paper gives an overview on the recent (~last 5 years) research activities in materials science and biophysics at ISOLDE, together with a brief outlook on the new developments under way.…”

Nuclear radioactive techniques applied to materials research

“…One example of these phenomena is the diffusion of Ag, and, to a lesser extent also, of Cu in CdTe, which shows several very unusual properties depending on the sample conditions before diffusion and on the external conditions during diffusion. Figure 2 shows a selected example of such type of diffusion behaviours where several concentration profiles are presented for the radiotracers 111 Ag, 67 Cu, 193 Au, and 24 Na measured in CdTe crystals after implantation and subsequent diffusion under external Cd vapour pressure.…”

“…For this purpose a new setup is being commissioned at the University of Saarbrücken, which will allow implantation, annealing, sectioning of the sample by ion sputtering, and measurement of short-lived tracers (few minute half-lives) by detecting the decay-radiation, in situ. Uphill diffusion profiles measured for the radiotracers 111 Ag, 67 Cu, 193 Au, and 24 Na in CdTe annealed under Cd atmosphere. The solid lines are simulations according to the model described in Ref.…”

The ISOLDE Facility

“…The application of radionuclides produced at ISOLDE in materials science and biophysics account for about 15% of the allocated on-line operation [37][38][39][40]. In the case of materials science, investigations focus on the study of semiconductors and oxides, with the recent additions of nanoparticles and metals, while the biophysics studies address the toxicity of metal ions in biological systems.…”