Modification et caractérisation des surfaces par bombardement ionique

Although energetic ion beams have been widely used for several decades to dope semiconductors, their application to the modification of the tribological (e.g., microhardness, abrasive wear, friction) and electrochemical (e.g., corrosion and oxidation) properties of metallic surfaces is less widespread. Such ion beams can be used to create new near-surface alloys or new types of structures, such as quasicrystals. The optical properties (such as refractive index or nonlinear response) of materials such as glasses and polymers can also be modified by ion bombardment. On another level, fast ion beams can also be used to probe surfaces by determining the absolute concentration profiles of either heavy elements (by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry) or light ones (by Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis). Some examples of these applications will be presented.