Research

Ion Beam Physics and Instrumental Developments

The Ion Beam Physics group at ETH in Zurich is a worldwide leading group in developing new instrumentation for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and Ion Beam Analyses (IBA). The emphasis of the group is in studying the particle physics of atomic ions at low energies in order to develop new compact facilities/instrumentation for AMS and IBA.

More about Instrumental Developments »

Applications of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS)

The Ion Beam Physics Group covers a broad range of applications in very different fields of research. Naturally produced long-lived radionuclides have become invaluable tools in climate research on timescales ranging from the present to millions of years ago. They are used as environmental tracers, dating agents, or to quantify geomorphologic changes. Artificially produced long-lived radionuclides are used as transient tracers, for environmental monitoring purposes as well as for biomedical applications.

More about Applications of AMS »

Ion Beam Analyses (IBA) and Materials Modification

For the characterization of the elemental composition of thin layers and surfaces several ion beam based methods are applied: Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA), Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA), and Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE). All these methods are fully quantitative and can detect all elements throughout the periodic table (including hydrogen).

More about IBA »

List of research projects