Introduction to ion track technology

Ion tracks are created by swift heavy

Swift heavy ion

Swift heavy ions are a special form of particle radiation for which electronic stopping dominates over nuclear stopping.They are accelerated in particle accelerators to very high energies, typically in the MeV or GeV range and have sufficient energy and mass to penetrate solids on a straight line...

 ion

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. The name was given by physicist Michael Faraday for the substances that allow a current to pass between electrodes in a...

s penetrating through solids. They correspond to transformed zones >6 nanometer in diameter and can be studied by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry is an analytical technique used in materials science. Sometimes referred to as high-energy ion scattering spectrometry, RBS is used to determine the structure and composition of materials by measuring the backscattering of a beam of high energy ions...

 (RBS),Transmission Electron Microscopy

Transmission electron microscopy

Transmission electron microscopy is a microscopy technique whereby a beam of electrons is transmitted through an ultra thin specimen, interacting with the specimen as it passes through...

 (TEM), Small-Angle Neutron Scattering

Small-angle neutron scattering

Small angle neutron scattering is a laboratory technique, similar to the often complementary techniques of small angle X-ray scattering and light scattering, used for investigations of structure of various substances, with spatial sensitivity of about 1 - 1000 nm...

 (SANS), Small-Angle X-ray Scattering

Small-angle X-ray scattering

Small-angle X-ray scattering is a small-angle scattering technique where the elastic scattering of X-rays by a sample which has inhomogeneities in the nm-range, is recorded at very low angles...

 (SAXS

SAXS

Small-angle scattering is a fundamental method for structure analysis of materials, including biological materials. Small-angle scattering allows one to study the structure of a variety of objects such as solutions of biological macromolecules, nanocomposites, alloys, synthetic polymers, etc...

) or gas permeation

Permeation

Permeation, in physics and engineering, is the penetration of a permeate through a solid, and is related to a material's intrinsic permeability...

. Ion tracks can be selectively etched in many insulating solids leading to cones or cylinders down to 8 nanometer in diameter. In minerals, ion tracks can remain unaltered for millions of years. Their density tells about the time when the mineral has solidified from its melt and is used as a geological clock in fission track dating

Fission track dating

Fission track dating is a radiometric dating technique based on analyses of the damage trails, or tracks, left by fission fragments in certain uranium-bearing minerals and glasses...

. Ion track technology deals with the application of ion tracks in micro-

Microtechnology

Microtechnology is technology with features near one micrometre .In the 1960s, scientists learned that by arraying large numbers of microscopic transistors on a single chip, microelectronic circuits could be built that dramatically improved performance, functionality, and reliability, all while...

 and nanotechnology

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...

. Etched track cylinders can be used as filters, Coulter counter

Coulter counter

A Coulter counter is an apparatus for counting and sizing particles suspended in electrolytes. It is used for cells, bacteria, prokaryotic cells and virus particles....

 aperture

Aperture

In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...

s, be modified with monolayer

Monolayer

- Chemistry :A Langmuir monolayer or insoluble monolayer is a one-molecule thick layer of an insoluble organic material spread onto an aqueous subphase. Traditional compounds used to prepare Langmuir monolayers are amphiphilic materials that possess a hydrophilic headgroup and a hydrophobic tail...

s or filled by electroplating

Electroplating

Electroplating is a plating process in which metal ions in a solution are moved by an electric field to coat an electrode. The process uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal...

.