New tool for nanotechnology

The Ion Beam Centre at the University of Surrey has been awarded a research grant by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to construct and use a new tool for nanotechnology.

The Ion Beam Centre (IBC) at the University of Surrey has been awarded a research grant of GBP 256,845 by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), to construct and use a new tool for nanotechnology.

The MeV Nanobeam will produce an extremely finely focused beam of protons or other ions accelerated through a few million volts in an ion accelerator.

The beam will be capable of drawing patterns which are only tens of nanometres across (but up to 1000 times deeper) creating structures which are important for photonics, and to make specially textured surfaces which can be used as "tissue scaffolds" to encourage the healing of injuries.

The beam can be also be used as a sensitive probe to perform chemical analysis of objects on the nanometre scale.

Applications vary from understanding grain boundaries in diamond to investigating the role of aluminium in digestive and neurodegenerative diseases.

This project will depend on the IBC's in-depth experience in developing microfocused ion beam systems, together with new software tools for modelling ion paths in complex magnetic fields.

Professor Roger Webb, Director of the IBC, said: "This unique tool will further extend our already unique ion beam capabilities into the nanoscale region".

"The potential applications are almost limitless, as we can both manipulate structures on the nanometre scale and probe their elemental composition".

"A particularly exciting field will be the emerging technologies at the life-sciences interface such as drug delivery devices and probing the inner workings of living cells".

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