Focusing beams of high-energy ions

Innovative precision lenses, designed and built in Australia for focusing beams of high-energy ions, form the core of a new breed of high-energy ion beam microscope recently commissioned in Melbourne.

Designed by the CSIRO Division of Exploration and Mining in collaboration with the Microanalytical Research Centre (MARC) at the University of Melbourne, these special lenses open up a wide range of applications to science and industry.

The lens system, known as a magnetic quadrupole quintuplet, can focus high-energy ions produced by a million volt particle accelerator into a micrometre-sized, non-destructive beam to determine the composition and structure of a sample with high sensitivity.

"These special lenses also form the heart of CSIRO's new nuclear microprobe and produce spectacular results in geological research and the development of mineral exploration methods," says Dr Chris Ryan at the CSIRO Division of Exploration and Mining.

"The probe has myriad applications in fields like medicine, geology, biology, and the development of advanced materials for use in micro-electronics, superconductors and nanotechnology," says MARC Director, Associate Professor David Jamieson.

The high-energy ion microscope will be installed at the Vrije University of Amsterdam as part of a collaboration between the University of Melbourne and the National Institute for Nuclear and High Energy Physics (NIKHEF) in Amsterdam.