The review is devoted to the use of powerful submicrosecond ion beams for the synthesis and modification of material properties. Powerful ion beams, originally developed for the problems of inertial thermonuclear fusion, have been increasingly used over the past 30 years as a powerful pulsed heating source providing ample opportunities for modifying the surface layer of materials. By varying the key parameters of the beams, such as the composition (type of ions), the duration of the accelerating pulse (10 ns – 1 μs), the kinetic energy of the ions (0.1 – 1 MeV), the energy density transmitted by the beam to the target surface per pulse (0.1 – 50 J/cm2), the main areas of application of high-power ion beams in materials science were determined: modification of the surface layer by ultrafast quenching, melting and ultrafast recrystallization with the formation of micro- and nanostructures, pulsed implantation of ions accompanied by energetic action, deposition of thin films and synthesis of nanosized powders from ablative plasma.
Noble gas ion beams in materials science for future applications and devices