The Munich ion microprobe:: Characteristics and prospect

The newly developed ion microprobe SNAKE (superconducting nanoscope for applied nuclear (Kern-) physics experiments) has gone into routine operation at the Munich 14 MV tandem accelerator. It focuses ion beams, from protons to uranium, with energies that are about 10 times larger than they are available at standard nuclear microprobes. Lateral resolutions of Deltax = 1.6 mum and Deltay = 1.2 mum for x- and y-direction at full aperture and as low as Deltax = 600 nm and Deltay = 150 nm for a pencil beam have been achieved so far. The latter values are limited by positional drifts and 50 Hz oscillating fields which have become obvious in time resolved measurements. SNAKE opens new possibilities for analysis of microstructured materials as well as materials modifications. The highlights are three dimensional hydrogen analysis using proton proton scattering, high resolution transmission energy loss measurements utilizing a magnetic spectrograph and materials modification with available high energy proton and heavy ion beams. Standard techniques like particle induced X-ray emission, elastic and inelastic scattering are also used for imaging. The paper summarizes some of the prospects using the enlarged range of available ion beams and ion energies. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.