Ion Beam Modification of Materials

This conference consisted of 15 oral sessions, including three plenary papers covering areas of general interest, 22 specialist invited papers and 51 contributed presentations as well as three poster sessions. There were several scientific highlights covering a diverse spectrum of materials and ion beam processing methods. These included a wide range of conventional and novel applications such as: optical displays and opto-electronics, motor vehicle and tooling parts, coatings tailored for desired properties, studies of fundamental defect properties, the production of novel (often buried) compounds, and treating biomedical materials. The study of nanocrystals produced by ion implantation in a range of host matrices, particularly for opto-electronics applications, was one especially new and exciting development. Despite several decades of study, major progress was reported at the conference in understanding defect evolution in semiconductors and the role of defects in transient impurity diffusion. The use of implantation to tune or isolate optical devices and in forming optically active centres and waveguides in semiconductors, polymers and oxide ceramics was a major focus of several presentations at the conference. The formation of hard coatings by ion assisted deposition or direct implantation was also an area which showed much recent progress. Ion beam techniques had also developed apace, particularly those based on plasma immersion ion implantation or alternative techniques for large area surface treatment. Finally, the use of ion beams for the direct treatment of cancerous tissue was a particularly novel and interesting application of ion beams.