Accelerators at Materials Science Division, IGCAR, Kalpakkam: a status report

The study of the modifications in structure and properties of materials during ion irradiation form an important activity at the Materials Science Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. During the formative years of this programme, most of the studies were carried out using a 150 kV accelerator, capable of accelerating ions of gaseous elements. Subsequently, the capabilities of the accelerator were upgraded by installing a post acceleration mass analyzing magnet and an UHV implantation chamber, which provided better purity of implanting species and cleaner irradiation environment. This accelerator was extensively used for studies in the area of radiation effects in metals and alloys, phase instabilities under irradiation, hydrogen in metals, formation of exotic phases like embedded nano clusters and metastable surface alloys and implantation effects in polymers arid semiconductors. These studies employed a wide spectrum of techniques for post-irradiation analysis like light scattering studies, positron based techniques, SIMS, XPS and electron microscopy