Nanotechnology

In order to progress in the fabrication and diagnostics of nanostructures and surfaces, scientists are developing more advanced spectroscopic and imaging methods. Highly charged ion surface interaction using an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) facility is one such method being examined by researchers in the Department of Physics at the University of Nevada and at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Researchers deposited a large amount of potential energy from single ions at the surface leading to localized surface defects of subnanosize. The comparison of the computer simulation with experimental x-ray spectra showed the formation of subsurface hollow atoms.