Ion beams for high fluence irradiation testing and characterization of materials

NOMATEN HYBRID-SEMINAR

online: https://meet.goto.com/NCBJmeetings/nomaten-seminar
In-person: NOMATEN seminar room (102)

Friday, JANUARY 16^th  2026 12:30 PM (CET)

Ion beams for high fluence irradiation testing and characterization of materials

Prof. Pavol Noga
Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Faculty of materials science and technology in Trnava, Advanced technologies research institute (ATRI MTF STU)

Abstract:

Ion beams are invaluable tools for materials qualification and testing across diverse applications, including nuclear power, aerospace, and electronics. In the nuclear industry, the traditionally lengthy process of materials qualification can be accelerated by using ion accelerators to evaluate irradiation damage in newly developed structural as well as functional materials or electronic devices. The only drawback in comparison with neutron irradiation using research reactors is the very low thickness of the damaged layer. The typical irradiation experiment comprises one ion implantation step, which modifies around 1-3 micrometers of the sample, resulting in a graded layer and damage profile. To overcome this limitation, we employ a multi-step approach that produces a much thicker (up to 70 m) and homogeneously irradiated layer. This method enables subsequent micromechanical testing and assessment of engineering-relevant material properties, providing a more comprehensive evaluation of the material’s performance under irradiation. On the other hand, ion beam analysis offers high sensitivity materials analysis, providing detailed isotope-resolved information on the elemental composition, detection and quantification of trace impurities, including light elements down to hydrogen at ppm concentrations. The latter gains importance with the spread of hydrogen production, transport and storage systems as well as lithium batteries, where the understanding of diffusion and migration of these elements is of critical importance. It can also assess the crystallinity of the sample, or, the degree of damage/amorphization, which is particularly useful in semiconductor processing.
 

Bio:

Pavol Noga is the head of the Department of Ion-Beam Technologies/Ion-Beam Center at ATRI MTF STU and associate director of ATRI MTF STU. He received his Ph.D. in 2011 from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. He has extensive international industrial and academic experience, including a large-scale EPC project in the Oil&Gas sector. Notable achievements include designing the ion-optical coupling for the Super-SIMS instrument HZDR Dresden-Rossendorf, which enables high-sensitivity measurements of trace elements for geological purposes. His research focuses on ion irradiation testing of materials for various applications, focusing mainly on the development of nuclear materials, semiconductors for Space applications and ion beam synthesis of new materials.