Materials Processing by Cluster Ion Beams ─ History, Technology, and Applications

In the last 20 years, gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) processing has emerged as a fundamental tool for nanoscale processing. Written by a pioneer in this area, this book helps both newcomers and practicing professionals in science and engineering understand the new field of cluster ion beams. The book presents a history of the technology, underscoring how this new area relates to more familiar work. It also explores the challenges involved in expanding the technology to potential uses, such as nanophotonics.

Isao Yamada was the originator of the concept for the processing of materials by gas cluster ion beams. He is presently a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Engineering of the University of Hyogo in Japan. He is professor emeritus at Kyoto University, where he was director of the Ion Beam Engineering Experimental Laboratory. He received his Ph.D in electrical engineering from Kyoto University and has held visiting scientist appointments at the FOM Institute in Amsterdam, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and Northwestern University. For the past 40 years, his principal areas of research have ranged from fundamental physics to practical applications of materials processing by ion beams, with particular emphasis on very low-energy ion-solid interactions.