Production of MeV ion microbeams using glass capillary optics and its applications

Abstract

Injection needles used in the life sciences can be applied in the production of micrometer-sized ion beams. The needle is called tapered glass capillary optics and plays an important role in MeV-energy ion irradiation, which is difficult with samples in liquid solution due to the short range of the ions. This technique realizes MeV-ion irradiation in liquids or under atmosphere for sample analysis and modification. To understand the ion transmission characteristics, the difference between keV and MeV ion cases is shown by introducing peculiar keV ion features, such as the focusing and guiding effects as well as the delayed transmission phenomenon. Then, the latest application experiments with MeV ion microbeams with glass capillaries are reported.