Radiation technology is an important part of modern-day life. Applications that are presently widespread, such as nuclear energy, diagnostic and treatment tools in medicine, and numerous industrial uses, were all developed as a by-product of basic nuclear physics research through the course of the 20th century.
Today, complex accelerator facilities and advanced detector systems still hold a prominent place at the forefront of basic scientific research. Besides, the impact of radiation technology has become indispensable in many other interdisciplinary research and development fields.
Examples of radiation technology applications in research and development, where the RBI staff expertise and research infrastructure is particularly competitive, include: the development and testing of novel radiation detector structures, the simulation of fusion reactor environment using dual beam irradiation, the development and application of state of the art ion beam microanalysis techniques, the development of dosimetry techniques, carbon dating of minute material samples, the disinfection and the consolidation of unique cultural heritage objects, etc.
Moreover, knowledge obtained from basic studies of radiation interaction with materials processes offers an excellent basis for future technology developments. One such example is single ion implantation techniques (deterministic doping) that are the basis of future quantum computing technologies.
