An area of particular interest for the group is the extent to which the properties of solids are changed by exposure to fluxes of energetic particles such as ions, neutrons and even cosmic rays.  On impacting with various solids such particles may give rise to a variety of defects which usually have detrimental effects (but sometimes can have beneficial ones) on the mechanical, electrical, optical and even magnetic properties of the solids.

Recently established at the University of Huddersfield by Professor Stephen Donnelly, the Group’s research revolves around the use of electron microscopy to study the interaction of energetic particles with matter; an area that has relevance to materials for space, the semiconductor industry and particularly to the nuclear industry because it will help decide the materials used for the next generation of reactors being constructed over the next decade.

Current nuclear reactors  (fission reactors) have to withstand not only bombardment with energetic neutrons but also high temperatures, and future reactors will operate at even higher temperatures and will be subjected to greater fluxes of neutrons. In addition, the proposed fusion reactor, that harnesses reactions similar to those that produce the sun’s energy,   will also have components that are  subjected to similar extreme conditions. The choice (and in some cases the design) of appropriate materials for reactor components is therefore of crucial importance and the work of the Electron Microscopy and Materials Analysis group  plays a key role.

Although concerned with the materials from which reactors are constructed, their research does not involve the handling of radioactive materials or actual neutron bombardment. Instead, they use ion beams – which are completely safe – to simulate the effects that neutrons have on materials.

Their work is made possible by a very impressive piece of technology, developed by Professor Donnelly and his team, consisting of a transmission electron microscope connected to an ion accelerator – the Microscope and Ion Accelerator for Materials Investigations facility (MIAMI).