A new experimental system for studying defects and deuterium lattice location in single crystals by ion beam Methods

A high-precision 5-axis goniometer has been installed and commissioned at the INSIBA end station of the 2 MV Tandetron accelerator at the Jožef Stefan Institute. The system provides three translational and two rotational degrees of freedom with an angular resolution of 0.01°, enabling precise sample alignment for Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS-C) and Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA-C), both in channeling mode. The goniometer is equipped with a versatile sample stage allowing continuous heating up to 1470 K, liquid-nitrogen cooling, and biasing up to 500 V. A load-lock system ensures vacuum integrity during sample exchange. The system supports simultaneous data acquisition from up to five detectors. Commissioning was performed using pristine and W-ion irradiated W(111) single crystals by 10.8 MeV W ions inducing damage of 0.02 and 0.2 dpa at RT, as well as D-plasma-exposed W(100) crystals containing deuterium-decorated defects. Simultaneous RBS-C and NRA-C measurements demonstrated consistent results with benchmark data, confirming the system’s precision and stability. The setup also enables in-situ RBS-C during thermal annealing, facilitating real-time studies of defect recovery and hydrogen behaviour. This system represents a major enhancement in ion beam analysis capabilities for investigating defect dynamics and light element trapping and transport in materials.