Ion scattering experiments are characterised primarily by the energy of the incident ions and on this basis are normally divided into regimes of low energy ion scattering (LEIS), medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) and Rutherford backscattering (RBS), sometimes called HEIS. In RBS, the ion energy is typically 1 MeV, in MEIS around 100 - 300 keV and in LEIS a few keV. At the high energies of RBS, ions typically penetrate deep into the sample and the technique is not so useful for surface and interface studies. Our group has a strong interest in CAICISS (a particular implementation of the LEIS technique) and MEIS. The CAICISS instrument is based in the Warwick labs and MEIS studies are carried out at the UK MEIS Facility at Daresbury Laboratories.

Details of how MEIS can be applied to the compositional analysis of nanostructures such as quantum dots can be found on Dr. Bell's site here.