A possible mechanism to explain the origin of around 35 neutron–deficient stable isotopes with mass A≥75 between 74 Se and 196 Hg, known as the p–nuclei is the nucleosynthesis in the proton–rich neutrino–driven winds of core–collapse supernovae via the νp–process. However this production scenario is very sensitive to the underlying supernova dynamics and the nuclear physics input. As far as nuclear uncertainties are concerned, the breakout reaction from the pp-chains, 7Be(α, γ)11C, has been identified as an important link which can influence the nuclear flow and therefore the efficiency of the νp–process. However its reaction rate is not well known over the relevant energy range (T9 = 1.5–3). In this thesis we report on the direct first measurement of two resonances of the 7Be(α, γ)11 C reaction with previously unknown strengths using an intense radioactive 7Be beam from ISAC and the DRAGON recoil separator in inverse kinematics. Since resonance strength measurements with low mass beams using recoil separators depend strongly on the recoil angular distribution, which can exceed the acceptance of the separator, we first performed a proof–of–principle test by measuring a known resonance of the 6Li(α, γ)10B reaction, which also presents a similar challenge. Our results from the 6Li(α, γ)10B reaction are in agreement with literature, showing that DRAGON can measure resonance strengths of reactions for which the maximum momentum cone of the recoils exceeds its acceptance. From the newly measured 7Be(α, γ)11C resonance strengths we calculated the new reaction rate which is lower than the current recommended by 10–50% and constrained to 5–10% in the relevant temperature region. Using this new rate, we performed detailed nucleosynthesis calculations which suggest that there is no effect the production of light p–nuclei, but a production increase for CNO elements of up to an order of magnitude is observed. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Dans les milieux astrophysiques explosifs tels que les novae ou les sursauts X, la densité d'hydrogène et la température sont suffisamment grandes pour que le temps entre deux réactions impliquant un proton soit plus court que le temps de vie de certains ions radioactifs. La connaissance de la section efficace des réactions de capture d’un proton par un ion radioactif est un des ingrédients important permettant la modélisation de tels milieux. Dans ce travail, un nouveau dispositif expérimental permettant d'étudier la force de résonance de réactions (p,gamma) en cinématique inverse est présenté. Ce dispositif, baptisé ARES (Astrophysical REcoil Separator), a été d’abord caractérisé à l'aide de l'étude de la réaction 19F(p,gamma)20Ne et plus particulièrement de la mesure de la force de la résonance bien connue à 635 keV au dessus du seuil 19F+p. De plus, la simulation de cette expérience est en accord avec les mesures effectuées. Une première mesure de force de résonance d'une réaction impliquant un faisceau d'ions radioactifs est ensuite présentée. Il s'agit de la réaction 19Ne(p,gamma)20Na et plus particulièrement de la résonance à 448 keV au dessus du seuil 19Ne+p. Une limite supérieure de 15.2 meV avec un niveau de confiance de 90% est obtenue. Cette limite supérieure améliore légèrement les résultats de mesures antérieures. / In explosive astrophysical environments such as novae or X-ray bursts, the temperature and the hydrogen density are so large that the time between two reactions involving protons is smaller than the live time of radioactive ions. The cross section of such reactions is an important ingredient of the modeling of such environments. In this work, a new experimental device, allowing the study of resonance strength of (p,gamma) reactions, is presented. This setup, called ARES (Astrophysical REcoil Separator), is first characterized using the study of the well known reaction, 19F(p,gamma)20Ne and more precisely the measurement of the resonance strength of the 635 keV level above the 19F+p threshold. The simulation of this experiment is found in good agreement with the measurement. Then the first resonance strength measurement of a reaction involving radioactive ions beams is presented, i.e. the resonance strength of the 448 keV level above the 19Ne+p threshold in the 19Ne(p,gamma)20Na reaction. An upper limit of 15.2 meV with a confidence level of 90% is obtained. This upper limit improves slightly the results of previous measurements.

L'étude détaillée des distributions transverses du halo du faisceau est importante du point de vue des pertes de faisceau et du contrôle du bruit de fond dans ATF2 et les futurs collisionneurs linéaires (FLC). Un nouveau type de capteur diamant sous vide (DSv) déplacable, avec quatre pistes, a été conçu et développé pour la mesure des distributions transverses du halo du faisceau et la détection du spectre des électrons de recul Compton après le point d'interaction (IP) d'ATF2, qui est un prototype à basse énergie (1.3 GeV) de la section de focalisation finale pour les projets de collisionneurs linéaires ILC et CLIC.Cette thèse présente les études du halo du faisceau et des électrons de recul Compton, ainsi que la caractérisation, les études de performance et les tests des capteurs diamant (DS), tant sur PHIL, un photo-injecteur à basse énergie (<10 MeV) au LAL, que sur ATF2. Les résultats des premières mesures du halo du faisceau, utilisant des wire scanner (WS) et un DSv, sur ATF2 sont également présentés et comparés dans cette thèse.Des simulations utilisant Mad-X et CAIN ont été réalisées afin d'estimer le nombre d'électrons composant le halo du faisceau ainsi que le nombre d'électrons de recul Compton. Les résultats des simulations ont indiqué qu'une grande gamme dynamique, supérieure 10⁶ , est nécessaire pour une mesure simultanée du cœur du faisceau, du halo du faisceau et des électrons de recul Compton. Un DSv mono-cristallin, fabriqué par CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), a été développé dans ce but.Avant l'installation du capteur diamant, une première tentative de mesure du halo du faisceau a été effectuée en 2013, en utilisant les wire scanners (WS) actuellement installés sur ATF2. En raison de leur dynamique limitée de ~10³ , la distribution du halo du faisceau a été mesurée seulement jusqu'à ~±6σ dans la ligne d'extraction (EXT). Un paramétrage des distributions mesurées du halo du faisceau a montré que les distributions mesurées sont cohérentes avec des mesures faites précédemment, en 2005, sur l'ancienne ligne faisceau d'ATF. Durant ces mesures, une distribution asymétrique du halo vertical du faisceau a été observée pour la première fois en utilisant le WS situé après l'IP, son origine est actuellement sous investigation en utilisant le DSv.Des études pour caractériser des capteurs diamants de dimensions 4.5x4.5x0.5 mm³ ont été réalisées en utilisant des sources α et β. Les paramètres de transport des porteurs de charge (durée de vie, vitesse de saturation, etc.) ont été obtenus en utilisant la technique des courants transitoires (TCT). Par ailleurs, la linéarité de la réponse du DS a été testée sur PHIL avec différentes intensités de faisceau après la fenêtre de sortie de d'accélération. Un signal maximum de 10⁸ électrons a été mesuré, avec une réponse linéaire jusqu'à 10⁷ électrons. Des études similaires de la linéarité ont été faites pour le DSv sur ATF2. Nous avons pu y exploiter avec succès, pour la première fois une gamme dynamique de ~10⁶ , permettant de mesurer simultanément le cœur du faisceau (~10⁹ électrons) et le halo du faisceau (~10³ électrons). Le pick-up électromagnétique induit par le passage du cœur du faisceau et des effets de saturation, qui sont les limitations empêchant actuellement le DSv d'atteindre une gamme dynamique supérieure à 10⁶ , ont également été identifiés et étudiés.Les premières mesures de la distribution horizontale du halo, en utilisant le DSv, ont été effectuées jusqu'à ~±20σx , et ont permis de prouver que le halo du faisceau est collimaté par les ouvertures de la ligne ATF2. Une distribution horizontale du halo compatible avec les paramétrages de 2005 et 2013 a été confirmée. La possibilité de détecter les électrons de recul Compton a été étudiée. Différentes solutions pour accroître la sensibilité des mesures ont été proposées. / The investigation of beam halo transverse distributions is an important issue for beam losses and background control in ATF2 and in Future Linear Colliders (FLC). A novel in vacuum diamond sensor (DSv) scanner with four strips has been designed and developed for the investigation of beam halo transverse distributions and also for the diagnostics of Compton recoil electrons after the interaction point (IP) of ATF2, a low energy (1.3 GeV) prototype of the final focus system for ILC and CLIC linear collider projects. This thesis presents the beam halo and Compton recoil electrons studies as well as the characterization, performance studies and tests of the diamond sensors (DS) both at PHIL, a low energy (<10 MeV) photo-injector at LAL, and at ATF2. First beam halo measurement results using wire scanners (WS) and DSv at ATF2 are also presented and compared in this thesis. Simulations using Mad-X and CAIN were done to estimate the rate of the beam halo and Compton recoil electrons. Simulation results have indicated that a large dynamic range of more than 10⁶ is needed for a simultaneous measurement of the beam core, beam halo and Compton recoil electrons. A single crystalline Chemical Vapor-Deposition (sCVD) based DSv was developed for this purpose. Prior to the diamond detector installation, first attempt of beam halo measurements have been performed in 2013 using the currently installed WS. With a limited dynamic range of ~10³ , the beam halo distribution was measured only up to ~±6σ in the extraction (EXT) line. Parametrizations of the measured beam halo distribution showed a consistent distribution with previous measurements done in 2005 at the old ATF beam line. Meanwhile, an asymmetric vertical beam halo distribution was observed for the first time using the post-IP WS, the origin of which is currently under investigation using the DSv.Studies to characterize DS pads with dimensions of 4.5x4.5x0.5 mm³ were carried out using the α and β sources. Charge carrier transport parameters (lifetime, saturation velocity etc.) were obtained using the transient-current technique (TCT). Furthermore, the linearity of the DS response was tested at PHIL with different beam intensities in air: a maximum signal of 108 electrons was measured with a linear response up to 10⁷ electrons. Similar linearity studies were done for the DSv at ATF2, where we have successfully demonstrated and confirmed for the first time a dynamic range of ~10⁶ by a simultaneous beam core (~10⁹ e-) and beam halo (~10³ e-) measurement using the DSv. Present limitations due to signal pick-up and saturation effects, which prevent the DSv from reaching a dynamic range higher than 10⁶ , were also studied.First measurements of the horizontal beam halo distribution using the DSv were performed up to ~±20σx, where the beam halo was proved to be collimated by the apertures. Horizontal beam halo distributions consistent with the 2005 and 2013 parametrizations were confirmed. The possibility of probing the Compton recoil electrons has been investigated and different ways to increase their visibility have been proposed.

Neutron are emitted from a deuterium plasma with energies around 2.5 MeV. The neutron spectrum is intimately related to the ion velocity distribution of the plasma. As a consequence, the analysis of neutron energy spectra can give information of the plasma rotation, the ion temperature, heating efficiency and fusion power. The upgraded magnetic proton recoil spectrometer (MPRu), based on the thin-foil technique, is installed at the tokamak JET. The upgrade of the spectrometer was done to allow for measurements of deuterium plasmas. This thesis describes the hardware, the data reduction scheme and the kind of fusion plasma parameters that can be estimated from the data of the MPRu. The MPRu data from 3rd harmonic ion cyclotron resonance and beam heating are studied. Other neutron spectrometer techniques are reviewed as well, in particular in the aspect of suitability for neutron emission spectrometry at ITER. Each spectrometer technique is evaluated using synthetic data which is obtained from standard scenarios of ITER. From this evaluation, we conclude that the thin-foil technique is the best technique to measure, e.g., the ion temperature in terms of time resolution.

<p>Dat je pregled i analiza performansi lakih vojnih terenskih točka&scaron;kih vozila (LVTTV), lakih komercijalnih terenskih točka&scaron;kih vozila (LKTTV) u Pik-ap verziji i postojećih sistema naoružanja pogodnih za primenu na LKTTV Pik-ap verzija.<br />Posebno je razmotrena problematika elastično-prigu&scaron;nog oslanjanja naoružanja pri njegovom jediničnom dejstvu.<br />Definisana je metodologija i projektovana je i realizovana oprema za simulaciju impulsne sile u cilju statičkih i dinamičkih ispitivanja sistema vozilo-platforma-naoružanje u laboratorijskim uslovima.<br />Prikazan je postupak ispitivanja pri statičkom opterećenju sistema i dinamičkih ispitivanja sistema vozilo-platforma-naoružanje u uslovima kontinuirane impulsne sile u cilju odredjivanja pomeranja &scaron;asije u zonama točkova i napona u &scaron;asiji vozila i osloncima platforme za prihvat naoružanja.<br />Postavljen je matematički model sistema vozilo-platforma-naoružanje i data teorijska pomeranja &scaron;asije vozila u zonama točkova pri jediničnoj impulsnoj sili odnosno impulsu.</p> / <p>The review and analysis of the performances of military ground wheeled vehicles (LVTTV), light commercial wheeled ground vehicles (LKTTV) of Pick-up version and current systems of armament convenient for the application on LKTTV Pick-up versions, were given.<br />The issues of elastic-absorbtion suspension of armament during its single shooting function was analised in detail.<br />The methodology was defined, the equipment for the simulation of impulse force was designed and realised with purpose of static and dynamic tests of the vehicle-platform-armament system in the laboratory conditions.<br />The test procedure of static and dynamic loads of system vehicle-platform-armament in conditions of continual impulse force was presented. The aim of these tests was the determination of motion of vehicle chassis in the stress of vehicle chassis and platform supports for the armament.<br />The mathematical model of vehicle-platform-armamaent system was defined and theoretical motions of vehicle chassis in the wheels zones under the single impulse force, were given.</p>

La métrologie fondamentale est la garante de la pérennité des systèmes de mesure et est en charge de fournir les étalons de références. En ce qui concerne la métrologie des rayonnements ionisants et, en particulier la métrologie des neutrons, des détecteurs étalons sont utilisés pour caractériser les champs de références, en énergie et en fluence. Les dosimètres ou détecteurs de particules sont étalonnés. Cette thèse présente le développement d’un spectromètre neutron candidat au statut d’étalon primaire pour la caractérisation de champs neutroniques dans la gamme 5-20 MeV. Le spectromètre utilise le principe du télescope à protons de recul comme moyen de détection ; la technologie CMOS, au travers de trois capteurs de positions, est mise à profit pour réaliser la trajectographie du proton de recul. Un détecteur Si(Li) est en charge de la mesure de l’énergie résiduelle du proton. Les simulations des dispositifs, réalisées sous MCNPX, ont permis d’estimer les performances du dispositif et de valider la procédure de reconstruction de l’énergie des champs neutroniques. Une étape essentielle de caractérisation des éléments du télescope et en particulier des capteurs CMOS est également proposée afin de garantir la validité de mesures expérimentales postérieures. Les tests réalisés aussi bien en champs mono-énergétiques qu’en champs étendus témoignent des très bonnes performances du système. La quantification des incertitudes indiquent une mesure de l’énergie avec une précision de plus de 1.5 % pour une résolution de moins de 6 %. La mesure de la fluence neutronique est quand a elle réalisée avec une incertitude de 4 à 6 %. / The fundamental metrology is responsible for the sustainability of the measurement systems and handles to supply the reference standards. Concerning the metrology of ionizing radiations and, in particular the neutron metrology, detectors standards are used to characterize reference fields, in terms of energy and fluence. The dosimeters or particle detectors are calibrated on these reference fields. This thesis presents the development of a neutron spectrometer neutron candidate to the status of primary standard for the characterization of neutron fields in the range from 5 to 20 MeV. The spectrometer uses the recoil proton telescope as detection principle; the CMOS technology, through three sensor positions, is taking advantage to realize the tracking of protons. A Si(Li) detector handles the measure of the residual proton energy. The device simulations, realized under MCNPX, allow to estimate its performances and to validate the neutron energy reconstruction. An essential step of characterization of the telescope elements and in particular of CMOS sensors is also proposed to guarantee the validity of posterior experimental measurements. The tests realized as well in mono-energy fields as in radionuclide source show the very good performances of the system. The quantification of uncertainties indicates an energy estimation with 1.5 % accuracy and a resolution of less than 6 %. The fluence measurement is performed with an uncertainty about 4 to 6%.

[Formulae and special characters can not be reproduced here. Please see the pdf version of the Abstract for an accurate reproduction.] Indium nitride is an important III-V nitride semiconductor with many potential applications such as in high frequency transistors, laser diodes and photo voltaic cells. The mobility and peak drift velocity of this material are predicted to be extremely high and superior to that of gallium nitride. However, many material properties such as the origin of the n-type conductivity and the electronic band gap are not well understood. Moreover, there is limited information on the stoichiometry and the level of impurity contaminations in the films from different growth techniques. The n-type conductivity observed for as-grown indium nitride films has long been attributed to nitrogen vacancies, implying that the material is nitrogen deficient. A band gap value around 2 eV, as measured by the optical absorption method, is suggested by some authors to be a result of the formation of an InNIn2O3 alloy. Alternatively, the observation of a lower absorption edge, suggesting a band gap around 0.7 eV, may be caused by Mie scattering at indium clusters that may form during film growth. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy and x-ray techniques provide only qualitative composition information. The quantitative interpretation of the results relies on calibration samples which are not available for indium nitride. In Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, while quantitative, the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen signals cannot be separated unless the film is very thin ([tilde]150 nm). However, with heavy ion Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD) analysis all the elements in indium nitride films can be fully separated even for a film thickness of [tilde] 800 nm. In this work, indium nitride films from different growth techniques have been analysed with ERD using 200 MeV 197Au projectiles. The observed nitrogen depletion during the ERD analysis was monitored as a function of projectile fluence using a gas ionisation detector with a large solid angle. Different models have been tested and it has been shown that the bulk molecular recombination model accurately describes the nitrogen depletion so that the original nitrogen-to- indium ratio can be measured with an accuracy of [plus or minus]3 [percent]. The correlation of nitrogen depletion rate and stopping power of the projectile ion has been investigated. The study has shown that the rate of depletion is slower for low-Z projectiles. It has been shown that for a film with good structural properties, no loss of nitrogen occurs during the ERD analysis with low-Z projectiles such as 42 MeV 32S. Thus, the original nitrogen-to-indium ratio can be obtained without any theoretical modelling, and with a precision of better than [plus or minus]1 [percent]. All the indium nitride films studied in this work, for which X-ray diffraction shows no metallic indium, are nitrogen-rich which is contradictory to expectation. Therefore, the common assertion that nitrogen vacancies are the cause of n-type conductivity in as-grown films is diffcult to explain. Instead, the existence of In vacancies, N antisites and interstitial N2 may be speculated. The carbon and oxygen contamination is an issue for films grown by all common growth techniques. However, the suggested correlation of oxygen content in the film with the apparent band gap is not supported by the ERD results. Instead, a correlation between nitrogen-to-indium ratio and the measured band gap has been observed for films grown by RF-sputtering. This work reports the implantation of radioisotope probes using negative ions. The 111In/Cd probe was selected for this work as it is a common Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) probe and ideally suited for the study of indium nitride. For the synthesis of the probe 111In/Cd, several possibilities, such as the production of 111In/Cd via nuclear fusion evaporation reactions and from commercially available 111InCl3 solutions, were explored. Different materials, including powders of Al2O3 and In2O3, were investigated as a carrier for the probe in the ion source of the radioisotope implanter. It has been established that combining the 111InCl3 solution as the source and In2O3 powder as the carrier material gives optimum implantation efficiency. The radioisotope implanter facility has been developed to a stage that the radioisotope probe 111In/Cd can be routinely implanted into materials as molecular 111InO?? ions. An implantation rate of 3x10 4[th] Becquerel per hour has been demonstrated. Measurements on different materials (Ag, In, Ni, Si, InP) have shown that condensed matter spectroscopies such as Low Temperature Nuclear Orientation, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance on Oriented Nuclei (NMRON) and Perturbed Angular Correlation can be reliably performed. NMRON measurements on silver indicate a new resonance frequency of 75.08 MHz for 111InAg at 8.0 T. The local lattice environment of indium nitride thin films has been investigated with PAC spectroscopy. Several methods of introducing a radioisotope probe into a host material have been investigated for indium nitride. The thermal diffusion of the radioisotope probe 111In/Cd into indium nitride at a temperature below the dissociation temperature (about 550 [degrees] C) was not possible. The probe was, however, successfully introduced into indium nitride films with ion implantation techniques. Recoil implantation at MeV energies following fusion evaporation reactions and ion implantation at keV energies, both have been investigated for indium nitride films. An interaction frequency of v = 28 MHz has been measured for the 111In/Cd probe in indium nitride. This result is consistent with that obtained for indium nitride bulk grains. The PAC results suggest that all types of indium nitride films have a highly disordered lattice which could only be partially improved by annealing. Furnace annealing in nitrogen atmosphere above 400 [degrees] C resulted in the dissociation of the film. However, such dissociation could be avoided with rapid thermal annealing up to 600 [degrees] C. More detailed defect studies with PAC require the availability of better material. This study has also shown that indium nitride is highly sensitive to ion beam irradiation. Severe depletion of nitrogen during exposure to ions with MeV and KeV energies is an issue for the ion beam characterisation and processing of indium nitride.

Heavy Ion Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (HIERDA) is a versatile Ion Beam Analysis technique well suited to multi-elemental depth profiling of thin layered structures and near-surface regions of materials. An existing limitation is the inability to accurately account for the pronounced broadening and tailing effects of multiple scattering typically seen in HIERDA spectra. This thesis investigates the role of multiple large angle scattering in heavy ion applications such as HIERDA, and seeks to quantify its contribution to experimental output. This is achieved primarily by the development of a computer simulation capable of predicting these contributions and using it to classify and quantify the interactions that cause them. Monte Carlo ion transport simulation is used to generate simulated HIERDA spectra and the results are compared to experimental data acquired using the Time of Flight HIERDA facility at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisat ion. A Monte Carlo simulation code was adapted to the simulation of HIERDA spectra with considerable attention on improving the modelling efficiency to reduce processing time. Efficiency enhancements have achieved simulation time reductions of two to three orders of magnitude. The simulation is shown to satisfactorily reproduce the complex shape of HIERDA spectra. Some limitations are identified in the ability to accurately predict peak widths and the absolute magnitude of low energy tailing in some cases. The code is used to identify the plural scattering contribution to the spectral features under investigation, and the complexity of plurally scattered ion and recoil paths is demonstrated. The program is also shown to be useful in the interpretation of overlapped energy spectra of elements of similar mass whose signals cannot be reliably separated experimentally. The effect of large angle scattering on the transmission of heavy ions through a nano-scale aperture mask, used to collimate an ion beam to a very small beam spot, is modelled using a version of the program adapted to handle the more complex geometry of the aperture mask. The effectiveness of nano-aperture collimation was studied for a variety of ion-energy combinations. Intensity, energy, and angular distributions of transmitted ions were calculated to quantify the degree to which scattering within the mask limits the spatial resolution achievable. The simulation successfully predicted the effect of misaligning the aperture and the beam, and the result has subsequently been observed experimentally. Transmitted ion distributions showed that the higher energy heavier ions studied are more effectively collimated than are lower energy lighter ions. However, there is still a significant probability of transmission of heavy ions with substantial residual energy beyond the perimeter of the aperture. For the intended application, ion beam lithography, these ions are likely to be problematic. The results indicate that medium energy He ions are the more attractive option, as the residual energy of scattered transmitted ions can be more readily managed by customising the etching process. Continuing research by experimentalists working in this area is proceeding in this direction as a result of the conclusions from this work.

Le sujet principal de cette thèse porte sur les mesures de la masse de recul du boson de Higgs et de sa section efficace en utilisant la réaction de Higgs-strahlung avec Z → µ + µ− et e+e−, basées sur la simulation détaillée du détecteur ILD. L'étude a été conduite pour un Higgs de 120 GeV de masse, à une énergie de 250 GeV dans le centre de masse pour une luminosité intégrée de 250 fb−1 . La précision obtenue est de 28 MeV sur la mesure de la masse du Higgs et 2.0% sur celle de la section efficace en combinant les canaux de désintégration. Cette étude prouve que le bruit de fond peut être largement réduit et que les résultats sont sensibles à la configuration de l'accélérateur. L'analyse et ses résultats sont inclus dans le ILD Letter of Intent. Le second sujet de la thèse est la calibration en MIPs du prototype de ECAL Silicium - Tungstène d´eveloppé par la collaboration CALICE. Les constantes de calibration sont extraites des données des tests en faisceau effectués au FNAL en 2008 et sont stables par rapport aux données prises au CERN en 2006.

[Formulae and special characters can not be reproduced here. Please see the pdf version of the Abstract for an accurate reproduction.] Indium nitride is an important III-V nitride semiconductor with many potential applications such as in high frequency transistors, laser diodes and photo voltaic cells. The mobility and peak drift velocity of this material are predicted to be extremely high and superior to that of gallium nitride. However, many material properties such as the origin of the n-type conductivity and the electronic band gap are not well understood. Moreover, there is limited information on the stoichiometry and the level of impurity contaminations in the films from different growth techniques. The n-type conductivity observed for as-grown indium nitride films has long been attributed to nitrogen vacancies, implying that the material is nitrogen deficient. A band gap value around 2 eV, as measured by the optical absorption method, is suggested by some authors to be a result of the formation of an InNIn2O3 alloy. Alternatively, the observation of a lower absorption edge, suggesting a band gap around 0.7 eV, may be caused by Mie scattering at indium clusters that may form during film growth. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy and x-ray techniques provide only qualitative composition information. The quantitative interpretation of the results relies on calibration samples which are not available for indium nitride. In Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, while quantitative, the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen signals cannot be separated unless the film is very thin ([tilde]150 nm). However, with heavy ion Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD) analysis all the elements in indium nitride films can be fully separated even for a film thickness of [tilde] 800 nm. In this work, indium nitride films from different growth techniques have been analysed with ERD using 200 MeV 197Au projectiles. The observed nitrogen depletion during the ERD analysis was monitored as a function of projectile fluence using a gas ionisation detector with a large solid angle. Different models have been tested and it has been shown that the bulk molecular recombination model accurately describes the nitrogen depletion so that the original nitrogen-to- indium ratio can be measured with an accuracy of [plus or minus]3 [percent]. The correlation of nitrogen depletion rate and stopping power of the projectile ion has been investigated. The study has shown that the rate of depletion is slower for low-Z projectiles. It has been shown that for a film with good structural properties, no loss of nitrogen occurs during the ERD analysis with low-Z projectiles such as 42 MeV 32S. Thus, the original nitrogen-to-indium ratio can be obtained without any theoretical modelling, and with a precision of better than [plus or minus]1 [percent]. All the indium nitride films studied in this work, for which X-ray diffraction shows no metallic indium, are nitrogen-rich which is contradictory to expectation. Therefore, the common assertion that nitrogen vacancies are the cause of n-type conductivity in as-grown films is diffcult to explain. Instead, the existence of In vacancies, N antisites and interstitial N2 may be speculated. The carbon and oxygen contamination is an issue for films grown by all common growth techniques. However, the suggested correlation of oxygen content in the film with the apparent band gap is not supported by the ERD results. Instead, a correlation between nitrogen-to-indium ratio and the measured band gap has been observed for films grown by RF-sputtering. This work reports the implantation of radioisotope probes using negative ions. The 111In/Cd probe was selected for this work as it is a common Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) probe and ideally suited for the study of indium nitride. For the synthesis of the probe 111In/Cd, several possibilities, such as the production of 111In/Cd via nuclear fusion evaporation reactions and from commercially available 111InCl3 solutions, were explored. Different materials, including powders of Al2O3 and In2O3, were investigated as a carrier for the probe in the ion source of the radioisotope implanter. It has been established that combining the 111InCl3 solution as the source and In2O3 powder as the carrier material gives optimum implantation efficiency. The radioisotope implanter facility has been developed to a stage that the radioisotope probe 111In/Cd can be routinely implanted into materials as molecular 111InO?? ions. An implantation rate of 3x10 4[th] Becquerel per hour has been demonstrated. Measurements on different materials (Ag, In, Ni, Si, InP) have shown that condensed matter spectroscopies such as Low Temperature Nuclear Orientation, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance on Oriented Nuclei (NMRON) and Perturbed Angular Correlation can be reliably performed. NMRON measurements on silver indicate a new resonance frequency of 75.08 MHz for 111InAg at 8.0 T. The local lattice environment of indium nitride thin films has been investigated with PAC spectroscopy. Several methods of introducing a radioisotope probe into a host material have been investigated for indium nitride. The thermal diffusion of the radioisotope probe 111In/Cd into indium nitride at a temperature below the dissociation temperature (about 550 [degrees] C) was not possible. The probe was, however, successfully introduced into indium nitride films with ion implantation techniques. Recoil implantation at MeV energies following fusion evaporation reactions and ion implantation at keV energies, both have been investigated for indium nitride films. An interaction frequency of v = 28 MHz has been measured for the 111In/Cd probe in indium nitride. This result is consistent with that obtained for indium nitride bulk grains. The PAC results suggest that all types of indium nitride films have a highly disordered lattice which could only be partially improved by annealing. Furnace annealing in nitrogen atmosphere above 400 [degrees] C resulted in the dissociation of the film. However, such dissociation could be avoided with rapid thermal annealing up to 600 [degrees] C. More detailed defect studies with PAC require the availability of better material. This study has also shown that indium nitride is highly sensitive to ion beam irradiation. Severe depletion of nitrogen during exposure to ions with MeV and KeV energies is an issue for the ion beam characterisation and processing of indium nitride.