Accelerators in materials research

Abstract Since at least forty years accelerators of charged particles no longer belong to nuclear physics exclusively. This is especially true for accelerators at energies below 1 GeV. The vast majority of accelerators in this energy range is used for materials research and medicine. In materials research the applications are principally twofold: modifications of solids and surface layer microanalysis. Two most important challenges for materials research at the beginning of XXI century as determined by the Materials Research Society are: development of materials able to repair human body and development of materials for new electronic devices able to cope with the enormous amount of information to be stored and transmitted. The role of accelerators with regard to the challenges of modern technology will be discussed.