Recent trends in the field of ion bombardment of material surfaces are reviewed with a brief discussion about the present understanding of the subject. The use of novel characterization concepts to explore the ion beam-induced phenomena is emphasized and in this context the importance of the technique of conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) is brought out. A number of specific examples of the use ofCEMS technique to studies on ion implantation, ion beam mixing and corrosion of ion-bombarded surfaces have been given.
