Ion beam analysis (IBA) includes modern analytical techniques involving the use of energetic ion beams to probe the composition of the surface layers of solids. Major areas of application include microelectronics, cultural heritage, forensics, biology and materials sciences. The underlying science for IBA is the physics of the interactions between the ions in the beam and the atoms in the solid. Emission products from the interaction of charged particles with matter are measured, and specialized simulation and data analysis software provide information on the material composition.

Although the basic physical processes are well understood, the reliability of data interpretation is limited by the knowledge of the physical data. The primary quantities required are the stopping powers describing the slowing of the ion in the material and the cross-sections of the interactions involved. The need for reliable data on stopping powers is adequately catered for by Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) computer code. The situation, however, is quite different for cross-sections for nuclear reactions and non- Rutherford elastic scattering. Although there is a considerable body of published data in nuclear physics literature, examination of the unevaluated experimental data has revealed numerous discrepancies beyond the error limits reported by the authors. The lack of reliable cross-sections has been recognized by the IBA community and has been discussed at several workshops and IAEA meetings, resulting in various recommendations including the organization of a coordinated research project (CRP) on a reference database for IBA.

The main objective of the CRP was to develop a reference database for IBA that contains reliable and usable data that will be made freely available to the user community. Starting from the existing collection of data in the IAEA Ion Beam Analysis Nuclear Data Library (IBANDL), the CRP focused exclusively on the relevant nuclear cross-sections (nuclear reactions and non-Rutherford elastic scattering). During the course of the CRP, however, it was soon realized that there was also a growing demand for compilation and evaluation of nuclear reactions with gamma rays in the exit channel, which are used in the particle induced gamma ray emission technique. The recommendations led to a second CRP on the development of a reference database for particle induced gamma ray emission spectroscopy. The output of which will be published in a forthcoming IAEA publication.

The IAEA wishes to thank all the participants of the CRP for their contributions to IBANDL and to this publication. The IAEA officers responsible for this publication were D. Abriola and P. Dimitriou of the Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences.