Abstract
Nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and elastic recoil detection (ERD) are commonly used for the elemental depth profiling of materials in fields ranging from biological to the semiconductor industry. This article introduces both techniques and explains the theory and principles of them along with the instrumentation and experimental apparatus that is required for their use. Several applications are also described such as their use in hydrogen analysis, depth profiling deuterium-labeled molecules (including deuterated hair dye into hair), the investigation of nitrogen and their use with an external beam. Lastly, some of the available computer programs for the analysis of NRA and ERD data are briefly described.