Ions, as fundamental species in materials science, are important subjects of research in fields such as rare-earth separation, nuclear waste disposal, ion batteries, molecular magnetism, lighting, and ion-channel research. Ion solvation is a key issue in these related fields. However, the structural complexity and dynamic nature of solvated ions have long impeded scientific progress in this area. 

A particular interest of our group is the development of a versatile ion soft-landing technique for depositing a wide variety of low-energy (<1 eV) ions, including both cations and anions derived from metallic or gaseous species, onto surfaces.

Consequently, the structure, solvation, charging, migration, and dynamics of ions on surfaces could be studied in situ using characterization techniques with high spatial and temporal resolution.