**Glossary**

Atoms implantation: Procedure that consists of incorporating atoms other than that of the base material to modify its characteristic properties.

Crystal lattice: A scheme by which crystal structures are classified according to unit cell geometry. This geometry is specified in terms of the relationships between edge lengths and interaxial angles.

Diffusion**:** Atoms moving and changing places, i.e., directed or undirected mass transport by atomic motion. Atomic diffusion in solids is far slower than in gases or liquids.

Dislocation: A linear crystalline defect around which there is atomic misalignment. Plastic deformation corresponds to the motion of dislocations in response to an application.

Grain boundaries: The interface separating two adjoining grains having different crystallographic orientations.

Microstructure: The structural features of an alloy (e.g., grain and phase structure) that are subject to observation under a microscope.

Nanostructures: Structure with one or more dimensions at the nanoscale.

Polycrystalline: Refers to crystalline materials that are composed of more than one crystal or grain.

Roughness: is the degree of unevenness of a solid surface below the size scale of its shape or waviness, but above the irregularity of crystal lattice structures. The roughness has an influence on the wettability of a solid.

*Surface Microstructure Changes Induced by Ion Beam Irradiation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112015*

Segregation: Enrichment of solutes in grains and grain boundaries. An approximation to the segregation tendency of a solute in grain and grain boundary is its apparent solubility: the lower the apparent solubility, the higher the enrichment factor of that element in grain and grain boundary.

Shear stress: The instantaneous applied shear load divided by the original crosssectional area across which it is applied.

Sputtering: A phenomenon in which microscopic particles of a solid material are ejected from its surface after the material is itself bombarded by energetic particles of a plasma or gas.
