Heavy ion effects in non-biological matter

The effects of swift heavy ions in non-biological matter have been extensively studied during the last few years. Some results on non-biological solids are summarised here which might help to analyse comparatively the effects of high linear energy transfer (LET) particles in biological and non-biological matter. Special emphasis is put on the effects recently observed in organic solids. The experimental study of high-LET effects involves the use of accelerators and irradiation facilities. However, the requirements differ markedly from one study to the next, and ion accelerators of very different types have been used. A synthetic review of the existing sources and facilities is presented.