Ion, a basic particle in materials science, is a significant research object in the field of rare earth separation, nuclear waste disposal, ionic battery, molecular magnets, illumination, ion channel, etc. The solvation of ions in solutions is a key problem in these relevant research. Yet the complex structure and dynamic nature of solvated ion have impeded the scientific advances in this area for years.
    A particular interest in our group is the development of universal soft-landing technique to prepare thermal (<1 eV）ions (positive, negative, metal, gas, etc.) on surfaces.

    Consequently, the structure, solvation, charging, migration and dynamics of surface ions could be in-situ studied with high spatial and temporal resolution characterization methods.