One Minute Mentor: Plasma-Immersion Ion Implantation

The fundamental difference between plasma nitriding (glow discharge) and plasma-immersion ion implantation (PIII) is that the latter relies on high-energy pulses (up to 45 kV) that promote a low-energy ion implantation in the target, but that is still less than the energy used in conventional ion implantation (>100 kV). A combination of target temperature and pulse voltage achieve the desired implantation profile.

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One Minute Mentor: Radio-Frequency Plasma

Glow-discharge plasma nitriding is carried out in nitrogen-hydrogen atmospheres at pressures in the range of 100 to 1000. At pressures below 10 Pa, the glow-discharge technique is not used, but plasma can still be generated by radio-frequency (RF) excitation, microwave energy, or electrons produced by a heated filament.

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One Minute Mentor: The S-Phase

The success of plasma and gas nitriding at low temperatures (lower than 840°F) and solution nitriding at high temperatures is associated with the absence of chromium nitride or carbide precipitation, and thus with the formation in the surface layer of a particular phase called the S-phase.

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