Corrosion-related characteristics of plasma ion implanted samples exposed in a steady-state Penning discharge

Summary Form only given, as follows. A preliminary report on the corrosion-related characteristics of 304L stainless steel samples that have been implanted, using plasma ion implantation techniques in a steady-state Penning discharge, with nitrogen ions having energies above 20 keV is presented. Plasma ion implantation offers many potential advantages over the widely used ion beam implantation, including short exposure times (on the order of minutes), isotropic incidence of the ions, and the ability to implant complex surfaces, such as screw threads, gear teeth, and turbine blades, uniformly. A principle objective of this research effort was to develop a fast, high-voltage switch capable of applying up to 50 kV to the sample for periods of approximately 10 mu s, and then rapidly turning off the voltage for a duty cycle of two or three times the period of voltage application. These short duty cycles allow the required fluence of ions (ions/cm/sup 2/) to build up in a few minutes, compared with exposure times of the order of an hour associated with long duty cycle switches based on spark gap technology. Another objective related to the technology of plasma ion implantation was development of electrical instrumentation for the current and voltage applied to the sample, so that the ion fluence and characteristic ion energies could be measured during the entire sample exposure time.<>