Adaptation of metal arc plasma source to plasma source ion implantation

Summary form only given, as follows. In Plasma Source Ion Implantation (PSII) a target is immersed in a plasma and a train of high negative voltage pulses is applied to accelerate ions into the target and to modify the properties in the near surface region. In PSII, until now we have been using gaseous species to generate plasmas. However metal ion plasma may be used to modify the surface properties of material for industrial applications. Conventionally the ion implantation of metal ions is performed using beam line accelerators which have complex engineering and high cost. The employment of a metal are source to PSII has tremendous potential due to its ability to process the conformal surfaces, simple engineering and cost effectiveness. We have installed metal arc source for generation of titanium plasma. Currently, we investigating the properties of titanium plasma material behavior of titanium implanted aluminum and 52100 steel. The recent results of this investigation are presented.