| Abstract: | Presents the investigation of the effect of implantation time and pre or post implantation aging on nitrogen distribution and microhardness with the following findings: the colour of the surface is modified after implantation and it gets darker with the increase of implantation time, and is not affected by pre or post implantation aging; for every implanted sample, a peak is found in the near surface region of the nitrogen concentration depth profile determined by X ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); The position of the peak is not affected by implantation time and pre or post implantation aging used; With the increase of implantation time, the surface nitrogen concentration increases, and the peak is heightened, but the speed of heightening decreases; The surface structure formed after the implantation may be more unstable and more readily oxidized in its subsequent exposure to air; The implanted samples can be protected against oxidation by immersing them in pure alcohol; and the immersion causes the surface nitrogen concentration to increase somewhat and the surface oxygen concentration to decrease in comparison with the exposure to air. The implanted samples exhibit higher hardness improvement factor especially at low plastic penetrations. The exposure to air causes the hardness improvement factor to increase. As the implantation time is increased, the hardness improvement factor increases (but at a decreased speed). Over long implantation time can induce a softening process because the hardness improvement effects are then unable to follow the effect of strength loss. |
