Plasma nitriding of aluminium in a pulsed dc glow discharge of nitrogen
- 26 January 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by EDP Sciences in The European Physical Journal Applied Physics
- Vol. 49 (2) , 21001
Abstract
Plasma nitriding of aluminium in a 50 Hz pulsed-dc glow discharge is studied for different ion-current densities (2.0-5.0 mA cm-2) by keeping the corresponding discharge parameters such as treatment time, chamber pressure, substrate temperature and gas composition same. The treated samples are analysed for changes induced in surface properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and Vickers's micro-hardness testing. XRD showed the downshift in the original diffraction peak corresponding to (111) plane reflection along with the emergence of new diffraction peak corresponding to (220) plane reflection, confirming the N-diffusion into existing Al-lattice and formation of AlN compound. Surface hardness is significantly improved which might be attributed to the diffusion of nitrogen and compound layer formation.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Evolution of surface morphology during ion nitriding of aluminiumSurface and Coatings Technology, 2004
- Plasma nitriding and in situ characterisation of aluminiumApplied Surface Science, 2002
- In situ and ex situ examination of plasma-assisted nitriding of aluminium alloysSurface and Coatings Technology, 2001
- A way to decrease the nitriding temperature of aluminium: the low-pressure arc-assisted nitriding processSurface and Coatings Technology, 1999
- Plasma immersion ion implantation of pure aluminium at elevated temperaturesNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 1997
- Aluminum nitride and alumina composite film fabricated by DC plasma processesThin Solid Films, 1997
- Large-band-gap SiC, III-V nitride, and II-VI ZnSe-based semiconductor device technologiesJournal of Applied Physics, 1994
- Plasma-assisted nitriding of aluminumSurface and Coatings Technology, 1994
- Structure and wear behavior of nitrogen-implanted aluminum alloys*Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena, 1994
- Low-pressure ion nitriding of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel with an intensified glow dischargeJournal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, 1993