ARBITRARY CONCENTRATION SURFACE ALLOYS USING ION IMPLANTATION

ION IMPLANTATION HAS BEEN WIDELY USED TO PRODUCE NOVEL NON-EQUILIBRIUM SURFACE ALLOYS AND BURIED LAYERS OF NEW COMPOUNDS. THE METHOD IS USED COMMERCIALLY FOR A RANGE OF MATERIALS REQUIRING WEAR AND CORROSION REDUCTION. HOWEVER, MANY DESIRABLE COMBINATIONS OF ALLOY CONCENTRATIONS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE IMPOSSIBLE TO OBTAIN DUE TO FUNDAMENTAL LIMITATIONS IMPOSED BY RAPID SPUTTERING OF THE TARGET SURFACE. A NOVEL METHOD IS EXAMINED HERE TO ION IMPLANT HEAVY METALS, WHICH USUALLY SATURATE AT 10-15% CONCENTRATIONDUE TO SPUTTERING, TO ARBITRARILY HIGH CONCENTRATION (APPROACHING 100%). THIS TECHNIQUE EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATES THE 1/S THEORETICAL LIMIT ON CONCENTRATION. THE TECHNOLOGY WILL HAVE NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS IN HIGH PERFORMANCE, ULTRA-PURE SURFACE ALLOYS.