Pulsed-ion-beam nitriding and smoothing of titanium surface in a vacuum

Both nitriding and smoothing of titanium have been achieved under irradiation of intense pulsed ion beam in a vacuum of 2×10−2Pa. Applying a screening method, we find that medium ion-beam intensity and multi-shot irradiation are effective for the processing, where repetitive surface melting with limited ablation favored Ti nitride formation as well as surface smoothing. The present results demonstrate that ambient gas atoms∕molecules can be efficiently incorporated in metal matrices to form compounds under the ion-beam irradiation. The finding is of great significance for extending application scope of the ion-beam technique in materials research and processing, combined with the recent success in introducing ambient gas into the processing chamber.