Ion implantation into the interior surface of a steel tube by plasma source ion implantation

A plasma source ion implanter (PSII) for the surface modification of the interior of steel tubes was developed. A 2.45 GHz microwave was fed into a tubular vacuum chamber through a flexible coaxial cable and supplied to an antenna. A one kilogauss magnetic field was generated by a solenoidal coil. A 35 mm inner diameter and 1 m length stainless steel tube was fixed inside the chamber. A nitrogen and acetylene plasma was produced by an ECR discharge. A high negative voltage pulse was applied directly to the steel tube. During the implantation the solenoidal coil was moved along the axis direction of the chamber to make uniform implantation. The compositional and structural characterization of the interior surface of the tube was carried out using Auger electron spectroscopy. Structural information of the carbon films prepared by acetylene PSII was obtained by Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that uniform ion implantation into the interior surface of the tube was achieved by the PSII. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.