Materials Processing Initiative: New Ion Implantation Technique for Improved Performance of Cutting Tools and Dies

这项资助是由美国国家科学基金会在材料加工联合倡议下授予的。本研究的目的是研究等离子体源离子注入对硬质材料显微组织、力学和摩擦学性能的影响。研究重点是等离子体物理标度规律的研究（如等离子体密度、注入能量、脉冲长度和剂量的空间均匀性的变化），注入材料的微观化学成分和微观结构的表征（如电子显微镜、能量色散x射线分析和俄歇电子能谱），机械性能的表征（如硬度）和摩擦学评价（如耐磨性、磨损损伤机制、摩擦系数）。该计划包括准备在工业环境中进行现场测试的切削工具，以确定离子注入在增加切削工具应用材料的硬度和耐磨性方面的有效性。该研究项目代表了一种创新和经济有效的方法，通过等离子体源离子注入对材料表面进行改性来提高材料的耐磨性。离子注入已被半导体工业常规用于改善集成电路的电子性能。电子工业中使用的植入技术和设备过于昂贵且不切实际，无法扩大规模用于切割工具等零件的大面积制造。本程序旨在研究等离子体源离子注入处理大表面积和复杂形状零件表面的有效性。金属、陶瓷和聚合物的硬度和耐磨性改性的有效性已在小样本中得到证明，该计划将研究大面积等离子体源的基本方面。

This grant is an award by the National Science Foundation under the Materials Processing Joint Initiative. The objective of the research is to study the effects of plasma source ion implantation on the microstructural, mechanical, and tribological properties of hard materials. The research emphasizes investigation of plasma physics scaling laws (for example, variation of plasma density, implantation energy, pulse length, and spatial uniformity of dose), characterization of the micro chemical composition and microstructure of the implanted materials (for example, electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray analysis, and Auger electron spectroscopy), characterization of the mechanical properties (for example, hardness), and tribological evaluation (for example, wear resistance, wear damage mechanisms, coefficient of friction). The program includes preparation of cutting tools for field testing in an industrial environment to determine the effectiveness of ion implantation in increasing the hardness and wear resistance of the materials for cutting tool applications. The research program represents an innovative and cost- effective approach to improving the wear resistance of materials via modification of the surface of the material using plasma source ion implantation. Ion implantation has been used routinely by the semiconductor industry to improve the electronic properties of integrated circuits. The implantation techniques and equipment used in the electronics industry is too expensive and impractical for scale-up for use on large area manufacturing of parts such as cutting tools. This program is to investigate the effectiveness of plasma source ion implantation for treating the surface of parts having large surface area and complex shapes. The effectiveness of modification of the hardness and wear resistance of metals, ceramics and polymers has been shown for small specimens, and this program will investigate the fundamental aspects of large area plasma sources.