Nitriding of steel 40x with a high-intensity ion beam

The results of experimental and theoretical studies of the regularities and features of the modification of steel 40X with high-intensity beams of low-energy nitrogen ions are provided. The study of the effect of high-intensity, ultra-high-fluency implantation of low-energy nitrogen ions at temperatures of steel 40X samples in the range of 450-650 °C are presented. It is established, that the width of the nitrided layer, during 60 minutes, depends both on the temperature implantation regime and on the ion current density, the maximum depth of nitrogen penetration of 180 μm was observed at a target treatment temperature of 500 °C. The results of numerical simulation agree with the experiments and allow predicting the structure of surface layers when the geometry of the system and parameters of a high-intensity low-energy beam of nitrogen ions change.