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Plasma nitriding of aluminium in a pulsed dc glow discharge of nitrogen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2010

S. Naseer ,
F. U. Khan ,
N. U. Rehman ,
A. Qayyum ,
F. Rahman  and
M. Zakaullah
S. Naseer
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
F. U. Khan
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Gomal University, D.I. Khan, 29050, Pakistan
N. U. Rehman
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Park Road, Islamabad, 4400, Pakistan
A. Qayyum
Affiliation:
National Tokamak Fusion Program, Islamabad, 3329, Pakistan
F. Rahman
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
M. Zakaullah*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
*
mzakaullah@qau.edu.pk
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Abstract

Plasma nitriding of aluminium in a 50 Hz pulsed-dc glow discharge is studied for different ion-current densities (2.0-5.0 mA cm-2) by keeping the corresponding discharge parameters such as treatment time, chamber pressure, substrate temperature and gas composition same. The treated samples are analysed for changes induced in surface properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and Vickers's micro-hardness testing. XRD showed the downshift in the original diffraction peak corresponding to (111) plane reflection along with the emergence of new diffraction peak corresponding to (220) plane reflection, confirming the N-diffusion into existing Al-lattice and formation of AlN compound. Surface hardness is significantly improved which might be attributed to the diffusion of nitrogen and compound layer formation.

Keywords

Type
Research Article
Information
The European Physical Journal - Applied Physics , Volume 49 , Issue 2: International Conference on Electrical Contacts (ICEC 2008) , February 2010 , 21001
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2009

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