Materials Processing Using Plasma Focus

The present research work reports the parametric study of ion beams emitted from two different Mather type plasma focus devices and their utilization in materials processing. Experiments have been conducted by using a conventional 2.3 kJ UNU/ICTP plasma focus device and the NX2 device (a repetitive plasma focus). The ion parameters such as energy, energy distribution, number density and current density are evaluated in the ambient gas pressure by employing a BPX65 photodiode and a Faraday cup (FC) using time of flight technique. A major motivation is to establish the optimum processing conditions for ion nitriding, surface modification, phase changes and carburizing of materials of industrial interest like Ti, AlFe1.8Zn0.8 alloy and SS-321 in plasma environment. The processed samples are characterized for structural and morphological changes, compositional profile and surface hardness by employing XRD, SEM FESEM, EDX, XPS, Raman spectroscopy and Vickers microhardness test. The SRIM code and microindentation measurements are used to estimate the depth profile of the modified layers.