Auger Spectroscopy Study of the Surface Layers after Copper Ion Implantation into Steel 30KhGSN2A Plates

Abstract

The distribution of copper, carbon, and oxygen in the surface layers of steel 30KhGSN2A plates after the implantation of copper ions from a pulsed ion source with an accelerating voltage of 30 kV in a vacuum chamber with a residual gas pressure of 8 × 10^–4 Pa is studied by Auger spectroscopy. The depth profile of copper in the surface layer has a maximum at a distance of ~90 nm from the plate surface. This profile is close to the depth distribution of implanted copper atoms in 30KhGSN2A steel under the same conditions that was simulated by the Monte Carlo method. The difference between the experimental and calculated profiles is caused by the fact that a 50-nm-thick carbon layer forms on the steel surface during implantation. In the revealed intermediate layer (50–120 nm), iron is partly in the oxidized state. Possible mechanisms of the influence of the structure of the surface layers that form during copper implantation into steel 30KhGSN2A plates on their tribological properties are considered.