Plasma-based ion implantation

Plasma-based ion implantation (PBII) is a recent technique developed for modification of material surfaces. In PBII, the substrate is immersed in plasma and biased pulsed negative, so as to accelerate and implant ions on the substrate surface. PBII was originally developed as an alternate to beam line implantation, because it gives the possibility of uniform implantation irrespective of the substrate shape and dimension. PBII has also been used in conjunction with condensing plasmas, thus controlling the properties of a growing coating, and PBII assisted diffusion of the implanted ions at elevated temperatures. A wide range of applications of PBII have been proved which ranges from modifications of steel and titanium surfaces leading to improvements in mechanical properties to applications in semiconductors and improving biocompatibility of surfaces. It has been also used as an intermediate step in the deposition of diamond like carbon on aluminium. The article discusses the various developments in PBII.