THE EFFECT OF ANNEALING ON THE KNOOP MICROHARDNESS OF NITROGEN IMPLANTED TI-6AL-4V ALLOY

The implantation of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy with nitrogen has been previously studied, and the treatment has been shown to improve the microhardness significantly [R.G. Vardiman, Defect and Diffusion Forum 57/58 (1988) 135, and references therein]. The effects of post-implantation annealing on the properties has not been studied systematically, and this is the principal aim of the RMIT work. Initial results of this study are presented and discussed. It was found that N+ implantation of this alloy at 80 keV with fluences varying in the range (0.5-1.5) x 10(17) ions/cm2 caused an improvement in Knoop hardness up to 100%. Rutherford backscattering results show a buried layer containing up to 25% nitrogen in the as-implanted specimens at a depth of 130 nm. After annealing the sample implanted with 1.5 x 10(17) at 705-degrees-C, both the nitrogen concentration and the depth of the layer decrease to approximately half of their as-implanted values. The observed reduction in hardness can be attributed to the decrease in the nitrogen concentration of the buried layer, as well as to repair of the lattice. These results may indicate that only a limited amount of TiN forms directly during implantation.