High-voltage glow discharge plasma immersion ion implantation assisted by magnetic field

Plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) employing high-voltage glow discharge is an effective tool to achieve better material properties without external plasma sources. The efficacy of high-voltage glow discharge can be enhanced by the use of a magnetic field. Our experimental results disclose that the addition of permanent magnets effectively increases the plasma density and decreases the delay time to ignite the glow discharge. The discharge can also be ignited at a lower pressure in the presence of a magnetic field. This helps to improve the implantation energy due to reduced particle collisions. In addition, the process is more flexible since plasma generation depends less on the gas pressure and target bias compared to conventional high-voltage glow discharge PIII. To demonstrate the advantages of this simple, flexible and efficient technique, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foils are treated by glow discharge PIII to improve the surface properties and smaller water contact angles are observed from the implanted samples. © 2009.