Tribological effects of oxygen ion implantation into stainless steel

The formation of sub-surface oxide layers by hybrid metal-gas co-implantation into steel and other metals can improve their tribological properties. In this report, we compare the wear and friction performance of previously studied Al + O hybrid implants with that produced by single species oxygen ion (O⁺) implantation under similar conditions. The substrates were AISI 304L stainless steel discs polished to a final mirror finish using 1 μm diamond paste, and the ion implantation was done using a conventional swept-beam technique at ion energies of 70 or 140 keV and doses of up to 1 × 10¹⁷ cm^-2. The wear and friction behaviour of the implanted and unimplanted material was measured with a pin-on-disc tribometer. Here we describe the experimental procedure and results, and discuss the improvement relative to that achieved with surface layers modified by metal-gas co-implantation.