1996 Volume 43 Issue 1 Pages 95-100
Formation of iron nitrides, especially Fe16N2, was investigated by nitrogen ion implantation for α-Fe sheet. The implanted nitrogen was lost during the process in the high energy implantation because of the thermal instability of iron nitrides. N+ ion implantation with a beam voltage of less than 100keV and its current of less than 5μA was effective for the Fe16N2 formation. Successive annealing in vacuum at 100°C improved its crystallinity. The formation was explicitly detected by XRD for thin film with an incident beam angle of 1 degree. It was also observed on the N+ ion implantated α-Fe(211) preferred oriented thin film with a thickness of about 1μm deposited on capton film by rf-sputter deposition. The presence of Fe16N2 was detected by XRD, but Mossbauer spectroscopy did not show clearly its presence in the as implanted product. Further annealing is necessary to obtain a well crystallized Fe16N2.
