Effect of nitrogen ion-implantation on silicate glasses

Abstract

The microhardness numbers and refractive index of various nitrogen ion-implcated silicate glasses correlated with dose rates were studied. Samples of glass had been implanted with N + ions at dose rates from 3 × 10 14 to 10 18 ions/cm 2 and beam currents up to 150 μA/cm 2 at room temperature. The microhardness numbers of silicate glasses increased with iincreasing dosage if the ion flux is below 3 × 10 17 ions/cm 2. In a detailed study of X-ray photoelextron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of glasses, we found that the binding energy peaks of silicon, oxygen and nitrogen were shifted after implantation. These shifts indicate that nitrogen had reached with silicon and oxygen to form a hardened surface layer. When the ion flux reached 10 18 ions/cm 2, the microhardness numbers decreased due to blistering. Data on the refractive index of silicate glasses measured at a dose rate of 10 18 ions/cm 2 showed that lead glass was higher than others. Changes in the composition of the borosilicate glass surface caused by ion-implantation and the depth distribution of nitrogen were observed by XPS.