High current Ni-ion implantation into Al films

The Al3Ni strengthening phase was formed by Ni-ion implantation into Al films using a Metal Vapor Vacuum Arc (MEVVA) ion source. The depth distribution of the volume fraction of Al3Ni/Al was found to depend on the ion current density as well as the Ni-ion dose. At a fixed dose of 3 x 10(17) cm(-2) and implanting with a current density of 25 mu A/cm(2), most of the Al3Ni phase was grown in the near surface layer. While increasing the current density up to 89 mu A/cm(2), the Al3Ni phase distributed uniformly into a relatively deep region. When implanting with 89 mu A/cm(2) to a dose 6 x 10(17) cm(-2), in addition to distributing into a deep region, the Al3Ni phase was also detected with a high content near the surface. The temperature rise during implantation caused by beam heating was responsible for the formation of the Al3Ni phase. which in turn modifies the surface mechanical properties of the Al films. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.