Batch treatment of industrial components using plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition

Surface modifications of industrial components, such as the balls, inner and outer rings of bearings, are very difficult to perform for their sophisticated shapes. Plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (PIIID) offers an effective way for surface treatment of such components. However, implantation doses of these components are not uniform in a conventional PIIID process. To obtain uniform surface modifications, we designed a rotating target holder. Using the target holder and proper process parameters, the PIIID batch treatment of sophisticated-shape components has become easy work. In the PIIID batch treatments of balls, outer and inner surfaces of cylinder-like components, the dose uniformity can be evidently improved by using sample rotation, short width high frequency implantation pulse, and middle-frequency and -voltage glow discharge, respectively. The practical test results reveal that the life of these components can be improved significantly by this novel PIIID batch treatment.