THERMODYNAMIC EFFECTS ON ION-BEAM MIXING IN SIC-METAL SYSTEMS

The ion-beam mixing of SiC-coated Fe, Cr, Ni, Cu, and stainless steel was investigated, by means of Auger electron spectroscopy, to determin e the role of thermodynamics in the process. Both inert (Ar+) and reac tive (N+) ions were used at either 30 keV or 160 keV incident energy. A mechanism involving thermally activated motion of bombardment-induce d defects appeared relevant to the onset of a chemical bias in the mix ing. Further, the formalism established for describing ion mixing, bas ed on Darken's analysis of chemical interdiffusion coefficients, provi ded a quantitative interpretation of the results.